>>8635 "Mediction" works for strangers, family (unless you're somewhat distant) will only become more interested to find out what ailment you have.
If you're in a pub like place, ask for sprite (it passes for a gin&tonic). In fact, if there's as publican who makes the drink have a quiet word that you'd rather not have alcohol.
If you're in a more social setting, it gets tough. The host likely thinks that offering alcohol is a gift to you, so refusing it is a faux pas. Depending on how intimate the settiing is, you may be able to chuck the drink, but if it's quite personal you need to be forthright and honest. Most people understand and are not naive about addiction.
>>8635 >>8636 It's a city break, so on one hand we'll be keeping busy most days, on the other hand lots of pubs and bars and restaurants around us and I can definitely see my family wanting to stop for a cheeky drink very frequently. And as my dad is paying for most of it, and he's a generous man, it's very easy to get pissed around him.
I've not had a drink in a week now, which is a record I think. I could always try the drinking in moderation, but I don't trust myself or my company to stop me going too far.
Can’t tell this time if its heat or withdrawal but, not to get delicate, after drinking about 4l of water over the last few hours I was expecting a bit more than a thimble of orange jam.
"Too much" can mean one of two things - either you're drinking so much that it's causing you long-term physical harm, or you're drinking in ways that are harming your current mental health.
In terms of physical health, the answer is straightforward if you're actually keeping track of what you're drinking. Anything over 14 units a week puts your health at risk, but the increase in risk is exponential - the more you drink, the more harm each additional drink does. There's a bit of subjectivity about how much risk you're willing to take, but I'd suggest thinking about cutting down if you're drinking more than about 30 units a week and speaking to your GP if you're drinking more than about 50 units a week. If you're drinking more than about 80 units a week, you're at serious risk and you should address it as a matter of urgency. You don't necessarily have to give up completely, but if you're drinking heavily then it's really beneficial to cut down.
If you're not sure how much you're drinking, there's a useful calculator at the link below. If you keep a diary of your drinking for a couple of weeks, it should give you a much clearer picture of what your actual alcohol intake is. It's easy to under-estimate the amount you drink.
As regards your mental health, it's a more complicated question. You might really enjoy going for a big lash on Friday, but it might be doing you harm if it wipes you out for the weekend and your life is just a cycle of work/boozing/hangover/work. You might be on the brink of a serious problem if drinking is your main or only way of coping with difficult feelings, even if you don't currently drink vast amounts. Some people just don't handle alcohol well, so even though their consumption might not be excessive, it might be harming their wellbeing or their relationships.
Figuring that out involves having some hard conversations with yourself and the people around you. Psychologically problematic drinking is as much about why you drink as anything else. Going sober for a month can be a very useful experiment - you might find it easy, you might find it a bit annoying, but if you really struggle with it then it's worth paying attention to your thoughts and feelings in relation to alcohol. If you can't go a month without drinking, then I'd suggest getting some support. You can get referred via your GP, or find local services at the link below.
Was getting drunk daily, for about 2-3 years. In August I was completely sober, until the last day of the month. I went on holiday with family, and they're big drinkers, and I joined in. Upon my return, I said to myself I'd have a couple of drinks on a weekend. Then that turned to a couple of drinks on weekends and mid-week to get over the Wednesday blues. Then last two nights I've gotten wasted. I think drinking in moderation is not an option for me. It must be all or nothing.
>>8645 When I was an actor who rested more often and had to see my GP or a nurse I always used to answer "oh about fifty or sixty" when they asked how many units I drank. "Sixty units a week?" they'd exclaim, obviously shocked. "No", I'd gleefully reply, "per day.".
>>8648 It stops being funny after a couple of decades and becomes a chore. And then becomes first worrying and then a major concern when you get blood work done. What even is Ferritin ~1000ug/L? "Elevated likely due to your alcohol consumption".
Ferritin is a protein that stores and releases iron in your blood. The normal range for a man is about 50 to 350μg/L. High levels of ferritin can be caused by a number of things, but in your case it's very likely to be alcoholic liver disease. A level of around 1000μg/L would suggest that your liver is in poor condition - not totally fucked, but headed that way if you keep drinking. Anything above 1000μg/L should really investigated by a liver specialist.
