A Non-Alcoholic Giving Up Beer

[femi fan]

Well, for the thread's information, i had a jug of chang draft tonight with my dinner. Four weeks and a night was my abstinence from beer. I have a mate over from abroad and it seemed rude to continue not drinking beer. Today was february, so i had one more out of cameraderie than any particular desire for a beer. It did taste outstanding mind, but after half the jug, then no longer so.

I still think that even three four weeks from not drinking a beer (after three weeks i had a couple of wines at a weekend), my body was unable to adapt. I suspect detoxing was going on, and that when coming off the alcohol/thai beer after donkeys' years on it, then that detoxing does not happen overnight. Perhaps i have months to wait, assuming my beer tonight is a one off.

One other thing to report, interestingly to me, is that after about two weeks or so i started not wanting a beer.

[GrahamF]

Well, for the thread's information, i had a jug of chang draft tonight with my dinner. Four weeks and a night was my abstinence from beer. I have a mate over from abroad and it seemed rude to continue not drinking beer. Today was february, so i had one more out of cameraderie than any particular desire for a beer. It did taste outstanding mind, but after half the jug, then no longer so.

I still think that even three four weeks from not drinking a beer (after three weeks i had a couple of wines at a weekend), my body was unable to adapt. I suspect detoxing was going on, and that when coming off the alcohol/thai beer after donkeys' years on it, then that detoxing does not happen overnight. Perhaps i have months to wait, assuming my beer tonight is a one off.

One other thing to report, interestingly to me, is that after about two weeks or so i started not wanting a beer.

Well, it looks like that you have cut back quite substantially, good for you! As far as detoxing, it should take 72 hours. There are reports of people having night sweats or poor sleep for up to 6 weeks, I don't know about that. If you are feeling so out of sorts for the length of time that you have been, then I strongly suggest that you get a complete physical, your previous drinking may have been masking the effects of something else.

As to having to have a beer because it would be rude not to, I just can't subscribe to that. If you don't want a beer or any alcoholic drink, then don't have one. If you want a drink then have it. Did your friend make you have a beer? Just seems like you are being a little dishonest with yourself here.

So what are your plans for future drinking, are you planning on stopping or going to continue having the occasional drink? If you do decide to continue drinking then the advice I would give you is to keep on eye on how much you are drinking, it may get to be more and more over time.

Again, good luck.

[Ijustwannateach]

I've had friends mention before going off alcohol for a month or so just to see what it would be like- maybe they had some questions about themselves and their habits. Certainly nothing that would really hurt, so why not? Self-knowledge and awareness are good ends in themselves.

[femi fan]

Well, it looks like that you have cut back quite substantially, good for you! As far as detoxing, it should take 72 hours. There are reports of people having night sweats or poor sleep for up to 6 weeks, I don't know about that. If you are feeling so out of sorts for the length of time that you have been, then I strongly suggest that you get a complete physical, your previous drinking may have been masking the effects of something else.

As to having to have a beer because it would be rude not to, I just can't subscribe to that. If you don't want a beer or any alcoholic drink, then don't have one. If you want a drink then have it. Did your friend make you have a beer? Just seems like you are being a little dishonest with yourself here.

So what are your plans for future drinking, are you planning on stopping or going to continue having the occasional drink? If you do decide to continue drinking then the advice I would give you is to keep on eye on how much you are drinking, it may get to be more and more over time.

Again, good luck.

Never felt out of sorts, just not what i expected. A bit 'funny'.

Part of my drinking, and perhaps for many others, is the socialising aspect to it. Hence my comment it'd be rude not to. If one is to decide either way about drinking beer, then addressing this perceived self-rudeness is necessary. Finding an answer is part of the whole exposure to something new. Of course, if i really didn't want a beer, then i'd not have one.

I think i'm going to occasionally drink draft beer, or non thai bottled beer. [it may be that any detoxing reactions i felt were due to stopping the flow of additives or preservatives or chemicals into my body from the thai bottled beer]

And on holidays and breaks i shall enjoy a little beer too. Other than that, which will be most of the time, i'm not going to drink anything.

After a trip over the weekend that led to me enjoying my beers again, i realise that when i drink beer i want more beer, and when i don't drink beer i don't want to start again, not interested. It will be interesting to see what happens...

