Ask HN: How did you stop drinking?

I used to drink a lot of beer. I went to the pub regularly, beer festivals every year, always had bottled beer in the house and did home brew. Oddly, since going teetotal a few years ago I can't stand the smell or taste of beer any more. Even walking past a pub sometimes I find the smell revolting. I'm not sure if I've "unacquired" the taste or maybe I just associate that smell/taste with being out, drunk and feeling terrible.

It's interesting that comments on this thread fall into two categories, people who show clear signs of being prone to developing alcohol dependency (or who in the past were alcoholics and have recovered) and people who do not.

It is important to remember that if you have a predisposition to alcohol dependency, alcohol is very dangerous and can destroy your life. If you do not have a predisposition to alcohol dependency, you are unlikely to develop one by drinking a drink once a week. The blanket statements such as "Alcohol is an addictive drug" are not really going to help people who are not predisposed to alcohol dependency stop drinking because they're not going to be able to sympathize with the statement.

On the other hand, "just think of the negative effects you have experienced in the past rather than looking forward to the future imagined good effects" may be a good think for someone who gets peer pressured to drinking too much to hear about as it may be an effective strategy, but it will do nothing for someone predisposed to alcohol dependency.

So, my advice:

Step 1: Figure out if you have a predisposition to alcohol dependency, there are lots of different risk factors but a bit of introspection should let you figure this out. (As a rough shot in the dark, the feeling that OP describes immediately after having a drink sounds like a sign of a predisposition to alcohol dependency.) Chances are if you're dealing with a stressful life situation and have a glass of wine every night to help you fall asleep then you're probably not predisposed to alcohol dependency (also that glass of wine is actually not helping you sleep better so maybe try to find an alternative way of falling asleep such as meditation before sleep).

Note: If you have an alcohol dependency problem stop here and seek help. There are many options here, research them, they vary from requiring a strong support framework to committing yourself to a rehabilitation programme. This is kind of outside the scope of this comment as I have no personal experience with alcohol dependency.

Step 2: Assuming you don't have an alcohol dependency problem, figure out why you are drinking more than you would like to. Social pressure? Anxiety? Insomnia?

Step 3: Work on the problem that is causing you to drink more rather than the short term bandaid you are applying (alcohol). If you have insomnia and you successfully stop relying on alcohol to fall asleep, you're just going to find something else or go insane from insomnia. Insomnia is not fun, figure out how to solve that problem.

If you're young and partying all the time, alcohol can probably be a necessary evil to help lubricate social situations but it's easy to notice that you don't NEED that much of it. Try setting yourself limits and sticking to them, you will notice that you can still have just as much fun, without a lot of the worse side effects. If your problem is social pressure, try to solve that instead. If you're drinking more because of social pressure then it's highly likely that other areas are also impacted by social pressure.

If you like the smell, taste and mouth feel of beer, there are some excellent non-alcoholic beers available now. An extended family member is on some meds that contra-indicate alcohol so we get some of that and have since mostly switched to that.

That works well at home and for pre-planned private events; not as many public places have NA beer.

After about 23, I don’t think anyone gives half a crap whether you’re drinking an alcohol drink or not. If you’re self-conscious, get a seltzer with lime wedge. No one will check (or care).

1 litre of vodka daily -> cold turkey == risk of convulsions.

You need chemical assistance, typically rather a lot of valium over about 5 days, under skilled supervision (so, in a clinic; or at home with a companion, and with daily visits from a clinician). The valium prescription will require assessment by a psychiatrist. The clinician will adjust the valium dose regularly based on his observations.

That's not really cold turkey, because most of the withdrawal symptoms are suppressed. But you have to stop dead, a good 12 hours before you start on the valium. If you're at home, the clinician will check you for alcohol on your breath, check blood-pressure etc.

Mixing alcohol with large doses of valium is a total no-no, and the clinician will cease treatment immediately.