Other blood test results indicating that your liver might be in trouble would be:
Albumin below 35 g/L
ALT above 50 IU/L
AST above 40 IU/L
ALP above 115 IU/L
GGT above 40 IU/L
Bilirubin above 17 μmol/L
Given your history of drinking, it's likely that several of these markers might be abnormal.
If you stop drinking now, eat well and get a bit of exercise, your liver will probably cope with the battering it has been subjected to. It won't be perfect, but it'll get the job done. If you keep drinking, you're going to wake up one morning to find that you've gone yellow. I do mean that literally - alcoholic hepatitis tends to develop suddenly with little warning and the outcomes are rarely good.
You've got a window of opportunity to act, but that window won't stay open for much longer. Your body is right on the brink of being able to cope. This is a great big wake-up call with flashing lights and sirens. I'd urge you to listen.
If that's what you want, then I won't try and talk you out of it. If it's not what you want, then I'm telling you that you can get your drinking under control. It's not easy, you'll have lots of false starts and relapses and moments where it seems impossible, but all that matters is to keep trying. Get some counselling, try a detox, go to AA, just try something. If that doesn't work, try something else. Every time you try to quit, you learn something that makes your next attempt a bit more likely to work.
Hey guys, I just want to provide a little help for those who are struggling.
OK so you can't stop. It's fine, I get it. You can't fucking stop.
But there are some scientific ways to reduce the damage you're doing to yourself until you CAN stop. These ways are in no way intended for you to "keep drinking because I'm harm reducting anyway" - they are to stop the brain/body damage so that you can have the apparatus to live a good life so that you can stop. See what I'm doing here - don't use this advice as an excuse to continue drinking.
1. Drink Red Wine ONLY. Google the benefits.
2. Eat seafood consistently. DHA reduces 90% of the neuroinflammation.
3. Buy an EMR-TEK Red light machine. Google benefits.
4. Download and install Iris blue blocking software for your PC. Artificial light fucks you.
5. See every sunrise. Google Dr Jack Kruse, the GOAT of quantum biology. This is the foundation of his work - consistency in seeing the sunrise grounded like the SPHINX is a key to getting welll.
And actually, I'd like to add a couple of more things.
Meditation has been touted in the last decade as a 'alternative' way to nurturing youself. Do you know that that word - alternative makes me fucking sick?
Do you really know the extent to which you can get well if you were to actually consistently practice it day after day, week after week, month afer month, year after year?! You get your serotonin and dopamine back! Hangover as fuck? Doesn't matter. Sit down and marinate.
Here's a video for you fuckers:
There's plenty like him on YouTube if he doesn't resonate. Reclaim your power.
Also I'm the guy who wrote 'Mindfulness and Setting Boundaries' on /lit/. Utilize it.
You may've heard about supplements - nonsense! LIGHT - WATER - MAGNETISM - go to the source, not the junk that culture sells you!
"You're coming into the realm of isness... of beingness. It simply is. When your attention recognizes you are one with the Isness... all your life flowers... all your life Blooms, becomes Radiant. And right now, you can Do It"
>>8654 Mate, exploring 'woo' and lacking-scientific-research topics can be interesting, but please don't pay for a membership to Dr Jack Kruse's website and forums (if indeed he is a doctor). Look at the membership structure - it's clearly tiered to suck you in deeper and deeper until your only way out is to start bringing new members in.
But yeah, watching the sunrise probably does help if only for the novelty factor - I find shaking up my lifestyle with such things inevitably shifts my perception enough to question just what I'm doing with my life.
Check out Bruce Lipton for some non-confidence-scam alternative medical science if you're interested (mostly epigenetics, if I recall correctly - which incidentally is becoming recognised as a legit field). You might find everything you're experiencing now can be attributed to simple, powerful, belief.
Lacking scientific research - ha! How low we've fallen. It's all out there. I don't pay for anything of Jack's. The sunrise is free. A can of Pilachards is 80p. The EMR-TEK light machine is under £200. The benefits are exponential BECAUSE they addresss the root cause.