[femi fan]

I've had friends mention before going off alcohol for a month or so just to see what it would be like- maybe they had some questions about themselves and their habits. Certainly nothing that would really hurt, so why not? Self-knowledge and awareness are good ends in themselves.

Agreed. Having tried it out, i realise as i suspected that for much of the time i don't really want to drink beer any more, whereas in the past i loved doing so.

I like not drinking, and i like drinking, so perhaps i can't lose...

[ding]

It's a breath of fresh air reading about people without the disease of alcoholism- changing drinking patterns for the better.

Hearing about this stuff in action motivates me every time. So I had oatmeal & fresh blueberries this morning and green tea last night.

(no booze for me of course, I have issues... )

Oh eff off you gloating B___

(in jest)

Too many of us get wrapped up in our own problems. In my opinion, there are many people like me but not alcoholics who suffer from drinking too much and could benefit from some of the advice on this forum

or who may be nascent alcoholics who, with our support and a few good binges, could reach the same depths as the rest of us

AA tries to make out that alcoholics are different from the rest of you (as does the Ku Klux Klan) and I am not sure thast is necessarily helpful. We are not different, bar from our insatiable thirst; and others suffer fron thirst too...

SC

Not sure about using the KKK in a comparison with AA.

[StreetCowboy]

It's a breath of fresh air reading about people without the disease of alcoholism- changing drinking patterns for the better.

Hearing about this stuff in action motivates me every time. So I had oatmeal & fresh blueberries this morning and green tea last night.

(no booze for me of course, I have issues... )

Oh eff off you gloating B___

(in jest)

Too many of us get wrapped up in our own problems. In my opinion, there are many people like me but not alcoholics who suffer from drinking too much and could benefit from some of the advice on this forum

or who may be nascent alcoholics who, with our support and a few good binges, could reach the same depths as the rest of us

AA tries to make out that alcoholics are different from the rest of you (as does the Ku Klux Klan) and I am not sure thast is necessarily helpful. We are not different, bar from our insatiable thirst; and others suffer fron thirst too...

SC

Not sure about using the KKK in a comparison with AA.

Its another anonymous organisation that tries to make out that we are different from other people.

Unlike the KKK, AA seeks to blend into society but changing and improving the spiritual character of its members, and helping them to be more tolerant and understanding of others.

SC

[ace]

Hi, so my story, as a Brit I have naturally spent 25 years on/off binge drinking. I've never been alcoholic, although 2 of my (former) best friends back in the UK are.

For the last 6 months or so, I've found that just 4 or 5 light (small San mig / leo) beers makes me feel sick and tired. I don't get fun drunk just go straight to the sick bit, have to go to bed, wake up early, feel crap, depressed badly, on what I would have considered just getting started before. Is this indicative of Hepatitis? I'm certainly in the risk group as I love hos and hate condoms.

Living in Pattya I decided I just have to quit 100% as there's no quiet nights here...

[seancbk]

Non alcoholics don't wonder about their drinking.

That's a good point, I would add though, that I do know quite a number of people who are not alcoholics but are very careful about their alcohol intake for simple health reasons.

I hope that the OP is now feeling better, but if I not I would suggest a complete check up before resuming drinking.

Best of luck!

I would also add that bars do sell non alcoholic drinks and there is no rule that says you have to drink alcohol just because you are in a bar or that 'every drink' you drink must be an alcoholic one.

I go out to the bars on average 4 or 5 nights a week from 7:30 ish until well past midnight (2-3am typically). I'll drink a couple of vodka and sodas and the rest of the time just soda water.

Good luck to the OP on cutting back and feeling healthier!

[ding]

I don't know anything about drinking moderately or normal drinkers.

Seems like the back etc. might benefit from clean eating and exercise. I returned to the gym and feel really good. I'm hungry for working out now and always have the energy for it now. My buddy is big into yoga and swears by it. File that under FWIW maybe, but I wish you well.

[DrTuner]

I usually drink one beer in the evening, has been like that for two decades. If I skip it, then I'll get hungry and have to get a snack, a hole in the calory intake I guess. Because of this reason, if I don't drink for longer periods, weight goes up by a couple of kilos, as I reckon a snack has more calories. Other than that, no discernable difference.

Too bad the non-alcoholic beers here are quite expensive, otherwise that could be the solution for socializing in the pubs.

[Sheryl]

Too bad the non-alcoholic beers here are quite expensive, otherwise that could be the solution for socializing in the pubs.

