Break from Drinking

You need me to sponsor you in the AA programs.

I haven’t but I realise I should..... Good for you OP. Keep it up.

I slowed down a lot last month, maybe drinking one day a week. I couldn’t believe how much better I felt. But now on vacation and back to the boozing. It’s more a habit, I suppose, but I’m going to bring it in once I get back.

I have usually two glasses of wine per day, and never before 6:30 or 7 in the evening, that keeps me in check.

Do you know what your coronavirus alcoholic quarantine name is?

You take your first name... and your last name.

Did you use the word husbear while drinking? If not, maybe you should pour a glass of wine.

I completely changed up my drinking. It’s once a week now - Saturday’s. Anything more than that and I just can’t function.

It’s been fabulous. My energy is through the roof, I’m exercising 4-5 days a week. It enabled me to look at my diet and change that too.

Even though I was only a wine drinker, not having those two big glasses a night has kinda changed my life.

I've cut back. I wasn't drinking large amounts, but I found I was having a drink most days. My partner would encourage it, because he thought I could use the relaxation.

Now I have a drink once a week, if that.

1. Stop drinking

2. Stop saying "husbear" - that sounds retarded, and no one, trust me, no one thinks it's cute

This past week, my husband (not husbear, alas) and I didn’t have a drink from last Sunday to last night - we had a little wine with our Sunday dinner. This was the first time we’d gone longer than one day without drinking since mid-March. And yes, I feel much better for it.

Don’t be too hard on yourself, OP. These are strange and traumatic times, especially if your partner had been ill with Covid. Just be aware it’s probably not doing you much good, and will be damaging in the long term. If you can ease up, then it might be a good idea to do so.

And I’m glad your husband has recovered. Be well, both of you.

1. I did 2. I used “husbear” because it would annoy some. I started using it to be funny, now I use it affectionately, but still joke about it. It’s also fun to use while being passive-aggressive.

My husband quit drinking 2 months ago. He used to be a bear, but now he’s more like an otter.

If you think you have a problem with alcohol....

You probably do.

Thank you R10

[quote]If you think you have a problem with alcohol.... You probably do.

Yep. Normal drinkers don’t question if their drinking is normal.

I’ve definitely been drinking more they COVID and now I have bronchitis

R15 and R10 - or there has been such awareness/stigma put on to drinking the past 25 years that people are hypersensitive to it. Nobody worries as much about their caffeine, sugar, exercise, prescription drugs, stress or sex.

I was hitting it fairly often during quarantine. Definitely entirely too much. I've cut way back, keep my 32oz Yeti Rambler full of ice water or unsweetened Stassen Jasmine Green Tea (my FAVORITE) all day, and have started using a pedometer in my daily life. I walk everywhere, and have for years...so why not see what those figures look like? My own figure is already looking better, and my blood pressure will thank me.

Thankfully, I somehow managed not to gain back the eleven pounds I took off way back in December. So, that's encouraging as well. Good luck OP.

My partner bought me 40 bottles of wine for my birthday in June.

Those are all gone.

A break would not be bad.

I need to give it a break, too. Too much beerin'. I like how my skin looks after I've quit for a few weeks or so.

I’m available for sponsorship if anyone needs a sponsor!!

First the man takes a drink, then the drink takes a drink, then the drink takes the man.

R15, I respectfully disagree. "Normal" drinkers can and do ask whether their drinking is excessive or abnormal -- but they do it before it gets out of control.

A normal drinker might drink a beer or two a few days a week, but notice that that's becoming a beer or two every evening, and ask, "is this ok? should I cut back? Yes, I probably shouldn't drink every day. I'll cut back."

For some of them, that's how they stay "normal" drinkers.

So sick of these recovering alcoholics who could never control their drink jumping in on these threads.

Not everyone is like you.

I only drink on the weekend but I admit that there are days that cause me to crack big time (power outage from recent storms, latest Dump outrage, etc.). It feels at times as if drinking is literally the only escape left to me...

I need to cut back too. I’m in the bag straight after work and every weekend. I feel like crap today.

Due to A foot injury I was bed bound for a month (Not Covid related) and stopped drinking booze altogether. Also i think my medication curbed my appetite and I lost 20 pounds just laying in bed. Prior to that, my boyfriend and I were during dinner drinking a bottle of wine every night and on the weekends we’d have a six pack or two during the day and then wine. I plan on keeping this weight off, so no more wine at dinner and less beer on the weekends.

