How to break the routine of drinking every night?

[startracker]

Over the last year or two I've gotten into the routine of drinking every night. It started because I could do it, and enjoyed it. Now I don't enjoy it as much, but it's what I do.

 

Typically 4-6 big beers, or 1/5-1/4 liter of whiskey, or a bottle of wine over the course of the night. It's difficult to stop and not do it. Not sure if an alcoholic or not (could be routine rather than alcohol dependence) 

 

What tips are there to help me stop and go back to once or twice a week? It would be better for my life and my family's life. 

[Rally123]

I believe there is medication that makes you feel sick if you drink alcohol. I think it's called 'Topiramate'?

[wgdanson]

2 minutes ago, Rally123 said:

I believe there is medication that makes you feel sick if you drink alcohol.

It's called a skinfull the night before lol

[BritManToo]

9 minutes ago, startracker said:

Not sure if an alcoholic or not

I would say 'not', but you sound the same as me.

I'm drunk every day, I like being drunk, thought about it for a while, and decided why not, you gotta die of something.

[startracker]

2 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

thought about it for a while, and decided why not,

For me:

 

I'm not enjoying it like I used to.

It's starting to effect my private/family life to a small degree.

I'm 40 and don't want to be doing it until I'm 60.

Don't want to become dependent on it.

[nikmar]

this was me. Missis made me stop basically by nagging me to death over it. Its hard to enjoy a drink when your getting whined at incessently. Now its just a weekend thing and Im glad she got me stop. I dont miss going to work with  a hangover!!

 

why not have a earnest pop at giving it a miss for a week and see how youre doing. If you cant stop then that's dependency!! Good luck.

[baansgr]

Go for a walk. drink soda, think of what the money will be better spent on, treat yourself or family with the savings. As you are not abstaining totally, its only a 3 day break.

As you are only 40, there is so much you can do instead.

[BritManToo]

5 minutes ago, startracker said:

For me:

 

I'm not enjoying it like I used to.

It's starting to effect my private/family life to a small degree.

I'm 40 and don't want to be doing it until I'm 60.

Don't want to become dependent on it.

Way to go is to cut back to the 'tingly' stage, then top up a little to keep in the zone.

I'm doing about half your dose, mainly after lunch, not late at night so no hangover the next day.

[mauGR1]

Just stop drinking for few days, as an experiment, after 1 week or less, you will feel different.

Of course, if all your friends are drinking, it might be difficult, but you are always free to start drinking again.

[luckyluke]

i am 70, still drink about 5 pints every other day.

 

I feel good when I drink, not when I don't.

 

Not drinking everyday is only a financial matter.

[BestB]

I use to drink every day because of boredom.

 

I got a dog and and was too busy cleaning up after the pup and worried what he would do if I was out drinking .

 

drinking stopped, dog turned into dogs ?

[jvs]

Would like to know what your routine is,where do you drink?do you drink alone?Do you go out?

Do you have anything else you could be doing at night?

[robblok]

5 minutes ago, BestB said:

I use to drink every day because of boredom.

 

I got a dog and and was too busy cleaning up after the pup and worried what he would do if I was out drinking .

 

drinking stopped, dog turned into dogs ?

Your solution is the right solution, i am not saying that people should take a dog but should find something else to do besides drinking. Some go to a gym others get a dog, some start to do computer games. Just find an hobby and replace the alcohol.

 

 

[worgeordie]

I have never really drank alcohol, only as a youth,so never drank

for 40 plus years,and I am very happy without it,if I needed alcohol

to be happy,there would be something wrong,same with cigarettes,

only as a youth,could not be arsed to carry Cigs and matches or a lighter,

so i think i have saved quite a lot of money not having those habits,and

expect i would most likely have kicked the bucket if I had indulged over 

the years.

Those that choose to drink alcohol and cigs,OK its your health, your

money,but just stop and think for a moment,why you need too and

why it's such a big part of your life. CHEERS,

regards Worgeordie

[MrPatrickThai]

2 hours ago, luckyluke said:

i am 70, still drink about 5 pints every other day.

 

I feel good when I drink, not when I don't.

 

Not drinking everyday is only a financial matter.

If half of my life was unhappy, I'd do something to change it.

[Psimbo]

2 hours ago, luckyluke said:

i am 70, still drink about 5 pints every other day.

 

I feel good when I drink, not when I don't.

 

Not drinking everyday is only a financial matter.

Complete BS- for a lot of people its a health or lifestyle choice.

 

If you feel good when you drink but not when you don't you have serious problems- that is a dependency.

 

Having a break is good for overall health, especially the liver. People who drink in moderation or take long breaks are giving their system a chance to heal. The liver completely regenerates in about 6 months.

