The tedium of teetotalism (or teetotalitarianism)

[Stavia]

I have been cheating with the occasional single malt. One shot only, about twice a week. It is SO hard

[ktg000]

I know this is a very old thread but the title sums it up quite well. I planned to have 2 small glasses of fizz last night but I ended up having more. I think the trouble is once you've had a bit your inhibitions go and you think it's ok to have a bit more! It obviously doesn't agree with me at all as when I drink I wake up in a sweat with my heart racing and have tinnitus in the morning. My detox report nutrahacker said about avoiding alcohol and noise so wonder if this is why it has this affect on me. I'll just have to make sure I drive everywhere so it's not an option. Has everyone else managed to sort this, I guess I just need more will power.
K

[marthaNH]

I quit all my intoxicants, plus cigarettes, a little over 13 years ago. I needed to do it for my mental and physical health. It did change my social life and the pattern of my days generally. I do my social things in the daylight mostly now, but that doesn't mean I never go out at night. I don't go to things that are basically drinking sessions, though.

I don't miss it any more. That's at least partly because I'm in a different stage of life. I know it would be really tough for my nephews to give it up -- it would isolate them from many of their friends. It has a place and a time, I guess.

Edited to add: I secretly feel a little superior when people get to glass number 3 or 4 and start getting sappy and stupid. If you enjoy that kind of feeling, it might be an inducement.

[ktg000]

Thanks for the support Martha, good for you in making the changes.
I guess I just felt like I was going to have a night off from it all, but this mentality let me go a bit too far. The fact I feel so awful in the night after drinking is a good enough reason to stop. It's not every time that my heart races, so I always hope it won't happen!
I have also given up cigarettes, but do worry about my 20 year previous habit, and my childhood exposure to second hand smoke, but what can you do. I'm still on an ecig now, which I'm hoping is much better but not enough long term studies to know yet. I do worry that my very unhealthy previous lifestyle means I'm due to suffer earlier, and even worry about my memory now at 35. Hopefully it's paranoia!
K

[Kathleen1]

I just read the link posted last December about the association of alcohol and memory effects, aging and ApoE4. They did not see a significant association with midlife drinking, just late life. Sooooooo, late life drinking (no I cannot fit myself into the midlife category anymore) --they did not see a significant association (I am not a fan of using non-significant trends) with light drinking and ApoE4. They did report that negative effect in the moderate drinking group and oddly enough a positive effect in the heavy group (which they attributed to the small sample size but reported as significant). The weight of the evidence from multiple studies does not support that last path as a healthy option and most things I see referenced do not support alcohol as a good thing.
However I know once I start picking out just the parts I like in a research article, I am not playing the science game correctly. This report makes me want to read some of the other studies in more detail, mainly because I do like a glass of wine and would love to read something that said light drinking not a risk (or perhaps just a trivial risk) as long as it is paired with a really great meal and good friends, on a night when you did not plan on reading journal articles about the effect of alcohol on the elderly ApoE4 brain. Right now I am going to get a good cup of brain healthy coffee, then go and move some dirt.

[Nords]

I know this is a very old thread but the title sums it up quite well. I planned to have 2 small glasses of fizz last night but I ended up having more. I think the trouble is once you've had a bit your inhibitions go and you think it's ok to have a bit more!
Has everyone else managed to sort this, I guess I just need more will power.
K

Now imagine that you've had a social drinking habit for most of your life, and then you develop Alzheimer's and lose the ability to remember how much you've drunk.

My father's drinking habits set him up for that with his Alzheimer's. He was living alone so it led to months of malnutrition and eventually a perforated ulcer. We didn't figure it out until he was in the hospital and I was catching up on his credit-card bills.

That was enough motivation for me to stop drinking alcohol.

[ktg000]

Gosh Nords that much have been a very difficult thing for you and your family to go through, thank you for sharing.
K

[GenePoole0304]

"I miss the taste of it,"

I take a sip of my partners glass but I notice now it is left on the far side where I can't try an occasional sip so I'm left with being the sampler of the first sip and giving my thumbs up or thumbs down but that is enough for me as there are so few really good ones.
The last was our anniversary where the bottle was quite good but I suffered the next day or so and don't miss that part at all.
Vino increases my appetite and I get ravenous and eat all the goodies and snacks too and sometimes even a second dessert instead of a porto and cheese platter!

Sparkling water is my tea tottler glass of San Pellergrino & lime.

[SusanJ]

+1 Gene. I also do sparkling water with a lime, and if I feel like living on the edge, I ask for a splash of cranberry juice.