I agree 100%. Moderation is much harder than extremity, whether alcoholic or completely sober. I meant more like does anyone just grow tired of the experience and opt to not drink just out of personal taste? I think it's a crappy drug of the drug spectrum but it's what we're allowed to do out in the open with other people so it's convenient.

My company's holiday party was last night. Actually not the first one I've attended sober - this is the time of year I'd typically be worried about my alcohol consumption anyway. Once again, not drinking wasn't difficult, I remain committed. It was a drag being around a bunch of drunk idiots, though. I was hyper-aware of the drunken stupid things people were doing that the other drunken people probably didn't care about or won't remember anyway.

The message for me, again, is that alcohol's purpose was to enable me to deal with situations I don't enjoy. Alcohol isn't a good answer for this, for me anyway, but neither is being an uptight nit. The key for me is dealing with things in life that bother me without masking them or using means that are harmful to myself or others.

Have you lost any weight without trying?

Depends what you mean when you ask if it was easy to quit. I quit in 1992 and have never second guessed the choice for one second. It was the right decision then and it still is now.

The circumstances that led up to the decision were not easy by any means. I remember them like they were yesterday and the power of those circumstances make it very easy for me to continue without alcohol.

I have never sat in front of a bottle of gin staring at it, struggling with the choice. I quit, I knew it was time and it was not that difficult to maintain the choice for me.

Having said that, I am 42 years old and I rarely think about not drinking. I am married to a 26 year old woman whose circle of friends drink what I think is heavily but not as heavily as me and my group did. I have no issue being around them other than having little patience for the drunks who insist on talking 6 inches from my face.

There are circumstances that have come up that feel lousy but they don't cause me to question the choice. Things like having to drink ginger ale during the toast at my own wedding felt crappy. Not the end of the world but things I never gave any though to before they presented themselves.

I have a pet peeve about one thing related to quitting. Drives me up the wall when someone asks why I don't drink and I explain that I had difficulties with controlling it when I was younger. Many people say things like "Congratulations" or "That's Awesome" or something intended to make you feel like it is an accomplishment. It's not. It was a necessary choice and I made it and I wish I didn't have to. I wish I was able to control myself when I drank but I never was and doing some of things I did that caused me to need to quit should not be congratulated.

I know people mean well and I take it that way but people who are close to me know that I do not feel proud of myself nor do I need to celebrate quitting. I don't know the exact date but I could figure it out if I thought there was some importance or relevance.

I think that most people know if they can control alcohol. If someone like LFS feels they are having trouble controlling alcohol, they should try to control it and monitor it. If you are unable to maintain control then quitting is logical. I agree with the poster who said he felt it was a symptom but understanding why you over drink does not always mean you can stop yourself from doing it.

No! Very disappointing.

Question about health and alcohol consumption:

At what point (in terms of drinks/day) does alcohol consumption go from "totally fine, probably even healthy" to "definitely detrimental?"

For example, it seems that most experts agree that a single drink each day, with a meal, is perfectly fine for men or women. I've heard other reports that benefits extend as far as three drinks a day for men, depending on their size.

Google isn't much help -- everyone seems to have a different opinion on this. Does anyone have good info from a source they trust?

I ask because my wife sometimes nags about my alcohol consumption, which is short of harmful levels imo.

I'd say that I have at least one drink probably 5 days a week. Maybe 3 of those days I have 2-3 drinks. And perhaps 3 or 4 times a month (slightly less than 1 day/week on average) I have 5-6 drinks.

I would guess that this adds up to about 12-13 drinks per week. Too much? I weigh 185 pounds fwiw.

LFS - take up brazilian jiu-jitsu.

I thought that Fred G Sanford spelled his name with a period at the end.

uhhhhhhh no.

There isn't really an official measurement I don't think. It's just something in your head that clicks. You'll be happily oblivious to anything until one day you wake up and say, wait, this isn't normal.

You seem to be very calculated with alcohol so I wouldn't worry about it too much. Alcoholics are calculated in a different way: they buy the right amount so that it lasts the night and gets you sufficiently hammered, but isn't too much that they'll go completely overboard.

The latter is why "Cops" is still on the air.

GL OP

I have a question for OP or anyone who's quit. Did you get to the point where you started having physical ailments from alcohol (seizures/tremors/organ pains, etc.)? I guess the same question goes for when you quit. Any withdrawal other than the needing carbs thing?

Any serious/semi-serious poker players go through this? Curious to know how/if it affected your game, either positively or negatively. Reason I ask is I play decent LAG style when buzzed but nitty as all hell when stone sober.

What is she trying to tell you?
What bothers her about your drinking?

IIRC, 1 or 2 drinks a day can be healthy, even good for you.
Drinking to excess at any one time, not so much.

I haven't quit but my hands shake like Michael J. Fox when I try to putt when playing golf. This abates after a few drinks though.

Have you ever had your blood sugar tested?

Is it a sign of diabetes or something?

I think it's because my mom has started drinking kind of a lot in the past few years and is becoming a borderline alcoholic. She worries I will go down that road.

As mentioned, I occasionally drink to excess, but usually it's over the course of a day and I don't get very drunk at any given point. Like this past weekend, we were out of town at a B&B with friends. I probably had 6-7 drinks one day, but it was over the course of about 6 hours.

