I’d always been a big drinker, often to excess. If a bottle of wine was opened, it had to be finished. If a bottle of spirits was opened, it would be gone within a couple of days. It’s just how I’d always been, for as long as I can remember. As much as I enjoyed drinking, I felt I could leave it if I wanted. So I never saw it as a problem, just a habit.
20 years ago, I was diagnosed type 2 diabetic. Due to lifestyle choices, my weight had also got out of hand, and at nearly 22 stone I stopped drinking immediately. This lasted maybe a couple of months. After, I continued to give up drinking on a regular basis, but I never managed to keep it up for long.
My wife and my parents were concerned by my consumption. A few years ago, I actually fell out of my chair at home after drinking, falling face flat on the floor and biting through my bottom lip. I didn’t even feel I was injured until my wife, having helped me back into the chair, told me to sit back and hold a towel on my face to stop the bleeding.
Again, the next day I stopped drinking, which lasted for about three weeks.
Fast forward to December 2023 and I saw the Dry January® challenge advertised on Facebook and thought I would give it a try. I downloaded the Try Dry® app, went to the local supermarket and bought some alcohol-free stouts. The cashier, who I knew, asked if I had picked up the wrong ones (they knew me too well) and that was it. Here I am, nearly 2 years later, never having had a drink since.
Looking at all the statistics on the Try Dry® app showing how many units of alcohol I consumed, how many calories I was consuming, and more importantly how much a bottle of gin every 2 days was costing me - it just triggered something in me to make a change. Drink had always been my go-to. A good day and I would have a drink. A bad day and I would have a drink. Stress would make me want a drink.
In January 2025, at just over 12 months of being dry, my father suddenly and very sadly passed away. I would normally have hit the bottle big time if anything triggered me, but my father had told me many times how proud he was that I had given up drinking and had shared his concerns over my health while I was drinking. His words I will probably remember for the rest of my life.
I’m 57 years old now and drank heavily for most of the past 40 years. I honestly wish I had given up earlier. There are so many things I’ve missed at weekends because I got up in the morning not wanting to drive to days out we had planned because I was probably over the limit. I suffered quite badly 15-20 years ago with anxiety and actually thought alcohol was helping me. I hadn’t realised it was actually making it 10 times worse.
Life changed for me two years ago when I started my dry journey. I’m now looking forward to the future I hope I am helping create by not drinking. And I recently started at Slimming World locally and have lost nearly 5½ stone - something I definitely couldn’t have done while still necking half a bottle of gin every night. I thought alcohol helped me enjoy life better. I couldn’t have been farther from the truth. Life now is good, and the best part is I can remember it all.
