That said, it still totally sucked, and made me feel embarrassed ( Oh God, am I boring?) and sad. But ultimately, I realized it was about them and not about me.
#I QUIT DRINKING HOW TO#
The first time I faced this, I felt totally unequipped for how to deal with it.
People called me “boring," rolled their eyes when I said I wasn’t drinking for the month, and put a lot of pressure on me to “just have one drink.” Some people even stopped calling me or inviting me out to gatherings or parties. Almost everyone, including my own friends, was likely to get weird and even kind of pissy about it. This was the strangest thing of all about going dry for a month: other people. Here we go.Ī lot of people, including your close friends, will be SUPER annoying and unsupportive about your decision. Intrigued? If you are planning to try a Dry January, there are some important things you need to know before you embark on this challenging, enlightening, and ultimately rewarding booze-free journey. In fact, January 2016 will be my seventh Dry January. My first-ever dry January not only totally changed my relationship with alcohol it changed some of my friendships, and I’d even argue it changed my life. Going in, I figured I would probably miss having a drink with my friends on the weekends, but as it turned out, the effects were way more far-reaching than that. I also wanted to see how it would make me feel (better? more focused? totally the same?). Mostly, I wanted to see if having a sober month was something I could do. So, my Dry January was not about “detoxing” or turning around a serious bad habit. Before I gave this a try, I wasn’t even a huge drinker or partier - I would do wine on weeknights, and maybe a some cocktails on the weekends with friends. To some people, that might not sound like a big deal, but to me it sounded like a major commitment.
That means no booze at all, for any reason (yes, even at a birthday party / wedding / after a bad day / whatever) for the entire month. There are also other risks: of ulcers, bone marrow disease, depression, anaemia and heart abnormalities, as well as sudden death in binge drinkers.Īs you do seem to care about yourself, I advise you to contact Alcoholics Anonymous and also your doctor providing that you agree that you have a problem and that you are willing to seek help.This article was originally published on December 17, 2015.Ī couple of years ago, I decided to do a Dry January. You must understand you may indeed be at fatal risk if the situation continues unchecked.ĭespite your recent tests on the liver, long term abuse of alcohol can lead to liver damage, and this may progress first to cirrhosis and then on to liver-failure: 5 year survival is only 48% if drinking then continues. If the answer to these questions is yes, (and I sincerely hope that may be the case) then the fact that it may take a few months or more for red or white blood cells to become more normal after stopping drinking, pales into insignificance against the fact that you want to stop now. Am I willing to accept help and advice from my loved ones, my doctor and voluntary agencies?.The questions you need to be asking yourself seriously are If you have been drinking heavily for 15 years, then it isn't just your blood tests that you need to be concerned about, or whether you may have signs of cirrhosis of the liver.
I have not been diagnosed as having cirrhosis of the liver and I no longer suffer from high blood pressure. Having drunk heavily for a number of years I was wondering if I stop, how long will it be before my blood (ie the problem with the white blood corpuscles which I understand can exist) returns to normal?
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