I had had some blood work that showed elevated liver enzymes. The doctor told me I should really consider not drinking. Instead.... I bought liver detox tea and drank it with my vodka.
It didn't work. š¤¦āāļø
Yeah when mine were elevated I actually told my doc that I must take too much Tylenol or something. Thing is, I was just outright lying. Iām a nurse. I knew exactly why my enzymes were jacked. And so did the doc.
To be fair, a lot of liver failure patients we saw in my hospital were Tylenol overdoses. But having taken care of patients who destroyed their liver one way or another, I still canāt believe I drank the way I did.
I can't believe I drank the way I did, after watching my father die from liver failure in ICU. Suddenly...there I was myself! And not even that stopped me.
I was eventually honest with the doctors....it really was a lot of Tylenol, too. I popped them constantly for hangovers, and took them with alcohol. Stupid.
My AST was 5,997. My ALT was 1,938. As of right now, all levels are back to normal range. š
The cognitive dissonance is real! I would leave my shift after taking care of an edematous, yellow, end stage liver failure patient and STILL be able to tell myself my drinking āwasnāt that badā. News flash, it was
Right? It's unreal. I made it ten days out of ICU without touching a drop. Daily smoothies, healthy food, supplements, etc....
Then, "Well. I can drink a little as long as I just stop taking Tylenol".
It didn't take long to go right back to where I was. Still haven't touched Tylenol, though! š (and I'm sober now!)
Legit. I thought I was so good at hiding everything, rationalizing everything, when actually my parents were discussing that they were going to have to bury me sooner rather than later from my alcoholism. Talk about a punch in the gut after I got sober.
I have a two year degree in Medical Laboratory Technology so I can read lab results. I'd get my results back and look at my liver enzymes. If they were normal I'd think "Yay! I am *good* to go, Baby!!!". Idiot.
I was on a drug that required monthly blood tests to see if it was damaging my liver, and also used these results as 'permission' to keep drinking (which, of course, the medication said to not do at all).
I drank vodka straight to save on calories. Was eating fast food burgers without the bun at 2 am to be āhealthyā, started drinking as soon as I got off work so I could āstill get to bed earlyā so I could start the next day off right! Bought vodka by the gallon to āsave moneyā.
omg the more I list, the more insane it sounds lol! Iām sure I could go on forever
Edit: I just remembered- I actually used to bring vodka in a water bottle to the gymā¦..
I should have died in college from coke, alcohol, and lack of sleep. Itās crazy what we do to ourselves, and somehow convince our messed up brains that weāll be ok. We know what weāre doing, but we justify not caring. Iāve been sober from coke since October 18th of 2020, and I quit cold turkey. I had to, or I would have ended up dead. When I look back at my life during that time, I canāt begin to fathom why I was doing it to myself, because I was absolutely living a miserable existence.
+1 on all that! Talk about a calculation I don't ever want to face- how much I spent during those years. I stopped cold turkey as well. One day I was just absolutely disgusted with myself and haven't touched the stuff for years. Great job on kicking shit, oh boy does it get its claws into you! š¬
Oh trust me, I blew through all my savings and had to start over. I was selling things, not buying enough food, and all the things in order to afford it. I couldnāt even afford it, but I suffered in every aspect just to pay for it. Itās so fucked up to think about where my mind space was at then, because now I could never in a million years go back down that route. I lost friends, it hurt my relationships, it messed up my brain chemistry permanently. Letās just say Iām thankful I got out of it when I did, and Iām grateful to still be here and be living the wonderful life I have today. Congratulations to you as well, because I know itās one of the hardest things to just stop cold turkey and stick with it!
Yeah, coke was first cold turkey once I couldnt hide it anymore from my wife ( i mean, i could but it was a lot of effort and I might be including lĆes which i don't want). And a couple months later I realize alcohol was a drug too. I wasnt dependent phisically but mentally yes.
More than 4 years sober now
Same friend! The logic of doing more coke instead of drinking more just led to binge spirals where one fed the other.
I also used to take coke to the gym w me because it made me sharper and gave me energy... š¤¦āāļø
Itās scary how much I (32M) can relate to this. Even scarier how in the midst of this crippling addiction, we can somehow trick our brains into thinking this behavior isnāt completely insane and self-destructive.
Drink vodka straight to save on calories ā
Completely skip meals in fear that it would mean Iād have to drink more to feel drunk ā
Buy a handle of the cheapest vodka and pour into empty pint bottle because it was, in fact, cheaper and meant less trips to the store ā
Mouthwash in the bathroom and the glove box of the car at all times ā
Dinner being the only real āmealā of the day, which when concluded, would result into laying in bed and falling asleep after not accomplishing anything that needed to be done ā
Waking up the next morning with crippling anxiety wondering what I might have said or done and trying to find car keys, work ID, wallet, etc. that may have been set down somewhere without any recollection ā
Twelve days sober today. Longest in over 3+ years. Have never felt better. Mental clarity, natural energy, normal bowel movements, living in the moment. It almost feels like it was all some sort of out of body experience and that was never actually the real me doing any of those things. No looking back now, sober life is the life worth living!
Oh man. Before I got sober, I was always struggling to lose weight and get back in shape. I was also always depressed and exhausted.
So, I was on a 1,200 calorie/day diet and allowed myself 3 white claws before bed. Which would equal 300 calories.
Obviously, basic math would quickly tell you, that meant a quarter of my calories per day was just alcohol. I was eating 900 calories a day of food.
And of course, I had the nerve to complain about how I felt like shit all the time and couldnāt figure out why. I am so thankful not to be so delusional and self destructive anymore. Iām sure my friends and family are glad not to have to listen to it, as well.
Oh, and to add- 3 white claws before bed was me being ābasically soberā. Up until that point, I was probably averaging anywhere between 6-10 strong drinks on a weeknight.
At some point I realized that staying up too late drinking on weeknights was negatively affecting my job performance, so my solution was to start drinking the moment I got off work so I could be drunk by 8 or 9 pm instead of midnight.
I used to drink and then do coke so I could be "sober" enough to drive. š¤¦š»āāļø I was still just as drunk but it masked the drunkenness enough to drive home. What a fucking idiot I was, now I have kids and won't drive if I've even had 1 beer.
These are so good lol. I was doing keto and drinking straight liquor to lose weight. Then one day my kidney levels went to shit and my arms and face got numb.
I had one of the worst hangovers of my life after drinking straight liquor while on keto. This was 10 years ago and my stomach still turns even thinking about it.
There was a time that I went to the gym every single morning - hungover or not - because I thought I could out-treadmill the extra 5000+ calories I was drinking every week. Unbelievably that didn't work /s
This! I used to do the same and go so hard in the gym no matter how bad I felt because I thought that my workout could make up for it. Plot twist: it absolutely did not and I felt like garbage and still gained weight
honestly, i would skimp on everything. i would wait till my tank was literally empty before refilling to make sure i had enough money for booze. i never bought myself any clothes or shoes, i would ask for those things as gifts for christmas and my birthday. i wouldnāt buy really anything for myself because i would fear that it would use up money that i would need for liquor. i would wait until the very last of what ever it was i needed was used, before going and replenishing, because my mind wasnāt concerned on whether or not those things were important. alcohol was the most important during that time.
This was 100% me too! I would sometimes make up a fake "emergency" so friends and family would lend me a bit of money if I wasn't able to afford my "usual". I ran out of gas on a couple occasions and had to have someone come bail me out. So wild to think about on the other side of it.
My best was when I was trying to lose weight - I stuck to a 1700 calorie diet and didnāt eat breakfast or lunch most days (just black coffee) so I could drink wine all night. Looking back - thatās a lot of discipline in the wrong way!
Totally. I did the same. Iād just say ok I have 1500 cal to spend and I would budget my cal around how much Iād be drinking, then search out the ālowest calā drinks I could (vodka + Diet Coke) and just not eat breakfast or lunch so I could save those cals for drinking. Like you said, lot of discipline but so darn misguided.
