Anyone else gradually stopped drinking alcohol?

I don't drink nearly as much as I used to. Not that I ever did a lot anyway. But after having my child I noticed drinking made me way more impatient instead of relaxing me. Now I really only drink when my wife and I go on a date. I do partake in a good THC gummy fairly frequently now though. They are quick and easy to make you feel good and I don't get that impatience from it. But I normally take it after my child goes to bed anyway. Helps me sleep and doesn't make me feel bad the next day.

I have shifted the occasional cocktail or two after work to a vaporizer bag of home grown indica. Still a crutch, but I won't feel like death the entire next day.

My body stopped responding to alcohol like it once did. I was never a big drinker but through my 30s, I've slowly stopped feeling any sort of buzz and instead get anxiety and insomnia. I'm also having a harder time handling cannabis, a little bit can send my heart rate through the roof. I'm sure I've got some health issue contributing to these changes but haven't figured it out yet.

When I was younger drank like a fish, full bottle of whiskey, vodka, rum, at a time. I'm turning 45 in a few days and last drink I had was 3 weeks ago. Last time before that was several months. I've gotten to the point where I'd much rather just have water.

It wasn't gradual, but I didn't make a deliberate choice either. It was during 2020. My fear of covid (I did get it, it was hell) outweighed my desire to go to the liquor store. By the time places were opening up again, I realized my life was a lot more livable without the blackout binges. I've felt really weird about it ever since then, that I don't really have an inspirational "I chose to do this, it was my strength and willpower to get better" quitting story since it was purely from literally not being able to, but I try to just be grateful because it really was destroying my life.

I was a binge drinker. I would buy a big bottle of whiskey and drink until I fell asleep, then wake up and start drinking until it was gone. Then I'd be sober for a while and eventually binge again.

I had a sort of similar gradual experience with quitting. I was enjoying it less and less, mostly just getting depressed and feeling sick from the constant changes in body chemistry. I went from being blackout drunk 2 days a week to 2 days every other week, and then every month or so. At one point I realized I had been sober for 50 days and decided I needed to be done with it forever.

Now I'm at 200 days and almost never think about drinking. I have basically zero desire to drink, all I can think about is how bad it made me feel.

I don't go to bars or really socialize in person at all. I would recommend trying to find other ways to socialize that don't involve bars, but I have known sober people who can happily hang out with people who drink.

There are a lot of people like me who are deeply envious of people who somehow just drifted away from alcohol.

The safe toxic limit of alcohol is half a glass of wine per year.

Alcohol is implicated in 50% of reported sexual assaults.

Alcohol is a leading causal factor of vandalism, violence and death.

There is no lethal dose of LSD.

LSD is known to be therapeutic for people suffering from PTSD, OCD, anxiety and treatment resistant depression.

LSD is known to produce effects similar to meditation and bring people closer to their environment.

Which one of these drugs is banned in most jurisdictions?

With all the health implications of alcohol that's not a bad problem to have. Might be worth remembering that any time you do go somewhere that's heavily "alcohol culture" there's a lot of people there wishing they were you.

The number of times I think "A drink sounds good" is zero, and always has been. It doesn't relax me or reduce my inhibitions. My wife likes to drink though, and it does those things for her. She definitely enjoys it more when I drink with her, so I do sometimes. I actually kind of enjoy the taste of a good tequila, but would pretty much always prefer a good root beer.

So I drink as much as ever, but if I lived alone it would be pretty much never.

I stopped drinking about 35 years ago. I wasn't a big drinker. I was living in London and after a night out preferred to drive home rather than get the night bus or a cab so I just stopped. I would have a glass of lemonade or a coke when out with friends. It only took about 5 years for my friends to stop trying to cajole me into having a drink.

I intentionally stopped drinking about 10 years ago. I found that post divorce me was drinking more that I was comfortable with. So I stopped.

I do not think I was an alcoholic, but there seem to be many definitions for that word. I may start drinking again someday. But we will see, no plans now to start again.

I am not at all opposed to people drinking. I will even go with you and be the designated driver. But many bars really do not even try to accommodate non drinkers. I have had some fucking awful spicy virgin marys.

I do think that THC gummies are healthier than drinking. But I have really slowed my use of them because I think they were affecting my already bad memory.

Yup. The cons heavily outweigh the pros in most situations.