As another poster mentioned, bars do sell non-alcoholic drinks...coke, soda water with as slice of lime, etc.

Some people find diluting a beer with soda water to be a useful trick, making one beer last longer 9it also helps reduce the dehydration that beer may otherwise cause). It comes out tasting rather like a western "lite" beer.

[DrTuner]

Too bad the non-alcoholic beers here are quite expensive, otherwise that could be the solution for socializing in the pubs.

As another poster mentioned, bars do sell non-alcoholic drinks...coke, soda water with as slice of lime, etc.

Some people find diluting a beer with soda water to be a useful trick, making one beer last longer 9it also helps reduce the dehydration that beer may otherwise cause). It comes out tasting rather like a western "lite" beer.

Lots of sugar in those soft drinks, I can't drink more than one can. Tea or coffee is ok, two cups, but that's just about 20-30min. Drinking water in a pub seems a bit silly, a beach or a real restaurant is a much nicer setting for that.

Never really liked the light beers, they taste watered down. I think there's a special process how they make non-alcoholic beers like Clausthaler or Erdinger, which taste ok. I like the actual taste of beer (Thai brews can hardly be described as beer, with the exception of Chang Export). In Germany they had the Radler, beer mixed with lemonade, called Shandy in the UK I think, which is great when sitting outside on a beer garden on a really hot day. I reckon those kinds of drinks won't gain popularity here, as the beer drinking culture is geared towards getting pissed.

[meatballs]

I have no desire to drink anymore. When I moved to Pattaya all I did was go to bars and get drunk. The hangovers were legendary.

I've stopped doing that. Drinking even one beer makes me feel awful the next day. Booze just isn't worth the negative side effects.

Nowadays if I go to a bar I'll just order a pineapple juice or coke light.

Edited October 4, 2012 by meatballs

[femi fan]

Well, here i am, still a non-alcoholic giving up beer!

I've pretty much given up getting drunk on the stuff, but have not given it up yet. It seems to me that to give up the beer requires giving up a way of life.

That's what i think i meant when i first started this thread. But as one gets older the body is not so resilient or welcoming of alcohol. Perhaps that's a sign to simply adjust to the age one becomes. Or, of course, to just ignore such signs and drink more to avoid this nagging voice. I don't do that, but i can understand those that do. It's much easier!

I will always love beer, but i wonder how much this is just the mind protecting its requirements! It continues to be the way that if i go a week or so without then i start not wanting them, but then a social situation pops up and bam, it's back on them.

Perhaps i just wish i could be drinking the good old english ales...

[GrahamF]

Well, here i am, still a non-alcoholic giving up beer!

I've pretty much given up getting drunk on the stuff, but have not given it up yet. It seems to me that to give up the beer requires giving up a way of life.

That's what i think i meant when i first started this thread. But as one gets older the body is not so resilient or welcoming of alcohol. Perhaps that's a sign to simply adjust to the age one becomes. Or, of course, to just ignore such signs and drink more to avoid this nagging voice. I don't do that, but i can understand those that do. It's much easier!

I will always love beer, but i wonder how much this is just the mind protecting its requirements! It continues to be the way that if i go a week or so without then i start not wanting them, but then a social situation pops up and bam, it's back on them.

Perhaps i just wish i could be drinking the good old english ales...

Thanks for the update. Good to hear that you're doing well.

[sirchai]

Please send your beer to me....

[Somnambulist]

An otherwise healthy person shouldn't experience any negative effects by drinking less than half a liter (or up to one liter depending on body constitution) of light beer every day - quite the opposite in fact, there are health benefits for moderately drinking beer.

Actually, the health benefits only accrue when you drink a tiny amount, the equivalent of half a glass of wine. After that you're not doing your body any favors. But maybe it's not just the alcohol. Beer often contains nasties such as msg, sodium nitrate, etc. It's worth a google session.

Edited September 24, 2013 by Somnambulist

[manarak]

An otherwise healthy person shouldn't experience any negative effects by drinking less than half a liter (or up to one liter depending on body constitution) of light beer every day - quite the opposite in fact, there are health benefits for moderately drinking beer.

Actually, the health benefits only accrue when you drink a tiny amount, the equivalent of half a glass of wine. After that you're not doing your body any favors. But maybe it's not just the alcohol. Beer often contains nasties such as msg, sodium nitrate, etc. It's worth a google session.

