Stopping Drinking Alcohol, any advice??

masonsmum

Hi folks, please dont get the wrong end of the stick and think that Im sort sort of raging alcoholic because its far from it :rotfl:, OH and I have 2 small boys so its only very occassionaly that we are out, only if we are invited to weddings or a birthday party, family commitments and cashflow dont really allow us to go out just for the sake of going out.

Last weekend I had my Uncles 60th Birthday and we went for a family meal then out for a few drinks, so I started on the wine with my dinner then before I knew it I was blind drunk, and the next day I had a raging hangover, had to come home from work early and lay in bed all day and couldnt even help OH look after our own kids, so to stay I felt guilty was an understatement. :(

So queue this weekend we have a friends wedding and I do want to go but I just dont ever want to feel like that again so I am going to take the car so it will be mind over matter to have a drink and still relax and enjoy myself, but I feel a bit concerned on how people view you when you dont want to take a drink and how easy is it not to bow to pressure of "oh just have a drink"

Anyone any experience of similiar

The_Black_Sheep

I think you're beating yourself up over nothing. Everyone has got too drunk and lost a day to a hangover a couple of times in their life.

Personally I'd say you're making too big a deal of this one-off occasion.

tea_lover

I don't drink anymore, after many years of partying hard. It's a combination of TTC, some medication that really doesn't mix with alcohol, and the realisation that I'm a horrible drunk anyway.

No one's ever mentioned it really, and these are mostly the same people that I used to get blind drunk with. I think people used to assume I was pg, but a few years on and still no baby that's put that idea out of their heads lol.

I usually drive if that's an option as it does at least give you an answer, if you feel you need one. But overall I think people are less interested in what we're doing than we usually think they are - and I mean that in a nice way iyswim!

masonsmum

Thanks tea lover, its seems since I had my gallbladder removed last year I am really ill after I have a drink, I get pains in my chest and get really sick so I just feel its not really worth it anymore.

Idiophreak

It's easy enough not to drink if you're driving, most people understand...if they say "well you can have ONE drink", I say..."no, *legally* I can have one drink...but in reality, I prefer to be able to see straight when I'm driving..." I'm such a lightweight, it really isn't worth "just one drink" for me.

That said, weddings can certainly be much harder work if you stay completely sober...

heartbreak_star

Fresh orange juice and lemonade in a highball looks like a cocktail, and in a darkened room such as a disco, water in a wineglass is a wonderful thing.

Stops people badgering you about "having a drink".

HBS x

traleegirl

It's easy, you just say "I don't drink" and when people ask why you say it's a decision you made......
i didn't drink for almost ten years after I had the children, it was never a problem.

onlyroz

If you have the sort of friends who try to pressure you into drinking and who look down on you if you don't drink much, then I think it's time to get some new friends.

trparter

For me the best method is practising lots of sport. I have given up driving for most days and cycle to work. On days where I also go to the gym or swimming I find it easy to go without alcohol.

voucherlover

I drove to a wedding recently and had a good time without drinking, didn't quite manage to dance like no one is watching, but gave it a go. Never been happier to see tea and coffee served with cake later on in the evening. My advice would be if you are acting as taxi and taking drunk people home, tell them you are leaving 10-20mins before you want to. I was stood by the door with another designated driver waiting while others said goodbye for a while.

fannyadams

I don't drink because I can't - my liver is too damaged from my previous life! I'm told by the hepatologist that even the miniscule amount of alcohol in mouthwash could put me in hospital and some OTC drugs are on my No list too.
I just tell people I can't drink and that I'm driving (which I usually am) so they accept that.Although, a lot of people think I've been drinking with the amount of stuff we get up to!
but agree with other posters that
if your 'friends' badger you into having a drink then they are not your friends.

tell those people you are driving home that you are leaving in 5 minutes about 20 mins before you want to leave or tell them when they are sober (when you arrive) that we are leaveing at midnight or whatever time you want to leave. that way when you say it's midnight we're leaving they can't tell you they didn't know!
designated driver - some places will give you free soft drinks if you are designated driver. I think coca cola did this a while back and my bike club do this at our clubhouse.

One bad hangover doesn't make you a bad person. honestly. it doesn't.

just have soft drinks this time to see what it's like...

you'll be fine.

FA
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