I would drink on the weekends, most every weekend. Didn't matter if I was alone playing games or out with friends. Ever since I had a kid 6 months ago I rarely drink at all. I'll have a beer when going out for supper or a beer when out with friends. I mainly stopped because I didn't want to feel shitty while trying to deal with a baby. Now I find if I have more than a couple beers in a night I'm feeling crappy which is crazy considering 6 months ago I was drinking 6+ a night on the weekends. I don't miss drinking at all and much like yourself I find they just make me feel kind of bad.

I don't drink any more for the same reasons. There's plenty of people who don't drink at all due to whatever choices like religion, health, etc.

If people ask I just say "nah I don't drink because of health complications" 99.9% of people don't push any further. I just order water or a soda if I'm feeling it. What im drinking isn't anyone's concern.

The weird part is thinking you're appearing weird. Literally noone cares. Go have fun.

Drinking only makes my health problems worse and to be honest I don’t miss it. I never was a big drinker anyway.

Not really, I used to drink a lot on weekends, stopped when I was 22 or so, because the drunk was not worth the health problems it was causing. Drank about once a year till I was 40 or so, then picked it back up as my social circle changed and more opportunities to host parties, and I am a good cook and enjoy flavors so just got into making drinks as part of food culture. Now I drink a little on weekends - like one drink two or three days a week, not every week, and always take a month off in July, sometimes October as well. This pattern feels good to me. Moderation, I'd call it, intentional drinking of intentionally made, delicious drinks. I never drink anything just because it's got alcohol, I drink the things I find delicious.

I have never really enjoyed alcohol. If I’m at a social event and someone hands me a beer I’ll drink it. Or, if I’m in 500 year old pub in London I’ll order one. But the last beer I brought home my wife cooked with after it sat in the fridge for months. And I have never let myself get drunk.

I’d quit cold turkey after I had a couple concerned buds spoke to me

I stopped drinking about six years ago. My university had a very “party” atmosphere, and I faced a lot of social pressure to drink during most outings. Being an oddball nerd, I drank for the first time alone in a basement so that I could understand how it felt before doing so in front of others. After some vaguely pleasant spinning about the room I ended up vomiting and had a rough hangover the next day. And that pretty much summed up my relationship with alcohol for the following decade. Have a mildly good to mediocre time, followed by regret. Even with just a small amount. Eventually I had a moment of clarity in my late twenties where I realized “this is not for me” and just stopped. I wish I had possessed the self awareness and bravery in my late teens to take the stand then.

Took a break from alcohol about two months ago just on a whim. Had a few brewskis over the last week and it's just not as enjoyable as it once was.

I don't know, seems there's something in the air because I've been hearing from more people who have just stopped recently.

Yep. I think it's part of getting older - the costs on your body become higher, and you start spending more time hungover than drunk. I have a beer maybe once or twice a week at this point, and I'd been at a nightly six-pack for a bit there in my twenties.

Weed, on the other hand, just seems to get better the older you get.

One beer every Friday night. A glass of wine if it is offered to me at a wedding or something.

Cannabis is so much better. Just about every sat afternoon.

I had way more fun drinking when I was a minor than as an adult. It's not even about it being "taboo" but just not being as enjoyable to me anymore; now that weed is legal in my state I'll smoke weekly but only drink maybe 5-10 times a year. I had a couple drinks (for the first time in ~3 months) at a BBQ this past weekend and it didn't have any positive impact on my evening.

I rarely go to bars anymore but when I do I'll have 1-2 beers and buy a food item to go with each one. It's wild to remember I used to have like 6-10 drinks during a night out and eat nothing until I got back home and made a sloppy quesadilla or something.

The exact same thing has happened to me. I still have a beer every now and then (like once every two months or so). I pretty much can honestly say that if I drank any less, I wouldn't drink at all.

I've never been that much of a drinker, but once I reached my forties, having a beer or two would invariably mean that I would need to take a nap a few hours later, and I just don't need that interfering with my day. And I am cognizant of the recent studies have shown that there is no health benefits, only detriments, to any amount of alcohol at all. And add that I would pretty much always prefer the taste of a diet soda to a beer on almost any occasion, I've pretty much almost completely phased out alcohol in my life.

It helps a lot when most of your friends don't drink much, either. That said, does any one else really care whether you drink or not?

This happened to me. I stopped enjoying the way alcohol made me feel and alcohol consumption is not generally a good idea when mixed with mental health medications. So I think my alcohol consumption went down steadily until I didn't drink anymore. I really enjoy non-alcoholic beers. There are some excellent craft ones that have sprung up in recent years.