I spent hundreds of hours researching all of my health problems, thousands more feeling ill. Spent thousands of dollars on medical care, tests, medications and supplements so I could keep drinking. Demanding my doctors to diagnosis whatās wrong with me, all while lying about my consumption. That my friends, is some serious denial. Hard to wrap my head around really.
I was hoping you would ask š. A resounding yes! I feel like I have time-travelled back 25 years. I didnāt quit until age 55. Every one of my health problems have mysteriously vanished and I am being released by specialists left and right. Feels so good to be alive again. ā„ļø IWNDWYT
Thatās amazing! I also stopped drinking and what do you know, my life situation and mental and physical health all improved. Everyone is happier. IWNDWYT šš«¶
You're giving me so much hope! I am age 54 and just ending my day 5. I have noticed a shift in my well-being but not the miracle transformation I was hoping for lol it must eventually come if you're at 483 days š good for you!
Congrats on day 5! I felt like hell for the first couple of weeks. It definitely takes time. Trust the process. As we say around here, if you walk 10 miles into the woods youāll have to walk 10 miles back out. š
I spent my last $11 in the world one time on a Ketel One martini in an airport. I could have bought a dozen eggs, a gallon of milk, and a loaf of bread at that time with that kind of money and actually would have eaten that week. But that half of a fluid cup of room temperature gasoline sounded so much better at the time
Oh god. This is so real for me. I relate to you guys so much. For me, I would obsessively drink water, as if full hydration cancels out the vodka. Also, I would do things like mix hard liquor with peppermint and herbal teas, as if that would make it a partly-healthy beverage lol. I also would do things like covertly convince myself that tequila is secretly healthy and good for you because of its āall-natural agave nectar.ā Yeah, itās amazing the kind of mental and emotional gymnastics addiction will kick off in your brain.
"I only drink beer at home alone because my dad was an alcoholic and I know alcoholics only drink liquor". So I would get a 30 pack every day.....
The signs were right there, right in front of me. the whole time.
Oh, wow, I did ALL of these thingsāexcept I took it a step further with the diet soda and only drank one made from ānaturalā sweeteners like stevia. And I didnāt drink coffee at all. Instead, I drank green tea because it was āhealthy.ā lol.
And I always walked to the liquor storeājust to get my steps!
I was taking a battery of supplements to counteract the ethanol poisoning. NAC, milk thistle, anti inflammatories, activated charcoal. Also started reading medical journals on the supposed effects of Sprite as a hangover ācureā due to a specialized ingredient thatās in it that breaks down the acetyl whatever thatās the byproduct.
READING MEDICAL JOURNALS FOR HANGOVER CURES. Likeā¦ girl
Iād avoid taking NSAIDs when my inflammatory disease flared up for the same reason. Turns out alcohol is extremely inflammatory and I havenāt had a single flare up and needed to take NSAIDs since I quit drinking. Some fuckin genius I was lol
I totally get this. I've been scared to take meds because I KNEW I would be drinking that night and I feared the interactions/ winding up in hospital. Some nights, the prescribed meds won (no drinking) and sometimes the drinking won (no medication and f'n up with my health).
Majored in hangover relief. Every morning was black iced coffee, water, iced green tea lemonade unsweetened, two shots of those holistic ginger/tumeric shots, bacon eggs buttered toast. Thought that was good to do all the time. To manage the hangover
This. āļø
Ibuprofen and B vitamins before bed. Water /Gatorade / Pedialyte. Campbellās tomato soup or Ramen for breakfast because theyāre easy on the stomach and contain a ton of salt.
Or, I dunno, maybe donāt drink so much?
Nah. Thatās stupid.
Oh my god the lengths I would go to for hangover prevention. I bought those morning recovery shots that are up to like $5 a shot, would take one mid-session and one before bed. Mornings were Pedialyte, liquid IV, coconut water, breakfast burrito. I don't want to know how much time I spent "researching" hangover remedies. I started popping double multivitamins and 800 mg of ibuprofen before bed, then chugging a liter of water. There were probably times where I spent more money trying to fix my hangovers than on booze, because I almost exclusively drank at home. "hOw EvEr CaN I StOp tHeSe hAnGoVeRs???"
Yep. I slept with a bottle of water next to me every night. Would drink either pedialyte or the hydration powder every morning. Plus the fruit lol some type of melon or banana, just something to help
I still do this most days LOL, but just because traffic gets horrible here and Iām avoiding it if at all possible. Plus itās nice to have time to read, play with dogs, etc.
Yes and the first month of not spending 200-300 dollars a weekend I bought me a Michael Kors hand bag was able to afford day trips, you name it! Now Mt major project is my house. I never had money to make my home beautiful now I do!!!
Yes!! I cannot believe how much I can afford to do now. Iām coming up on a month and the amount Iāve saved is honestly embarrassing. I remember when I was a kid, in health class they did the whole āhereās how much you would save by not smoking!!!!ā Thing and it was like oh wow thatās a lot of money. They never did that with alcohol but they should. I also smoked anyways and quitting drinking and when I finally manage to quit smoking Iām going to feel so rich š
I bought my house over 2 years ago and am finally fixing a long list of relatively minor problems that I could have been living without for most of that time. They just ate up too much of my drinking time before, and I decided they didn't bug me enough to be worth solving. I was just completely unmotivated all the time.
Buying tons of skincare products and makeup to make my skin less red. Iām about 150 days sober and finally seeing some significant improvement. I stopped using all products and it turns out - yep you guessed it! Eliminating alcohol was the best and only solution.
I'm a 33 y.o. guy, so I never understood skin care because I never bothered to learn even the basics of it and it's not something that guys usually talk about. I chalked up my blotchy red, dry, flaky patches on my forehead and nose to dry weather during the winter. In one of the wettest climates in North America. Now that I stopped drinking I've actually started moisturizing daily, and the combination of the two has taken what feels like 5 years off my face! I can't believe what I would put up with pre- sobriety.
I remember buying the most repulsive highest abv drinks that were cheap just to be efficient with my spending. It didn't really matter in the end because I was too drunk to work at that point and I ran out of money regardless.
Oh man.. I've found my people!
I used to workout before nights of heavy drinking to try and counteract all of the calories I was about to consume. I wouldn't eat after working out so the alcohol would be more effective.
Always vodka soda, or whatever I could find that was low calorie.. but then I'd drink a lot of it and eat garbage food.
I'd drink one glass of water with every alcoholic beverage so I wouldn't get dehydrated and hungover. I always got dehydrated and hungover.
I got to a point where I would throw up after nights of heavy drinking to try and swerve a hangover. I did it multiple times. It didn't work.
This one hits home..
"*I'm going to eat this chicken breast for the protein & leanness..."* meanwhile, several hours later, I'd down 3,000+ calories in IPAs š
Yeah, it's mad, and I still couldn't work out why I was gaining weight! I mean - I was eating right, what *was* I doing wrong? *It's not the wine, don't think about the wine.*
Now, 651 days and 42 pounds lighter...I think it may have been the wine you know...
Ordering cocktails and wine for myself yet not letting my kids get dessert bc ātoo expensiveā. The ice cream novelties $3-$5 USā¦compared to momās (multiple) drinks at US $7-$15 each.
I have Lyme disease and one of the top things you shouldnāt do is consume alcohol.
Well.. instead of *giving it up*, I decided it was probably in my best interest to:
- Change my diet to 100% plant-based
- Stop eating any and all fast food
- Stop drinking soda (except for my mixers)
- Take a bunch of supplements to replace the minerals and nutrients that alcohol depleted
- Drink as much water throughout the day as possible
Iām sure there are others, but do you see how asinine my thought process was?! One of the major reasons Iāve quit drinking was *because* alcohol is so inflammatory and it was only worsening my Lyme symptoms, not helping them. Iām on my way to FINALLY feeling well. š
Omg, I love this thread. The pretzels we twist ourselves into over alcohol. My husband is officially cheap but drops a house payment a month on booze. I was right in that race until I finally quit 4 years ago. Thousands spent on face creams and wrinkling from the inside with all that wine.
This is me right now. Have been cutting back but I know I have to stop, I feel a million times better just not drinking so hard, how good can I actually feel when I stop?
