IronyDaily

I noticed when it comes to smoking or alcohol that I haven't had any withdrawal.

I am a 30 year old 6 foot 2 and 190 pound male and I tried smoking for about a year when I turned 18.
It really didn't do much for me and I didn't smoke much. When I quit it was easy to forget about it and I never went back.

I didn't start drinking until about 3 years ago.
And I've never got drunk or blacked out. I only drink when I eat so maybe that is why.
I did start small with a few shots of vodka a couple of the days out of a week.
But recently it got to where I was finishing a 1.75l of vodka in about 3 days.
I get buzzed but still don't get drunk where I am slurring words or having impaired motor skills. People don't notice anything different about my behavior so it's not just me remembering things wrong.
I also never experienced a hangover. I wake up perfectly fine and feel like I had a full nights rest.

I recently looked into how much I am drinking and how many calories and money it costs and decided to quit.
I feared withdrawal but more than a week without drinking and I have had no issues.
I don't crave alcohol and have none of the symptoms of withdrawal.
I even have a half empty 1.75l bottle of vodka in the fridge that I never touched since being sober.
Although I do miss the buzz and wish there was something healthy that could achieve the same result.
Also food doesn't taste as good and crappy tv shows aren't as entertaining but those are the only differences I notice.

I just hope I didn't damage my liver too much at my young age.
My high tolerance was killing my wallet and my liver and the fact that I suffered no "apparent" ill effects made it way too easy to abuse.

Andante

You may have an unusually resilient brain, but I bet it would eventually begin to crumble under the onslaught of the amount of drinking you report having done recently. No one is truly immune from alcohol’s long term effects.

Good job stopping in time. This forum is a great place if you decide you need help or support in staying stopped.

theVman31

You're young and you have been drinking a relatively short time so I reckon you will be OK.
Go do a blood work if you are worried.
Stay sober and enjoy your life.

IronyDaily

Yah I was drinking at least 5 shots of vodka daily for the past year and in the last 4-5 months it was easily more than 10 shots daily.
I only drank when I ate and it was never to get drunk but to maintain a buzz to relax after work.
It also made it easy to control when I sleep since If I had 10 hours or less in between working shifts I could just drink myself to sleep and I would always wake up around 5-6 hours later without any hangover.
So the only hard part after being sober since I stopped drinking is the ability to fall asleep unless I am dead tired.

I doubt I will go back to it since I know I am not a light drinker so just "one beer" won't be the outcome.
I actually stayed away from beer when I first drank because it took way too much of it to even get a buzz which added to weight gain.
The only thing I would drink aside from spirits would be two 23.5 oz cans of 28 proof Four Loko which was enough to get a little buzz.

If I do have problems I will come back to this forum.

I will keep the bottle of Vodka in my fridge as a test since I think it would be more tempting to go out and buy another if I throw this one away.
For some reason knowing I have the option in my fridge makes it easier to ignore it.

Dee74

makes it a whole lot easier to drink it too.

You'll be tested plenty in the course of your daily life.

If you're a non drinker now and happy to be that way, bin the vodka. Whats the use of it?

D

SnazzyDresser

Good for you for quitting before things got bad. Not really sure what the title means, it sounds pretty standard to me as these drinking things go. You were drinking too much. Seems like you caught it early and nipped it in the bud. Now potential trouble might be that this emboldens you to experiment more in the future; be careful to avoid that trap!

Yixi

Irony, glad that you've decided to stop now. Just a word of caution though - at 30 years old I was where you are now. At 50, I wasn't. Please - just go careful with it. Yix x

IronyDaily

I think it's harder for people to stop if they use alcohol to escape depression or other pains.

I just drank for the buzz and not for escape so maybe that is why it was easier to decide to quit.
Plus I am betting it is easier to quit when you are young.

I won't try and kid myself and think if I go at it again it will be as easy to quit.
I am going to set up an appointment with my doctor to see about getting my liver checked.
I will also have to check with a cardiologist to see if there are any complications. I have coarctation of the aorta and a bicuspid valve. But I had surgery as a baby to fix the first problem and have been perfectly healthy since. I haven't seen a cardiologist for about 12 years but I figured I was fine since I run around my University every few days without problem which is around a 2 mile run.

ScottFromWI

Glad to hear you are seeing a doc to get checked out Irony. I don't know that it really matters how easy or hard it is for one to quit, or how hard/easy it was relative to others. The fact that you want to quit is what matters most. And I think it's a great decision.

NYCDoglvr

How to tell if you're an alcoholic or not: decide to have one or two drinks but no more. If you can't do that you're an alcoholic.

IronyDaily

What if that one drink is a whisky glass with 5 shots of vodka in it?

ScottFromWI

I am assuming this is a rhetorical/sarcastic question?