Quitting the swig

[Marmite]

After the football season I decided to cut down on drinking. It was getting to the stage where I was having a few cans at home after work and then on football days we were getting the train at 11am and drinking in town before and after the game. I was getting in a right mess and upsetting people or doing something stupid and arguing with random people so decided enough was enough. 

I joined the gym and went 2 weeks without drinking, I went out for the first England game and had a few but since then I have the odd can here and there but nothing excessive. 

I found that getting leathered also meant I was a mess on Sunday and did not want to do anything apart from lay on the sofa and eat greasy and sugary food which is no good when you have 3 young children and a wife. 

There have been some positives I have lost a stone and feel much better in myself. Once football season comes again the biggest test is learning how to drink moderately 

[Beliall]

All my clothes have shrunk too since I quit smoking... need to go on a diet

[Mike Oxlong]

It's hard for people who don't drink excessively to understand why some people struggle to consistently drink in a controlled way.

 

My understanding (as a "semi-controlled chronic binge drinker" now mellowing with age) is that it is due to a combination of the changes in individual brain chemistry caused by alcohol and personal psychology.

 

Likewise, I struggle to understand addictions to nicotine or gambling. I don't smoke, but a couple of years back a mate had been to Cuba and handed around the Cuban cigars. I had a very tasty cigar but felt no inclination to take up smoking; if my wife had done that, she'd have been back on 30-a-day within a week. Likewise, I've had a few World Cup bets, but don't feel inclined to start splurging vast sums at the bookies. Probably won't bet again for months.

 

During my worst boozing years, ending up in police cells, at some distant rail terminus - or upsetting people that I cared about was a regular occurrence. Never once did I want any of that to happen, even if I laughed about some of it after the event. Indeed, I was often absolutely determined not to do it again....only for the same things to happen over and over again, because my brain changed once it had a few pints' worth of alcohol in it. I enjoyed the freedom and excitement of "getting a bit out of it", but once I was "a bit out of it", I'd have a strong urge to carry on drinking until something (sleep, lack of money, disaster...) stopped me.

 

It's not as if I ever had any physical addiction (anyway, physical addictions to alcohol are conquered within days, with medical support, just as physical addictions to nicotine are quickly eliminated). For the chronic binge drinker, the problem's down to personal brain chemistry and personal psychology, in my book.

 

Confusingly, I was quite capable of staying sober when I really needed to. If I had a job interview, exam or important work the next day, I simply wouldn't drink. If I was on a date or something, I'd drink in moderation. Beyond a young age, I was quite happy to meet people socially and not drink if there was some reason for that.....but if I had more than 3-4 pints and there was nothing specifically to stop me, I'd carry on boozing until something did stop me - often getting in disastrous situations and upsetting people.

 

A good mate reckoned that it might be partly because I had a need to let off steam. Certainly, as a young bloke, I was both very energetic and emotionally volatile, but also very rational-controlled, so maybe excess booze acted as a destructive escape valve for the excitement, anarchy and expression that I needed psychologically? That's maybe, too, why the only times that I managed to control the booze long-term were (a) by stopping completely; and (b) by doing things in life that gave me that excitement, anarchy and expression. If I just tried to discipline myself through will power, I just got bored and frustrated and ended up back on the booze - and back in Hassleville Arizona!

 

Sorry to anyone I've bored with that, but it might be helpful to anyone with a similar psychology and brain chemistry! 

 

Now that I'm in my declining years ( ), I just can't take so much booze, so the worst that usually happens is that I doze off. I still waste too much time through booze....but the positives generally outweigh the negatives again these days!

As a Clarendion lunchtimer your soul is beyond redemption.

[Dr The Singh]

Comming from a anchestry and history of alcohol abuse and it's consequences it's good to see a young lad realising he needs to do something about before it takes over his life!!

[Ghost Troop]

20 years army service with long periods of abstinence coupled with periods of huge consumption, and I mean huge, simply led to me feeling the width, never mind the quality. After a health problems of train crash proportions I stopped drinking and smoking not because I had to but because I just didnt want to any more, I didnt fancy it at all. I do take a glass of wine now and again, and even a good malt or congac on very special occasions, but it can be weeks between drinks. Result? I feel great, so many of the little niggles and pains that I had have gone, I sleep likeva baby and even my PTSD is less of an issue. I would never preach abstibence to anyone, its personal choice and who know what some folk have to block out, but for me its added colour back to what was becoming an increasingly monochrome existence.

[Alf Bentley]

As a Clarendion lunchtimer your soul is beyond redemption.

 

My soul probably is beyond redemption but I'm never in the Clarendon at lunchtime, just too often in the evening.

[Ric Flair]

It's hard for people who don't drink excessively to understand why some people struggle to consistently drink in a controlled way.

 

My understanding (as a "semi-controlled chronic binge drinker" now mellowing with age) is that it is due to a combination of the changes in individual brain chemistry caused by alcohol and personal psychology.