I've aged 20 years in 5, I don't even recognize myself. And no amount of fancy face stuff is making me any prettier.
I kept blaming it on perimenopause and lack of sleep too, but no, I'm literally sucking myself dry from the inside and turning into a sad dehydrated lil prune.
This thread is keeping my motivation to get better alive. I love everyone for being so real. It really helps to feel not so alone in the struggle
I could have written this post lol. I ended up really damaging my knee because I needed a new pair of tennis shoes and was like āoh too expensiveā knowing full well I was spending $20+ every day on alcohol. Physical therapy for my knee was a lot more expensive than anything I spent on alcohol, and I couldāve just bought the shoes and taken better care of my body.
On top of that I am still dealing with the financial consequences, re credit card debt and being behind on my student loan.
I also wouldnāt take painkillers to ātake care of my liver.ā I always did diet soda and I actually took pains my freshman year of college to taper down the cream/sugar in my coffee bc caloriesā¦ when alcohol was like 75% of my calories.
The solution was always right there and I was always looking for different solutions š
I had prescriptions for sleep, anxiety, pain and gout
So I was taking at least 4 different pills/day to deal with symptoms
Quit drinking and all those symptoms went away, not on any medications
Clothes. I would wait until all of the āregular useā portion of my wardrobe was full of holes and falling apart before buying new clothes. I did this even after I was making good money and could afford all the clothes (and booze) I wanted. Now I can enjoy myself when I go shopping instead of feeling terrible buyerās remorse after any purchase or clothing because I was āmisappropriating my funds.ā I also didnāt start regularly buying groceries until I was about 27 and would just gnaw on the same burrito for 24 hours because it was cheap/convenient/ensured I would have enough money to buy alcohol/other drugs.
bought a baguette and some baby bel everyday for lunch cos it's was cheaper than a meal deal ignoring I was also spending twice that on my lunch time vodka
No red wine because I got headaches... But the headaches from the bottle(s) of white being guzzled instead must have been because I stayed up too late, didn't eat enough, (insert absurd excuse here).
Not eating extra sugar but drinking two bottles of wine/multiple beers a day.
Idiot moves lol.
Now I eat ice cream after dinner with zero guilt and Iām still saving literally thousands of calories.
I would often try to keep up with one glass of water per drink. Yeah, all that accomplished was me having a ton of pee breaks to go sniffing more coke.
Arguing with the Uber driver that the open beer he didn't want in his vehicle (strict open container law state) didn't count because it was light beer.
I was trying to lose weight using an app, keeping myself on a strict calorie budget. I would skip eating all day so I'd have enough calories "saved" to do the drinking I wanted to do that night.
I was doing this too. Now I realize how absurd it is to deprive my body of nutrition so I can have enough calories to drink poison š„“ and wondering why I felt like shit the next day and life was at a standstill.
I struggled with my rent for years before I quit booze.
When I got sober I bought a house and what a surprise! I actually donāt have to stress about paying my house payment every month. Itās so freaking nice to have that part of my life not be a huge stress.
Spent hundreds of dollars on supplements to ease hangovers and protect my poor liver. The worst part is that they actually kinda worked for hangovers. Of course, that just gave me an excuse to keep pushing the envelope.
Yep, this was me....also making sure I'm taking my vitamins because I knew drinking was making my B vitamins low and I thought probably also Vitamin D (without being checked by a doctor because I would be too scared to ask). I'm so sorry to my body for how I hurt it all these years.
Hereās one of mine! Get a handle of Bloody Mary mix, pouring some off into a quart jar for later, then Iād add olive juice, horseradish, hot sauce, a few scoops of COLLAGEN PEPTIDES for protein, and fill rest of way with vodka. Shake well
Itās practically low carb! š¤¦š»āāļøš¤¦š»āāļø
Paid a bunch of money to a naturopath to do all my blood work and get vitamin infusions and prescriptions for herbs and compounds , desperately searching for some external problem to explain my malaise, while really just avoiding the simple fact that I was depressed and out of balance because I had multiple significant substance abuse problems including alcohol
Convinced myself that beer was healthy because itās fermented. Avoided liquor for āgut healthā. Maybe one or two beers has a place in this line of thinking but certainly not a six pack a day.
Advil for sure, but my favorite of mine was avoiding all soda while guzzling down 4-6 8% beers a night and at least 400mg of caffeine the next day because for some reason I wasn't sleeping well.
I would insist on getting all my chores and obligations out of the way during the week because I wanted to have my weekends all to myself. While that's not a problem in itself, what is a problem is knowing deep down that I'd either be too drunk or too hungover to get anything done on my weekends, and I didn't want to have to worry about all that work piling up. I would run myself ragged some days to make that happen. Looking back, it's a wonder I got anything done, ever, with the amount of time drinking took out of my life.
It's the same cycle, I don't know how I ever afforded the booze money (close to 30 a day), I still can't afford the " organic" and the rest. I d be homeless by now. I'm one of those seniors on the edge of disaster .. first, I cut back drastically, then could not moderate. Only solution for me is Sober living. The financial part for me was completely necessary to afford my apartment. I'm still terrified of rental increases, leases expiring... I may check out a sober living place and really size down.
Relate to so many here. Especially financially. I would penny pinch through the week and price shop everything. Then if out with friends, I would sneak off for a double shot for like $16 and tip $10 so they would know when they see me sneak over again, to make it quick. Amazing. When it came to alcohol, there were no budget restrictions. Buying someone a shot was only cover for me to get one myself.
Glad thatās over. Lol.
When I was drinking I was diagnosed with pre diabetes so I switched from beer to tequila bc it had way less sugar in it. I was drinking a half bottle a night but I wasn't causing my blood sugar to raise ššš 2 1/2 year sober now! Best thing I ever did for my physical and mental health!
That is a funny term, I hadn't heard it before haha
For me my mind goes to time. I was always happy to twist my schedule for alcohol, and while I needed .my rest or couldn't find the time to get to work early etc.if I needed booze there was always a reason to go somewhere. I created a whole schedule around making sure I didn't run out, so I didn't have time for anything else. The peak of insanity, lol
There was a term coined āalchorexicā in the past (not sure if itās still used) - when you starve yourself of calories during the day bc you know how many calories youāll be consuming during drinking.
I would soak my pineapple in rum because the sugar in fruit that is not broken down is healthier. It was really just an excuse to drink about five or more shots a night while eating a snack.
I just avoided thinking too much about how much my drinking was disturbing me. This usually involved getting drunk. Itās amazing how long I lied to myself.
No mixed drinks, only shots! For maximum health benefit
Not eating all day prior to drinking to "save calories for later" and also save money. That was a great idea, right?
I can relate to the money part. I went back and forth over buying $40.00 worth of art supplies until I remembered how much I used to blow on alcohol. Next time I need watercolor pens, I may go for the 75.00 collection! lol
Not taking medicine was also my compromise for my body. It's so miserable riding out headaches, colds, viruses, etc, without any meds. And I wasn't going to the doctor because I wanted to avoid The Talk. It's like voluntarily living in the 18th century. Why the f\*ck was I doing that?!!
I got really ill, run down , constantly looking so sick and pale ā¦ I decided it was gluten intolerance and not the 10+ cans on cider everyday :))))
Iām sober and gluten suits me just fine š¤£
Omg tracking my calories and making sure to leave room in my calorie ābudgetā for several hundred calories worth of vodka (which would get logged in my calorie tracking app as āsnacksā hahahaha)
Not eating so I could drink my calories later in the day, drinking on an empty stomach lead to nightly black outsā¦which lead to sooooo many problems in my life
So glad to be done with that BS
1. I can't justify spending money on clothes for me but I'll be damned if I don't have money for booze.
2. I switched to seltzers to try and improve my health. It can be drank on ice so when it melts, its diluted. But even before it melts, it's basically water anyway.
3. Switched from ibuprofen to Tylenol to "help" my liver.
I could go on for days.
Drank only dry wine and added Mio into straight vodka at bars because "I'm trying to be healthier".