 

I regularly take long beer free breaks- currently in the middle of a 20 day break and I can assure you it is NOTHING to do with finances. Earlier in the year I was dry for almost 3 months and felt far better for it.

[BritManToo]

22 minutes ago, MrPatrickThai said:

If half of my life was unhappy, I'd do something to change it.

90% of everyone's life is unhappy.

It's the 10% you live for.

(unless you're retarded, they seem happy most of the time)

[holy cow cm]

I drink hard and heavy when I drink, but normally try to do it every 3-4 weeks. 

Friends and associates visit here to Thailand and it is every night. 

 

Exercise: Late day 5:30 - 6 -7:30pm. You wont' want it at night after this. Or do a nice morning walk and then evening exercise taking up more time. You will appreciate life more as your body is stronger.. 

Movies.

Dinners. With my family I never drink at dinners.

 

You say not an alcoholic, so if true then it is boredom. 

[Proboscis]

3 hours ago, Rally123 said:

I believe there is medication that makes you feel sick if you drink alcohol. I think it's called 'Topiramate'?

Definitely NOT topiramate (topamax). This treates brain issues (mild epilepsy, migraine).

 

You mean disulfiram (Antabuse) - this drug makes a person ill, including vomiting, if they take this drug and subsequently take even small amounts of alcohol.

[Formaleins]

4 hours ago, wgdanson said:

t's called a skinfull the night before lol

Yes, but when you take another glass of "medication" on the evening, it puts you right as rain. Personally, I don't think the  meds will work, you have to really do it yourself. It does not matter how sick  alcohol makes you feel you will end up drinking it if you are inclined.

Boredom is one of the worst killers when trying to break this cycle.

Go and make a cup of tea instead of opening the first bottle. Maybe make a sandwich or something instead of the second bottle. It is hell on earth to try to break this cycle but I think you will just slip back if you use that medication.

Even when the alcohol is literally killing you, you will make some excuse to yourself that this one does not matter or just one more beer is no problem. You can do it but it is not easy it is hell and all of  the doctors warnings and medical advice mean nothing unless you really put your mind into it. (Give it 1 month it will get easier - The cravings never go away, but they do become a lot less invasive - some days are better than others.)

[zaZa9]

A friend took to getting up much earlier , then having an afternoon snooze through his normal 'beer oclock ' part of the day. Then often a walk or swim when he awoke near dusk.

He said that if he avoided wine with dinner he didnt much feel like a drink after dinner.

[SS1]

Start a hobby (sports) that doesn't work together with alcohol. Since I started fitness/bodybuilding, I've cut drinking from twice a week to once every two months. If I drink even once a week it ruins my gym gains and makes me feel like shit. Once you quit drinking for a few weeks, you'll actually notice how different and better your body feels after. When your mind realises this feeling, you won't want to go back to the constant lethargy that frequent consumption of alcohol gives you. 

[bananafish]

I usually drink two nights per week, typically a Tuesday/Friday or Wednesday/Saturday.

 

What stops me from drinking more is the fact that when I drink I get lashed and am absolutely useless the next day. Hangovers hit me hard and I have other things I need to do in my life, the day after drinking is almost a complete write off. So my two layabout and do sweet FA days per week are the days after I've been drinking. 

 

My girlfriend knows that the day after I've been out drinking I will be gong nowhere and doing nothing, no nagging about it. 

 

1 hour ago, BritManToo said:

90% of everyone's life is unhappy.

It's the 10% you live for.

(unless you're retarded, they seem happy most of the time)

This depends on your personality type. Personally I would say my natural state of life satisfaction is contentment, 95% of my life I am quite happy and satisfied. 

 

The only times I typically feel unhappy are when I go out to socialize and don't get satisfactorily stimulated by the interactions. When that happens I call it a night, go home early and my happiness returns again. I love going out and socializing, but being an introvert I don't NEED to do it, and while I love it, it's typically the only thing in my life that potentially brings me unhappiness. 

[luckyluke]

It's only a personal fact that I wrote that  not drinking everyday is a matter of finances.

I live in a nice condo in Thonglor and like it as I like the area.

Drinking everyday would oblige me to move to another cheaper place.

It's more than 50 years that I enjoy drinking, it's not now at 70 that I intend to change something about it.

By the way I am a day drinker { between +/- 1 & 6 p.m.).

 

[4MyEgo]

5 hours ago, startracker said:

For me:

 

I'm not enjoying it like I used to.

It's starting to effect my private/family life to a small degree.

I'm 40 and don't want to be doing it until I'm 60.

Don't want to become dependent on it.

My father was an alcoholic and popped a lot of brain cells in his older age, bit like a child.

