Dee74

Sure, I'm not expecting you to know my history

I just meant it's difficult to encapsulate my entire drinking history every time I post in threads like these.

I don't want to scare anybody.

We're talking about 2007 for me.

I was convinced that having gotten sober, I'd die soon, and I had no confidence I could be sober long term anyway - and incidents like the ones I've described above really spooked me.

We talked about powerlessness the other day - I grabbed back my power.

eventually, I learned that nothing and no one can make me do anything I don't want to do.

I was ready to quit drinking, and I did.

It was hard but it was worth it - and it gets easier, man...it has to or else there'd be no long term sober people .

I once couldn't go three days without a drink - I'm over 11 years sober now. Change really can happen zerominuszero

D.

zerominuszero20

It's Ok Dee. The last thing on my mind right now is the fear of falling back into hell because of the fake buzz from alcohol-free beer or Jack Daniels glazed ham. I am glad that you were able to find your power back again from this thread and we should thank the OP for that.

11 years is a long time!

Dropsie

Dee definitely rocks 24/7 365.

zerominuszero20

x11

LaceyDallas

I wouldn't, personally. I don't get triggered easily, but there are certain things I won't drink because they remind me of drinking. (The new cherry coke in the skinny cans being one of them- I used to drink cheap cherry wine in coke so it reminds me of that, for example.). It's not worth it to me, because while I am drinking it, it makes me feel like I am actually drinking- and not at all comfortable.

SoberCAH

Come to think of it, that new Diet Cherry Coke in the slim cans does taste like some of the awful wine I drank as a kid and as a young man (Strawberry Hill, MD 2020, Ripple, etc.).

It didn't conjure up notions of that garbage when I picked up a six-pack and tried it, but it does have a similar (bilious) flavor.

AWald88

Hi all

A fair bit of time has passed so I thought I'd update you with my experience.

I have drunk 0% beer now for over a year. I have found it to really helps. It meets that desire after a hot day for a beer, allows me to feel normal at the pub with mates and in my experience does not lead to cravings. Quite the opposite it usually helps me through them.

I'm not saying it will work for everyone (I was a binger not a daily drinker) but it works for me.

Dropsie

AW,

I can drink it too, well not anymore becuase of the carbs and I have cut those out for other reasons, but never triggered me at all.

Great to hear things are going so well.

abgator

I'm a looooong way from testing myself in public, I'm only a month sober (again). But I've regularly drank NA beer in the past and I found it relaxing. Watching the gator game or after mowing the lawn. No craving for real alcohol at all, it's not my trigger. But I found the taste soothing.

A lot of people will say that no one drinks for the taste. I didn't drink ONLY for the taste, but I truly did enjoy it. I was a bourbon snob for a long time. If a NA bourbon were possible, I'd drink it. There are certain flavors I really miss.

Dee74

let me add to my oft told tale of NA beer, which must be 12 years old now and predates my recovery.

I live by an ALDI.

A couple of times a year they have a German NA beer on sale (0.0 %)

I bought the pack this time cos it had a couple of nice glasses with it. I can save the bottles for company right?

The stubbies (small bottles) sat there for a while.

Once or twice I eyed the bottles and thought people with long periods of recovery drink this.

One night 2 weeks ago, I put one on the freezer - had it - not bad taste but not good... OK.

No urges to rush out and buy beer or anything like that.

Still the next night, I drank the other one.

This week I've found myself looking at the local bottle shop website for NA beers....

Sure, I'm not in any danger whatsoever of wanting the real stuff and chances are I could drink NA stuff from here on in and be just fine.

but...something stopped me from taking it further.

there's no need for me to drink beer.


Theres any number of other delicious thirst quenching drinks I could drink, drinks that don't remind me of my drinking days.... but the idea of an nice cold frosty NA beer has been hard to shift.

The spell broke, I'm gonna stick with soda water.

Over reaction?
maybe - but my recovery is still that important to me.

D

FBL

Keep in mind that NA beer still contains trace amounts of alcohol. Not enough to actually get drunk of course, but it could be a trigger.

stargazer016

I think Mindful Man made several good points. Everyone has different triggers. I can have the random NA and it does not trigger me at all. I can have one with Mexican food, realize this doesn't really taste that great, and I am done. Now, my drink of destruction was rum and vanilla coke. To this day, every time I smell a vanilla coke, I think rum. Therefore, I avoid vanilla coke now. Alcohol mouthwash, NyQuil, any food cooked with alcohol, for me, are huge triggers. I religiously avoid my triggers. If I was a beer drunk, I would never pick up a NA. If one is reading this thread trying to decide if a NA is safe, they probably shouldn't be drinking a NA. Playing with fire in my eyes.

Each of us is wired differently. Be honest with yourselves and make smart decisions to keep sober.

ColoradoRocky

Anybody wants to play around with this stuff, I guess it's fine for them....as long as the 0.00% alcohol to 0.5% alcohol doesn't feed the physical and emotional dependence.

I don't think it's worth it. Sorry, but I'm not buying anybody's reasons for why it's a good thing, but that's me.

Best quote I ever in my life heard on this is in this very discussion above:

Non-Alcoholic beer is for Non-Alcoholics

--I Had My fill

Callas

I also drink NA beer every now and then. It’s quite nice. I was a whiskey drinker. I absolutely do not think this beer will in any way contribute to me drinking again.

ColoradoRocky

That's hideous. You're pathetic. Me, of course, I never stooped that low. Not me. Nooooooooo.





(Unless it were the only alcohol available.)

August252015

Very glad this thread got bumped.

An analogy that just popped to mind - the recent threads about stuff like vanilla extract and a slippery slope.

My two cents is just what CR said.
And Dee- thank you for sharing. I think that is a tremendous example of recovery in years that have added up, and an "advisory" for us ALL.

fini

to me, the whole “n/a” drink th8ng seems like such a desparate attempt to keep hanging on...to what, exactly? the taste? the fitting-in-and-be-seen-as-normal? the rituals associated? the feelings associated? the supposed satisfaction?
don’t know, as i don’t touch the stuff. but i think it would touch on a bit of all of those for me and feed something like a little flame of renewed or never-extinguished obsession.

abgator

Possibly, for some people.

I look at it like people who use stevia. Can't have sweet tea anymore, but still enjoy the taste of it? Find an alternative if you get harmless fulfillment out of it. To each their own. We have different triggers, different personalities, and different tastes.