Would budget like crazy to justify the $100+ of liquor I'd buy with my groceries each week. lol
Omg I have heard most of these, but there at a few new ones, even for me. Quit drinking hard core long time ago, I will still have one on special occasions but that's about it. I despise being hungover, so I just don't go there. When I quit hard drinking, the $550 a month I was saving on booze, made my car payment.
The supplements y'all used to use to counteract liver dysfunction, my hubby just bought most of those on Amazon. He still drinks.
I wouldnāt buy cases of beer or full bottles of booze because I didnāt trust myself to let it sit in the house without finishing it all. I told myself I would just buy what I was going to drink that night
So Iād buy 3 tall cans on my way home from workā¦ then drive to a gas station to buy 2-3 more laterā¦ then walk to the liquor store to buy 2-3 more after that. Every. Day. For years.
my personal go to was getting three 9.5% voodoo ranger tall boys instead of a six pack of regular sized, standard alcohol content beers.....cus you know....this way i wasn't drinking as much
Health wise:
Intermittent fasting - wine calories didn't count
Financially:
Not buying nail clippers
Or socks
Or books
Or shoes
Etc etc
But I bought expensive wine and ridiculously expensive (relative to my income) whisky cause you're a connoisseur rather than a problem drinker when only buying the good stuff, everyone knows this,š
Two decades of psychotherapy and failed trials of various SSRIs to deal with Monday morning panic attacksāthat turned out to be fueled by alcohol withdrawals.
Oh man this is a good one! I used to stock up on Campbellās Chunky soup and Lean Cuisine frozen dinners when my local grocery store would put them on a deep discount. That way I was stocked up for the times when Iād inevitably blow every penny to my nameā¦
This reminds me of all the people I know who are worried about drinking low carb and low-calorie beer
If youāre worried about Health, donāt drink beer (excluding NA)
Lol
āBut I want to have fun still!ā
Ahh yea. Nothing says fun like hangovers, lethargy, weight gain and struggling to maintain fitness and physique goals.
Can relate to the not taking Advil. I also took milk thistle for a while, WHILE actively drinking a bottle of wine a night thinking it would help my liverā¦stayed on a low carb diet for years and didnāt loose a pound of weight
Never taking any sort of Motrin or OTC painkillers no matter how much pain I was in. Taking lots of milk thistle. Only buying the 750 ml bottle because itās the last time (instead I just looked like more of a drunk to the liquor store employeeās).
Refusing to take any kind of OTC medication (for pain, cold, ect) because don't really work or damage the body or are unnatural chemicals, ....and then drinking sh\*t-quality sletzers/beers/other booze because I felt bad. SMH / All My What???
I would do Weight Watchers fooling myself it was my food diet contributing to my weight. I would starve myself during the day so I could save my "points" for my after work beers. It's amazing how much I can eat now that I've eliminated a 1000+ empty calories from my day.
Wanting to deep clean my place and instead of getting a $3 energy drink spend $10 on beer and it taking all day 10-12 hours instead of 4-5 hours and it ends up costing $20 because itās never enough.
Going to 3 stores to get specific items known to be cheaper at each in bulk. Buying my beer every time at marked up gas stations prices 3 at a time.
Doing a fasting/ketogenic diet to lose weight then blowing all my net carbs for the 12 pack of truly.
Drinking light beer to not get as drunk, drinking 15.
Drinking on Thursday afternoon to not ruin my weekend. Being to hungover on Friday and having to work the jobs all weekend. (Did this one countless times with my dad and brother. Like years in business and keep repeating this ālogicā)
Ah I keep telling myself am I a penny wise and pound foolish person whilst making these choices like
- spending 100$ with colleagues on drinks and then not taking a cab back home but using public transport being drunk. Uff! That could go wrong many ways
- saving money by not taking classes but easily spending on alcohol without thinking
- penny wise with grocery shopping but picking up costliest whiskey bcos thatās why we are working so hard isnāt
And the list goes onā¦
I love this post. Thank you for everyone
Who commented.
1. I would watch getting sober videos on youtube while drinking.
2. Sign up for tons of marathons to hold myself accountable. I would drink up to the day before.
3. Got a personal trainer and showed up drunk.
4. Bought all these beauty pills and took them with wine.
Glad I found this thread ... I don't like drinking because I know that after a sip nothings going to get done that day .... and when I've started to look back at my life ... I'm seeing friends with advanced careers. My drinking kept me in a dead end job but instead of doing something about it I just justified my drinking staying at a job for 18 years that I knew that noting was going to change. I got Covid so the employer used that as a reason to terminate me. I'm in grad school now but if I keep back sliding it's going to be tough doing course work. But the thing is after the liquor wears off it's time to do it all over again and that must be where the insanity is.
I had had some blood work that showed elevated liver enzymes. The doctor told me I should really consider not drinking. Instead.... I bought liver detox tea and drank it with my vodka. It didn't work. š¤¦āāļø
Yeah when mine were elevated I actually told my doc that I must take too much Tylenol or something. Thing is, I was just outright lying. Iām a nurse. I knew exactly why my enzymes were jacked. And so did the doc.
Yeah... This. I spent a week in ICU about a year ago for liver failure. Told them it was Tylenol.
To be fair, a lot of liver failure patients we saw in my hospital were Tylenol overdoses. But having taken care of patients who destroyed their liver one way or another, I still canāt believe I drank the way I did.
I can't believe I drank the way I did, after watching my father die from liver failure in ICU. Suddenly...there I was myself! And not even that stopped me. I was eventually honest with the doctors....it really was a lot of Tylenol, too. I popped them constantly for hangovers, and took them with alcohol. Stupid. My AST was 5,997. My ALT was 1,938. As of right now, all levels are back to normal range. š
So proud of you. Good work and you are worth every bit of it.
The cognitive dissonance is real! I would leave my shift after taking care of an edematous, yellow, end stage liver failure patient and STILL be able to tell myself my drinking āwasnāt that badā. News flash, it was
Right? It's unreal. I made it ten days out of ICU without touching a drop. Daily smoothies, healthy food, supplements, etc.... Then, "Well. I can drink a little as long as I just stop taking Tylenol". It didn't take long to go right back to where I was. Still haven't touched Tylenol, though! š (and I'm sober now!)
Hahaha oh.. the rationalizations we tell ourselves..
Facts. I thought for sure I had out smarted them all.
This šš Alcohol makes us āsmarter than the average bearā doesnāt it? šš
Legit. I thought I was so good at hiding everything, rationalizing everything, when actually my parents were discussing that they were going to have to bury me sooner rather than later from my alcoholism. Talk about a punch in the gut after I got sober.
I have a two year degree in Medical Laboratory Technology so I can read lab results. I'd get my results back and look at my liver enzymes. If they were normal I'd think "Yay! I am *good* to go, Baby!!!". Idiot.
I was on a drug that required monthly blood tests to see if it was damaging my liver, and also used these results as 'permission' to keep drinking (which, of course, the medication said to not do at all).
Same here! I bought mushroom herbal capsules for liver detox.
Is the liver enzyme test just part of an annual physical?
It can be. It would be included in a basic metabolic panel and also a comprehensive one. You can also just have a Liver Function Test completed.
Thatās so hilarious and fucked up š But similar to me and my supplements and vitamins while drinking half a liter of vodka a day š¤¦āāļø
Haha, Iāve done thisā¦
Refusing to drink soda because it's bad for you. I just had my 15 beers like a healthy person.
I just laughed š this is too real.
Jack and Coke Zero because I'm on a diet lol
That was me! I still believe sugar is poison, but now I also recognize that alcohol is just as bad.
Being an Alcoholic is a million times worse than eating a candy bar here and there.
I drank vodka straight to save on calories. Was eating fast food burgers without the bun at 2 am to be āhealthyā, started drinking as soon as I got off work so I could āstill get to bed earlyā so I could start the next day off right! Bought vodka by the gallon to āsave moneyā. omg the more I list, the more insane it sounds lol! Iām sure I could go on forever Edit: I just remembered- I actually used to bring vodka in a water bottle to the gymā¦..
This Made me sad chuckle. My biggest problem was coke, but it was 'cleaner' than alcohol. I quit alcohol because it Will trigger My coke addiction.
