Quitting drinking for a few months,,, anyone tried?

lippy · #1 02-19-2007, 01:38 AM

I drink... a lot. Not as much as some, but 2-3 times each week or more. I've gotten to the point that I black out almost every time I drink a lot and it's starting to adversely affect my studies and life. I love being drunk but hate losing days of my life to hangovers and lethargy.

I take the LSAT on June 12th of this year and think I am not going to drink until then, however I don't know if I can go through with this. Mainly, I would have no idea what to do on a weekend night when I'm out with my friends... drink soda and laugh at them?

Has anyone, in college or otherwise, stayed sober for a few months? Is it feasible or will I just succumb to peer pressure?

kerowo · #2 02-19-2007, 01:45 AM

Cold turkey isn't the way you want to try this, it will most likely lead to a relapse that is worse than what you are doing now. Start by trying to not drink as much. If you can't go to a bar and have 2 or 3 drinks and stop you have bigger problems than you think.

Eihli · #3 02-19-2007, 01:58 AM

i use to black out every time i drank and was going to the bar 3-4 times a week. for the past few months i haven't drinking anything other than water, milk, or orange juice, and i don't think i'll ever be drinking anything else again.

NotMyJob · #4 02-19-2007, 01:59 AM

I was thinking about trying this as well, but realistically being in college it's probably not going to happen. In order to cut back a little bit and not black out as much, I've decided to take baby steps by only drinking beer and drinking 1-2 nights a week at most instead of 2-3 or even 3-4 which is pretty rare. Its pretty damn tough since thats all anyone really does on the weekends in college anyway. My hats off to you if you can do it though.

Banks2334 · #5 02-19-2007, 02:02 AM

Stop doing shots and cocktails. Just drink beer.

ilya · #6 02-19-2007, 02:02 AM

join AA or better yet start dating a smoking hot mormon

if you to mix the best of both worlds and cut down on your drinking for now while keeping that alcoholism option open, develop a taste for fine beer so that you stop wanting the cheap swill that gets you drunk quickly.

housenuts · #7 02-19-2007, 02:12 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Stop doing shots and cocktails. Just drink beer.

[/ QUOTE ]

this was a decent approach for me the past 2-3 years. i'd still almost always get blackout, but not as fast, and i wouldn't end up doing as stupid stuff as i do with rye and other cocktails. (read my balcony climbing trip report for an example)

but over the past year and a half i've broken down and am probably drinking more hard bar than i ever used to.

i always thought i'd learn to drink responsibly, but at 25 i've pretty much given up any notion of that possibility. i think for me, and maybe for you too, the best route is cold turkey. (not to be confused with wild turkey which causes many bad results)

luckily for me i have an easy way to go cold turkey. i'm going to afghanistan on tuesday, where i will have no access to booze until june when i get 3 weeks vacation (which could turn into a horribly disgusting binge) i'm sort of hoping that i'll just give up booze altogether and not start up again, but the likelihood of that happening is slim to none.

i've never tried AA and don't think i ever would. i think if you're gonna stop you just gotta want to do it enough that you can do it yourself.

deacsoft · #8 02-19-2007, 02:18 AM

There was a time in my life when I thought I was drinking too much. I never really had problems with blackouts or anything. I was just drinking more than I needed to be. So I decided to have the option to drink for half a month and would not drink the other half.

For example, there are 28 days this month. The first 14 I could drink if I wanted to. I didn't have to or feel the need to. If I wanted to go out I would. If not I'd do something else. The last 14 days I would not drink at all. I'd still go out with my friends and DD if there was a need. I'd play foosball, hang out, etc.

It worked out quite well for me.

Brainwalter · #9 02-19-2007, 02:20 AM

You should give it up for a few months, if for no other reason than to see that you can. If it turns out you can't, well, you know what that means.

fouronefive · #10 02-19-2007, 02:28 AM

[ QUOTE ]
I drink... a lot. Not as much as some, but 2-3 times each week or more. I've gotten to the point that I black out almost every time I drink a lot and it's starting to adversely affect my studies and life. I love being drunk but hate losing days of my life to hangovers and lethargy.

[/ QUOTE ]

No one can tell you if you drink too much, if you should stop, or if it will be "feasible" to stop.

If you want to drink less/not at all, you should drink/less or not at all.

If you want to drink less/not at all, and find you cannot, you may want to seek help from a friend, relative, or organization that you feel will be able to help.

As far as being sober around drunk people - if nothing else you'll do and experience things you might not otherwise do/experience while doing the usual drinking routine with friends.