Just saw another take on “dry January”…

[NoTeleBob]

I'm off it. Antibiotics for the mother of all chest infections. Four more days, not that I'm counting.

Sorry to hear. Hope they act quickly for you and you start feeling better.

 

[AAT65]

Yep
The last two beers I had were separate and social occasions
They did in fact lubricate the discussion
I enjoyed them, very much.
And found zero need for more than the one

Most of the beers I drink are single ones, with a meal often. I find one drink is quite sociable: somewhere between 2 and 4 I’m launched onto a slippery slope. However my age-related fear of hangovers usually saves me before I’m over-committed…

 

[Dan German]

Nobody into drinking bad enough to die from sudden abstinence is likely to do Dry January.
It's more for the steady drinkers 'Who don't have a problem but can give up anytime they want."
We all know a few.
I'm probably one.

That’s me, for sure. I am working on drinking less. I feel like it’s more of a psychological habit than a physical addiction, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s any less hard on my body or any less difficult to quit. My holiday beer supply actually lasted past New Year’s, due to reduced consumption, so technically not Dry January, but I will see if I can go until February before buying any more.

I like beer......

So do I. See above.

 

[telemnemonics]

yeah…. If you are addicted to alcohol I would not listen to some fad and take that as my sign to quit cold turkey

Edit: whoops actually read the o.p I guess that’s what this is about

I still dont get the point...

 

[ficelles]

Years ago I used to do the dry January thing, but medical advice here is to be alcohol-free for several days every week, not just dry out once a year. Tonight is a dry night for me.

 

[Jim622]

Luckily, my ADD got the better of me and I quickly lost interest in the whole thing knowing that my estimated 12 to 16 beers a month will produce no drama in the emergency room/no sudden joy in those that wish me ill.

So - you heard it here first - if you got a problem with booze , skip “Dry January” and power through I guess ?

No guts no glory ?

My old man was a worthless drunk , so forgive me if I am not treating this subject and the speech-slurer’s with the dignity and respect I should be.

I don't think I had 12-16 last year.

 

[Tarkus60]

I watch some of the old guys at work with thier pill boxes.Eat crap all day take a pill for this take a pill for that. No sir eat healthy and enjoy your beer or wine as my wife does.
It's all about the diet!

 

[johnny k]

i see it having value if you are teetering on getting out of control with your use. or the idea of it as a call to finally start considering or start the process of getting treated if you have a full blown problem.

but for those with that "OMG i noticed my skin is just glowing now!" stuff it strikes me as one more deluded yuppie/yupster health thing, like cutting gluten out when you don't have celiac disease.

If you drink enough years in a row, your skin will be glowing with some weird sweat even in a very cold weather.

 

[StoneFaceGrin]

I am a heavy drinker and have embarked on this no alcohol January thing. I was honestly concerned about physical withdrawal and discomfort given my level of drinking.

I’m happy to report none.

But I’m not waking up in the middle of the night in discomfort. I’m certainly waking up better with a better feeling tummy.

I am sure that article needed a disclaimer so people understood that there is some risk to quitting after prolonged use.

I talked to my doc when I saw him in November and he advised me to go for it after frank discussions about my level of use over time.

As for me, I am enjoying my alcohol break.

 

[johnny k]

Nope. Just pharmaceutical ethanol in IV fluids. Likely the most expensive you'll ever buy and you'll never taste it.

oh, you mean it doesn't drip in your mouth ?

 

[johnb]

I'm not using reverb or delay this month.

 

[GGardner]

I was toying with the idea of a no-alcohol & no carb January but have already broken both restrictions. I can try again today.

 

[Mjark]

Which , is apparently people starting off the year by abstaining from alcohol until February (or longer because you realize you don’t miss it ? )

Anyway, this article went heavy on the “is it safe for you to suddenly abstain?” angle.

Meaning, do you drink so much that you will have possibly dangerous alcohol withdrawal symptoms?

It was at this point while reading that my brain did a backflip, and I said , to no one in particular -

“ Are they going to suggest that if you drink so much that your body will have a violent/possibly fatal reaction because it is being starved of alcohol that you should keep drinking ? then I’m gonna go whoa whoa whoa, and call BS on the whole enterprise !”

Luckily, my ADD got the better of me and I quickly lost interest in the whole thing knowing that my estimated 12 to 16 beers a month will produce no drama in the emergency room/no sudden joy in those that wish me ill.

So - you heard it here first - if you got a problem with booze , skip “Dry January” and power through I guess ?

No guts no glory ?

