Anyone here quit drinking completely?

erifdekciw

New member
May 3, 2008
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So Last month I was on a minor binge and was basically drinking 3 nights a week for a month. Needless to say my productivity was complete shit.

I quit drinking for about 2 weeks (mostly because all my drinking buddies went back to college). After the first week of being sober my mind felt great. I was thinking clearly and I was being somewhat productive. Well that all ended Thursday night when I went out for my birthday. I basically got smashed Thursday and Friday night and felt pretty crappy Saturday and Sunday.

Now its Monday and my mind still feels slow and foggy. I'm not even old, but I feel like I'm starting to get to that point where going out for one night fucks me over for 1-2 days after. I love going out for drinks, but at this point I'm thinking about quitting for a year just to reformat my brain, but before I do I want to ask if anyone here has done something similar and how did it turn out for you?

The last thing I want to do is quit completely and basically do nothing for an entire year (I live in a shitty town where all there is to do is go out and have drinks with friends). Maybe someone has some super secret hangover cure or some of you figured out how to fight that mental fog with some kind of brain supplement. Either way I'm down to try anything before I make the final switch...
 


For me it kills the day I go out drinking and the next day but I'm okay with that as far as productivity goes since I only drink once a week... What I do is, when I notice I'm hammered as fuk I start drinking large amounts of water. Then more water, eat something nasty and a b-complex pill before going to sleep. Also a 1,5L water bottle near my bed to drink through the night. I wake up without any kind of hangover by doing that. The only thing that fucks up my day is I'm tired and under slept due to the fact I can't sleep over 3-4 hours after drinking.

The reason I want to tone it down is it's heavily affecting my diet. I want to get x amount of protein a day and all this alcohol fucks up my macros. It's also been shown it lowers your testosterone if you drink a lot in one setting.

Personally I like these nights out and redbull vodkas too much to completely kill it, ideally I'd want to keep it as a once a month thing. Not drinking completely for a while might be the right thing to do for you though since you're leaning in that direction.
 
Maybe you should move?

Studies have shown drinking and smoking are the #1 causes of shorter life expectancy. Why you wanna die brah?

1. Move
2. Find 5 mentors or friends that are super productive and know more then you, stick with them as much as you can
3. Find a project you can dive into and keep yourself busy with 25 hours a day
 
I quit for a full 2 years because I felt the same. I pretty much rebuilt my brain, I felt amazing, everything was super clear, got in amazing shape.

I drink again now, I don't really feel like shit after drinking anymore. If I get to that point again ill quit again.
 
For me it kills the day I go out drinking and the next day but I'm okay with that as far as productivity goes since I only drink once a week... What I do is, when I notice I'm hammered as fuk I start drinking large amounts of water. Then more water, eat something nasty and a b-complex pill before going to sleep. Also a 1,5L water bottle near my bed to drink through the night. I wake up without any kind of hangover by doing that. The only thing that fucks up my day is I'm tired and under slept due to the fact I can't sleep over 3-4 hours after drinking.

.

I do the water thing and it works too. I don't eat before bed but ill take vitamins.
 
I quit for a full 2 years because I felt the same. I pretty much rebuilt my brain, I felt amazing, everything was super clear, got in amazing shape.

I drink again now, I don't really feel like shit after drinking anymore. If I get to that point again ill quit again.

I'm curious, what was your diet like before you quit drinking?
 
Ahh man, I struggle with this almost daily. I am one of those; drinks every three day types, yet when I drink, I drink excessively. If you put a case of beer in front of me and dared me to drink it in a night, I would drink 30 beers just to prove a point. Once it hits the lips...

It's almost as if I have 2 personalities. One who cares about his body, exercises almost every day, eats right. Then there is my other personality who just wants to get fucked up.

I don't know, I feel like it is really starting to affect my brain, and my body. I get raging hangovers and they sometimes last two days. Not just that, but the next day after I drink I want to eat everything in sight.

Hello, my name is John and I'm an alcoholic.
 
