Have your alcohol drinking habits changed over the years?

I haven't had a drop of alcohol for 29 years. I drank for 35 years, in control at first, and sometime in my 20s I started drinking every night, and kept getting worse about it. It finally got so bad that I embarrassed myself too often and toward the end feared for my sanity. Unlike others here, I couldn't just say I had enough and stop. Quitting was a big project for me, but well worth it. I will never go back to drinking. I don't want it, don't miss it, and have nothing to gain from it. I have bad memories of those years.
 

Outside of my college days, when it was de rigeur to get knee-walking drunk on the weekends, I've never been much of a drinker. Mostly because I'm the cheapest drunk in town. One drink and I'm tipsy; two and I'm likely to fall asleep.

Recently, I went a year without drinking due to a clinical trial I was participating in. My liver isn't what it should be, which is a pity because I didn't have any fun getting there....

Now, I have developed an allergy or intolerance for rum, which used to be my booze of choice. It makes me very sick.

I don't like gin or vodka or whiskey (except in a hot toddy) but I love tequila, which seems to agree with me. So, I have the occasional margarita.
 
I was a Friday & Saturday night drinker. I hated the taste of beer so that left whiskey or rum. I could hold my alcohol pretty good and still drive better than many, but in this day and age I would be waaaay over the legal limit if I got pulled over.

I quit altogether in my early 50’s after I realized the tingling/numbness on my right arm the next morning was after a night of drinking. Plus I never had a DUI and wanted to keep it that way.

I can’t believe the women that are in their 60s and 70s that are making the news in my area, getting pulled over for not only DUIs but Drugs. I don’t get it but I give thanks I had sense enough to quit when I did and drugs is something I’ve never done.
 

One of the best results of abstaining was being an example for my daughter in her mid-20's, whom resisted pressure to drink, do drugs all through HS and college. Now seeing me give it up has given her even more determination not to let her life become negatively affected by drugs and alcohol and ruin everything she's worked so hard for.
 
Absolutely. When I was in college and well into my 30's I drank hard liquor. There were many times in college when I would come home, have the "bed spins", "worship at the porcelain alter" and wake up with a horrible hangover. I completed my finals with a hangover.

I met my hubby 33 years ago. He doesn't drink because he is Filipino and has the Asian inability to process alcohol where he turns beet red, gets all giggly and falls asleep. I would feel ridiculous if I got even slightly drunk and he was still sober. So, I seriously curtailed my alcohol intake and now only drink wine. I have him to thank for it.

BTW both of my uncles were raging alcoholics. One came to visit us and stayed in a hotel nearby. I was a kid and we were going to visit Busch Gardens with him. My father went to his room to get him, came back to the car and told us he wouldn't be joining us. He had been on a bender the night before. :( There but for the grace of god go I.
 
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I did my share of drinking when I was younger. Now I occasionally have a drink in the evening while cooking dinner. During the holidays I look forward to Baileys and Cognac, but the rest of the year plain old vodka is what I have. I am not a big wine fan, but do drink it on occasion, mostly socially.
 
fuzzybuddy said:
On a recent visit to my Doc's, he asked if I drank. I said, no. He asked again, like he didn't believe me.
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I remember my doctor in DC asking me that, and he laughingly told me that his medical school professors told the students to automatically double any response a patient gave them.

Like you, @Babs2u, I often end the day with a glass of chardonnay to unwind and take the edge off, although as you noted, tea often has the same effect.

I did a lot of drinking in college and hate to lose that kind of control, so those days are long past, and good riddance.
 
Rose65 said:
I've never tried drugs, joints or weed or such. I feel I have missed out really and it's too late!
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I never smoked pot when I was younger, but I did go to a company sales meeting in my 30s and afterward 3 of us went back to one of my co-worker's house. She had a joint and we all tried it. Let me tell you, Saturday Night Live has never been funnier! We laughed at everything and one of my co-workers couldn't even get up from the couch. :ROFLMAO:
 
Aunt Bea said:
I started experimenting with alcohol when I was about 12. I remember we used to sneak onto the golf course of a private country club and buy beer from an honor box cooler. 😉🤭😂

Back then the drinking age was 18 and going out drinking was pretty much our only recreation.

