Does Your Thinking Change When You Give Up Drinking. ?

[scorpio]

Hi,

im new to this forum, i started drinking when i was 11years old, im now 44. i used to drink everything in my early twenties. sometimes in my life though ive went without alcohol for a year on end but all in all i would say most of my life i have been a bit of a party boy. Now i drink only beer. Sometimes coming off beer my thinking is not normal, i get depressed, i cant think straight, im undecided about everything and cannot think rationally. If i need advice on something i need to phone a friend.

As i sau i drink only beer now and havent drunk spirits in seven years or so. so all of you in the same boat, dors your mind set, thinking get better when you stay off the drink and if so what way, what way do you feel. ??

thanks

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[maprao]

Alcohol is a depressant. When you stop drinking you get depressed.

If you have been drinking heavily for many years you may have liver damage. People normally alcoholics lose the power of rational thought and suffer hallucinations.....how much do you drink a day?

Edited April 3, 2012 by maprao

[scorpio]

So u only get depressed when you "stop drinking " ..i drink now on fri,sat,sun nites, beer only, about ten pints of beer on a good session but usually eight pints. Never spirits. I try and get to gym as much as i can through week but its hard when ive had a long weekend on the liquor.

When im in thailand i find it impossible to stay off. Hopefully in future something will just click in me and i will end the habit.

Thats another question, is there anyone out there who have drank all their lives then suddenly something within you just says youve had enough and you can stop easilly.

i had a friend that thos happened to, after drinking really heavilly he just stopped, he can take it or leave it now.

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[cheynewalk]

since i stopped drinking a while back some of the changes to me have been subtle ...... but my thinking is definitely clearer now and i focus on medium to long term goals much better without wavering ....... my moods do not vary as much and i don't have "bad" dreams anymore

all in all i am a more content person now, happier with my own company ...... i don't miss the social life here which was heavily centred around drinking either

[bkkjames]

I used to get depressed the day after drinking. Since I gave it up for the most part over a year ago, I dont get this way. Thinking changed? Not sure about this.

[MrRealDeal]

Depends on the severity of ones drunkeness

[ding]

I read that 40% of boozers have depression. After we quit all booze 100% for some time, about 5-10% are still depressives.

My thinking cleared a ton. My attitude and behavior is MUCH better.

100% sober since 1985.

Life is better than I ever could have imagined. I never could have predicted it would be this good.

It was crap before, no matter how hard I partied trying to make it fun.

my .02

[Dancealot]

I think if you regulate your alcohol consumption to your standards you can live together with alcohol. If you can keep your job and your friends you are pro actively drinking and there would be nothing wrong with that.

[chiangmaikelly]

Functional-Middle aged. They tend to be educated, married and in a job. They seem to live a perfectly normal life despite their daily drinking.19% of U.S. alcoholics belong to this type.

[robblok]

Functional-Middle aged. They tend to be educated, married and in a job. They seem to live a perfectly normal life despite their daily drinking.19% of U.S. alcoholics belong to this type.

What does it mean, does it mean you can still function if your an alcoholic or what ?

If you can keep a job and your not killing your body, then let them though i suspect they are not doing their liver any favors.

[chiangmaikelly]

Functional-Middle aged. They tend to be educated, married and in a job. They seem to live a perfectly normal life despite their daily drinking.19% of U.S. alcoholics belong to this type.

What does it mean, does it mean you can still function if your an alcoholic or what ?

If you can keep a job and your not killing your body, then let them though i suspect they are not doing their liver any favors.

Many people think of alcoholics as disheveled, homeless winos who have lost everything, but there are people who meet the criteria for a medical diagnosis for alcohol dependence who are highly functional in society and still have their jobs, homes and families. This type of drinker is known as a functional alcoholic.

The functional alcoholic consumes as much alcohol as any "full-blown" alcoholic, they just don't exhibit the outward symptoms of intoxication. This is because they have developed a tolerance for alcohol to the point that it takes more for them to feel the effects (including hangovers). Consequently, they must drink increasingly larger amounts to get the same "buzz" they want.

http://alcoholism.ab.../functional.htm

[kpmsprtd]

Yes. Your thinking changes after you have given up drinking alcohol. To the point that you think back to the drinking days and wonder, "Who was that person?"

I was a binger most of my life (including blackouts), but finally at age 49, I finished. It was like I had completed the mission. It kind of pisses me off when people accuse me of having quit drinking. "I didn't quit. I spent most of my life honorably completing the mission."

[farangme]

After the initial challenges of quitting, you come to feel like you have a new lease on life. The hard part is not regressing when you encounter lifestyle difficulties.

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[farangme]

After the initial challenges of quitting, you come to feel like you have a new lease on life. The hard part is not regressing when you encounter lifestyle difficulties.

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Meant life's difficulties, not lifestyle difficulties. Auto correct smartphone...

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[Blackandwhite]

Your thinking changes for sure but only in a good way. Alcohol is a poison that causes many symptoms, depression which in turn causes many side effects such as be irrational, serious health issues, compulsive behavior and much more.