I mostly drink German beer that is made with only water, barley and hops in accordance with the Reinheitsgebot.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinheitsgebot

[ExpatJ]

Non alcoholics don't wonder about their drinking.

If thats what they tell you in AA, you are being scammed- most people at some time or another think/talk about their drinking- many take a month a year not to drink alcohol. They are non-alcoholics who dont want to be, potentially, alcoholics in the future.

In anycase, alcoholism is a disease and like any disease there are plenty of hypochondriacs out there - people who worry they are alcoholics (perhaps because they believe things like 'wondering about their drinking= alcoholism') when in fact they are not.

[GrahamF]

Non alcoholics don't wonder about their drinking.

If thats what they tell you in AA, you are being scammed- most people at some time or another think/talk about their drinking- many take a month a year not to drink alcohol. They are non-alcoholics who dont want to be, potentially, alcoholics in the future.

In anycase, alcoholism is a disease and like any disease there are plenty of hypochondriacs out there - people who worry they are alcoholics (perhaps because they believe things like 'wondering about their drinking= alcoholism') when in fact they are not.

You may be right, and I would venture a guess that there are probably more people out there who are alcoholics or problem drinkers who are grasping at anything they can to convince themselves that they don't have a problem. I did that for a very long time.

[mogandave]

Non alcoholics don't wonder about their drinking.

If thats what they tell you in AA, you are being scammed- most people at some time or another think/talk about their drinking- many take a month a year not to drink alcohol. They are non-alcoholics who dont want to be, potentially, alcoholics in the future.

In anycase, alcoholism is a disease and like any disease there are plenty of hypochondriacs out there - people who worry they are alcoholics (perhaps because they believe things like 'wondering about their drinking= alcoholism') when in fact they are not.

And there are many more that are alcoholics trying to control their drinking.

Actually, in AA they tell you if you're not sure, belly-up to the next bar, and come back when you are. At least that's what a friend told me.

[ding]

It's a breath of fresh air reading about people without the disease of alcoholism- changing drinking patterns for the better.

Hearing about this stuff in action motivates me every time. So I had oatmeal & fresh blueberries this morning and green tea last night.

(no booze for me of course, I have issues... )

Oh eff off you gloating B___

(in jest)

Too many of us get wrapped up in our own problems. In my opinion, there are many people like me but not alcoholics who suffer from drinking too much and could benefit from some of the advice on this forum

or who may be nascent alcoholics who, with our support and a few good binges, could reach the same depths as the rest of us

AA tries to make out that alcoholics are different from the rest of you (as does the Ku Klux Klan) and I am not sure thast is necessarily helpful. We are not different, bar from our insatiable thirst; and others suffer fron thirst too...

SC

Not sure about using the KKK in a comparison with AA.

Its another anonymous organisation that tries to make out that we are different from other people.

Unlike the KKK, AA seeks to blend into society but changing and improving the spiritual character of its members, and helping them to be more tolerant and understanding of others.

SC

AAers are indeed different from other people and admit as much. The proof is the fact of the existence of practicing alcoholics and recovering alcoholics and drinkers with no problem at all.

But perhaps those distinctions are too subtle for some.

If you assert that the KKK and AA are analogous, then ThaiVisa and the Nazi's are as well. They are groups of people that communicate using language.

A brain and a computer are analogous.

Same same but different as hell.

You try to smear AA by likening it to the KKK and need to be called out on that.

There is no effort on AA's part to proselytize and promote itself. Zero.

AA merely wants to let people looking for help know where to get it, if they want it.

[jpeg]

In anycase, alcoholism is a disease and like any disease there are plenty of hypochondriacs out there - people who worry they are alcoholics (perhaps because they believe things like 'wondering about their drinking= alcoholism') when in fact they are not.

I have a Thai friend who stops drinking for the three months of Khao Pansa (Buddhist Lent). He has been doing this for all the eighteen years I've known him. The rest of the year he drinks lao khao from dawn to dusk. Disease? Another American excuse for not taking responsibility for yourself.

As to alternatives in bars, I agree with the OP, not much choice for an alternative (much like the UK). However, there are places selling in incredible array of what would be called 'mocktails' in the form of coolers and smoothies. These are, however, predominantly in places such as Pai, where there is a predominantly health based artistic community. Pity the rest of Thailand couldn't follow suit and at least give an alternative to the local poisons/overpriced imports.