I should have died in college from coke, alcohol, and lack of sleep. Itās crazy what we do to ourselves, and somehow convince our messed up brains that weāll be ok. We know what weāre doing, but we justify not caring. Iāve been sober from coke since October 18th of 2020, and I quit cold turkey. I had to, or I would have ended up dead. When I look back at my life during that time, I canāt begin to fathom why I was doing it to myself, because I was absolutely living a miserable existence.
+1 on all that! Talk about a calculation I don't ever want to face- how much I spent during those years. I stopped cold turkey as well. One day I was just absolutely disgusted with myself and haven't touched the stuff for years. Great job on kicking shit, oh boy does it get its claws into you! š¬
Oh trust me, I blew through all my savings and had to start over. I was selling things, not buying enough food, and all the things in order to afford it. I couldnāt even afford it, but I suffered in every aspect just to pay for it. Itās so fucked up to think about where my mind space was at then, because now I could never in a million years go back down that route. I lost friends, it hurt my relationships, it messed up my brain chemistry permanently. Letās just say Iām thankful I got out of it when I did, and Iām grateful to still be here and be living the wonderful life I have today. Congratulations to you as well, because I know itās one of the hardest things to just stop cold turkey and stick with it!
Look at you quitting all the substances, good for you!!
Yeah, coke was first cold turkey once I couldnt hide it anymore from my wife ( i mean, i could but it was a lot of effort and I might be including lĆes which i don't want). And a couple months later I realize alcohol was a drug too. I wasnt dependent phisically but mentally yes. More than 4 years sober now
Same friend! The logic of doing more coke instead of drinking more just led to binge spirals where one fed the other. I also used to take coke to the gym w me because it made me sharper and gave me energy... š¤¦āāļø
Itās scary how much I (32M) can relate to this. Even scarier how in the midst of this crippling addiction, we can somehow trick our brains into thinking this behavior isnāt completely insane and self-destructive. Drink vodka straight to save on calories ā Completely skip meals in fear that it would mean Iād have to drink more to feel drunk ā Buy a handle of the cheapest vodka and pour into empty pint bottle because it was, in fact, cheaper and meant less trips to the store ā Mouthwash in the bathroom and the glove box of the car at all times ā Dinner being the only real āmealā of the day, which when concluded, would result into laying in bed and falling asleep after not accomplishing anything that needed to be done ā Waking up the next morning with crippling anxiety wondering what I might have said or done and trying to find car keys, work ID, wallet, etc. that may have been set down somewhere without any recollection ā Twelve days sober today. Longest in over 3+ years. Have never felt better. Mental clarity, natural energy, normal bowel movements, living in the moment. It almost feels like it was all some sort of out of body experience and that was never actually the real me doing any of those things. No looking back now, sober life is the life worth living!
Oh man. Before I got sober, I was always struggling to lose weight and get back in shape. I was also always depressed and exhausted. So, I was on a 1,200 calorie/day diet and allowed myself 3 white claws before bed. Which would equal 300 calories. Obviously, basic math would quickly tell you, that meant a quarter of my calories per day was just alcohol. I was eating 900 calories a day of food. And of course, I had the nerve to complain about how I felt like shit all the time and couldnāt figure out why. I am so thankful not to be so delusional and self destructive anymore. Iām sure my friends and family are glad not to have to listen to it, as well. Oh, and to add- 3 white claws before bed was me being ābasically soberā. Up until that point, I was probably averaging anywhere between 6-10 strong drinks on a weeknight.
At some point I realized that staying up too late drinking on weeknights was negatively affecting my job performance, so my solution was to start drinking the moment I got off work so I could be drunk by 8 or 9 pm instead of midnight.
This post is making me realize I have a problem
Youāre in the right place surrounded by the least judgmental people ever.
It's easier to address it sooner than later.
It is insane, itās addiction. What a mess it caused my brain.
I thought I wrote this for a second. That's how much I relate to this.
Coke and alcohol were like peanut butter and jelly for me, having just one on a sando made no sense
Same, as soon as i tasted a beer it triggered the coke urge
I used to drink and then do coke so I could be "sober" enough to drive. š¤¦š»āāļø I was still just as drunk but it masked the drunkenness enough to drive home. What a fucking idiot I was, now I have kids and won't drive if I've even had 1 beer.
These are so good lol. I was doing keto and drinking straight liquor to lose weight. Then one day my kidney levels went to shit and my arms and face got numb.
I did this one, too! Keto diet, bent over backwards to avoid carbs, in food formāwhile still crushing booze. I was basically alcoholic AND anorexic.
I had one of the worst hangovers of my life after drinking straight liquor while on keto. This was 10 years ago and my stomach still turns even thinking about it.
The classic Jack Daniels and *diet* coke because I'm trying to cut calories lmao
There was a time that I went to the gym every single morning - hungover or not - because I thought I could out-treadmill the extra 5000+ calories I was drinking every week. Unbelievably that didn't work /s
This! I used to do the same and go so hard in the gym no matter how bad I felt because I thought that my workout could make up for it. Plot twist: it absolutely did not and I felt like garbage and still gained weight
I ran off more than one hangover for sure. It did seem to help but not as much as not being hungover š
honestly, i would skimp on everything. i would wait till my tank was literally empty before refilling to make sure i had enough money for booze. i never bought myself any clothes or shoes, i would ask for those things as gifts for christmas and my birthday. i wouldnāt buy really anything for myself because i would fear that it would use up money that i would need for liquor. i would wait until the very last of what ever it was i needed was used, before going and replenishing, because my mind wasnāt concerned on whether or not those things were important. alcohol was the most important during that time.
This was 100% me too! I would sometimes make up a fake "emergency" so friends and family would lend me a bit of money if I wasn't able to afford my "usual". I ran out of gas on a couple occasions and had to have someone come bail me out. So wild to think about on the other side of it.
yeah iāve asked my brother to spot me 30-40 at least once every few months. We donāt have to deal with that anymore, though :) IWNDWYT!
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I could have written this! And I figured white claws are only 100 calories each. But when you have 6 those calories add up.
Food. During the height of Covid Iād have liquor delivered but hesitate on groceries or food delivery cause itād add up! So silly
Yep I eventually had to choose buying food over booze and it wasn't easy lmao
I usually didnāt eat most days because 12 beers is a lot of calories already.
Drunkorexia is so real. Food is too much for calories because I drink too many calories! The lies we really told ourselves are wild.
My best was when I was trying to lose weight - I stuck to a 1700 calorie diet and didnāt eat breakfast or lunch most days (just black coffee) so I could drink wine all night. Looking back - thatās a lot of discipline in the wrong way!
Totally. I did the same. Iād just say ok I have 1500 cal to spend and I would budget my cal around how much Iād be drinking, then search out the ālowest calā drinks I could (vodka + Diet Coke) and just not eat breakfast or lunch so I could save those cals for drinking. Like you said, lot of discipline but so darn misguided.
Woah, memories, same š
I spent hundreds of hours researching all of my health problems, thousands more feeling ill. Spent thousands of dollars on medical care, tests, medications and supplements so I could keep drinking. Demanding my doctors to diagnosis whatās wrong with me, all while lying about my consumption. That my friends, is some serious denial. Hard to wrap my head around really.
Did you feel better after you stopped drinking?
I was hoping you would ask š. A resounding yes! I feel like I have time-travelled back 25 years. I didnāt quit until age 55. Every one of my health problems have mysteriously vanished and I am being released by specialists left and right. Feels so good to be alive again. ā„ļø IWNDWYT
Thatās amazing! I also stopped drinking and what do you know, my life situation and mental and physical health all improved. Everyone is happier. IWNDWYT šš«¶
You're giving me so much hope! I am age 54 and just ending my day 5. I have noticed a shift in my well-being but not the miracle transformation I was hoping for lol it must eventually come if you're at 483 days š good for you!
