Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. It's been a few weeks and everything seems better. I want to thank whoever said sparkling water in a crystal glass. I felt stupid doing it, but I poured La Croix into my favorite crystal glass and I carry it around with me while doing the kid's night routine (something that sometimes stresses me out). It has easily replaced alcohol. It's flavored, feels fancy and gives me something to hold. Also there's no caffeine so it's not keeping me up. It reminds me of how my grandpa chewed toothpicks when he quit smoking.

Only problem now is that I have trouble sleeping.

I might get flamed for suggesting this, but if you live in DC maybe you could get a little medical grade marijuana? Smoke just a little bit to help you decompress and sleep? I stopped drinking completely but every now and then I'll smoke a little. I've found it isn't nearly as addictive and I don't feel like death warmed over the next day.

Why would you suggest cannabis when seltzer is working well? Particularly smoking it, which is terrible for the lungs - I truly don't understand the point.

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know what is a normal amount of drinking. I am drinking 1-2 glasses of wine with dinner 5-7 times a week. I want to stop, or cut back. I don’t know how to do it. I feel bad.

If you're drinking that much, which seems like a lot TBH, just stop for an extended period of time (like 6 months). Since it is a drug, it is much easier to stop all together then to have a little bit here and there. That's been my experience. After 6 months, you probably won't want to go back.

I don’t know what is a normal amount of drinking. I am drinking 1-2 glasses of wine with dinner 5-7 times a week. I want to stop, or cut back. I don’t know how to do it. I feel bad.

I didn’t want to open a new thread on this subject, so please tell me here if this is a normal range of drinking.

We have family friends that drink throughout the week 1-2 glasses of wine at dinners, beer at lunch on weekends and on Saturdays they drink a lot, like at minimum 1-2 bottles of wine per person.

Is this social drinking?

I find myself drinking too much when I’m around them. DH also drinks way too much around them, but otherwise doesn’t drink. But he’ll alone drink like 2 bottles of wine when we are with them.

Does this sound problematic?

I was having trouble sleeping when I stopped drinking during the week- then I started doing a "headspace" before bed and it really helped. The app is great.

It helps when I just refuse to buy wine to have at home. If it's not there I don't have that nagging feeling. It helps.

Anonymous wrote:This was me, and I decided to confront my issue for what it was and deal with it as such - a problem. Today I am one month sober! I go to A.A., have a sponsor, and work the program. It is working for me and I feel great. Good on you for wanting to make a change, OP.

This was me too- I quit 2.5 years ago and haven’t looked back. Good luck Op you can do this if you want to. It may not feel like it on the front end but I can promise you it is

Anonymous wrote:OP - I totally get where you're coming from. I am a working mom with a 3-year-old and definitely use alcohol as a crutch. I never get drunk/trashed, and I never have a hangover, but once I finally get home from a long commute on the beltway with a screaming/crying/whiny/hungry kid my 'reward' is usually milk for her and a glass of wine for me.

I always stop at 9pm, and usually mix white wine with lots of soda water. But still, this happens every day.

I periodically take a few weeks or a month off at a time, and have no problem quitting when there's a reason, but day-to-day it's hard to abstain. It's definitely a coping mechanism.

I think the only thing you need to worry about, PP, is if the alcohol eventually creeps up from one glass every night to two or more. It can happen very gradually. It did for me, and I realized that I was having more days with 2 glasses of wine (or occasionally 3) than I was days with 0 glasses or 1. I realized my alcohol use had very subtly crept up from my 20's to my 30's to my 40's, and the increase was almost entirely traceable to when I had a kid and encountered a different sort of stress/isolation than I'd had before.

I'm in the process of cutting WAY back on alcohol. Started with "0 alcohol on weeknights at home" and moved to "cutting way back on weekends" and may ultimately quit altogether if moderation doesn't work. Alcohol figures fairly heavily into my social life so I have to strike that balance of not isolating myself, which would make my life worse, not better.

But as long as you're sticking to 1 glass a night, I don't think you are in problem territory.

Anonymous wrote:Day 418. The best part is no more "deciding". The choice is made - I don't drink. As in, I am a non-drinker. This is after 20 years of regular daily drinking.

Awesome!
How do you feel or look different?

Day 418. The best part is no more "deciding". The choice is made - I don't drink. As in, I am a non-drinker. This is after 20 years of regular daily drinking.

Anonymous wrote:I'm on day 2 of the alcohol experiment thanks to this thread! Hoping to keep it going, I am tired of how much energy I was just expending just thinking about my drinking.

Good luck Pp! I’m one of those who recommended the alcohol experiment. this was how I felt too—was spending a lot of time and energy thinking about alcohol and whether I should cut back or stop or have just one or whatever. I’m almost a year in and drink one drink maybe once every few months, on special occasions. And I’m not wasting time or energy thinking about it.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. It's been a few weeks and everything seems better. I want to thank whoever said sparkling water in a crystal glass. I felt stupid doing it, but I poured La Croix into my favorite crystal glass and I carry it around with me while doing the kid's night routine (something that sometimes stresses me out). It has easily replaced alcohol. It's flavored, feels fancy and gives me something to hold. Also there's no caffeine so it's not keeping me up. It reminds me of how my grandpa chewed toothpicks when he quit smoking.

Only problem now is that I have trouble sleeping.

I do the same thing and I don't have a drinking problem. Am trying to cut back, though, because I feel I sometimes drink white wine when I really just want something cool, wet and relaxing

NP. I also need to cut back. I successfully cut back to 2-3 drinks on a weekend a while back, but got into a huge fight with DH and was drinking and eating way too much to cope. My liver hurts

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. It's been a few weeks and everything seems better. I want to thank whoever said sparkling water in a crystal glass. I felt stupid doing it, but I poured La Croix into my favorite crystal glass and I carry it around with me while doing the kid's night routine (something that sometimes stresses me out). It has easily replaced alcohol. It's flavored, feels fancy and gives me something to hold. Also there's no caffeine so it's not keeping me up. It reminds me of how my grandpa chewed toothpicks when he quit smoking.

Only problem now is that I have trouble sleeping.

I might get flamed for suggesting this, but if you live in DC maybe you could get a little medical grade marijuana? Smoke just a little bit to help you decompress and sleep? I stopped drinking completely but every now and then I'll smoke a little. I've found it isn't nearly as addictive and I don't feel like death warmed over the next day.

Edibles are easy to get in DC as well.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. It's been a few weeks and everything seems better. I want to thank whoever said sparkling water in a crystal glass. I felt stupid doing it, but I poured La Croix into my favorite crystal glass and I carry it around with me while doing the kid's night routine (something that sometimes stresses me out). It has easily replaced alcohol. It's flavored, feels fancy and gives me something to hold. Also there's no caffeine so it's not keeping me up. It reminds me of how my grandpa chewed toothpicks when he quit smoking.

Only problem now is that I have trouble sleeping.

I might get flamed for suggesting this, but if you live in DC maybe you could get a little medical grade marijuana? Smoke just a little bit to help you decompress and sleep? I stopped drinking completely but every now and then I'll smoke a little. I've found it isn't nearly as addictive and I don't feel like death warmed over the next day.