STDragon

After the gym on Sunday, my back when out, over did it I suppose. Pretty bad this time. (Last time was a few years ago while unloading luggage). So I'm home from work. Yesterday I had family members around all day. Today I am alone. I have remote access to the office so I can use that for a distraction, think I'll watch a movie later on.

8 days in, my 'AV' has been silent and I hope it stays that way. My trigger is mostly the evening time, before bed, when everything is done. I was planning on using late night gym sessions to change up that routine, but that's out for now.

The way things have been going, I think I should be OK. But if I feel trouble brewing, I'll talk to my wife about it and maybe have a cup-a-tea.

Has anybody tried non-alcoholic beer? That Budweiser Prohibition stuff is pretty good but I'm afraid that at this stage it might whet my appetite....

ScottFromWI

Congrats on 8 days, and sorry to hear about your back. Perhaps when your AV flares up ( which it most likely will ) you could come here and spend some time discussing it? We have weekly and daily threads in the newcomers section that can really help with accountability. There is also the chatroom and of course this forum itself.

Regarding the NA beer thing, it's a very often discussed and somewhat controversial subject here. It's really your choice, but many people report the exact thing you fear - that it will whet your appetite and lead to drinking the real thing, which is exactly what happens for many folks. It's also worth noting that most NA beer isn't actually 100% alcohol free, so while it's nearly NA...there's still a little bit in there. I personally tried it multiple times and found that I would drink it just like I did regular beer...I would hide it, chug it, most of the things I did drinking real beer. I found myself obsessing about calculating how many I could actually drink without consuming a noticable amount of alcohol, etc. Bottom line, it wasn't for me.

Maudcat

Hi, STDragon. Welcome. As Scott posted, na beer and wine elicit strong reactions on this site, as the subject does on another recovery site that I visit. Fwiw, here's my take and experience. I drank non-a beer early in recovery, particularly if we were going to events , dinners, or homes where alcohol would be served. It helped me early on when I was trying to act "normal." I don't drink alcohol, but I am okay with wine in food recipes. Doesn't seem to trigger anything. Non-a beer has, I think around 5% alcohol in it. Other posters can correct if this is not the case. So there is a low amount of alcohol in it. Ultimately, as I discovered other beverages: sparkling soft cider, flavored water, lemonade, etc., and as I became more confident in expressing my sobriety, I gave up the non-a beer. The taste is okay, not great. I have come to prefer local soft apple cider when it is in season. Much more flavorful. That's my story. Good luck going forward.

CaptainHaddock

Yes, na beer is a very controversial subject. I would estimate that about 70% of folks here would say stay away. The rest either drink it themselves without doing any harm or at least say to each his own, it might or might not be for you. I know of at least a few longtimers who drink it occasionally.

As far as I know most in fact have about 0.5% or less (so about 8 or 10 would equal a normal beer), and in a few cases none at all.

For me, I like to have one on occasion and it does not seem to tease the beast.

doggonecarl

If you are looking to change up your evening routine, NOT having a non-alcoholic beer seems to be the way to go.

Try something that's not been part of your drinking routine, different beverages, different activities. That's the kind of change you need to engage in. Not sucking down a fake beer.

Anna

I think doing something completely different in the evening would be a good suggestion. Can you go out for a walk? Maybe you could get involved in a good book? Personally I don't recommend NA beer/wine.

AdelineRose

I agree with the other posts that drinking a na beer at night when you used to have your beer before is only continuing the same pattern of behavior that got you to this point in the first place. In my opinion keeping the same exact routine is a slippery slope, and for myself, completely changing up my routine is what helped me move past what my old unhealthy habits I had before.

There are so many options for different things to do with your time at night. Movies, journaling about your journey so far, reading, reading posts on here and posting to keep you in recovery mode, having time with friends who do not drink or at least would enjoy a sober night with you, cooking, going to a meeting if you are in AA, meditating, make a list of new hobbies you want to take a swing at and do those during that time frame, have a standing phone call with a family member whom you can chat with the same time every night, etc. Our AV will tell us that there is "nothing to do" but that is just your AV talking, the best way to beat your AV is to mix up your old routine and create a new one!

STDragon

This just struck me. I booked off Thursday, Friday and Monday to cleanup the garage, get the car indoors and decorate for Halloween (One of the yearly events I look forward too). I take this time off every year for the same reasons. I never thought about having a plan but I'm working on one now.