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I gotta question....

Old 10-07-2004, 03:23 PM
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I gotta question....

howdy all I just got done watching Oprah and the follow up to Sarah's story. I'm feeling pretty dang good right now because I have been sober for 11mos and 7 days but the show got me thinking back to my rehab days and the therapy I got while I was there. The rehab that I was at was very AA driven and although I did go for a while after I got out of the center I've really never felt comfortable there. They also taught me that non-alcoholic beer is a huge no-no (because they do contain alcohol ya know) and not to use that to curb cravings. Well, at times I confess, I do use it to curb a craving but I also drink it because I just like the dang taste of beer and love the fact that I can drink one w/o getting drunk or a hang over. Is this a sign of a recovering alcoholic who is about to fall? why on earth do I feel so guilty about drinking non-alcoholic beer??????
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Old 10-07-2004, 03:58 PM
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Hi Daisi,

The worry for most people with 'alcohol-free' is that it's a step closer to the real thing. Reasonable logic I suppose. There is also a reasonable line of thought that a behaviourist psychologist may use that drinking alcohol-free beer must lead to the extinction of the learned response link betweenthe taste and smell of beer and the physical and mental adiction.

If you're in charge of yourself, and are confident and settled in your sober state I think it's totally down to you how you live with it. If it really is a sneaky step back to the old ways - you will know it, if you're really honest with yourelf.

Personally I think alcohol-free beer is so pants, I'd rather give the local tramp a tongue-bath.

Deg.
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Old 10-07-2004, 05:10 PM
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The amount of alcohol in a-f beer is so low that it would take a huge amount to feel the effects. It's comparable to what occurs naturally in many fruit juices.
Don
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Old 10-07-2004, 08:27 PM
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Hi Daisi welcome to the forum.

As deg said.Now is the time for you to be really honest with yourself.Do you really like the taste of beerl that much ? Or could it be that maybe you still like "going thru the motions" of drinking?

If so why ?

I believe in total abstainance from all alcohol even in minute traces.Alcohol is life threatening to me and I no longer knowingly ingest it.

Last edited by Peter; 10-08-2004 at 01:05 PM.
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Old 10-08-2004, 02:20 AM
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Hi Daisi,

For me, non-alcoholic beer is just too close to the real thing in every way but the alcohol. But I never really liked the taste of beer so I guess the question for me is "would I drink non-alcoholic wine?" Again, it's just too close to the real thing. All of the pleasant associations would bring me close to the edge and I'd be afraid a time would come when the pleasant associations combined with a bad day would cause me to "accidentally" get the real thing and fall over the edge. And then it would REALLY be bad day.

If you feel guilty about drinking non-alcoholic beer, perhaps somebody or something is trying to send you a message. Do you really like the taste of beer enough to risk everything?

Jah Bless
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Old 10-08-2004, 02:51 AM
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please becareful!

Daisi,

I would be careful. I'm no expert on this, but it something makes me feel uncomfortable because it reminds me of drinking, I stay away from it. Personally, anything that moves me in the direction of drinking, in any form, scares me. But that's just me. Take care.

By the way, today is 1 month and 1 day sober for me. Feels so good!

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Old 10-08-2004, 02:53 AM
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Drinking "alcohol free" beer is the same as looking at a Playboy and saying, "well at least I'm not in a t*tty bar."

There's an old saying that goes, "If you hang around the barber shop long enough, you're going to end up getting a hair cut." This of course refers to going to bars which apparently you aren't, or didn't mention it. Nevertheless, there's a "vicarious" thrill associated with going to bars, and I would suspect the same thing happens when drinking "near beer." I'm getting the taste without the buzz so that's ok. To me, drinking near beer may not be going to the bar, but I've got one foot in the door.
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Old 10-08-2004, 01:07 PM
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Gratulashuns on the one month and a day Quinn.
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Old 10-08-2004, 02:55 PM
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Thanks Peter!

On my home computer, I've made this site my homepage, so everytime I connect to the internet, this is the first place I go to. It helps!

