Alcohol

[BackofBeyond]

A few of my old runnin' buds look at me like I'm a democrat . . . it's almost enough to make me wanna get bent.

 

[CycleFishHunt]

I drank socially most of my adult life. I think I was pretty moderate, but would certainly overdo it, every now and then too.

As I got older (I’m in my mid forties) I noticed that even one or two drinks in the evening was enough to negatively affect my sleep, so I started to cut back.

During the early months of the pandemic, though, I started to drink a bit more again. On a weeklong vacation over July 4th weekend I decided it’d be an alcohol-free week for me, but it kept going, more or less. I had only a few drinks the rest of that summer, but surprisingly found that I no longer enjoyed it. I toasted with my in-laws at their 50th anniversary that August and have not had a drink since.

I haven’t drank in almost 2.5 years now. I’ve have had a sip a couple of times of something my wife is drinking, but it’s like being a kid trying a sip of your parent’s drink. I tastes kind of foul. I’ve completely lost my taste for alcohol. I don’t miss it, and can’t imagine I’ll ever go back.

My father is a non-functional alcoholic. He’s not a mean drunk, or anything like that. In fact, he’s a really decent person. He modeled decency and kindness for me, and I am deeply grateful for his example. But, boy, is he his own worst enemy. Quite a formidable one at that.

His bad example here surely influenced me too, to cut back, and eventually stop.

 

[Flatbrimmer]

I'm painting a bullseye on my butt here, but non-alcoholic beer is pretty good these days...

 

[Flatbrimmer]

Dude…

 

[SAJ-99]

Seems everyone here has found a path that works for them…the rest must be on Rokslide.

 

[rtraverdavis]

Giving it up completely has its benefits . Been an internal conflict forever. I don't think thats possible so I'm learning to moderate. I dont have a single friend/family member who doesn't drink some. Maybe that's #@)(*%* up idk. But I really don't know how that would work. Hardest part of quitting is probably processing deer. Sounds dumb but who here can get together with buddies grind/stuff sausage all day without having a few beers?

I feel this, man. The rituals run deep. It’s hard at first but gets easier.

 

[Johnny Bravo]

All this talk about booze and now I need to go get another one out of the fridge......

 

[MTLabrador]

It really is sobering to hear just how many normal people have had serious issues with alcohol or narrowly avoided them. I’ve been exposed to way too many functioning and non-functioning alcoholics, but it’s hard to see the people I usually encounter as your neighbor or your friend.

Fortunately I’ve never had a problem with moderation, as I really enjoy good beer. Most days I have nothing at all, and when I do, it’s a rare day that I have more than 2-3 beers or drink anything stronger than beer. I’ll remember to count my blessings and pour one out for you guys.

 

[grainhog]

In 2009 I stopped drinking as an "experiment", because drinking "less" never worked. Every facet of my life improved dramatically, so I never started again. I've gotten into so much cool stuff, hunting included, that I would never have even known about if I hadn't quit drinking. If you feel at all inclined to stop I can't recommend it highly enough. It might be challenging for a few weeks but then positive habits start to form.

 

[elkduds]

Some honest and courageous posts here, thanks for that. Alcohol and drugs were the most important relationship in my life, it overrode the real ones. Family alcoholic history, check. DUIs, check. Fights and jail, check. Broken relationships, check. Medical problems, check. So many drinking buddies, then no drinking meant no buddies. After most of my wheels fell off and the last one was wobbling, I moved away from my life in a party ski town at age 30. I was amazed at how soon life got good without substances. I could afford to pay bills and buy things that weren't gone the next morning. Sobriety is such an obvious improvement over how I self-medicated that I have never looked or been tempted back, which places me among the lucky.

My clients regularly remind me of what is at stake, how long the road out can be and how short the trip back into it is. Kudos to you who are replacing addiction with a better life, whatever your methods. Research says sensitivity to intoxication is genetic, and it can be allergic. Before there was any kind of psychiatric medication for trauma, anxiety, insomnia, depression, bipolar, etc. there was alcohol. The younger a person starts drinking or drugging, the more important and damaging it becomes in their life. I started regularly drinking at about age 16, older than many. Our military actively encouraged alcohol addiction for many years, even when you would get court martialed for smoking marijuana. Native Americans had no evolutionary genetic tolerance for alcohol, and native communities are ravaged the worst now by addiction. More than 50% of people who die by suicide are intoxicated when they do. Intoxication and firearms are both very high risk factors for violence including self harm. Combine them and that risk skyrockets.