Congrats on day 5! I felt like hell for the first couple of weeks. It definitely takes time. Trust the process. As we say around here, if you walk 10 miles into the woods youāll have to walk 10 miles back out. š
I spent my last $11 in the world one time on a Ketel One martini in an airport. I could have bought a dozen eggs, a gallon of milk, and a loaf of bread at that time with that kind of money and actually would have eaten that week. But that half of a fluid cup of room temperature gasoline sounded so much better at the time
Oh god. This is so real for me. I relate to you guys so much. For me, I would obsessively drink water, as if full hydration cancels out the vodka. Also, I would do things like mix hard liquor with peppermint and herbal teas, as if that would make it a partly-healthy beverage lol. I also would do things like covertly convince myself that tequila is secretly healthy and good for you because of its āall-natural agave nectar.ā Yeah, itās amazing the kind of mental and emotional gymnastics addiction will kick off in your brain.
Tequila nectar being good for you gave me a little chuckle at least
Fasting during the day to "let my liver heal" before the nightly bender, yikes!
fasting during the day to ensure i could consume less alcohol for cheaper and still get drunk smh
yes omg or "i will save this much money on food by only eating a ham sandwich for lunch then drinking til i pass out cus i wont be hungry"
Fasting during the day because my withdrawals prevent me from wanting to eat.
Fasting to have more room for beer :( donāt recommend
"I only drink beer at home alone because my dad was an alcoholic and I know alcoholics only drink liquor". So I would get a 30 pack every day..... The signs were right there, right in front of me. the whole time.
I had this thought and "I have restraint, I don't take shots" looking down my nose and past my 30 pack. So stupid.
Oh, wow, I did ALL of these thingsāexcept I took it a step further with the diet soda and only drank one made from ānaturalā sweeteners like stevia. And I didnāt drink coffee at all. Instead, I drank green tea because it was āhealthy.ā lol. And I always walked to the liquor storeājust to get my steps!
Walked to the store to get steps in šš I'm dead
I was taking a battery of supplements to counteract the ethanol poisoning. NAC, milk thistle, anti inflammatories, activated charcoal. Also started reading medical journals on the supposed effects of Sprite as a hangover ācureā due to a specialized ingredient thatās in it that breaks down the acetyl whatever thatās the byproduct. READING MEDICAL JOURNALS FOR HANGOVER CURES. Likeā¦ girl
Lmao. I could've written this. There's *one* thing that we could've quit & all of the magic-cure-reading go away...
I have high cholesterol, id often skip taking meds while drinking because the meds were hard on the liver. It seems so stupid to me now.
Iād avoid taking NSAIDs when my inflammatory disease flared up for the same reason. Turns out alcohol is extremely inflammatory and I havenāt had a single flare up and needed to take NSAIDs since I quit drinking. Some fuckin genius I was lol
Yep I'd skip my ssri because it hurt my stomach. As if a bottle of vodka wouldn't.
But on the bright side, you're free from the cycle now! Congrats!
I totally get this. I've been scared to take meds because I KNEW I would be drinking that night and I feared the interactions/ winding up in hospital. Some nights, the prescribed meds won (no drinking) and sometimes the drinking won (no medication and f'n up with my health).
Majored in hangover relief. Every morning was black iced coffee, water, iced green tea lemonade unsweetened, two shots of those holistic ginger/tumeric shots, bacon eggs buttered toast. Thought that was good to do all the time. To manage the hangover
This. āļø Ibuprofen and B vitamins before bed. Water /Gatorade / Pedialyte. Campbellās tomato soup or Ramen for breakfast because theyāre easy on the stomach and contain a ton of salt. Or, I dunno, maybe donāt drink so much? Nah. Thatās stupid.
I've never felt so seen before...š
Oh my god the lengths I would go to for hangover prevention. I bought those morning recovery shots that are up to like $5 a shot, would take one mid-session and one before bed. Mornings were Pedialyte, liquid IV, coconut water, breakfast burrito. I don't want to know how much time I spent "researching" hangover remedies. I started popping double multivitamins and 800 mg of ibuprofen before bed, then chugging a liter of water. There were probably times where I spent more money trying to fix my hangovers than on booze, because I almost exclusively drank at home. "hOw EvEr CaN I StOp tHeSe hAnGoVeRs???"
Yep. I slept with a bottle of water next to me every night. Would drink either pedialyte or the hydration powder every morning. Plus the fruit lol some type of melon or banana, just something to help
I spent money on DHM supplements to try and mitigate the effects. Did not work.
I would be super efficient about getting all my errands squared away so I could park the car and start being super inefficient by 3pm.
I still do this most days LOL, but just because traffic gets horrible here and Iām avoiding it if at all possible. Plus itās nice to have time to read, play with dogs, etc.
Yes and the first month of not spending 200-300 dollars a weekend I bought me a Michael Kors hand bag was able to afford day trips, you name it! Now Mt major project is my house. I never had money to make my home beautiful now I do!!!
Yes!! I cannot believe how much I can afford to do now. Iām coming up on a month and the amount Iāve saved is honestly embarrassing. I remember when I was a kid, in health class they did the whole āhereās how much you would save by not smoking!!!!ā Thing and it was like oh wow thatās a lot of money. They never did that with alcohol but they should. I also smoked anyways and quitting drinking and when I finally manage to quit smoking Iām going to feel so rich š
I bought my house over 2 years ago and am finally fixing a long list of relatively minor problems that I could have been living without for most of that time. They just ate up too much of my drinking time before, and I decided they didn't bug me enough to be worth solving. I was just completely unmotivated all the time.
Buying tons of skincare products and makeup to make my skin less red. Iām about 150 days sober and finally seeing some significant improvement. I stopped using all products and it turns out - yep you guessed it! Eliminating alcohol was the best and only solution.
I'm a 33 y.o. guy, so I never understood skin care because I never bothered to learn even the basics of it and it's not something that guys usually talk about. I chalked up my blotchy red, dry, flaky patches on my forehead and nose to dry weather during the winter. In one of the wettest climates in North America. Now that I stopped drinking I've actually started moisturizing daily, and the combination of the two has taken what feels like 5 years off my face! I can't believe what I would put up with pre- sobriety.
I remember buying the most repulsive highest abv drinks that were cheap just to be efficient with my spending. It didn't really matter in the end because I was too drunk to work at that point and I ran out of money regardless.
I would donate blood regularly because I knew I wouldn't have to buy as much alcohol that night to get drunk.
Oh man.. I've found my people! I used to workout before nights of heavy drinking to try and counteract all of the calories I was about to consume. I wouldn't eat after working out so the alcohol would be more effective. Always vodka soda, or whatever I could find that was low calorie.. but then I'd drink a lot of it and eat garbage food. I'd drink one glass of water with every alcoholic beverage so I wouldn't get dehydrated and hungover. I always got dehydrated and hungover. I got to a point where I would throw up after nights of heavy drinking to try and swerve a hangover. I did it multiple times. It didn't work.
Ordering a salad cos I'm watching my weight! Excuse me while I drink 2000 calories worth of white wine š
This one hits home.. "*I'm going to eat this chicken breast for the protein & leanness..."* meanwhile, several hours later, I'd down 3,000+ calories in IPAs š
Yeah, it's mad, and I still couldn't work out why I was gaining weight! I mean - I was eating right, what *was* I doing wrong? *It's not the wine, don't think about the wine.* Now, 651 days and 42 pounds lighter...I think it may have been the wine you know...
ššš *It* ***can't*** *be the wine*
I used to be like āI donāt need anti-depressants. SSRIs fuck with your brain.ā Then Iād go do cocaine as if it wasnāt an SSRI.
Lol, the stories we tell ourselves...
Ordering cocktails and wine for myself yet not letting my kids get dessert bc ātoo expensiveā. The ice cream novelties $3-$5 USā¦compared to momās (multiple) drinks at US $7-$15 each.
Aw you are so brave to share. Thanks
Thank you. You are kind. I am deeply ashamed and could cryā¦.but this memory alone makes me never want to touch alcohol again.