 

Likewise, I struggle to understand addictions to nicotine or gambling. I don't smoke, but a couple of years back a mate had been to Cuba and handed around the Cuban cigars. I had a very tasty cigar but felt no inclination to take up smoking; if my wife had done that, she'd have been back on 30-a-day within a week. Likewise, I've had a few World Cup bets, but don't feel inclined to start splurging vast sums at the bookies. Probably won't bet again for months.

 

During my worst boozing years, ending up in police cells, at some distant rail terminus - or upsetting people that I cared about was a regular occurrence. Never once did I want any of that to happen, even if I laughed about some of it after the event. Indeed, I was often absolutely determined not to do it again....only for the same things to happen over and over again, because my brain changed once it had a few pints' worth of alcohol in it. I enjoyed the freedom and excitement of "getting a bit out of it", but once I was "a bit out of it", I'd have a strong urge to carry on drinking until something (sleep, lack of money, disaster...) stopped me.

 

It's not as if I ever had any physical addiction (anyway, physical addictions to alcohol are conquered within days, with medical support, just as physical addictions to nicotine are quickly eliminated). For the chronic binge drinker, the problem's down to personal brain chemistry and personal psychology, in my book.

 

Confusingly, I was quite capable of staying sober when I really needed to. If I had a job interview, exam or important work the next day, I simply wouldn't drink. If I was on a date or something, I'd drink in moderation. Beyond a young age, I was quite happy to meet people socially and not drink if there was some reason for that.....but if I had more than 3-4 pints and there was nothing specifically to stop me, I'd carry on boozing until something did stop me - often getting in disastrous situations and upsetting people.

 

A good mate reckoned that it might be partly because I had a need to let off steam. Certainly, as a young bloke, I was both very energetic and emotionally volatile, but also very rational-controlled, so maybe excess booze acted as a destructive escape valve for the excitement, anarchy and expression that I needed psychologically? That's maybe, too, why the only times that I managed to control the booze long-term were (a) by stopping completely; and (b) by doing things in life that gave me that excitement, anarchy and expression. If I just tried to discipline myself through will power, I just got bored and frustrated and ended up back on the booze - and back in Hassleville Arizona!

 

Sorry to anyone I've bored with that, but it might be helpful to anyone with a similar psychology and brain chemistry! 

 

Now that I'm in my declining years ( ), I just can't take so much booze, so the worst that usually happens is that I doze off. I still waste too much time through booze....but the positives generally outweigh the negatives again these days!  

 

So much of what you've said here resonates with me. I also have studied the way the mind works extensively so I know where the triggers lie and I know what I need to do to improve myself, it's funny that even with the necessary tools something stops you until the time is right. By nature we have evolved in to a self destructive nature and our sub-conscious mind feels threatened if we try and make positive changes to our psychological make-up, scandalous really given it's meant to protect us from such negative habits.

 

20 years army service with long periods of abstinence coupled with periods of huge consumption, and I mean huge, simply led to me feeling the width, never mind the quality. After a health problems of train crash proportions I stopped drinking and smoking not because I had to but because I just didnt want to any more, I didnt fancy it at all. I do take a glass of wine now and again, and even a good malt or congac on very special occasions, but it can be weeks between drinks. Result? I feel great, so many of the little niggles and pains that I had have gone, I sleep likeva baby and even my PTSD is less of an issue. I would never preach abstibence to anyone, its personal choice and who know what some folk have to block out, but for me its added colour back to what was becoming an increasingly monochrome existence.

 

Fair play mate, i'm already feeling the benefits from one weekend off. I'm starting to make plans that don't revolve around the never ending cycle of arranging gigs to get plastered on. I've got more done this weekend than i've managed to do in the last 6 months around the house and what not. I'm embarrassed at the repetitive lifestyle I was leading, a helmet one might say.

[Ric Flair]

That LIbertines gig was a battle

[C-man]

That LIbertines gig was a battle

Haha fvck me mate it was. Good job it was ridiculously tough to get to the bar else I would've been swerving into the central reservation at 1am.

Good work on this - keep us updated with how it goes chap.

[Ric Flair]

Haha fvck me mate it was. Good job it was ridiculously tough to get to the bar else I would've been swerving into the central reservation at 1am.

Good work on this - keep us updated with how it goes chap.

Hahahaaa cheers mate. You're absolutely right, I reckon I'd have caved in had it been easy to get an ale.

[Captain...]

Hahahaaa cheers mate. You're absolutely right, I reckon I'd have caved in had it been easy to get an ale.

Was that the British Summer Time gig?

Was there on Friday and it was a fvcking nightmare to get to the bar and the toilets, had one pint when we got there, went for a piss and just decided it wasn't worth it, especially at those prices. Just got a good spot for the rest of the day laughing at all the people spilling beer as they tried to carry 4 pints in the crappy holders through a mass of people.

[Ric Flair]

Was that the British Summer Time gig?

Was there on Friday and it was a fvcking nightmare to get to the bar and the toilets, had one pint when we got there, went for a piss and just decided it wasn't worth it, especially at those prices. Just got a good spot for the rest of the day laughing at all the people spilling beer as they tried to carry 4 pints in the crappy holders through a mass of people.

