fenster67

hi everyone,

I am closing in on two years sobriety, and i was wondering what people thought of this.
I decided to have an O'dools at my inlaw's house, and i thought, why not?

I have had one before here and there, maybe twice in the last two years.

This time, i think i actually felt a buzz for about 10 sec. I wasn't looking for one in my brain, but suddenly i thought...i want another one. I sat concentrating on it, thinking, do i have a buzz or am i just imagining things?

now, i know that a glass of orange juice or applejuice has the same thing in it from the natural fermentation of the sugars. I have certainly done my research on this in the past couple years.

Now, i am thinking...did i just lose my sobriety? I have almost two years

what does anyone thing?

Anna

I don't want any kind of reminders like that in my life. But, that's just me.

Of course, whether or not you broke your sobriety is up to you.

Onewithwings

I don't drink anything alcohol-flavored. I think that beer taste may have just triggered that feeling of a beer buzz, but I wouldn't say you relapsed. I drink Kombucha every now and then, which has about as much alcohol as an O'Doul's, never gotten a buzz from it, and I am pretty small. It is more likely that your brain's 'drunk center' was just a bit triggered by the taste of beer, that can happen. Your brain creates its own buzz. This is part of the reason I stay away from near-beer: I will start to crave the real thing!

But to answer your question, no, I don't think you lost your sobriety, but I do think you might be someone who should stay away from drinks like that, if they trigger a drunken feeling in your mind.

Dee74

Hi Fenster

As I think everyone knows I never drink them...like Anna, I don't need any reminders.

I do remember from my moderation attempts (failed, naturally) that I'd be drinking them exactly like I drank beer.

D

Mark75

Probably should avoid them If that was your reaction... I get none of that... I wouldn't reset your sobriety but maybe take it as a learning experience... But finally it is up to you.

CarolD

If I deliberly drank anything with alcohol in it
I would be compelled to re start my date of sobriety.

No OJ for me either...it taste off without vodka.
And apple juice is too sweet.

My recovery is based on total abstinance..
perhaps yours is not. I

nancylee

From what I know, many alcoholics drink O'Douls. I don't understand about relapsing from a beer that is practically nonalcoholic. Would you set your sobriety clock back if you drank orange juice?

I agree that you should probably avoid them, though, if they made you crave at all. That is why I haven't drank them - I don't want to get the idea in my head of beer or wine again.
Best,
nancy

artsoul

I think it's entirely a personal decision (about whether to change a sobriety date), but my opinion is that it's about our intention. For example, I picked up a small pecan pie about a month ago which had some rum flavoring. I've made things with vanilla, rum, etc. in sobriety and didn't think a thing of it, but this pie had a really strong flavor. I still ate it, though I'll never get another one. I never drank rum, though, so I had no intentions of recapturing anything.....

For me, wine would be a different matter. I'm definitely not cooking with that...

oakleaf82

I agree with this. I know of alcoholics who drink o dools. I personally wouldn't worry about it if you've had one here or there. If you think it may cause a true relapse, then avoid.

For example, there is no way in he!! I'm giving up my kombucha even though it can contain trace amounts of alcohol. I also ate a bunch of beer cheese dip this weekend unbeknownst to me until after the fact. I couldn't taste the beer and I wAsnt eating it to get q buzz. Even my slip up of having a sip of a friends cider this weekend did not feel to me like a relapse. I had no intention of goig further that sip. (but it did frighten me how easy it was to take that sip, and so I have no intention of doing that again!)

Sobriety is kind of a bumpy road, huh?

bonniep

i drink a kombucha almost daily and it suits me just fine. i don't crave liquor after i drink it and it doesn't emulate alcoholic beverages to me. i wouldn't set yr soberiety date back if i were you, but i mean if it triggered something in you - now you know!

Rusty Zipper

fenst why?

Isaiah

Personally, I don't see an Odouls as a relapse. If it caused you to feel like you were drinking then I would not do it again. There is a hung jury on whether or not such drinks are alcohol or not, but overall I would just let your own personal experience be the guide. What do you feel happened? That's more important, I think, than public opinion.

Don't throw yourself in jeopardy for anything, but always keep your sobriety your own.

MsCooterBrown

I wouldn't reset my sobriety date over Odouls. Someone should give you a medal for even keeping it down..

I don't drink the fake beers..I don't like the smell of them any more..most alcohol really stinks once you get away from it. Atl least it does to me..But if you felt a buzz...I think it was a hysterical buzz..you know..like hysterical pregnancy ..It had to have been in your mind. BUT even if it was your mind..I don't think I would try it again..

MsCooterBrown

I did a thread or a post quite awhile back on this..Not Odouls..but I drink everything like I drank beer. I always have either iced tea..or coffee..or water..whatever around. I had drank for so long that I don't remember if I always did this..or if it is leftovers from my drinking days...Have to constantly have somethink to drink by me.

Toronto68

Fenster, I wonder if there is something to the idea of imagining the buzz coming on. I remember one time I went to a dinner party early last summer, and my 3 friends all had alcohol while I didn't. I don't know if it was from watching them or because that was the first time I tried to win Monopoly in a long time, but I felt like I was getting giddier by the minute. But I know my drinks weren't laced - I made a point of helping with bringing stuff out to people, so I was on top of what was going on. So I wonder if there was a social phenomenon to it. Mind you, I don't know what it's like to have an O'Douls.

I haven't heard about people relapsing over a glass of orange juice, but I think it would be more because of what they used to put in WITH the orange juice, similar to what Carol said. And even that's a mental thing. I realize alcohol was probably discovered in the first place by trying something that had been left to sit over time, but I just can't buy into the idea that having an orange juice is consuming an alcoholic drink.

north

I wouldn't re-set your sobriety date; to do so, I think requires both a lot more alcoholic substance and intent. By the same token, drinking a glass of orange juice (which can have as much naturally occurring alcohol as an O'Doul's) would be about the same non-event. However, if for some demented reason you found yourself downing a 24 bottle case of either in a desperate attempt to get some kind of buzz.. yeah, I'd you'd have both a problem on your hands and broken sobriety.

Talking about 'buzz'. I recently was out with friends drinking (iced tea) when I felt an old familiar slightly unpleasant mildly tired feeling that I'd get if was both tired and had a few too many beers. It made me think for a second WTF?! I realized it wasn't the effects of booze I had been attributing it to all along during my drinking days. Rather just a case of blood sugar levels dropping slightly.

Being sober is making me more aware of my own body.

Rusty Zipper

ok, old timer chiming in here

why not reset the sobriety date,

and recommit to recovery.

what does one have to loose by that?

numbers...

and look at what may be gained.

now thats a real power of example

way too much rationalizing and justifying going on these days.

remember,

bottom line,

this really can be, and at times is,

life or death.

and thank you for letting me share

rz

SSIL75

It wouldn't even occur to me to reset the sobriety date after o'douls. I wouldn't drink it because it doesn't taste good, though.

fenster67

Thanks for all the input on this! I have been agonizing over this!!!

Mark75

In the end, though, it's what you make of it... You got lot's of good input...

To your own self be true.