[tominbkk]

I'm beginning to search out interesting places in chiang mai where i live to go to in the evenings where i can get some decent alternative drinks. So far if a place has whole coconuts and/or green tea, then they get my business. But again, it's not easy to drink this stuff for three hours or so!!

I often wish nighttime venues would sell ginger beer. Now, i can drink that for a while! I could even begin with a coconut with my meal, move onto green tea, then finish off with ginger beer. I could then happily avoid any urgings by others to get a beer in.

Then i'd probably not bother with beers again, unless i was visiting the UK where the beer is just too delicious - and not a ridiculous 5% abv minimum - to avoid.

Soda and lime is not exciting, but certainly a palatable drink. a few of those in a night works great when I socialize.

[tominbkk]

An otherwise healthy person shouldn't experience any negative effects by drinking less than half a liter (or up to one liter depending on body constitution) of light beer every day - quite the opposite in fact, there are health benefits for moderately drinking beer.

Poisoning yourself with alcohol of any amount is never healthy. Not going to kill you, but not healthy.

[tominbkk]

And there are many more that are alcoholics trying to control their drinking.

Actually, in AA they tell you if you're not sure, belly-up to the next bar, and come back when you are. At least that's what a friend told me.

Although I appreciate what AA can do for some people, its philosophy (as exemplified in the saying above) seems really snarky and off-putting to me. I find Rational Recovery, SMART Recovery, and other secular programs (like Allen Carr's book) free of this 'holier than thou' attitude that oozes from of all of those cute AA catchphrases (they must all be in a book that people memorize, there are so many of them and people are always chanting them like mantras).

Edited January 10, 2014 by tominbkk

[GrahamF]

And there are many more that are alcoholics trying to control their drinking.

Actually, in AA they tell you if you're not sure, belly-up to the next bar, and come back when you are. At least that's what a friend told me.

Although I appreciate what AA can do for some people, its philosophy (as exemplified in the saying above) seems really snarky and off-putting to me. I find Rational Recovery, SMART Recovery, and other secular programs (like Allen Carr's book) free of this 'holier than thou' attitude that oozes from of all of those cute AA catchphrases (they must all be in a book that people memorize, there are so many of them and people are always chanting them like mantras).

I'm glad that something has worked for you. AA is working for me and I am far from religious. Bashing another program of recovery, in my opinion, is dangerous and unhelpful. There may be people reading this thread who might be put off from AA and in fact AA might be the thing to help them. Please be careful what you post, you might be unknowingly harming someone.

[Somnambulist]

An otherwise healthy person shouldn't experience any negative effects by drinking less than half a liter (or up to one liter depending on body constitution) of light beer every day - quite the opposite in fact, there are health benefits for moderately drinking beer.

Poisoning yourself with alcohol of any amount is never healthy. Not going to kill you, but not healthy.

So if you brew up a batch of kombucha and drink it you're poisoning yourself? If you use any type of tincture it's not healthy?! Please stop being ridiculous. There are far too many different people with different physiologies for such blanket statements, not to mention the many centenarians who drink a modest amount of alcohol. You sound like Carrie Nation.

Edited January 10, 2014 by Somnambulist

[Somnambulist]

Non alcoholics don't wonder about their drinking.

If thats what they tell you in AA, you are being scammed- most people at some time or another think/talk about their drinking- many take a month a year not to drink alcohol. They are non-alcoholics who dont want to be, potentially, alcoholics in the future.

In anycase, alcoholism is a disease and like any disease there are plenty of hypochondriacs out there - people who worry they are alcoholics (perhaps because they believe things like 'wondering about their drinking= alcoholism') when in fact they are not.

And there are many more that are alcoholics trying to control their drinking.

Actually, in AA they tell you if you're not sure, belly-up to the next bar, and come back when you are. At least that's what a friend told me.

This is simply misinformation. The problem alcoholics have is the inability to moderate, so it's common to tell a newcomer that one way to test one's ability is to have two and only two drinks every night that you drink for a month. Alcoholics always fail this test. But AA members don't suggest newcomers actually go out and do this. Through sharing our own stories about failing to moderate thousands of times and getting the newcomer to do the same, the two drinks a night test is not necessary.

But I do agree that AA members will mindlessly state that nonalcoholics never wonder if they are alcoholics.