I stopped drinking alcohol some years ago. Before that I hardly consumed any alcohol at all for many years, but in my college years and maybe some years after that, I drank socially like “everybody else”. But I gradually kind of got tired of dealing with the bad feelings (physical and emotional), so I drank less and less.
And maybe because I drank less and less, even one beer often just made me feel kind of bad, so then I just stopped altogether. Anyway, I’m curious if this has happened to anyone else? And how do you go by it socially? What do you order at a bar? Maybe I’m a little afraid to go to places that has an “alcohol culture”, even if there are some places I would like to go. I don’t want to drink, but at the same time I don’t want to appear weird about it either.
I don’t drink nearly as much as I used to. Not that I ever did a lot anyway. But after having my child I noticed drinking made me way more impatient instead of relaxing me. Now I really only drink when my wife and I go on a date. I do partake in a good THC gummy fairly frequently now though. They are quick and easy to make you feel good and I don’t get that impatience from it. But I normally take it after my child goes to bed anyway. Helps me sleep and doesn’t make me feel bad the next day.
I have shifted the occasional cocktail or two after work to a vaporizer bag of home grown indica. Still a crutch, but I won’t feel like death the entire next day.
My body stopped responding to alcohol like it once did. I was never a big drinker but through my 30s, I’ve slowly stopped feeling any sort of buzz and instead get anxiety and insomnia. I’m also having a harder time handling cannabis, a little bit can send my heart rate through the roof. I’m sure I’ve got some health issue contributing to these changes but haven’t figured it out yet.
When I was younger drank like a fish, full bottle of whiskey, vodka, rum, at a time. I’m turning 45 in a few days and last drink I had was 3 weeks ago. Last time before that was several months. I’ve gotten to the point where I’d much rather just have water.
It wasn’t gradual, but I didn’t make a deliberate choice either. It was during 2020. My fear of covid (I did get it, it was hell) outweighed my desire to go to the liquor store. By the time places were opening up again, I realized my life was a lot more livable without the blackout binges. I’ve felt really weird about it ever since then, that I don’t really have an inspirational “I chose to do this, it was my strength and willpower to get better” quitting story since it was purely from literally not being able to, but I try to just be grateful because it really was destroying my life.