My old man was a worthless drunk , so forgive me if I am not treating this subject and the speech-slurer’s with the dignity and respect I should be.

No one that drinks that much is going to participate.

 

[stxrus]

My idea of a dry January is dry vermouth in my martinis.
Actually I prefer it over sweet vermouth but for January I’ll make a concerted effort to go dry

 

[Fiesta Red]

I’ve done Dry Every Month since August 8, 1998.

No DT’s or dangerous withdrawal symptoms, fortunately.

 

[BigDaddyLH]

My idea of a dry January is dry vermouth in my martinis.
Actually I prefer it over sweet vermouth but for January I’ll make a concerted effort to go dry

We salute you, for your service!

 

[NoTeleBob]

I watch some of the old guys at work with thier pill boxes.Eat crap all day take a pill for this take a pill for that. No sir eat healthy and enjoy your beer or wine as my wife does.
It's all about the diet!

I know people like that. A dozen pills a day instead of changing eating habits. They don't realize or want to admit how much better off they'd feel daily and increase health long term by changing their eating habits. The pills are easier.

 

[Kandinskyesque]

I tried a dry January in 1997, 16 years before my first successful dry January which involved rehab a few months before.

I lasted 48 hours, right up until the point where a dodgy refereeing/linesman decision at the Celtic v Rangers match sent me scurrying to the bar.
Then I realised I had made a very hasty, reactive decision.

"What was I thinking?" I said to myself
I had my birthday, my wife's birthday, Rabbie Burns' birthday, and 31 days with a Y in them to contend with throughout January.
Plus there were a few bottles of whisky still sitting in my garage (Christmas sweeteners from contractors) with the potential to go out of date.

I berated myself for having the temerity to blame alcohol for being the root of my ills in life and ordered another pint and large whisky.
I thought about a dry February instead for about 2 minutes and realised there were too many birthdays and days with Y in them, in February and postponed the idea right up until the point where I crawled through the doors of the rehab building in November 2012.

 

[11 Gauge]

That’s me, for sure. I am working on drinking less. I feel like it’s more of a psychological habit than a physical addiction, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s any less hard on my body or any less difficult to quit. My holiday beer supply actually lasted past New Year’s, due to reduced consumption, so technically not Dry January, but I will see if I can go until February before buying any more.

So do I. See above.

I'm constantly working on drinking less, and mine is also more like a psychological habit than a physical addiction.

Now that I'm in my mid-50's, I just don't seem to bounce back very well the next day, even with moderate drinking.

I'll have a few beers starting on Thursday evening, typically, then do the same thing on Friday evening. Then on Saturday and Sunday I just kind of pace myself and nurse them along throughout the day.

As I've gotten older, just the feeling of anything more than 'the warm and fuzzy buzz' has typically gotten to be unpleasant.

I really love beer. I've kind of been able to also establish some guardrails by choosing some stuff with a lower alcohol content, and also having some (non-alc) seltzers in between.

I used to like a little bourbon neat to go with the beer here and there (typically a Saturday night thing), but that's gotten much less common, too. A fifth seems to now last forever.

I never got into tequila or mezcal until June/July of 2022. I actually ended up enjoying it more than the bourbon, but have actually kind of grown tired of it as well. I'll probably just have a margarita at a restaurant once in a blue moon, going forward.

Anyway, I still have a weird assortment of different beers in the fridge downstairs, with some of them being from like the end of November 2022. With this current heatwave that we're having in MD (with a high of ~66 degrees today!), I just don't want to drink stuff like the Yuengling Black & Tans that are lingering, that I got for Thanksgiving, IIRC. Same thing for the Sixpoint Bengali IPAs and Monument City 51 Ryes.

If I'm going to ever quit for a whole month, I'll probably just stop altogether instead.

 

[cyclopean]

I would think the idea would be to quit gradually (whatever that looks like) under the supervision of a medical professional. No idea if that would mean an inpatient admission or what.

Anyway, regardless of what anyone thinks of people in the mess (or why they think it, which may all be very valid), the simple fact is that drinking to a certain degree and then quitting cold turkey can literally kill you. Seems a shame to get to the point where you're willing to do the work to surmount that problem only to have that kill you.

And again, I don't know how it works, but the treatment may very well involve continuing to drink (though, again, guided by a doctor). Medicine (and, more specifically, curing your medical problems) is often messy.

That’s what a detox is. A bunch of years ago we had to have an intervention and drive a friend to the hospital to get it to happen.

I also had a friend die from trying to quit cold turkey in 2021.