The sunrise has more to it than you're stating. it is the download that I, the One (in you) Needs.
Belief is true, but it's nothing without the brain's correct neurotransmitters.
Because a nutcase is needed. This is essnetially connection to nature. Go in the sun? Your thoughts aren't necessarily correct? Seafood provides the substratum for a healthy brain? Ludicrous!
It's not like the people in this thread are suffering immensely or anything like that...
conted. I gurantee you, these guys are staying up late, sleeping when the sunrise is out, eating next to no seafood. They're drinking beer and spirits and white wine - Not Red!!!
These are simple fixes - literally go to the shop and pick uip a Malbec and get a can of Pilchards - Boom!
Set alarm for 7am. Might be a little difficult, if you like, but youlll get used to it and see what I mean!
Hello again lads. It's been a while. Tomorrow is my day 1, again. For good this time.
To embarrass myself into quitting I'm going to type a list of reasons I should stay sober.
1. It doesn't feel good anymore. Drinking in your mid-late 30s is nothing like drinking as a 20-something, not during and certainly not the morning/afternoon after. The overdraft I've taken out on my health is hitting its credit limit and I can feel it physically.
2. Family and friends. Drink like a one-man party and even your "normal" mates will kind of think it's funny and maybe join in occasionally when they have no responsibilities of their own. Different story when they have kids and a "proper job" and whatever else. I'm so alone now.
3. Money. I can see 40 on the horizon and I have no savings, I can track the years I met my pension contributions exactly to the brief spell about 6 or 7 years ago when I went sober for a while. With my skills and a bit of luck, coupled with historically low interest rates, I could have been on the property ladder by now but instead I'm living in a bedsit and that will never change even if I stay sober because I've officially missed the boat.
4. Time. I used to drink "to pass the time" on purpose. That is unbelievable to me now. When I've been sober I've really enjoyed being able to pursue interests and hobbies that don't really work the same if I'm drunk off my arse. Even reading a book and actually understanding/remembering what I read or playing Runescape and levelling efficiently/not getting pk'd instantly are a much better use of my time than staring into space listening to sad music.
6. Weight. I'm fat and I'm going to stay fat no matter what changes I make to my diet unless I stop necking lager every night.
5. Health. I've taken an overdraft out on my health and the payments are coming due. I take daily supplements for my kidneys and my liver (praying they aren't too fucked to recover) but have washed them down with booze more often than not basically every day the past few months.
>>8667 >I could have been on the property ladder by now but instead I'm living in a bedsit and that will never change even if I stay sober because I've officially missed the boat.
Maybe to own a house in that London, but otherwise I don't see how.
Woke up today and there was an unopened can on my desk. I honestly intended to throw it away at some point and started work. Around 11ish I decided to put the can in the fridge instead of chucking it, as I closed the fridge door I knew that it meant I'd be drinking again tonight. Which I am. I will probably have more leftover booze tomorrow than I did today due to having stocked up, the cycle continues.
>>8668 This is actually a really good point. I haven't really spent much time outside of London due to having been born here and having cared about little but having a place to quietly get drunk since I grew up. Do you recommend anywhere in particular? I work from home but I prefer city life to country life, mainly out of laziness about walking and not being able to drive.
A lot of the commuter belt around Liverpool and Manchester gives you easy access to the city centre via train, with insanely cheap property by London standards. You could have a two bed flat in habitable condition, in a slightly grotty but not horribly crime-ridden area, with a train station on your doorstep, all for less than £50k. Forget about Leeds, the public transport is shit. Dunno about elsewhere.
Due to "misadventure" (blind drunk fell over and landed on something pointy) I mangled two ribs on my left hand side. It's a right fucker, not properly broken but still re-arranging themselves if I sit down wrong. And there's nothing they can do, apparently.
But with the bad comes good, I need to stuff myself with ibuprofen so I'm not allowed to drink, and it's weird. I've taken sober breaks before and they've been fine, but the last week sober and taking ~1.5-2g of ibuprofen per day was truly strange. As I understand it, it has no "recreational" potential but unlike previous times I still felt oddly calm. Not quite "serene", but like a weight was off my shoulders that I didn't even know was there.