I got into a habit that lasted for 20 yrs. A few glasses of wine while I prepared dinner. But the habit became too strong. I realized I had a problem and quit cold turkey. I miss it occasionally but as time goes on I think about it less and less. I save a lot of money as well.

I have two gin and tonics every day.

"husbear" is the kind of cute like a 50 year old saying "Omg, like totes adorbs." - not cute, just stupid.

R21 yes please.

I feel so much better not drinking at all. I am going to stay off it permanently. Thank you covid isolation!

So often when I drink it gives me a migraine. Otherwise, I would just drink every single day.

I had one drink in June and before that it was April.

I don't have the money, I don't need the calories, and being home all the time makes it way to easy to drink too much by just sipping away slowly.

I was never a heavy drinker - probably a bottle or two of wine a week. Can't say I noticed a huge change but I have lost a bit of weight.

I take Mondays off from drinking during Covid. I used to take a few weeknights off, but with working from home, it's just too easy most nights to have a glass or three of wine when I stop working. I'd love to lose a few pounds, but I think the stress relief of the wine helps me stay halfway sane.

Alcohol should be banned like other drugs.

What wrong with a beer or two every day?

Don't you feel good not drinking? I know I feel better now that I'm not drinking.

Alcohol doesn't work on me, at all.

Kratom has been keeping me company this whole time.

Obviously, none of you are Scandinavian? My Scandinavian grandmother drank four times as you guys, was sharp and hysterical, could whip together a delicious dinner without effort, gardened her vegetables in Westchester, and died at 90 laughing.

Why limit yourselves to such paltry amounts of alcohol in these troubled times?

R40, pffft

Without the heavy drinking she'd probably still be alive today and not looking a day over 33 years old.

Is drinking four times a day heavy drinking? Ever been to Nantucktet?

Does "four times a day" mean four sips, four shots, four beers, four bottles of wine or four fifths?

OP, a glass of wine each day is hardly what I'd call a "drinker". By your standards, Darin Stevens must be an alcoholic.

I've been drinking too much during the pandemic, at least a bottle of wine a day sometimes more. I've gained weight cause of it too. I need to stop but it's the only think I look froward to these days.

R45 same here. Be sure to take iron, B12, magnesium and vitamine D. Kalium too if you have cramps. Be well.

R45 same here. Be sure to take iron, B12, magnesium and vitamine D. Kalium too if you have cramps. Be well.

yes, i got to the drinking-every-day point, and stopped. i felt better almost immediately. am sticking to it pretty well, not perfectly.

I quit drinking long ago. Never felt better. Now its heroin every day all day.

The lockdown has been my break from drinking. Nowhere to go, no socializing, very place closed - no reason to drink. Almost want the bars to stay closed.

In mid-April to mid May? I was a LUSH. I have never had more alcohol in one month's span (even college). I stopped on my partner's bday (May 22) and haven't touched a drop since. I feel amazing.

Sometimes going a little overbaord can be just want one needs to see the forest for the trees.

A little bender now and then (once or twice a year?) goes a long way in tuning the system and flushing some gunk. That's the problem with dry drunks -- they're not getting their bearings with a much-needed toot.

I’ve not only been boozing it up during Covid, but I took up smoking as well. I have one or two drinks and one or two cigarettes in the evening. I also smoke weed a few times a week and have a Xanax now and then. I’m a middle aged party animal, that’s what 2020 has wrought. My hus otter is even more of a degenerate.

I was drinking way the fuck too much wine through March/April, which triggered massive stomach acid/gas, which triggered massive hypochondriac moments.

Feel much better dried out but it does gets boring.

I got in the habit of a cocktail or two every other evening. Last month I switched from my usual vodka to cannabis edibles rather than a cocktail. (I live where it's legal.) Very small dosage and still experimenting on different types. Overall I find I'm sleeping better and as a result wake up feeling refreshed. I'm hoping to drop a few pounds by avoiding alcohol and mixer.

That’s not where it ends so stop now. Soon you’ll be having a drink with lunch. Then one in the morning with your banana. Eventually the days just blend together and you’re never sober. I was a drunk for 12 years. It took being a few months from death for me to snap out of it and get help. Good job quitting now. Once the blackouts start they don’t stop. Good luck.

Update from OP: I’ve been sticking with it, and feeling good. Working out daily, and not being too hard on myself with diet. Went for a hike in the mountains and saw a big, beautiful owl, who flew over my head. I’m thinking that’s a sign that I’m doing the right thing.

Whoaaa, you need schooling, R57.