I stopped drinking now 6 months and must say it is fantastic, I am 80% happier and considering I am a moaning miserable sod anyway that is good for me !!

Still get stressed and moody but not due to not drinking it is down to just general life and the things that happen to us all, the good thing is with a clear head I can solve and sort those issues with ease.

So yes you do change the thought you have when not regularly drunk as you have a clear head.

[Neeranam]

I think that thinking has to change or it's impossible to quit.

When I gave up drinking 14 years ago, I had a big problem with making decisions. I went to AA and made friends with many guys who were a great help. I'd phone one up daily with huge dilemma such as, I can't decide where to go for dinner, or should I take the bus or taxi. It was advised to me not to have any major life changes in the first year, not to start a relationship etc, which was great advice.

Also, something which I find very important - not to let a doctor prescribe anything for me. When coming off alcohol, it's normal to feel confused, depressed etc. A doctor with no knowledge about alcoholism(all in Thailand) will give a wrong diagnosis. The only way out is through - the easy options all have consequences which I wouldn't want.

[Rooo]

Poor taste post removed.

[Langsuan Man]

I think you need to go to an AA meeting and discover that you are not alone. The old chesnut that I only drink beer so I am OK, doesn't really cut it. If the doctor told you that you had diabetes and you have to stop using sugar that doesn't mean that chocolate is OK

Drinking is a life style choice and giving it up is both a medical and a life changing event. The first rule is that you can't do it yourself, you need help and only fellow drunks can give you that help, since they are the only ones that know what you are going through

In rehab, we call it stinking thinking and is one of the first steps to recovery

[Robby nz]

I gave up drinking many years ago.

I lived in a small place and was a bit of a loner, doing my own thing and drinking, the pub and parties, was the only real social thing I did.

One morning I woke fully clothed in a strange bed with a naked, fat, loudly snoring female along side me in a strange house not knowing where the hell I was.

I had a thumping headache, a gut that was threatening to empty its self on the floor, eyes that almost had to be prized open with a crowbar and a mouth like a sumo wrestler’s jock strap and to top it all off I couldn’t find my shoes.

No one else was awake so I staggered around for a bit till found my way out to the car where I sat in the drivers seat and thought “Why the hell am I doing this to myself?”

So I stopped and haven't touched the stuff since.

Joined the local badminton club and helped with a charity and they became my social bit.

Now I live in Thailand , still in a small place and still do my own thing, ride around on my bike, fish in the river, do a bit of photography and try to get in an overseas trip every year as the budget allows.

[InsideOut]

I never gave up drinking, so I am not sure...

[neilf]

I was determined to stop yestarday.

At about 11am i was doing some emails and the phone rang. Friend of mine who lives in jontiem in local bar 10 mins from me. Well he left about 3 and i got home about 6 pm

Woke up at 10pm and 3:30 am

Wasted day yest and tired today

No more

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[anotheruser]

I have only stopped drinking for around 3 weeks now but FWIW.... I did feel something change in my mind when I quit. I was originally sick as a dog for around 3 days, so that started my 3 days of detox. I guess I was lucky to get that out of the way while I was sick anyway. After I got better something changed and I just didn't want it anymore. I think that I was so sick I started to equate it somehow with the alcohol as I have been drinking everyday for 20 years with some short breaks here and there. I live out in nature in a remote place so I also realised how sluggish I am getting being out of shape. I feel less puffy (for lack of a better term) have dropped over 5 kilos and my back doesn't hurt because of the extra weight it was carrying now.

I feel much more free now I don't have to worry about keeping beer around. I am going to remote places and swimming and exploring where as before I would have been planning my next beer. I am almost dazed that I had wasted so long just sitting around and drinking beers. Your first week or so expect to be bored after the depression part starts to wear off. You will have moments in your day where you will be keenly aware that it would be your drinking time. For me now those times of day that were tempting me or met with relief that I don't have to go and chase down some alcohol.

I think a big part of getting off the juice for me after being ill was to immediately start to improve my diet and eating habits. Make sure you get a full balanced amount of calories in you each day. I was to the point I was only eating once a day or sometimes I would go as far as 3 days with just booze. So getting back to eating is a very important step at least for me to try and get my stomach and chemical balances sort of normal again. When I get bored and think of alcohol, I remind myself that I am just bored and if I was drunk I would still be doing the same boring thing. I happen to also to own a restaurant that serves alcohol but I am quite happy to serve customers and make their cocktails as tasty as I can.

Something in my changed and I believe that at least for some people that it is possible to, for a lack of better explanation suddenly wake up or come out of the fog. I realise now what I was doing to myself and others around me was completely insane. I sometimes find it hard to come to terms with how I justified hurting myself and the people around me for so long just because I loved beer that much. Choosing beer over loved ones and life just seems so like such a crazy choice in hindsight looking back on it all. What was I thinking? How did I let it get to that?

