BS: Dry January

Subject: BS: Dry January
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 20 Jan 16 - 01:59 PM

Until I awoke on new years day I never knew that your liver could actualy hurt! I decided that a few drinks on the Friday and Saturday night would not do much more harm but I thought I had better detox a bit. My last booze was half a dozen beers on the evening of the 2nd and my next will be on my birthday early in February. Anyone else at it and, if so, how is it going?

I am finding it no trouble and am not missing it at all. In fact, in many ways, I am enjoying it very much. Many years ago both my best mate and I realised that we were really good at abstinence but crap at moderation. I hope to address that with my next drinks and hope that I will keep to single figure units once or twice a week at most with long periods in between. I am sure that, on occasion, it will be considerably higher but with a bit of luck, willpower and a good wind behind me it may just work :-)

Hic.

:D tG

Subject: RE: BS: Dry January
From: maeve
Date: 20 Jan 16 - 03:09 PM

Best of luck to you.

Subject: RE: BS: Dry January
From: GUEST,achmelvich
Date: 20 Jan 16 - 04:35 PM

i do like good beer. and do drink much more than 14 units a week. however, i like it and have had very many good times over the years. as i get older i find it harder to recover from -typically 4/5 pints of jennings - and try to avoid if working the next day. but the important thing is not to let the beer beat you - we have a duty to drink it. keep the good pubs going and a sense of a connected community. hangovers are mostly in yer heid - ignore them and carry on. the beer won't drink itself you know

Subject: RE: BS: Dry January
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 20 Jan 16 - 06:08 PM

Could we settle for damp, or moist, rather than wet or dry?

Subject: RE: BS: Dry January
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 20 Jan 16 - 08:29 PM

It's a tough one in Scotland, where it's the season of Celtic Connections Festival in Glasgow for over half of the month, AND we've got all the Burns suppers too!

Subject: RE: BS: Dry January
From: olddude
Date: 20 Jan 16 - 09:41 PM

Well I had a glass of beer, last June, that is about the extent of my drinking. However now that I retired i could pick up some additional bad habits I guess

Subject: RE: BS: Dry January
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 21 Jan 16 - 01:41 AM

I was glad when they brought the recommendation down to 14 units. I was struggling to drink 28 a day...

Subject: RE: BS: Dry January
From: GUEST,Musket
Date: 21 Jan 16 - 03:40 AM

An interesting article in last week's British Medical Journal suggesting that all to nothing and a month later back to all isn't the best liver therapy at all. A slow down either to very little or none is better from that perspective. Your liver can regenerate but doesn't like to be rushed if I read it right. (The articles are aimed at doctors not common or garden muskets.)

The other issues such as increasing risks through empty calories or dehydration are more of a slow burner issue and whilst any abstinence is good for you, the idea of it staving off the inevitable with a few weeks once a year doesnt stack up with the evidence. Still, a break is a break and if you think it does you good, in some ways it does. (Mind over matter but don't knock it.)

It would appear that cutting down is the only answer if you wish for a healthier life. A little is generally better than none, it seems. My less than scientific approach is that if you laugh and enjoy yourself more, it's better for you than being miserable, so getting off your arse and enjoying a night with friends is better than playing Billy no Mates and a couple of drinks is offset by the relaxation and good feeling that might bring.

Or put another way, mines a pint.

I can't dry out anyway. We are off on our annual pilgrimage to Tignes this weekend. Two weeks on the piste and on the piss. Catch me in The Alpaka and in The JamBar if not up a mountain.

Subject: RE: BS: Dry January
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 21 Jan 16 - 04:39 AM

Aye, I think I had heard similar before which is why I am going to keep it down to single figure units once or twice a week. What seems a bit incongruous with past experiences is keeping it to 2 or 3 units in a day. For years many people I know and I have gone way over that for extended periods and while I cannot say with no ill effects I can state that, generally, our bodies seem to cope with it admirably. I think alcohol tolerance varies greatly between people and a blanket recommendation does not take account of personal differences. Some cannot have any while some can process large amounts. I put my own capacity down to my East European heritage :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Dry January
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 21 Jan 16 - 04:44 AM

Still, a break is a break and if you think it does you good, in some ways it does.

I'll go along with that. What I don't go along with is the herd instinct:- let's ALL give up booze in January; all the men should grow a moustache in November; etc.

I would rather be a fashion setter than a follower. If people want to do what I do then it's alright by me. If they don't then it's no skin off my nose.

EC

Subject: RE: BS: Dry January
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 21 Jan 16 - 04:50 AM

EC ??? ...that's not me, that's the wife!

Let me try signing off again:-

DC

There, that's better

Subject: RE: BS: Dry January
From: banjoman
Date: 21 Jan 16 - 06:06 AM

Not had an alcoholic drink for almost 25 ears due to medication for several conditions. I also stopped smoking around the same time. Now, in my 70,s I would love to have a real binge along with a couple of decent cigars.
Any contributors to this thread are welcome to pick up my "allowance"
Enjoy.
PS aside from that, life is still pretty good.