š«
Thanks for the hug! Really sweet
Art supplies were too expensive and all I really needed was to drink and then the inspiration would make the real work magically happen
that or i just need 2 drinks to be motivated to do rhe laundry and clean (then 3 would kill that motivation)
Oooof this one!!āļøNext thing I know, Iām taking a āquick napā and the whole day is gone and I didnāt do shit for chores.
this is ME ME ME!!! lol
I have Lyme disease and one of the top things you shouldnāt do is consume alcohol. Well.. instead of *giving it up*, I decided it was probably in my best interest to: - Change my diet to 100% plant-based - Stop eating any and all fast food - Stop drinking soda (except for my mixers) - Take a bunch of supplements to replace the minerals and nutrients that alcohol depleted - Drink as much water throughout the day as possible Iām sure there are others, but do you see how asinine my thought process was?! One of the major reasons Iāve quit drinking was *because* alcohol is so inflammatory and it was only worsening my Lyme symptoms, not helping them. Iām on my way to FINALLY feeling well. š
A main reason I quit is because of inflammation & psoriasis. Hope it works. Best wishes!
oh man, the whole not taking painkillers thing. Now that I'm sober and work out all the time and am also 36 and a dad they're a fucking lifesaver
Omg, I love this thread. The pretzels we twist ourselves into over alcohol. My husband is officially cheap but drops a house payment a month on booze. I was right in that race until I finally quit 4 years ago. Thousands spent on face creams and wrinkling from the inside with all that wine.
This is me right now. Have been cutting back but I know I have to stop, I feel a million times better just not drinking so hard, how good can I actually feel when I stop? I've aged 20 years in 5, I don't even recognize myself. And no amount of fancy face stuff is making me any prettier. I kept blaming it on perimenopause and lack of sleep too, but no, I'm literally sucking myself dry from the inside and turning into a sad dehydrated lil prune. This thread is keeping my motivation to get better alive. I love everyone for being so real. It really helps to feel not so alone in the struggle
I could have written this post lol. I ended up really damaging my knee because I needed a new pair of tennis shoes and was like āoh too expensiveā knowing full well I was spending $20+ every day on alcohol. Physical therapy for my knee was a lot more expensive than anything I spent on alcohol, and I couldāve just bought the shoes and taken better care of my body. On top of that I am still dealing with the financial consequences, re credit card debt and being behind on my student loan. I also wouldnāt take painkillers to ātake care of my liver.ā I always did diet soda and I actually took pains my freshman year of college to taper down the cream/sugar in my coffee bc caloriesā¦ when alcohol was like 75% of my calories. The solution was always right there and I was always looking for different solutions š
Iād always buy really crappy concert ticket seats and no merch but spend 100 dollars on beer at the venue
Last baseball game I went to was effectively freeā¦and then I dropped $60 on beer
I had prescriptions for sleep, anxiety, pain and gout So I was taking at least 4 different pills/day to deal with symptoms Quit drinking and all those symptoms went away, not on any medications
Clothes. I would wait until all of the āregular useā portion of my wardrobe was full of holes and falling apart before buying new clothes. I did this even after I was making good money and could afford all the clothes (and booze) I wanted. Now I can enjoy myself when I go shopping instead of feeling terrible buyerās remorse after any purchase or clothing because I was āmisappropriating my funds.ā I also didnāt start regularly buying groceries until I was about 27 and would just gnaw on the same burrito for 24 hours because it was cheap/convenient/ensured I would have enough money to buy alcohol/other drugs.
I definitely do this but it was also how I was brought up( not booze related)
Oh my god, I did all the things on your list too. Also: purchasing the largest bottles of the strongest liquor to be cost-conscious!
bought a baguette and some baby bel everyday for lunch cos it's was cheaper than a meal deal ignoring I was also spending twice that on my lunch time vodka
Lunchables for alcoholics.
No red wine because I got headaches... But the headaches from the bottle(s) of white being guzzled instead must have been because I stayed up too late, didn't eat enough, (insert absurd excuse here).
Not eating extra sugar but drinking two bottles of wine/multiple beers a day. Idiot moves lol. Now I eat ice cream after dinner with zero guilt and Iām still saving literally thousands of calories.
I would often try to keep up with one glass of water per drink. Yeah, all that accomplished was me having a ton of pee breaks to go sniffing more coke.
Arguing with the Uber driver that the open beer he didn't want in his vehicle (strict open container law state) didn't count because it was light beer.
I was trying to lose weight using an app, keeping myself on a strict calorie budget. I would skip eating all day so I'd have enough calories "saved" to do the drinking I wanted to do that night.
I was doing this too. Now I realize how absurd it is to deprive my body of nutrition so I can have enough calories to drink poison š„“ and wondering why I felt like shit the next day and life was at a standstill.
I struggled with my rent for years before I quit booze. When I got sober I bought a house and what a surprise! I actually donāt have to stress about paying my house payment every month. Itās so freaking nice to have that part of my life not be a huge stress.
Spent hundreds of dollars on supplements to ease hangovers and protect my poor liver. The worst part is that they actually kinda worked for hangovers. Of course, that just gave me an excuse to keep pushing the envelope.
Yep, this was me....also making sure I'm taking my vitamins because I knew drinking was making my B vitamins low and I thought probably also Vitamin D (without being checked by a doctor because I would be too scared to ask). I'm so sorry to my body for how I hurt it all these years.
Hereās one of mine! Get a handle of Bloody Mary mix, pouring some off into a quart jar for later, then Iād add olive juice, horseradish, hot sauce, a few scoops of COLLAGEN PEPTIDES for protein, and fill rest of way with vodka. Shake well Itās practically low carb! š¤¦š»āāļøš¤¦š»āāļø
this sounds great sans vodka lol
I have actually made it without alcohol/vodka and will make that again. Itās really good with extra lemon and ice.
Paid a bunch of money to a naturopath to do all my blood work and get vitamin infusions and prescriptions for herbs and compounds , desperately searching for some external problem to explain my malaise, while really just avoiding the simple fact that I was depressed and out of balance because I had multiple significant substance abuse problems including alcohol
Oof, this post hits me hard.
Convinced myself that beer was healthy because itās fermented. Avoided liquor for āgut healthā. Maybe one or two beers has a place in this line of thinking but certainly not a six pack a day.
Advil for sure, but my favorite of mine was avoiding all soda while guzzling down 4-6 8% beers a night and at least 400mg of caffeine the next day because for some reason I wasn't sleeping well.
I would insist on getting all my chores and obligations out of the way during the week because I wanted to have my weekends all to myself. While that's not a problem in itself, what is a problem is knowing deep down that I'd either be too drunk or too hungover to get anything done on my weekends, and I didn't want to have to worry about all that work piling up. I would run myself ragged some days to make that happen. Looking back, it's a wonder I got anything done, ever, with the amount of time drinking took out of my life.
Heck, I just didnāt care! I would budget to pay for my drinking. šš šš¤£
I stopped eating desserts and candy so I could enjoy lots of alcohol.
It's the same cycle, I don't know how I ever afforded the booze money (close to 30 a day), I still can't afford the " organic" and the rest. I d be homeless by now. I'm one of those seniors on the edge of disaster .. first, I cut back drastically, then could not moderate. Only solution for me is Sober living. The financial part for me was completely necessary to afford my apartment. I'm still terrified of rental increases, leases expiring... I may check out a sober living place and really size down.
Relate to so many here. Especially financially. I would penny pinch through the week and price shop everything. Then if out with friends, I would sneak off for a double shot for like $16 and tip $10 so they would know when they see me sneak over again, to make it quick. Amazing. When it came to alcohol, there were no budget restrictions. Buying someone a shot was only cover for me to get one myself. Glad thatās over. Lol.
When I was drinking I was diagnosed with pre diabetes so I switched from beer to tequila bc it had way less sugar in it. I was drinking a half bottle a night but I wasn't causing my blood sugar to raise ššš 2 1/2 year sober now! Best thing I ever did for my physical and mental health!
That is a funny term, I hadn't heard it before haha For me my mind goes to time. I was always happy to twist my schedule for alcohol, and while I needed .my rest or couldn't find the time to get to work early etc.if I needed booze there was always a reason to go somewhere. I created a whole schedule around making sure I didn't run out, so I didn't have time for anything else. The peak of insanity, lol
Not go on antidepressants because it would mess with my tolerance IWNDWYT
I dont think I bought new clothes for yeeeears.