-Quinn
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Old 10-08-2004, 03:47 PM
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Hi Daisi; All I can say is that if I smoked pot without the thc, it would definately trigger me wanting it WITH the thc. Be careful.
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Old 10-08-2004, 04:05 PM
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Daisi:
My experience was in observing a gentleman with many years experience in attending AA meetings who decided to take a few O'douls out fishing on the lake. He took a few more out the next week..... and a few more added to that the next.... until he was fishing with a boat load of the stuff. I stopped fishing with him as he began not showing up to our AA Home Group. My sponsor suggested that I curtail the fishing trips with this guy until I was more solid in my own sobriety.

Well, in a matter of just months, a few of us from his old Home Group were in attendance at his funeral. His wife said that although he had 20+ years of sobriety, the near beer didn't cut it for him. He decided that he was really more interested in getting the "effect" than the flavor and went back to Whiskey.

Just my experience, observation, and gratitude for sticking close to AA and having a sponsor. Otherwise I might have joined his O'doul's Recovery Program. He recovered more than he imagined and rather quickly.

((((((((Daisi)))))))))
Kiss Heart of Spirit
In Love & Service,
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Old 10-08-2004, 08:04 PM
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thanks ya'll :)

You have all basically answered my question... and I appreciate that alot... thinking now that the disease is whispering at me again and looking for a justification...needed a wake up call. Today btw is my one year date of my admission to rehab...didn't say one year sober......just one year since rehab...I have about 3 more weeks to go before I hit that once inconcievable 1 yr mark of sobriety... knowing I'm gonna make it yay!!!!!!!!!!!
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Old 10-08-2004, 09:34 PM
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Hi, daisi,

There is no physiological reason to avoid non-alcohol beers. 3Legacy, your buddy in the boat would have to drink them at a 10:1 ratio to real beer to get any kind of a buzz. It isn't what killed him. The alcohol level of the orange juice you drink is about the same as that of NA beers, due to natural fermentation. We are all regularly ingesting alcohol without intending to.

So that gets to the behavioral and psychological aspects. Drinking NA beer won't make you go drink real beer. It may remind you of situations or feelings you had when you were drinking the real stuff. You may be using it as a substitute. But it doesn't cause your behavior. If those memories or feelings are intense, avoiding the things that trigger them can be helpful.

I'd suggest that you feel guilty about drinking NA beer because you were drilled to believe that it is harmful, during a time when you were emotionally vulnerable. Let me point out quickly, though, that that isn't necessarily an inappropriate thing for them to have told you. As a way of achieving short term sobriety, we all use 'whatever it takes' to avoid that first drink.

But you're sober nearly a year now, and you should congratulate yourself on having achieved that. You can take control of your own sobriety now and focus on the key to longterm sobriety: firmly adopting the belief that drinking to feel the effects of alcohol has no place in your life.

I'm not belittling strongly aversive approaches such as Peter's. One of the hallmarks of people who are successful at longterm sobriety is making simple lifestyle changes, and avoiding all forms of alcohol is actually a pretty simple one. I also adopted a 'no alcohol in my house' approach--but I do have cooking wine and Listerine. We each adopt our own versions of these rules.

I loved to cook with wine, but also realized that had been an excuse to buy it. So I chose to avoid recipes for which wine was a key ingredient, and consciously changed my cooking style. When someone gave me a bottle, I added salt to it to render it undrinkable and then used it up in cooking--but my tastes had changed so much that it took me nearly a year.

'So pants'?! What an expression! But I agree...surely there must be something better you can drink?! To get the refreshment and 'mouth feel' of a carbonated beverage, one of my favorites is cranberry juice mixed with seltzer water.

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Old 10-09-2004, 08:45 AM
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Daisi,

Personally, I couldn't drink near beer without wanting real alcohol.

3 weeks till your year? WTG! Will be looking forward to it!

Quinn...... 1 month 1 day? Whoo hooo!
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