#I quit drinking free
So free that I’m realizing all of the immense benefits in my now-sober life.īetter sleep is something that happened almost immediately when I gave up alcohol. Some mothers are figuring out that their lives are better without alcohol.Īs for me, I feel free. In Motherly’s State of Motherhood Survey, 23% of moms reported decreased alcohol use in the past year, 8% quit drinking all together and 22% said they don’t drink at all. It feels like a gift to be given this second chance at life. While some sobriety benefits came right away, new ones continue to emerge even three years later. Related: Anne Hathaway is quitting alcohol until her son turns 18 But what they didn’t know is that I’d been thinking about it for probably two years. My foggy mind, lethargic energy and overall awful feeling had me fed up. While my drinking wasn't substance use disorder or alcoholism, there were many reasons I decided to quit drinking-and I’m so glad I did.Īt first, people thought that my giving up booze was out of nowhere because, after all, I was the party girl. with anxiety that wouldn’t allow me to fall back to sleep. From there, guilt would take over because I was not giving my kids the best version of myself.įinally, I hit a breaking point when I grew sick of waking up at 3 a.m.
Often, I got carried away with the fun alcohol gave me and a hangover would follow me around the next day. I’d drink on mom nights out, weekends away, and Netflix nights on the couch with my partner. And it wasn’t easy, seeing that I used to be a pretty regular social drinker. If you drink alcohol, it is advisable that you stick to the government guidelines of not drinking more than 14 units of alcohol a week, which equates to about six pints of lager or six glasses of wine (175ml).I’ve been sober for about three years. Sadly, the unpleasant experience of withdrawal – both physical and mental – causes many addicts to relapse to heavy drinking. The risk of dying from sudden alcohol withdrawal are very real and very high, with estimates ranging from 6% to 25%, depending on their symptoms. These imbalances can eventually lead to acute kidney failure.
Electrolytes in the body, such as sodium, magnesium, calcium and potassium, are usually in solution (water) and excessive amounts of alcohol can cause an imbalance in these electrolytes as well as an acid-base imbalance. This needs water, as the products of the breakdown have to be in solution.Īlcohol also inhibits the production of an anti-diuretic hormone, so large quantities of alcohol make you urinate a lot and become dehydrated. Alcohol has to be broken down and cleared from the body as urine. The sudden removal of alcohol can also cause kidney failure. Muscle strength and thickness, for example, are significantly reduced in people who consume more than 90g of alcohol per day (one unit of alcohol is equal to 8g of pure alcohol) over a period of five years or more. This is often made worse by the fact that the heart’s structure changes with long-term alcohol use. Once alcohol is removed, the huge levels of neurotransmitters that are present can overstimulate organs, including the heart. The excitatory and inhibitory pathways in the brain control the central nervous system and heart. This complicated biological process is due to the fact that alcohol interferes with the balance of GABA (an inhibitory neurotransmitter) and glutamate (an excitatory neurotransmitter). The sudden removal of alcohol can cause fatal arrhythmias, where the heartbeat becomes so irregular the heart fails. Alcohol affects neurotransmitters – the chemicals that send signals between nerve cells.