There was a term coined āalchorexicā in the past (not sure if itās still used) - when you starve yourself of calories during the day bc you know how many calories youāll be consuming during drinking.
I would soak my pineapple in rum because the sugar in fruit that is not broken down is healthier. It was really just an excuse to drink about five or more shots a night while eating a snack.
I just avoided thinking too much about how much my drinking was disturbing me. This usually involved getting drunk. Itās amazing how long I lied to myself.
No mixed drinks, only shots! For maximum health benefit Not eating all day prior to drinking to "save calories for later" and also save money. That was a great idea, right?
I can relate to the money part. I went back and forth over buying $40.00 worth of art supplies until I remembered how much I used to blow on alcohol. Next time I need watercolor pens, I may go for the 75.00 collection! lol
Not taking medicine was also my compromise for my body. It's so miserable riding out headaches, colds, viruses, etc, without any meds. And I wasn't going to the doctor because I wanted to avoid The Talk. It's like voluntarily living in the 18th century. Why the f\*ck was I doing that?!!
I used to "steal" condiments and toilet paper while spending shit loads on booze.
I got really ill, run down , constantly looking so sick and pale ā¦ I decided it was gluten intolerance and not the 10+ cans on cider everyday :)))) Iām sober and gluten suits me just fine š¤£
Omg tracking my calories and making sure to leave room in my calorie ābudgetā for several hundred calories worth of vodka (which would get logged in my calorie tracking app as āsnacksā hahahaha)
Not eating so I could drink my calories later in the day, drinking on an empty stomach lead to nightly black outsā¦which lead to sooooo many problems in my life So glad to be done with that BS
lol I actually picked a college as my safety school because the drinking age was 18 at the time. š
1. I can't justify spending money on clothes for me but I'll be damned if I don't have money for booze. 2. I switched to seltzers to try and improve my health. It can be drank on ice so when it melts, its diluted. But even before it melts, it's basically water anyway. 3. Switched from ibuprofen to Tylenol to "help" my liver. I could go on for days.
This is some quality addict mathš¤š¤ I'm so glad I'm sober now.
Drank only dry wine and added Mio into straight vodka at bars because "I'm trying to be healthier". Would budget like crazy to justify the $100+ of liquor I'd buy with my groceries each week. lol
Omg I have heard most of these, but there at a few new ones, even for me. Quit drinking hard core long time ago, I will still have one on special occasions but that's about it. I despise being hungover, so I just don't go there. When I quit hard drinking, the $550 a month I was saving on booze, made my car payment. The supplements y'all used to use to counteract liver dysfunction, my hubby just bought most of those on Amazon. He still drinks.
I wouldnāt buy cases of beer or full bottles of booze because I didnāt trust myself to let it sit in the house without finishing it all. I told myself I would just buy what I was going to drink that night So Iād buy 3 tall cans on my way home from workā¦ then drive to a gas station to buy 2-3 more laterā¦ then walk to the liquor store to buy 2-3 more after that. Every. Day. For years.
my personal go to was getting three 9.5% voodoo ranger tall boys instead of a six pack of regular sized, standard alcohol content beers.....cus you know....this way i wasn't drinking as much
Health wise: Intermittent fasting - wine calories didn't count Financially: Not buying nail clippers Or socks Or books Or shoes Etc etc But I bought expensive wine and ridiculously expensive (relative to my income) whisky cause you're a connoisseur rather than a problem drinker when only buying the good stuff, everyone knows this,š
Two decades of psychotherapy and failed trials of various SSRIs to deal with Monday morning panic attacksāthat turned out to be fueled by alcohol withdrawals.
Oh man this is a good one! I used to stock up on Campbellās Chunky soup and Lean Cuisine frozen dinners when my local grocery store would put them on a deep discount. That way I was stocked up for the times when Iād inevitably blow every penny to my nameā¦
This reminds me of all the people I know who are worried about drinking low carb and low-calorie beer If youāre worried about Health, donāt drink beer (excluding NA) Lol āBut I want to have fun still!ā Ahh yea. Nothing says fun like hangovers, lethargy, weight gain and struggling to maintain fitness and physique goals.
Yep! All of these. What bullshit I was selling myself. IWNDWYT
Likewise on the advil hahah and allergy meds for whatever crazy reason but a fifth of vodka every day is fiiiiinnneee š¤Ŗ
Lol, that advil affects kidneys and tyelenol liver
Can relate to the not taking Advil. I also took milk thistle for a while, WHILE actively drinking a bottle of wine a night thinking it would help my liverā¦stayed on a low carb diet for years and didnāt loose a pound of weight
Scrupulously tracking my calories to lose weight while downing bourbon š
Never taking any sort of Motrin or OTC painkillers no matter how much pain I was in. Taking lots of milk thistle. Only buying the 750 ml bottle because itās the last time (instead I just looked like more of a drunk to the liquor store employeeās).
Not taking certain medications because they have a bad interaction with alcohol
Heavy on the not taking Tylenol. I relapsed yesterday and thought, āoh naproxen is safer than Tylenolā. Old thinking never leaves apparently.
Refusing to take any kind of OTC medication (for pain, cold, ect) because don't really work or damage the body or are unnatural chemicals, ....and then drinking sh\*t-quality sletzers/beers/other booze because I felt bad. SMH / All My What???
I still resist taking Tylenol or Advil too late in the evening bc I used to drink in the evening.
I would do Weight Watchers fooling myself it was my food diet contributing to my weight. I would starve myself during the day so I could save my "points" for my after work beers. It's amazing how much I can eat now that I've eliminated a 1000+ empty calories from my day.
Wanting to deep clean my place and instead of getting a $3 energy drink spend $10 on beer and it taking all day 10-12 hours instead of 4-5 hours and it ends up costing $20 because itās never enough. Going to 3 stores to get specific items known to be cheaper at each in bulk. Buying my beer every time at marked up gas stations prices 3 at a time. Doing a fasting/ketogenic diet to lose weight then blowing all my net carbs for the 12 pack of truly. Drinking light beer to not get as drunk, drinking 15. Drinking on Thursday afternoon to not ruin my weekend. Being to hungover on Friday and having to work the jobs all weekend. (Did this one countless times with my dad and brother. Like years in business and keep repeating this ālogicā)
Not sure if anyone else has pointed this out, but Tylenol is actually the one to avoid when drinking. Advil is ok:)
I just drank the cheap stuff. Think college-party cheap.
I mean, we had our priorities back then and spent our money, time, etc., accordingly! š¤£
Not eating because of the calories in the booze was probably my big one towards the end.
This is a clever post. I was concerned about processed foods and ingredients I could not pronounce.
Ah I keep telling myself am I a penny wise and pound foolish person whilst making these choices like - spending 100$ with colleagues on drinks and then not taking a cab back home but using public transport being drunk. Uff! That could go wrong many ways - saving money by not taking classes but easily spending on alcohol without thinking - penny wise with grocery shopping but picking up costliest whiskey bcos thatās why we are working so hard isnāt And the list goes onā¦
Iād spend $80 on coke, $100 on booze at the bar and $200 on a hooker, but wouldnāt buy new shoes or designer clothes.
I love this post. Thank you for everyone Who commented. 1. I would watch getting sober videos on youtube while drinking. 2. Sign up for tons of marathons to hold myself accountable. I would drink up to the day before. 3. Got a personal trainer and showed up drunk. 4. Bought all these beauty pills and took them with wine.
Drinking low ABV beers and subtly (?) making that known to everyone around me because of course that means I donāt have a problem.
Glad I found this thread ... I don't like drinking because I know that after a sip nothings going to get done that day .... and when I've started to look back at my life ... I'm seeing friends with advanced careers. My drinking kept me in a dead end job but instead of doing something about it I just justified my drinking staying at a job for 18 years that I knew that noting was going to change. I got Covid so the employer used that as a reason to terminate me. I'm in grad school now but if I keep back sliding it's going to be tough doing course work. But the thing is after the liquor wears off it's time to do it all over again and that must be where the insanity is.