lastchance84

Ok im almost 6 days sober. I went out for dinner with my wife last night for dinner and she ordered a frosty mig of beer. I noticed they had alchohal free beer. I know most alch free hasa small amount of alch but this particular type is 0.0 % I was driving so that helped my fight off the urge to drink. I didnt order the alch free beer to be on the safe sidebut does anyone have any thoughts on this? I love the taste of beer with my fod. Am I putting my sobriety at risk? Also its almost the weekend here, hardest time for me. Any tips to subside an urge if it pops up?

Thanks

lastchance84

Sorry bout typos i post from my phone.

veryready

Thought I could replace beer with that stuff. Just ended up drinking a lot of it then getting the real thing. I love beer and I couldn't do that. It would make me drink. Not sure what official stance is, but not me.

Anna

Here are links on low-alcohol beer and tips for fighting cravings are to distract yourself with a phone call, food, music, exercise, whatever it takes. You can do this:

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...beer-wine.html

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...s-located.html

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...27-odouls.html

zanzibar

I used to BBQ with an alcohol free flavouring of my favorite drink as I truly like the taste of it but I found it leaving me with a craving for the real thing. IMO in recovery we must give up alcohol and everything that reminds us of alcohol at least until we are fully and securely into recovery (years into it) and only then can we make a sensible decision, and I can almost assure you that by then you'll have no desire for something to replace that beer.

lastchance84

Thanks. The reason I was curious is because in the states and canada odouls etc are 0.03% alchohal. The beer here is absolutely 0% Also thanks for those links. I thought it might be the 0.03% that triggered it.

Toss

Personally, I drank beer to get drunk and numb, not for the taste. If I drank alcohol free beer it would just drive my urge to drink. It's kind of like the moderation question. I can't do it. It's all in or nothing. I chose not to drink alcohol (or anything that would resemble alcohol).

Everyone's different, so you might can handle it. I think it's a trap, just my opinion.

Toss

lastchance84

Yea. I think it may undermind my progress.

wpainterw

There's a lot of discussion of this on this SR website. My own view is that, despite the very low alcohol content, or even no alcohol if there is a brand which does that, this N/A beer is risky and should be avoided, particularly in the early stages of recovery. This is because an addict's mind has been conditioned to associate the taste of beer with the buzz. If the taste is still there but there is no buzz, then the more primitive parts of the brain, over which one has little or no control, get pissed off and try to trick the conscious parts of the brain into authorizing "just one real beer- it won't do any harm- I can control it- I can stop." So you get a bit of a buzz but the buzz isn't enough and you're off to the races, heading down the slippery slope. Why do it. It's like playing chicken with your recovery.

W.

Natom

My own experience with low alcohol (non-alcohol beer) was a bad one. I started off drinking the actual 0.0% ones at special occasions like birthdays. I soon moved onto having a pack of eight in the fridge for the weekend so I could feel 'normal'. I ended up drinking them for a while and then moving back onto the real thing. The problem doesn't lie with the alcohol content but all of the association you get when drinking them. As well as looking like a bottle/can of normal beer it also tastes vaguely the same. Add to that the sound of popping the bottle open and pouring it into a pint glass and you have one deadly recipe for a relapse....in my opinion.

instant

I agree with Natom. Been there done that. It looks like beer, dressed up like beer. Just keeps the whole beer vibe going without the buzz.

In the end it sent me looking for some REAL satisfaction- and that's what my fundamental problem is- a desperation for satisfaction

This time I went for any type of water or coke. I have trained myself to see myself as a non drinker- rather than someone who is not drinking.

backbeat

I used to drink it the first time I got sober. This time around I went a lot farther down in my drinking, and personally for me, I just want to be rid of the whole thing, taste smell and all.

Honestly if my dinner date ordered a frosty mug at this point in my sobriety (I'm 28 days in) I would have a much harder time just trying not to focus on that. That would really test me I think.

Edited to add: Congrats on your six days!! That's awesome!