Yes mate! I only spent about £15 all day. Haha

[Steven]

The two questions that could determine if you have an alcohol problem

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/the-two-questions-that-could-determine-if-you-have-an-alcohol-problem-9589841.html

http://whqlibdoc.who.int/hq/2001/who_msd_msb_01.6a.pdf

[FoxesAreBlue]

They asked me those questions last year when I changed my doctors.

[Grandad.]

I reckon if I get myself a full time Mrs then I will be able to knock booze on the head, when I was with my ex in a 2 and a half year relationship I cut down massively, I was happy not to go out and stop in with her. Since breaking up with her I have become a right pisshead come the weekend, I never drink in the week, something I have never rarely done unless I have gone out on a Thursday night. Can't drink in the house, doesn't feel right.

[Alexikokopops]

I've naturally cut down a lot in the past couple of years without really thinking about it. I don't go out in discotheques (or whatever the kids are calling them) as much these days because I'm getting old and grumpy and much prefer sitting in a pub with an ale. Plus I've largely stopped drinking in the week. Weekends are so much less painful than they used to be.

None of these helps Ric Flair mind. That man can get garried at a 10am Christening.

[Miquel The Work Geordie]

Discotheques?!

[Alexikokopops]

Discotheques?!

That's what they were called my my day you young whippersnapper. They used to play all the songs in the hit parade.

[Miquel The Work Geordie]

Those were the days when Shipwrecked on T4 was still a thing

[Grandad.]

I loved T4 and I loved Shipwrecked.

[Ric Flair]

I've naturally cut down a lot in the past couple of years without really thinking about it. I don't go out in discotheques (or whatever the kids are calling them) as much these days because I'm getting old and grumpy and much prefer sitting in a pub with an ale. Plus I've largely stopped drinking in the week. Weekends are so much less painful than they used to be.

None of these helps Ric Flair mind. That man can get garried at a 10am Christening.

Hahahahaaa cheers mate!!!

[FrankieWorthoYaggedMyWife]

Ric you bandit

[FrankieWorthoYaggedMyWife]

Hahahahaaa cheers mate!!!

Waste of a ticket if you weren't fcuk-nastied by 10am!!!

[Merging Cultures]

How is everyone who is 'quitting the swig' doing? Have you been able to hold out? What do you miss most? Have family and friends been supportive? What is the best way you've found to avoid drinking?

 

I am quitting too. I like my drink. But it is time to quite. Too old, too many responsibilities, and too fat.

[Alf Bentley]

Funny, I was intending to dredge this thread up again.

 

How's it going, Mr. Flair? Whether you're succeeding or succumbing, I hope you're avoiding wrapping your testicles around tube escalator pillars and losing your teeth while trying to catch oranges....

 

I've now been off the booze again for precisely 7 weeks...longest dry spell for at least 3 years. For now, I'm enjoying life much more than when I was on the lash: feeling more healthy/relaxed, getting more done, wasting a lot less money. Haven't really felt tempted to succumb since a few days in. Not getting complacent, though, as (a) I've sometimes succumbed at 2-4 months in the past; (b) summer is an easy time in some ways - the sun is in the sky, time off work.... Grey autumnal skies and the dreary grind of work and duty will be a riskier time for me: I tend to booze to alleviate the greyness of life and to liven up dull routines. Have been countering that by making a few trips away to see friends/family, took daughter to France, went and camped at a music festival, bought a few CDs (old-timer) that I could afford as I hadn't spent all my money on beer. Must continue that "positivist" approach....intending to take in a few City away matches, and to make trips to Dublin and/or the Low Countries this autumn.

 

When this thread started back in June, I was just girding my loins to cut down, rather than give up, but had a bit of a shock. 24 hours after a boozy weekend, I woke up at 5am sweating like a pig, vomited for the first time in 15 years (though I'd only had 3 pints that night) and heart went racing at literally 5 times its normal speed....calmed down but ended up with an irregular heartbeat for a fortnight. Funny enough, I was still drinking (in moderation) when the rhythm went back to normal...and I've yet to touch a drop since. The cardiologist reckons that the booze is a prime candidate for this heart issue (though a minor genetic heart defect and repeated chest infections are also in the frame).

 

Family & friends have been supportive, though I'm a contrary fvcker who'd take no notice of them if they weren't. Ultimately, while others can be more or less helpful, "quitting the swig" long-term is something that you do on your own, in your own head and in your own reformed life patterns, I think..... Enjoying it so far and not even slightly tempted at this stage. Mustn't let life drift into too much dull routine, though - that's where the risk of involuntary failure lies for me, I think.

 

Good luck to all others "quitting the swig" - and to all those still enjoying the swig. I greatly enjoyed many aspects of my past drinking career - and could imagine returning to it once I'm getting to be a seriously old man (if I ever do). For now, though, there are too many other things that I still want to do with my life while I'm still able - and I don't want to be at serious risk of a stroke at 52...