I am pretty happy with how my life is now. After 2 weeks you begin to experience more of the positives to not drinking such as my room is clean and my appearance is much sharper. The amount of new found respect I am getting in the village and surrounding islands is also something that I treasure and don't want to be "that guy" that falls down again and disappoints everybody around him in a colossal fashion. So when I ask myself these days should I go back to drinking, I instead ask myself what there is to really go back to?

I am happy how I am now and feel much more confident and renewed. I have just quit on my own without help groups such as AA because that isn't possible for me given my location. As I said it is only early days and many more ahead of me. Although so far so good. Sorry for the lengthy post but that has been my experience so far. Good luck to the OP and everybody else.

Edited March 27, 2014 by anotheruser

[Query1]

Hello friend. I've quit for 12 years now. I didn't have a problem with alcohol... Just my father was a sad, violent depressed drunk. I decided to quit alcohol to make a show of strength to my father that I could quit where he couldn't. My father died a miserable alcoholics death. My first time quitting lasted about 1/2 hour and then I started drinking again? I would get so insanely angry being so weak-willed at not being able to quit. I went through this iteration 8. Times over 2 months before I began successfully my 12 years of sobriety and continuing...

There were signposts along the way. In the first couple of months, anxiety attacks, extreme anger, depression, craves. Til finally they melted away. I created a list of what could I pursue if I was sober. My education... When I was a kid I was always drunk or at this party or another. I had party friends who graduated college, but that wasn't my destiny.

I like to drink, and then I fall asleep. I needed a bit more to truly say I had a life with accomplishments and goals.

Friend, you must quit the beer. There's no half-assign about sobriety. I'm moving back to Thailand in about two years...

If I start drinking...(?). Maybe

Do what's right for you.

[GinBoy2]

Drink and it's effects are hugely dependent on the individual. I was in the oft mentioned 'functional alcoholic' category. I held down a senior management position in a hitech company, while simultaneously being quite capable of downing at least a bottle of gin daily, starting at breakfast. I wasn't violent, but I know it impaired my cognitive functions. Sometimes I wonder how successful I might have been without the 'juice'.

I decided one day enough was enough, poured all the booze I had down the drain and haven't drunk since. Effects for me:

I sleep better and longer, and I experience vivid dreams. I think this is a result of the fact that drunks don't really sleep, you collapse in a stupor

It reduces snoring a lot, again because you sleep, as opposed to being in a stupor

I've always exercised, but I lost weight after the drink stopped. Your liver is the biggest fat burner you have, but if it's maxed out dealing with processing booze, you gain fat.

Depression: Now that's an interesting one. I don't ever think depression was the correct word for me, but melancholic might have been a better word. That vanished almost instantly when I stopped drinking.

Do I still crave drink? Not really, but I think it has an analogy in the ex smokers who often say they miss the 'act of smoking' I miss the act of drinking, but that can be mitigated by coffee, juice, water, just drinking something.

I still use the nickname GinBoy to remind myself of what I used to be, and not least in case I forget how much money over the years I donated to the Gordons, and Tangeray companies!

[Brit_Doggie]

When you give up the so called good things in life.isn't it time to reflect on life and end it all.

Im not saying that you do away with yourself by any means,but isn't that the first part of depression setting in unless of course it is done through health reasons to improve the quality of future life,if the latter applies then my best to ya your my hero.

[big carl]

When you give up the so called good things in life.isn't it time to reflect on life and end it all.

Im not saying that you do away with yourself by any means,but isn't that the first part of depression setting in unless of course it is done through health reasons to improve the quality of future life,if the latter applies then my best to ya your my hero.

Not sure where you are going. I gave up the good things in life when I started drinking. 20 years later I picked them up again when I quit drinking. I took it to the point where I had to go to AA I had tried to quit for the last 2 years of my drinking to no avail. For me the first day with out a drink was like heaven I had arrived I didn't have to drink and it just got better and better. Physically I was in pretty bad shape even though I did not realize it.

I was sober 18 days when the wife and I met a couple. Two weeks later we ran into them again. The Lady looked at me and said O thank God you are OK. At 18 days I looked a mess. I was unaware of it because I was so happy I didn't have to drink any more or use other non prescribed chemicals.

Not every ones experience but it was mine. We all react differently. I admit I was one of the lucky ones from day 1 it was a piece of cake. The last year quiting every morning and going to 1 AA meeting and never having to stop again. The train to hell had turned around and was going the other way.

It doesn't really matter how you quit the important thing is that you quit and find other things to do with your time.

[sendbaht]

I think addiction colors our perspective a lot, more than we realize.

[ding]

Could be the alcohol muddying your thinking. And it could be diet... toxins... mold... hormonal... blood sugar... ad infinitum.

I will say that MY thinking got MUCH better after I quit drinking. By that I mostly mean - my attitude.

My thinking got foggy after about 45 years - maybe get yout testosterone checked. A complete blood workup is always good insurance - even as a baseline for later changes.

[mat999]

I now realize that I spent 15 years being a dumb boring nobody.

Drinking less has made me more intelligent, seeking out interesting issues and information. I now know things and am building strong opinions. I am building character instead of wallowing as a non entity, too drunk to think about anything important.