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Ask HN: What to do instead of drinking alcohol?

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Re: Ask HN: What to do instead of drinking alcohol?

#41

Post by mr_beans »

PaulHoule wrote: post #25

Of all the benzodiazepines it is particularly pleasant to have a Valium or a Xanax and go to a party. It has an effect very similar to alcohol but doesn't have the physical toxicity. If you have even minor anxiety symptoms you probably won't have a hard time getting an ℞ for Xanax from your primary care doc for 30 pills or so, particularly if you intend to substitute it for alcohol. Even though those drugs are very s…

This is really awful advice. Guy doesn’t really have a drinking problem and just wants to cut back and your suggestion is to take BENZOS instead??? If you need something to have in your hands at parties just get some flavored water or seltzer or something!

Re: Ask HN: What to do instead of drinking alcohol?

#42

Post by haggy102 »

donny2018 wrote: post #27
siva7 wrote: post #13

I don’t think that life can be as fun without alcohol so instead of totally quitting i would try to reduce it for special occasions like night clubbing

Moderating doesn’t really work if you are an alcoholic. It’s easier to quit than go through torture of waiting for the next dose IMO.

The OP said they had no issues with alcohol (not an alcoholic). Moderation is something that everyone should do anyway

Re: Ask HN: What to do instead of drinking alcohol?

#43

Post by sokoloff »

Non-alcoholic beers have gotten quite good and are available in a wide variety of styles as well. I probably drink fewer than 1 drink a week and I find the NA beers hit the spot very nicely for drinks at home.

As for filling weekend nights, well, kids took care of that for the last decade.

Re: Ask HN: What to do instead of drinking alcohol?

#44

Post by wittycardio »

marginalia_nu wrote: post #16
iqanq wrote: post #10

Don't stop drinking. Live your life. You only have one. Are you going to worry about an air conditioner falling on you while you walk down the pavement?

Is all you want to remember when you look back at your life a bunch of hangovers and stupid things you did?

Those "stupid things" are often things you reminisce about with friends many years laters. Engaging in a bit of reckless abandon together makes you closer to people.

Re: Ask HN: What to do instead of drinking alcohol?

#45

Post by bostonsre »

marginalia_nu wrote: post #16
iqanq wrote: post #10

Don't stop drinking. Live your life. You only have one. Are you going to worry about an air conditioner falling on you while you walk down the pavement?

Is all you want to remember when you look back at your life a bunch of hangovers and stupid things you did?

The grass is always greener on the other side. I'm sure more solitary individuals will regret not being more socially active and having fun. On the other side though, you will also definitely regret partying too much if it impacts your life outside of it. I would guess that moderation is key and not being too far on one side or the other could optimize for happiness (but it's a guess.. I was too far on the partying side of the spectrum for a good portion of my life and then I over corrected to the other end.. so there are regrets on both ends).

Re: Ask HN: What to do instead of drinking alcohol?

#46

Post by celticninja »

el_nahual wrote: post #29

I went from moderate (weekends, social, never alone) drinking to _zero_ drinking for about five years. This was during peak "social" life of after university and before marriage. I did the exact same things I used to do except with no alcohol: bars, clubs, parties, whatever. The toughest thing was realizing how...boring...some of these activities can be. There is, by default, an enormous amount of "down time" at a ba…

Working in a bar is a great way to understand how annoying drunk people are.

Re: Ask HN: What to do instead of drinking alcohol?

#47

Post by bartread »

_zjmt wrote: post #32

I'm a very big fan of good alcohol-free beer. There are some good ones, here in Europe at least. 7% of the beer sold in the Netherlands is alcohol-free based on recent reports last year. The cheap stuff in the states tastes silly, but if you can find a good brewery that makes it, I recommend as an alternative.

Here in the UK all too many of them taste like Horlicks (i.e., very malty), but I'd recommend Adnams Ghost Ship alcohol free[0]. There are one or two others that are palatable, but I'm struggling to remember their names: I had one last Friday that I thought was good so if I remember I'll post the name here.

One slightly annoying side effect is that I find non-alcoholic beers tend to make me very bloated/gassy/windy. I do not love this, and I don't get this problem with alcoholic beers, or at least nowhere near as badly.

(Btw, I will say in my group of friends, nobody seriously questions it if somebody is choosing not to drink alcohol, even though many of us do. Still, even amongst the drinkers, there are plenty of occasions where they might choose non-alcoholic options.)

[0] Which is actually 0.5% abv, I think, but I worked out you'd have to drink 15 or 20 pints of it in a fairly short period of time to be over the limit for driving which... well, it's not at all feasible for me.

Re: Ask HN: What to do instead of drinking alcohol?

#48

Post by popemarijuanavi »

I've found it so much easier to make a life changes for health reasons than for other reasons.

I think you chose the right reason to quit drinking, for health reasons.

Take one look at acetaldehyde to see what you've saved yourself from. Alcohol is a systemic poison. It affects every part of the human body in very dramatic ways.

Re: Ask HN: What to do instead of drinking alcohol?

#49

Post by PaulHoule »

popemarijuanavi wrote: post #31
PaulHoule wrote: post #25

Of all the benzodiazepines it is particularly pleasant to have a Valium or a Xanax and go to a party. It has an effect very similar to alcohol but doesn't have the physical toxicity. If you have even minor anxiety symptoms you probably won't have a hard time getting an ℞ for Xanax from your primary care doc for 30 pills or so, particularly if you intend to substitute it for alcohol. Even though those drugs are very s…

>>You probably won't have a hard time getting an ℞ for Xanax from your primary care doc for 30 pills or so, particularly if you intend to substitute it for alcohol. Not in the United States. Try getting a script for Xanax and you'll be lucky you don't get reported the DEA re: our opioid crisis.

I'm in the US and have gotten Xanax a few times from my doc. Xanax has nothing to do with opioids. For that matter I have had no problem getting opioids when they were indicated (from the Emergency room physicians after getting an acute injury.)

(The combination of BZs and Opioids is not always dangerous in people who are experienced with the drugs, but can be a dangerous mixer for people who don't have tolerance.)

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