Feeling like shit just means you're almost to full on alcoholism. Don't give up my friend! Pretty soon you will wake up with a very minor hangover that can be cured just by drinking again, I recommend mimosa's they go well with breakfast. I know it's tough but you have to drink your way through this pain.
 
There are no cures to hangovers. Things like Milk Thistle, vitamin B and even Special K cereal have some stuff which helps to repair your body. Eating sugary and salty food and drinking water may help a little but if your have drunk too much you'll still feel like shit.

I count my ml of alcohol now and it works like a charm. I never get a hangover as I know my limit. Find your "sweetspot" then stick to it. For me it is a bottle of 11.5% wine or 4 bottles of beer. I have that every 3 days and feel fine. If going out never mix your drinks and make that last drink last a very long time. If you do go one over your limit at least drink it with some water on the side and ideally some salty food.
 
Feeling like shit just means you're almost to full on alcoholism. Don't give up my friend! Pretty soon you will wake up with a very minor hangover that can be cured just by drinking again, I recommend mimosa's they go well with breakfast. I know it's tough but you have to drink your way through this pain.

Lol you sound exactly like a friend of mine. Though the guy started having alcohol induced hallucinations so...
 
stop drinking large volumes of liquid to get your alcohol fix.

Personally, I do drink large volumes, without much of a hangover, nothing a decent fruit smoothy and plenty of water cant fix.
 
I drank very heavily during and after college. As of late I have tapered back from 2 nights a week every week to maybe twice a month if I'm lucky. I stopped altogether for 3-4 months and when I picked back up I really focused on moderation and making sure I only drank when there really was a reason to (some sort of event or out with friends, not just sitting at home watching TV and drinking or something lame).
 
The question you have to ask yourself is: why do you need to get smashed every time? Can't you have a couple beers (spaced over a couple hours) and still have a great time?

Quitting for a year will be tough, unless you think you can still see your friends on the week-end and just settle with a coffee, soda, red bull or just water. If you can do that, go for it!

If you can't, limit yourself to a certain amount of drinks, and no hard liquor. Tell yourself that each beer should last you at least 30 mins (time it! If a drink only lasts you 5-10 mins, you're on a highway to getting hammered). Over 3 hours that's 6 beers, and you shouldn't be too hammered since your body processes 1 beer per hour. Waking up in the morning you should still feel a little out of it, but within a an hour or two you'll feel just fine and ready to go again. ;)
 
I power drank for a couple years, and now I have drinks maybe twice a year, Christmas and New Years normally.

As you get older, your body needs longer for recovery. I'm damn near 40 now, and I try not to subject myself to too much. It's just not worth paying for it after the fun has ended.
 
I recommend drinking gatorade instead of water after you finish drinking alcohol for the night. This is far more effective than water, because it gives you potassium among other things which you lose through your urine IF you drink alcohol. This is one of the reasons you feel the negative effects of a hangover.

I've never had a hangover since I started drinking gatorade after I finished drinking for the night.
 
I was drinking excessively about 3-4 days per week (4+ double shots of whisky neat at a sitting), and went for some blood tests a couple days after not drinking. I found out that my liver enzymes were double what they should be, so I decided to take 3 months off alcohol completely. Also, I only get the urge to smoke when I drink, so on top of drinking I was also going through a pack of cigs whenever I'd go out.

Have to say, those 3 months of not drinking/smoking I felt great. Not only did my productivity go way up, but in general I just felt really healthy. Went for some blood tests after 2 months and my liver enzymes were back to normal.

Unfortunately, I've now come to the conclusion that I'm the type of person that pretty much needs to cut out drinking completely - I can't just have 2-3 drinks and stop (the buzz kicks in and I end up going all out drinking and smoking). I'm probably going to continue drinking until Mid September and then just call it quits completely. It's just not worth it... (I'd cut it out sooner but i'm going on a trip with some buddies).

Anyway, if you do stop drinking, you'll find that you feel much better after about 10-14 days. I pretty much started feeling great after a month and had no problem continuing not to drink.
 
"I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day." --Frank Sinatra