The majority of adults have reasonable tolerance for alcohol. When they have enough, their body tells them so instead of their brain shouting for more. They will never kill their lawn by puking a 5th of whiskey on it. I raise my glass of ginger ale to you who seek or find sobriety, and those who will never need to.

 

[Hilljackoutlaw]

@Nick87 don't know if u can relate to this or not, but next time you see a 55-65 year old whose just pickled think to yourself do I wanna be that purple nosed pickled bastard in 25 years? I tended bar for years all over the country and that's part of what cured me. I didn't want booze to be a part of my daily routine.
I still drink beers at hunting camps, golf league in the summer, a few on weekend camping trips and things like that, but it is in no way part of my daily or weekly routine like it used to be.
It also helped me when I stopped lying to myself and realized I would make decisions based on booze. Long story short I'm glad I left those days in the past.

 

[Johnny Bravo]

Rut roW am I oVer TheLimit as I cant Seam to Type aNY LongER....GuEsS thAT lasT bERE Might NOT hAVe been a GOOd IDea....

 

[OntarioHunter]

All this talk about booze and now I need to go get another one out of the fridge......

You are in bad shape. Better get to a meeting.

 

[Johnny Bravo]

You are in bad shape. Better get to a meeting.

you are taking this too serious...you better get to a meeting maybe? LOL

 

[Henry22]

Two rules that work for me but are not foolproof.
1. No drinking alone.
2. Drinks only with happy/celebratory occasions.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

As I got older (I’m in my mid forties) I noticed that even one or two drinks in the evening was enough to negatively affect my sleep, so I started to cut back.

It’s pretty wild how much it effects my sleep, even one beer a couple hours before bed screws up my sleep.

I also was dealing with some GERD and that has completely vanished… apparently 0 to do with spicy/acidic foods and everything to do with beer.

 

[rjthehunter]

On a lighter note, I learned something sort of funny on a job site this past week.

So one of the carpenters told a story about their foreman getting a DUI. He was sitting at home drinking with his girlfriend. She got mad at him as she usually does I guess, and she made him go to the store to get them more cigarettes. As he drives out, she calls the cops on him and lands him a DUI... Some people...

They're still together and you can tell when they're on the phone because they feel the need to yell.

 

[Nick87]

@Nick87 don't know if u can relate to this or not, but next time you see a 55-65 year old whose just pickled think to yourself do I wanna be that purple nosed pickled bastard in 25 years? I tended bar for years all over the country and that's part of what cured me. I didn't want booze to be a part of my daily routine.
I still drink beers at hunting camps, golf league in the summer, a few on weekend camping trips and things like that, but it is in no way part of my daily or weekly routine like it used to be.
It also helped me when I stopped lying to myself and realized I would make decisions based on booze. Long story short I'm glad I left those days in the past.

It's funny and this really hits home one of my Dads best friends is this guy to a T. Closest person to family who's not actually family, taught me a LOT about hunting. He's not quite 60 and has pretty much the disabled barely gets around will ask you the same question several times in the same sentence etc from booze pretty sad he literally worked just long enough to retire and not be able to do a single thing. Been in and out of hospital. By far worst alcoholic I know we're ralking wakes up at 4 am and pounds a beer. Anyhow, his wife and kids will not get him booze and told us not too either. He calls about once a week but it's not to talk or bullshit anymore it's always same conversation hey can you get me a 12 pack and a bottle of brandy? Which I have several times.. puts me in a wierd spot. His wife knows why my truck is at there shop I'm sure she hates me for it. Idk what I'm supposed to do he's pretty much dying it's not like he's gonna change now...but yah another long winded reply but I've cut down my drinking a lot using this situation and a couple of family members as an example like you stated. It's funny like you said when you see those folks and your not drinking how they act etc really hits you like wow I'm not like that am I?

I used to smoke 2 packs a day minimum without going out, worked with a guy who was a total dipshit who smoked. Looked across the shop one day probably 10 years ago saw him puffing on a cigarette. Thought Jesus, look at that idiot. Haven't smoked since that day, haven't wanted one either. Admittedly I do buy a can of cope once in a while but not in any type of regularity.

 

[OntarioHunter]

you are taking this too serious...you better get to a meeting maybe? LOL

Oops. Forgot the smiley.

 

[OntarioHunter]

Two rules that work for me but are not foolproof.
1. No drinking alone.
2. Drinks only with happy/celebratory occasions.

Add "Keep no booze in the house" to that list.

Another one that helps me is "Always drink Coors Lite." It tastes like shit and I REALLY like beer. If I start on Coors Lite it's easy to stop at one. Very easy.