Sober for 6 months

cleanbluesky · 8 Apr 2007 at 18:15

armatage said:
If going out on a friday night and drinking 12 pints worth makes me an alcoholic then yes

No. In which case you are not 'sober' you have become teetotal.

dirtydog · 8 Apr 2007 at 18:18

cleanbluesky said:
No. In which case you are not 'sober' you have become teetotal.

Teetotalism means being sober

And perpetual sobriety is teetotalism.

cleanbluesky · 8 Apr 2007 at 18:20

dirtydog said:
Teetotalism means being sober And perpetual sobriety is teetotalism.

http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/sober

1 a : sparing in the use of food and drink : b : not addicted to intoxicating drink c : not drunk

Perhaps. I think we should adopt the word 'abstemious' in future to indicate someone who is refraining from drinking as opposed to someone who has overcome alcoholism.

Loki · 8 Apr 2007 at 18:24

cleanbluesky said:
http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/sober

1 a : sparing in the use of food and drink : b : not addicted to intoxicating drink c : not drunk

Perhaps. I think we should adopt the word 'abstemious' in future to indicate someone who is refraining from drinking as opposed to someone who has overcome alcoholism.

I think we got the gist of what he was saying without getting lost in symantics

trojan698 · 8 Apr 2007 at 18:24

Loki said:
I think we got the gist of what he was saying without getting lost in symantics

Exactly. Stop bickering.

dirtydog said:
Random result from a quick google.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070314105801AALZOOS&show=7

Telling all problem drinkers to just quit is bad advice.

That's obviously an extreme case, and she's not a doctor. The problem with stopping drinking is that alcoholics generally only need one drink before it turns into a session. So I can't advocate telling alcoholics to try cutting down first because it usually doesn't work.

cleanbluesky · 8 Apr 2007 at 18:24

Loki said:
I think we got the gist of what he was saying without getting lost in symantics

We didn't, I had to ask a few people here have assumed that he is an alcoholic.

The devil is in the details!

Super Tigers · 8 Apr 2007 at 18:24

cleanbluesky said:
No. In which case you are not 'sober' you have become teetotal.

I had a glass of wine the other week. I am not teetotal but if you worked out my alcoholic units per week it would be 0, but over six months it would 5 or 6 units per 6 months.

Alcohol, vastly over-rated.

Rob H

malccy · 8 Apr 2007 at 18:25

Last drink I had was 14th December 2000 - damn i'm thirsty.

Smiley Man · 8 Apr 2007 at 18:26

dirtydog said:
That rather depends on how long you've been drinking for, and how much you've been drinking... for those who are heavily dependent on it, 'just stopping' can be dangerous with nasty side-effects similar to quitting hard drugs.

alcohol withdrawal is worse than quitting any "hard" drug

alcohol withdrawal can cause seizures and heart attacks :eek:

Mr Gimp · 8 Apr 2007 at 18:27

Seriously CBS, must you insist on being so totally anal in every thread?

Well done tho OP, I haven't drank since 2004 but that's just as I cannot justify wasting money on something that serves no purpose.

dirtydog · 8 Apr 2007 at 18:28

Smiley Man said:
alcohol withdrawal is worse than quitting any "hard" drug

alcohol withdrawal can cause seizures and heart attacks

I saw an article the other day about some doctors in this country who wanted to reclassify drugs and alcohol. They said that by rights, alcohol should be in the highest category of 'drug', well ahead of things like LSD or Ketamine.

edit - http://www.guardian.co.uk/drugs/Story/0,,2040886,00.html

Loki · 8 Apr 2007 at 18:38

cleanbluesky said:
We didn't, I had to ask a few people here have assumed that he is an alcoholic.

The devil is in the details!

Are you suggesting i'm hard of hearing ? :eek:

armatage · 8 Apr 2007 at 18:39

Hen_Dawg said:
Any tips on stopping drinking?

chronic stomach pains did it for me

Smiley Man · 8 Apr 2007 at 18:42

dirtydog said:
I saw an article the other day about some doctors in this country who wanted to reclassify drugs and alcohol. They said that by rights, alcohol should be in the highest category of 'drug', well ahead of things like LSD or Ketamine.

the alcohol high is expensive, has loads of bad effects, makes people violent, causes fights, makes people loud and never shut up and long term use can cause dependance and social problems - but for the love of god dont smoke a joint or you'll die :eek:

Loki · 8 Apr 2007 at 18:43

I would love to stop drinking to be honest.

I have no medical condition. I drink moderately i.e. maybe a bottle, two bottles of wine a week. I goto the pub on special occasions thats pretty much it. Today is Easter Sunday and the family have been round and we had a very nice meal and drinking was nice in moderation.

dirtydog · 8 Apr 2007 at 18:45

Smiley Man said:
the alcohol high is expensive, has loads of bad effects, makes people violent, causes fights, makes people loud and never shut up and long term use can cause dependance and social problems - but for the love of god dont smoke a joint or you'll die

Yeah I know what you mean

It doesn't really stand up to scrutiny that alcohol is legal while demonstrably less harmful drugs and substances are banned.

OneWingedAngel · 8 Apr 2007 at 19:58

When I'm at home I can easily go two months without a drink not thinking about it, but when at uni a few of us decided to go two weeks without a drink and for the first few days we kept thinking of just quitting (why were we going two weeks without a drink?), but by the second week it was alright. Of course we made up for it after the two weeks were over

I think the only problem is that when there a large group of you and most of them are having a good time drinking, and your there sober realising how mundane the usual drunk nights out are, its not much fun, so your tempted to join back in. Since there were four of us not drinking it wasn't too bad, but we did tend to shun going out and staying in and watching a movie instead for the two weeks as going out and not drinking wasn't much fun.

I guess the two issues that I came across was having other people who don't drink for company and not going to places where you would be tempted to drink.

And after a period without drinking you'll find your tolerances have decreased (which makes a 'heavy' night out cheaper), or more appropriately gives a nice beer buzz after only two pints.

dannyjo22 · 8 Apr 2007 at 20:11

armatage said:
chronic stomach pains did it for me

Had exactly the same problem in m early to mid 20's. Stopped drinking for about 5 years. Binge drinking vodka messed me up. I can now get away with drinking 5 or 6 units on a night out withoput suffering badly the next day.

I dont really miss drinking now either, its rare I would drink 10-15 units in a month.

kooj · 8 Apr 2007 at 20:43

im only 18 but i have found myself drinkin 15-16 bottles of newcastle brown on a night out, i know full well what repeated use can do, so ive limited myself to 5 on a night out

also quite smoking, smoked since 11, just stopped, always made sure i didnt have the money

also good on ya mate, i have an older friend (27) who drinks heavily 4 nights a week and since he says he always feels fine the next day he keeps doing it

OneWingedAngel · 8 Apr 2007 at 20:51

kooj said:
15-16 bottles of newcastle brown on a night out

I can't even drink a bottle of that stuff, the only time I've tried it was when my uni had it on offer - I bought two bottles because it was so cheap, after suffering through 1/3 of a bottle I gave them to my friend and went to get a proper drink to wash the taste out of my mouth.

Guess it must be a marmite situation.