Unless it's a situation like that, I rarely have more than 3 drinks in an evening. I don't like the way I feel the next day, and I don't really like to be more than just a little buzzed anymore.

She just kind of thinks that one drink a day is sort of borderline (borderline healthy, not borderline alcoholic), and she often sees me having 2 or sometimes 3 drinks a couple times a week and thinks it's too much.

Part of her concern probably comes from the couple of times I have tried to cut back and found it difficult. She thinks that's a bad sign, even if I'm not drinking in great quantities or to get drunk.

I just find it hard to put an arbitrary limit on the amount of beer or scotch I drink (I tried doing just 3 drinks a week for a while... it was just annoying). The reason I tried to cut back was to help me lose a little weight and get into peak shape. I ultimately decided that if being in top shape meant I could hardly ever drink beer, it wasn't worth it.

I actually exercise a hell of a lot (running 15-18 miles a week plus some lifting) so it's not like I'm unhealthy overall. But I am guessing I would lose 5ish pounds pretty quickly if I stopped drinking beer. Oh well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol_withdrawl

I don't think it indicates diabetes, but definitely blood sugar issue. I have mild hypoglycemia and had a tremor all my life until I quit eating sugar. The "shaking until I have a drink" feeling is one I know well.

Based upon every physical exam and blood work my blood sugar is normal. The only thing that I might attribute my condition is the consequences of 35 years of rather robust drinking.

I found this thread to be really intersting and like others, it made me think a lot about myself.
I am very depressed after breaking up with my gf of 22 months a few weeks ago. She was my first serious gf (I just turned 23) and our relationship went really really fast since we were both young, naive and inexperienced. After knowing her for 2 months I thought we would get married (lol) and she confirmed her desire for and pleasure in this - talk about being young and dumb.

Anyway, I find myself drinking a ton (about 5 nights a week), both with friends and by myself. Tonight is a Saturday night when I'm not doing anything (got cancelled on by a girl fml) sitting at home, and I feel the only way to not get seriously depressed is to pour some scotch. I live in South Korea at the moment so blazin isn't an option. Any one got any ideas on what to do? I'm like seriously sitting here looking at the bottle, knowing I'm being a jackass but it seems like the only relief I got.

Have I become an alcoholic?

I'm not necessarily trying to quit alcohol and don't really feel like I could if I wanted to right now, that's what's a little disconcerting.

LFS, this thread was really cool. My bad if I highjacked the thread but it felt sort of appropriate to ask since I'm literally staring at this bottle wondering how I can survive the night without opening it.

I quit drinking after I was in a single car accident last Tuesday night. I got charged with DUI, the whole bit. I haven't missed it at all so far. In fact, due to the accident, I have pretty much lost my appetite for alcohol. Although the next year is going to suck and be expensive (fines, suspension, lawyer, etc.), I am glad no one was hurt and glad that I made the choice to stop.

I was having 4-5 drinks per night and the whole thing had just got a bit out of control. It sneaks up on you, for sure. I went from having a couple of drinks with friends at the end of the day to basically hitting a bar on my way home each night. Many reasons led to this, probably boredom with my life being #1.

Physically, I have not felt any ill effects since quitting. I guess I'm lucky in that regard. In fact, I've lost close to ten pounds in the last week and a half (need to probably lose another 20 or so). Never felt better. I don't find any compulsion to drink, except for missing having a glass of wine with my wife when we watch TV. It's not a real need though, so I just have something non-alcoholic like tea. Last night I went to a bar to celebrate a friend's birthday and was at a party later that evening for a short while. No problem.

I agree with what's been said regarding quitting vs moderation. For me, quitting is much easier once the decision is made. I also wonder about AA programs, etc. I know that they're valuable for some people, but I don't think they'd be for me. Then again, I was never a "joiner" of anything.

Thanks for starting this thread, LFS. Ironically, I had been reading this and thinking about my own alcohol consumption before my accident/DUI. The next day, the decision was very clear. I'm not saying this thread was solely responsible for me quitting, but it did get the ball rolling. I'm looking forward to getting my former life back and I wish anyone else in my circumstance the best of luck.

tl/dr I know.

You definitely sound like the type of person who can become addicted to booze or drugs. You haven't let it get out of control yet but you're aware of it, so you're ahead of the game. What you do next is up to you imo.

Why can't you blaze in South Korea? Is it really illegal or something?

Edit: Very illegal, google ftw

Thats cool, i wish you the best of luck. I drink nearly every night of the week. I've tried giving up before but it normally only lasts 5-6 days at most. Socially when ever i go out/see friends, ther'll be drink, everyone knows I drink a heavy ammount. I drink in the day as well somtimes which is what i never did.

Anyway good luck, im sure you can do it.

I've been having alcohol dreams. In them, I drink without even thinking about it, and then realize afterward that I ****ed up. They're very vivid, I wake up feeling really bad. This morning it was a pretty long while before I remembered I'm OK.

I had smoking dreams when I quit cigarettes and they went away, so I'm hoping this is the same thing. What's odd in this case is that they're happening three months after I quit. I think it might just be taking this long for my body to get used to the idea.

When I first quit smoking the weed, I would have crazy dreams that I was smoking.

I still get them on occasion.