Subject: RE: BS: Dry January
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 21 Jan 16 - 06:23 AM

I liked my daughters idea better - Sober October. Can't remember November...

Subject: RE: BS: Dry January
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Jan 16 - 08:23 AM

my best mate and I realised that we were really good at abstinence but crap at moderation.

Very true - I go through times when I want to lose weight and the glass or two of wine in the evening works against that goal. One glass with dinner gives you permission to have the second, doesn't it? :) It's easier to just not have any wine for a while and lose the weight.

Subject: RE: BS: Dry January
From: G-Force
Date: 21 Jan 16 - 08:39 AM

I prefer to do it in February. It's shorter.

Subject: RE: BS: Dry January
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 21 Jan 16 - 08:41 AM

One glass with dinner gives you permission to have the second, doesn't it?

And it is a well known fact that if you leave any in the bottle it goes off... :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Dry January
From: Stu
Date: 21 Jan 16 - 09:27 AM

I stopped from new year until a week last Wednesday. I have to say I didn't find it too much of an issue and in sessions could play a lot longer without beery fingers flapping as the evening wore on and more ale was consumed.

That said, my first pint after a couple of weeks was bliss.

Subject: RE: BS: Dry January
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 21 Jan 16 - 09:42 AM

I must say I have tried stopping before. It was the worst 45 minutes of my life...

Subject: RE: BS: Dry January
From: GUEST,achmelvich
Date: 21 Jan 16 - 12:50 PM

if you go to the pub it is a legal minimum requirement that you drink 3 pints. if you stay in the LMR is 2 pints (or large glasses of wine) if cooking. other than that you can choose for yerself.

apparently we british drink too much and the recommended amount is 14 units a week. when we are represented at international conferences they have agreements with other countries for carbon emissions offset (no, i don't understand either) could we not do the same for booze? for example could we agree to drink Iran's beer quota now we are friendly again? could we drink Spain's real ale if they drink our cheap wine? etc.

Subject: RE: BS: Dry January
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 21 Jan 16 - 07:28 PM

I have had a dry Thursday thanks to stringent drink-driving limits: but got home at 12.01 and reached for the wine! Welcome wet Friday!

RE your comment Achmelvich: I commented to a lady in Australia that Aussie wine there was more expensive than Aussie wine in the UK: her reply "That's because we send you all the rubbish we don't want"!

Subject: RE: BS: Dry January
From: GUEST
Date: 22 Jan 16 - 12:42 AM

he relative success of the A.A. program seems to be due to the fact that an alcoholic who no longer drinks has an exceptional faculty for "reaching" and helping an uncontrolled drinker.

In simplest form, the A.A. program operates when a recovered alcoholic passes along the story of his or her own problem drinking, describes the sobriety he or she has found in A.A., and invites the newcomer to join the informal Fellowship.

The heart of the suggested program of personal recovery is contained in Twelve Steps describing the experience of the earliest members of the Society:

1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol - that our lives had become unmanageable.

2. Came to believe

Subject: RE: BS: Dry January
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 22 Jan 16 - 04:37 AM

Well, that's telling us...

Subject: RE: BS: Dry January
From: GUEST,Raggytash
Date: 22 Jan 16 - 07:54 AM

Guest, Are there 10 commandments to follow and do the priests wear frocks.

Subject: RE: BS: Dry January
From: GUEST,MikeL2
Date: 22 Jan 16 - 02:19 PM

Hi Dan

Dan,Dan,Dan !!! surely you mean GOOD habits !!

Me and er indoors had our usual Friday lunch in our favourite Chinese Restaurant. This includes our usual bottle of red wine. Dry January.....pooh.

Sad news is that we were told today that the restaurant is closing down this week-end....boo hoo.

We are looking for another to replace it but it is the only really good Chinese Restaurant in the area. We have some alternatives in mind. Gonna be fun finding which we like best.

Stay well Dan.

Regards

Mike

Subject: RE: BS: Dry January
From: olddude
Date: 22 Jan 16 - 02:39 PM

Thanks Mike, it's not too dry here. Snow up to my butt and cold.. But I got music :)

Subject: RE: BS: Dry January
From: Stanron
Date: 22 Jan 16 - 06:50 PM

Move to Spain. They recommend 35 units per week.

I've been on a one night drinking per week regime for the last year or so (festivals excepted) as opposed to seven nights a week in previous years. It's amazing how much money I save.

Subject: RE: BS: Dry January
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 22 Jan 16 - 07:17 PM

Dry January my arse. Dry anything my arse. My back's bad, my sinuses are rotten and my knee's packing up. Life's a vale of tears as it is so you can stick your dry January up the darkest recesses of poo bay. If this is a voice of dissent, good!