In high school it was keg parties in corn fields or at the lake, later it was local bars.

When I started working, I took the bus and quite often killed time waiting for the bus in a little inexpensive side street saloon with other commuters.

As my work responsibilities increased so did my expense account drinking and entertaining, killing time in airport bars, taking my employees out for beer and pizza, etc…

When I stopped working in 2005 my drinking gradually dropped off to nothing.

I’m not against drinking, I have to watch my excess carbs and calories.

At this point in my life I would rather have a dish of ice cream than a cocktail.

I had fun and thankfully nobody got hurt but it was a great waste on so many levels.
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I feel I know you better after this post than I ever have before. Hugs.
 
KSav said:
I remember my doctor in DC asking me that, and he laughingly told me that his medical school professors told the students to automatically double any response a patient gave them.

Like you, @Babs2u, I often end the day with a glass of chardonnay to unwind and take the edge off, although as you noted, tea often has the same effect.

I did a lot of drinking in college and hate to lose that kind of control, so those days are long past, and good riddance.
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Yeah, but you have to admit "those days" were fun. 🙂
 
fuzzybuddy said:
Yeah, but you have to admit "those days" were fun. 🙂
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I thought they were at the time, but not all the time, and looking back, my idea of fun was kind of warped, anyway. I would put most of my drinking in college as an act of rebellion and about as meaningful as mooning another car when passing it on the highway (I never mooned anyone, BTW). Later I sometimes justified my drinking as an act of sophistication, while just getting drunk. Doesn't make much sense, does it? Welcome to my world, the world of my past, anyway.
 
seadoug said:
I never smoked pot when I was younger, but I did go to a company sales meeting in my 30s and afterward 3 of us went back to one of my co-worker's house. She had a joint and we all tried it. Let me tell you, Saturday Night Live has never been funnier! We laughed at everything and one of my co-workers couldn't even get up from the couch. :ROFLMAO:
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I have missed out. That sounds great fun.
 
Rose65 said:
I have missed out. That sounds great fun.
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I remember when I first experimented with pot with a good friend. The next day he observed that the problem with pot is that it wasn't followed by a hangover, so there was no built in safety feature like alcohol to keep smoking from getting out of hand. It always seemed strange that alcohol often ended in bar fights and regrettable behavior, while pot ended up with chilling out on the couch and a package of Oreos. The first vice embraced by society, while the second sent a chill down the spines of the older generation. Politics over reason.
 
-Oy- said:
I drink a lot less than I used to. I'll be under the recommended unit's per week soon if I'm not careful! 🙀
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My GP once told me that you have to drink about twice the recommended amount before you'e in a worse position than a non drinker.
Yet another doctor, with pint of beer in hand, told me that if you drink less than your GP, you don't have a problem.
 
The losses keep stacking up for the U.S. wine industry.

Wine sales drying up as Americans turn elsewhere

The losses keep stacking up for the U.S. wine industry. Wine sales in the U.S. last year tumbled approximately 6% from 2023, according to data from the industry data group SipSource. The drop is the latest in a long-term decline in wine demand in restaurants, bars and stores that some are calling an “existential threat” to the industry.

Wine isn’t the only alcoholic drink that’s fallen on hard times; data from NIQ shows sales for beer, cider and spirits have also decreased. But wine’s fall is steeper, and the whole industry is aware of the shift. “Wines have been surging, surging, surging all these years, but the last few years they have dropped off,” said Larry Duke, who has owned and operated Schumer’s Wine and Liquor in Manhattan since 1978.

Wine, which comes in a large bottle and may require a corkscrew or extra glasses, is at a disadvantage compared to the convenience of premixed drinks...Gary Decker, owner of Vinomania in Syracuse, New York, said legal marijuana has also drawn away demand for wine.
 

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