I mentioned that the ribs still smart and my GP suggested Cocodamol... given my history I'm not touching that with a barge pole.
>As I understand it, it has no "recreational" potential but unlike previous times I still felt oddly calm. Not quite "serene", but like a weight was off my shoulders that I didn't even know was there.
We have a little bit of evidence to suggest that paracetamol and ibuprofen can reduce emotional pain.
Going away for New Years with my family. They are all big drinkers. In the middle class way - half a bottle of wine every night after work, at parties and special occasions they will really binge. My dad is really weird about pop - if I drink 10 beers at a party that's fine, but if I drink one glass of Diet Coke it's unhealthy.
I can't handle drinking in moderation - I think for me I need to stop completely. Any tips on how to maintain teetotal when surrounded by copious amounts of booze and pissed up middle aged people?
>>8674 How are you with non-alcoholic beer? How are they with it? I guess it's too late to buy a brew-your-own-beer kit and make your own secretly-alcohol-free homebrew that you can drink instead.
>>8674 > Any tips on how to maintain teetotal when surrounded by copious amounts of booze and pissed up middle aged people?
This is all based on personal experience, so your mileage may vary. The hands down hardest part is going to be peer pressure, and given what you said I assume "I'd rather not, but thanks" will not be accepted. Being surrounded itself can be managed by always having a safe drink in hand and keeping it topped up, it adds another hurdle to picking an alcoholic drink even if you have to piss like a mule all night. But being offered is much harder to avoid. How hard depends on how the event and individuals present will work which only you know.
Normal deflection, like "doctor's orders" won't work because family will be nosy and dig. You can try and have decoy drinks handy, like thin elderflower or lime cordial made up with sparkling water (tonic water if you really want it foamy) to mimic whatever bubbly might be present. You might get away with avoiding beer if you claim you want to avoid the carbs. That's a nonesense for anyone who knows how alcohol works, of course, and you might get called names but it's an option.
The biggest question is if you can deflect until everyone else is trollied. By that point it'll be tedious but I assume you have enough experience to play along. Prepare to be slightly less than honest the next morning, if everyone else was paralytic then you'll have the typical questions which are best answered by "I don't know, we had a great time though, didn't we?"
>>8674 A timely reminder of how much I hate drinking culture in this country. People ruining their health and ploughing their money into drink to feel shit the next day can't relax unless you're doing it too.
>>8677 And yet here we are. Either you are part of it, or you are not. This Either/Not culture would resolve so much and for national health, this one should answer not.
Did dry January and now I don't really feel like drinking anymore. I'd rather go play sports or do something outdoorsy than spend yet another night getting drunk at a bar or a club. Realised that I have tonne of restless energy at night which I've been pacifying with booze.
I'm sitting here, in a flat, and if I just stop nothing would change for about 3 months. Not pleasant for me, of course, but if I just keeled over, fuck. I should aat leat hop into a bin bag,
Kestrel has been tasting off recently. Not quite as off as the fake Glenn's, but worse. Normally it's bland, which given 9% is an achievement, but recently I get slightly rusty tins and it tastes wrong. Two different cans (plain and fancy), two different flavours, is this enshittification?
>>8688 No one, I hope. Along with everything else it's gone up from £1.99 to £2.49 recently right in line with Speccy Brew and I know which I'd rather drink. Bland nothing or athletes foot, hmm. Perla, Okocim, Debowe, K, and OJ(?) are £1.80. Technically a better deal, but not as (usually) nice.
And by experimentation, confirmed. The fancy tins, double Scottish flag, Kestrel written on a horizontal banderole, over a golden oval, top of tin has a golden ring saying "Award Winning" seem to be to off ones, maybe old stock. Plain tins, simple top to bottom arrangement, are the proper ones.
Mate, that's absolutely fantastic news. It's a clear sign that the changes you've made are working and your liver is starting to recover. You've made a huge amount of progress and you should be properly proud of yourself. Obviously you should try and cut down on the binge drinking if you can, but the most important thing is to keep up the progress you've already made.
