Why Did You Quit Drinking?

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tozert

Starting to Get Obsessed
Apr 26, 2017
165
95
Cornwall
I just finished reading a thread about what drinks go good with a pipe. I noticed within the replies that a few guys quit drinking alcohol. I just quit drinking after a ten year love affair with strong drink. I always drank a big nightcap before bed, it was still a lot for my small frame (I would get through a 70cl bottle per week - working out to just over the recommended units per day). I finally noticed that it was affecting my health, so I decided to take the bull by the horns and learn to live without it. If you made a decision to stop drinking alcohol, why did you quit?

 

alexnorth

Part of the Furniture Now
Apr 7, 2015
603
3
I try to do everything in moderation. I've never had a problem with the drink though. If you want to I think you should quit completely.

 

cosmicbobo

Part of the Furniture Now
May 11, 2017
657
2
I spent twenty years drunk. I plain loved it. Though told it was impossible (it's not) I could drink a 1.75 of bourbon or gin in a night as well as a case of beer over the day.

I quit for about ten years and now I drink a smidge every few months. I have found that given orange juice I like it better without booze. That goes for about everything. Would rather have a lemonade than beer. Tomato Juice without vodka.

 

jaytex1969

Lifer
Jun 6, 2017
9,517
50,591
Here
Drinking and the 2-wheeled lifestyle are not a good multitask pairing.
I tried the high speed break dancing one time. That was enough for me.
I don't abstain but I'm dry when I ride, which is most of the time.
About twice a year, I have a blowout event where I need chaperones.
I found the coffee house fills my former bar void.
Easier to ride home wired than plastered.
Spend 1/4 of the cash and remember everything in the morning.
As MSO would say, "What's not to love?"
jay-roger.jpg


 

phantomwolf

Starting to Get Obsessed
Apr 14, 2017
266
1
Pittsburgh, PA
I have considered giving up strong drink, but the thought of viewing my life in it's current state sans beer-goggles is just too damn terrifying.

 

ray47

Lifer
Jul 10, 2015
2,451
5,610
Dalzell, South Carolina
I was always a social drinker, maybe once a month, but when I had to start taking medications that don't go well with alcohol, I had to give it up. I do miss a Bloody Mary or two at social functions.

 

fluffie666

Can't Leave
Apr 4, 2014
497
5
I quit drinking (and other things) because every time I drank I would end up doing something stupid. After about 20 years of quitting and going back, every time I tried to convince myself that I could drink and abstain from being stupid, somewhere along the line I realized that I was wrong. I ALWAYS do stupid things when I drink. I came up with an equation after 20 years of trial and error. Pete + alcohol = stupid. Things have been much better after I was able to look at that equation and realize what would happen if I did drink again.

 

lasttango

Part of the Furniture Now
Sep 29, 2012
875
17
Wilmington, De / Ithaca, NY
One of the reasons... The catalyst.....
I woke up in the passenger seat of a sportscar doing about 100MPH in a snowstorm. The driver was freebasing cocaine while he was driving.

It was my 26th birthday. I drank a lot that night and every night before for as long as I could remember. I didn't do any drugs. I wasn't interested in them.
I scared the heck out of myself.
I promised myself that if I didn't die, I would quit.
I didn't die.
I grew up with the guy that was driving and freebasing. I called his dad... told him his son was doing a mountain of coke and a river of Jack every day.
His dad sent him to rehab.
This was 20 years ago.
He just started talking to me again a couple years ago. He was very thankful I did that. He said he'd be dead had I not snitched on him. We lamented over the 17 years we didn't speak.
He's happily married with a kid, a great job and a house with the metaphorical white picket fence.
I had to change most my friends, because they were into things heavier than drinking. They didn't understand. Some of them are dead now. Some of them still do it. A few of them made it out. We talk now.
I have not made and decisions approaching the stupidity of those I made when I was drunk.
Now that I have grown up and acquired some self-control... I have tried drinking.
Each time I have tried it, I break out in hives.
It's weird.
It's like the universe telling me I should never do that again.
If you and/or other people in your life think you have a problem, you probably do.

 
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wyfbane

Lifer
Apr 26, 2013
5,117
3,517
Tennessee
My mom saw the handwriting on the wall when I was 17 and got me drunk to see if I could handle myself while drunk. I could. My senior year prepared me for college. College prepared me for the Army. I was hammered up til about 30. Then life got busy and I stopped getting hammered, but still liked a cocktail or two whenever.
The only thing about being drunk for me back in my 20s was I loved to drive. LOVED it. Zipping along with a buzz was just the best fun. One night I was clubbing in downtown portland and I was near blind drunk. I made it thru to a friends house that was in Cedar Hills (pretty close to downtown PDX), but she was entertaining. I then had to drive all the way to Battle Ground, WA (not close at ALL to PDX). I do not remember that drive. That was the last time I ever drove drunk.
My vice now is food. I am a chubby lad now, as pipesmokingtom and metalheadycigarguy can corroborate. I retired out of the army and since then bacon and I are doing a death dance together. I am getting to the point where I am going to lose weight, but I am still pretty functional for a fat guy, so it is hard to motivate. Soon though. I figure I need to be right-sized by 50 and I am 46.

 

sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
19,625
44,844
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
It's interesting to see the responses because of the level of unintentional discomfort some of them display.
The question is simple enough. Why did you quit drinking?
The answer is simple enough. I quit drinking because...
In my case, I stopped drinking because I was either going to kill somebody or be killed if I continued drinking. Like other life issues, once identified, this needed to be faced and dealt with. It's been over 15 years. I could elaborate, but that's the essence of it.
Now, if anyone else has the simple answer to this simple question, I'd like to hear it.

 

aldecaker

Lifer
Feb 13, 2015
4,407
42
It started affecting my health. I found out that I had some tumors in my liver that wouldn't allow boozing and normal liver function at the same time. So I quit. Sad, sad day. I dearly loved booze, and reality, not so much!

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
Never been a big drinker though I have certainly enjoyed a good glass of wine, cold beer, or glass of whiskey. However, since my wife has had to use pain meds, we pretty much skip the alcohol. She has a sip of my beer if we are out to a meal. Since we nearly always eat together, I skip the drinks otherwise.

 

warren

Lifer
Sep 13, 2013
11,699
16,207
Foothills of the Chugach Range, AK
As a copper I saw better people than me become alcoholics.
And, the time I walked into the bar and one of my pals complained to me about missing my show. I asked what he was referencing? The night before I had demonstrated my stupidity by riding my Duo Glide, standing on the seat. two blocks down a rather busy thoroughfare. After that, if I felt sociable, I stuck to tonic with a twist of lime.
Now it's a glass of port in the late evening or, a glass of wine infrequently with dinner and never when I have to drive after a bit of the grape.

 

jpmcwjr

Moderator
Staff member
May 12, 2015
24,569
27,077
Carmel Valley, CA
My reason is closer to what Sable wrote above. Many times when I resolved to have just a couple of drinks, I'd exceed that by a large measure. Other times, one drink would make me want to just go home and sleep. The outcomes were never good, be it one drink or dozens, and so I had to quit wholesale. My health is much better, and I have a lot more cash to spend on pipes and tobacco!

 

beezer

Part of the Furniture Now
Jul 12, 2013
618
743
I quit on 15 August 2011 after becoming aware of a non-alcohol related issue affecting my liver. My liver is fine today, but I've continued to not drink at all. It's been one of the best decisions I've ever made.

 
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