Surprising effects of stopping drinking
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Anonymous
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Like many people, I am trying Dry January this year and I am two weeks in. This is the longest I have gone without drinking since I was pregnant about 10 years ago and I am feeling really good.
Over the past few years, I have had tons of tightness in my hip and glute, which has prevented me from running as much as I used to. Over the past two weeks, it has almost completely gone away. And I have been running (not a ton -- 3 miles, 3x a week) so it's not because I'm not running. I was also having a lot of stiffness in my ankles when I first woke up in the morning, and that has gone away too. Obviously I know the many benefits of stopping drinking (weight loss, better sleep, etc) but I had not previously connected muscle soreness/stiffness with alcohol. I thought I was just getting older (I'm in my mid 40s) and that I didn't bounce back as quickly from a run. Just wondering if anyone else has experienced something similar? And also, if you have recently quit or cut back on alcohol, have there been any surprising benefits? I'm hoping for motivation to keep me going on this journey, and wondering what I might have to look forward to. |
Anonymous
| Alcohol causes inflammation. |
Anonymous
| Sleep is a big one. I actually fell of the wagon this week and drank a couple nights - not a ton but enough to get tipsy - and my sleep that night was terrible. Never drinking again. |
Anonymous
| I stopped drinking 5 months ago and an effect I wasn't totally expecting is that my SSRI is much more effective at reducing my anxiety when I am not drinking. |
Anonymous
Oh absolutely! And on the rare occasions that I do have a few glasses of wine, I can tell my anxiety skyrockets. |
Anonymous
I was ready to pounce on this post, ready to add that I haven't had a drink since Jan 1 either and I don't notice one bit of difference. But then I thought about it and come to think of it, I have had no morning stiffness in my lower back in 2 weeks. This was a regular thing, especially through the holidays when I drank more than usual. I'm not a heavy drinker by any means, but often had 2-3 glasses of wine a week. I'm late 50s. So maybe there is something to it, OP. |
Anonymous
| I’m confused. It’s almost like people are saying alcohol isn’t good for you. |
Anonymous
It's not. Were you under a different impression? |
Anonymous
No one in the history of time said that alcohol is good for you. People drink because it's fun. |
Anonymous
That's not true at all. As recently as the 1990s, red wine was "good" for you. People have been drinking alcohol for thousands of years, rarely with serious effects. It's the overindulgence that has become a problem. |
Anonymous
No shit! And also, what a way to ruin a positive thread. |
Anonymous
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How many drinks a week were you drinking?
Are you a woman? |
Anonymous
What are you talking about? PP made the absurd statement that "no one in the history of time said that alcohol is good for you." That is not correct. Sorry you're so touchy about this topic. |
Anonymous
OP here. I typically would drink Thursday-Sunday and have nothing M, T. W. Maybe 1-2 drinks Thursday and Sunday and 3-4 drinks Friday and Saturday. I'm a 46 year old woman. |
Anonymous
Sure at one point some likely French study said a small glass of red wine is good for your heart (still true BTW) but no one claimed that "drinking" was good. EVER. 
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