I will drink a good beer her and there, but nowhere near the level i used to, and don't mess with spirits at all anymore. My body couldn't keep up and I hated having to spend an entire day recovering just to have a little fun in the evening.

Simple by changing how I interact with the world. With alcohol I also leave disco and pubs because that places working on that. Living healthy by preferring doing sports, if this mean become a weirdo I don't give a fuck.

Pretty sure I'm genetically predisposed to have a large desire to drink. Both sides of my family have alcoholics. There are a few specific social circumstances where I'm okay drinking a limited amount, but I cannot keep any alcohol in my house. There's no such thing as keeping a 6-pack in the fridge for any length of time.

I tapered right off and didn’t drink anything for about two years. Covid lockdowns and everything being closed made me romanticise the idea of going to a pub and having a nice cold beer. Once I was able to again it was glorious.

Now I drink occasionally but it’s mainly either one or two with a meal or socially. Importantly I drink when I want to and I don’t want to - I won’t.

When I wasn’t drinking, I didn’t really have any issues. Most of my friends don’t drink much which helps. Soft drink or alcohol free beer are good options. Or water. Or coffee. Whatever. I once ordered a cup of tea while everyone else was drinking alcohol. It was great.

It helps if you’ve got a driving purpose for not drinking. Mine was weight loss. Drinking was counter-productive to weight loss so it seemed like a backwards option.

Strangely, I spend more time in pubs now than I ever did in my college years but never drink in them! That's because I joined a celtic band and find alcohol messes with my game.

I just quit alcohol recently. I’ve never really enjoyed the flavor of any alcoholic beverages. I drink to feel it. I also have non alcoholic fatty liver disease so it’s just better I dont drink.

I went from drinking a lot in my late teens to drinking socially in my 20s and by 30s I’m done drinking.

Yes. I smoke weed every day but I rarely drink alcohol.

The weird thing is my alcohol tolerance is enormous. Occasionally I’ll get together with a friend and we drink whiskey and the last time I realized I’d had like 10 shots and I was totally fine.

I’ve slowed way down on my drinking. In fact I have wasted a lot of beer by getting tired of drinking one half way through and dumping it out. A lot of times the idea of a drink ends up being better than the actual drink

I haven’t stopped drinking in the deliberate sense, but more taken to making the most of my time, which is difficult to accomplish with a hang over. As well as looking after overall health, not just the drinking, but it’s one of many things to watch.

I truly and honestly am a “social drinker”. I don’t drink alone, which really cuts out a lot of it.

My friends don’t primarily go to bars as a central activity. I still drink with them on certain occasions, but it’s more like a couple of beers while doing something else.

These days I average probably a six pack of beer a month (some months maybe only 1 or 2 beers, other months maybe a bit more than 6 so it averages out), and maybe one hard cocktail a month at a fancy place to eat.

It’s actually quite nice to get a proper buzz after two beers these days.

I’ve also simultaneously cut out 99% of soda. I still enjoy beer, but Coke/Pepsi now tastes weird and off-putting. Only various root beers, ginger ales, vanilla, and Dr Pepper types taste any good to me, though I probably drink fewer sodas than beers now.

Wasn't a huge drinker, maybe like 1 beer a night at home. I lost my appetite for it once I started hitting the gym regularly. Just didn't get the craving for it like I used too. Will still occasionally drink socially.

I used to drink regularly, 3-4 days a week, 4-5 beers. Got busy, married, started a family. Bought a house. It just fell off the list of things for entertainment. It's been a few decades since I drank outside of social constructs. At this point, I look more longingly at a nice bottle of fresh Orange Juice than I do a nice 6 pack of beer. I still drink just to excess a few times a year in social settings but even that's not as euphoric as it used to be.

I stopped drinking hard liquor. I'll only drink beers socially now.

I haven’t stopped but I’ve slowed down. Pretty natural considering I’m in my early 30’s. Between having two kids, taking on more responsibilities, not taking hangovers as well, and all our friends having less time as well, I drink a fraction of what I did in my early 20’s.

I’m much more productive as I get up fairly early even on weekends now, and generally feel like doing something instead of being tired/hungover. That’s good because now is the time to spend time with kids and set up myself for the rest of my life.

Any adult pushing you to drink alkohol is weird (when not yet drank any, I shall prepend).

The coolest thing to do is your own thing. So just pass with a smirk and tell them right out:

I don't need a drink to think you are fun!