 

My late brother passed at 49 due to sclerosis of the liver, although the death certificate said kidney failure. He was put into respite care with all the older people waiting to die, after a couple of days he lost his sight, a day or later passed.

 

Its not a nice way to go, and it's a massive burden on any family, alcoholism is a disease and can be treated, but you have to be willing and I would say you are willing because you realise the impact it is having and you and you are only 40 years young.

 

I was fortunate enough to play part in convincing a good friend of mine that he was an alcoholic when we used to meet up once, twice a week with the boys back in Oz for a steak and a couple of schooners, he would down 3 schooners before our steaks arrived and leave straight after he ate, naturally I asked one of my mates (now deceased at 44) why the hell does he disappear after eating, the night has just begun, and his reply was so he can drive home (2 kilometres) up the road to avoid being busted by the booze bus while he drinks more at home, long of the short I was told his apartment was a brewery without beer as there were empty beer bottles strewn all over the place, plus loads of empty wine bottles.

 

My late brother couldn't beat the disease, and once it got a hold of him, he went onto the hard stuff, a bottle of whiskey in the morning and a bottle of ouzo at night, mum would go around to his place if he didn't answer the phone and find him in a pool of blood where he lay all night from his fall, either trying to make it to bed or the toilet, he was also taken to hospital on countless occasions by ambulance and put into an induced coma about 4 times, until the hospital washed its hands of him, i.e. they literally said, if you want to drink yourself to death, don't come here and of course the nurses wouldn't attend to his buzzer, me stopping in on the way to and from work to make sure he was fed, mum would also be there, but it wasn't what she wanted to see and when she lost him, well, what can I say, does any parent want to lose a child before they pass themselves, regardless of age.

 

My friend on the other hand checked into a clinic of which he stayed for I believe a week and was put on medication, he has been dry for years now, but I think the crunch came when the other friend who passed at 44, pulled him aside one night and said, I wish I had your disease because I could get cured, sadly he passed from bowel cancer, but made an impact on my other mate, because he told me both the other mate and myself drove it into his head with my story of my late brother as well.

 

I also like to have a drink, 3 small bottles of light beer twice a week when I frequent the xpats at the local bars, don't mind a glass of beer with the Mrs at night as well after dinner, or a glass of Vodka Soda Lime, but also know that I have to give my liver a break in between and have seen first hand what the effects of alcohol can do to a person, so try to keep it to twice a week.

 

Do whatever you can to save yourself, it's not the way you want to go, I don't have the answer, maybe it might take some investigation/research, even being checked into some clinic back home for a week like my mate did. Take up some hobbies, sleep in the afternoons, go for long walks, exercise. but don't go dry turkey, wean off it slowly, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, week 1, 5, week 2, 4, week 3, 3, and so on and so forth until your off it.

 

Best of luck anyways, life's too short as it is, enjoy the family while you can. 

[Slain]

5 hours ago, nikmar said:

this was me. Missis made me stop basically by nagging me to death over it. Its hard to enjoy a drink when your getting whined at incessently. Now its just a weekend thing and Im glad she got me stop. I dont miss going to work with  a hangover!!

 

why not have a earnest pop at giving it a miss for a week and see how youre doing. If you cant stop then that's dependency!! Good luck.

That's my approach as well. Been doing that for a while now.  Bonus is, you feel more happy and healthy and can think more clearly. Plus you can look forward to the weekend drink.

 

[nikmar]

11 minutes ago, Slain said:

That's my approach as well. Been doing that for a while now.  Bonus is, you feel more happy and healthy and can think more clearly. Plus you can look forward to the weekend drink.

 

I forgot to mention, another benefit is a decent night's sleep without having to get up to go to the toilet in the middle of the night.

[allanos]

Lot's of sound advice here, especially if you don't feel you have the self-discipline to simply STOP.  It may be that you are bored, and want to while away some of your life in the depths of a bottle, or three.  Some meaningful introspection may be worthwhile: "why am I doing this, do I enjoy it that much, can I find something better to do with my time, have I got the inner strength to either moderate it or can it altogether"? 

 

My advice: try cold turkey.  It has worked in a lot of cases and may be what you need . . .  and good luck!

[guest879]

hard to stay off the beers in Thailand. it was my weight that was getting out of hand. a good start is drinking one soda between each beer. now I live back in New Zealand I only drink after exercising. that's a good next step.

[startracker]

I believe boredom is a lot to do with it. Boredom and routine.

 

I finish working online at around 8:00-8:30pm. We live in a very big Thai neighborhood that has absolutely nothing in but houses. In an area that has nothing in it but neighborhoods of houses. Exercing after that would keep me up at night. 

 

So it is onto the sofa to watch TV, and pour a drink so my hands have something to do. 

 

I'm pretty active in the day time and typically go for long walks every day to think about things.