Subject: RE: BS: Dry January
From: GUEST
Date: 23 Jan 16 - 11:34 AM

As the letter in today's times said:
Dry January, dry gin, dry martini, dry white wine .....

Subject: RE: BS: Dry January
From: GUEST,achmelvich
Date: 24 Jan 16 - 07:41 AM

ell, that shut me up for a bit. just had news that a relative who (as far as i know) drinks significantly less than me is in a bad way with cirrhosis of the liver. i had a day off the beer on friday and was doing fine in staying dry yesterday til i made the tactical error of making a cheddar and branston sandwich. if you have 5 bottles of cocker hoop in the fridge and that sandwich in front of you i would say it is a physical impossibility to resist. just the one beer , mind you.....


(is it possible to get cirrhosis without drinking much? is he just unlucky?)

Subject: RE: BS: Dry January
From: GUEST,Musket
Date: 24 Jan 16 - 09:31 AM

Steve, you forgot to mention Liverpool playing shit.

😎

Subject: RE: BS: Dry January
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 24 Jan 16 - 12:57 PM

The Mrs suffers from pancreatic issues she barely touches a drop. The doctor does not believe her! I guess not all liver/pancreas/gallbladder problems stem from drink. I think she gets it by proxy from me :-(

Subject: RE: BS: Dry January
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 24 Jan 16 - 01:01 PM

...and achmelvich, I do hope you left the Cockerhoop out of the fridge a while before drinking!

Subject: RE: BS: Dry January
From: GUEST,achmelvich
Date: 24 Jan 16 - 05:18 PM

sorry.....in my defence it was nearly 2 days since i'd had a beer. not desperate, just a bit impatient. and i like a cold beer -especially in the current warm weather

Subject: RE: BS: Dry January
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 24 Jan 16 - 08:01 PM

Well I got yanked into hospital last March with ghastly abdominal pain. My amylase was sky-high, clearly summat up with me pancreas, and I had no bile duct blockage, so the bastards in the hospital told me I was drinking too much. The only thing is that I'd been on a fruit binge that day and hadn't felt well for hours as a result, but they wouldn't listen to that. Anyway, I recovered way too quickly for pancreatitis but I refrained from the booze for a few weeks. Have been back to normal for nine months and have been hunkydory. But no fruit binges from now on!

Subject: RE: BS: Dry January
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 25 Jan 16 - 04:53 AM

I don't think binges of any sort are healthy, which brings me back to my style of drinking! Quite happy with none but tend to go over the top when boozing. That is what I am hoping to rectify over the next month or two and I am using this month as a base to build anew. That is the theory anyway :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Dry January
From: GUEST,achmelvich
Date: 25 Jan 16 - 11:45 AM

too much fruit eh? i can't imagine cider isn't full of healthy goodness.

good luck dave. but it's depressing isn't it? i feel a grudging sort of reluctant acceptance that the 'experts' may have a little bit of a point (occasionally) and that good old beer and plenty of it isn't quite the uncomplicated and easy pleasure it has always been.

Subject: RE: BS: Dry January
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 25 Jan 16 - 01:38 PM

Oh, good ale, you are my darling
You are my joy both night and morning...

Subject: RE: BS: Dry January
From: GUEST,achmelvich
Date: 25 Jan 16 - 01:45 PM

indeed. and a cheery article in the i today about the health benefits of moderate drinking in a good local (as in west cumbria pub of the year about 50 metres from here) pub.

i'm assuming that 'moderate' means 5ish pints of not strong beer a couple of nights a week. (plus a few bottles from the fridge for the other rest of the week - just for health reasons)

Subject: RE: BS: Dry January
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 25 Jan 16 - 06:00 PM

In answer to earlier post, not all forms of cirrhosis are alcohol-related. Others are just bad luck or maybe unfortunate genetics. e.g. primary biliary cirrhosis.
Burns" Night here: the tipple at the primary school ceilidh was Irn Bru - the only time I ever drink it, but SOOO Scottish and it might even catch on!

Subject: RE: BS: Dry January
From: Pete Jennings
Date: 26 Jan 16 - 12:13 PM

Achmelvich, I'd have thought that 4 or 5 pints of me was enough for anybody!

Subject: RE: BS: Dry January
From: GUEST
Date: 26 Jan 16 - 06:04 PM

I love to drink that why we loved to Panama.
Panama Map

Subject: RE: BS: Dry January
From: Joe_F
Date: 27 Jan 16 - 06:03 PM

"I doubt whether, on balance, even outright drunkenness does harm, provided it is infrequent -- twice a year, say. The whole experience, including the repentance afterwards, makes a sort of break in one's mental routine, comparable to a weekend in a foreign country, which is probably beneficial." -- George Orwell (20 December 1946)