What Happens When You Stop Drinking Alcohol?
Consuming large quantities of alcohol can have horrible effects on your body as well as your social life. You could be feeling very sluggish, sick, develop cancers such as towards your liver and colon, and you will not be the best you can be. When you stop drinking alcohol, you will get back everything you lost as a result of your addiction such as your health, your money, and your life.
A study in the Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research journal said that if you drink before you sleep, alpha wave patterns increase which happens more when you are awake but when resting. Alcohol may help you fall asleep easily but you can also ruin your sleep cycle this way. You could wake up with a massive headache as a result of a hangover. When alcohol relaxes your body too much, it can include the muscles in your throat. This may cause you to snore loud or develop sleep apnea where your breathing stops and starts repeatedly. At least if you stop drinking, you will feel more refreshed and energized the next morning. You will be in a better mood, sharper, and be able to concentrate better.
Alcohol can also cause you to overeat. According to a study in Obesity journal, people received alcohol that had the strength of two drinks which made them eat 30% more food than with a saline solution. Even being a little bit intoxicated can make you more sensitive to the smell of food which will make you eat more. Alcohol can also cause you to gain an enormous amount of weight. Alcohol is full of empty calories as there is no nutrition that you can get from it. One margarita can have at least 300 calories because of all of the sugar. If you stop drinking, you can eat at a normal pace and be able to lose weight much more successfully.
While it is very important to quit drinking alcohol, be mindful that you may feel the tendency to replace one addictive substance with another such as sugar. A rise in sugar levels can boost dopamine chemicals which causes feelings of pleasure. Because alcohol can do the same thing to you, you will want to accomplish that same high with something that you think will be safe for your body compared to alcohol. Make sure not to have too many sugary drinks or snacks as you do not want to develop diabetes or a kidney disease.
Quitting alcohol will do wonders for your skin and you will feel more confident in the way you look. The reason for that is because alcohol causes you to urinate more and decreases the body’s production of an antidiuretic hormone which helps the body reabsorb water. This causes dry looking skin if there is not enough water in your body. Alcohol can cause small blood vessels in the skin to widen which allows more blood flow close to the surface. This leads to a flushed color and broken capillaries on the face. You could develop saggy skin, discoloration, and enlarged pores. You could develop skin conditions like dandruff, eczema, or rosacea. By quitting alcohol, your skin will match your age. You can now wake up with soft, smooth skin that is better than ever.
Drinking is a very expensive habit to have. According to Huffington Post, having three drinks a day five days a week at $10 a drink, this can total up to $150 a week, $650 a month, or $7,800 a year. Even just have two drinks only on the weekends can total up to $2,500 a year. This could be money used to pay your rent and other bills that you have. The finer the wine or the scotch will be costly. Even if you drink a bottle of wine once a week for a year, that will cost you $1,563. Especially if you have a habit of visiting the bar a lot and spending all of your hard-earned wages on items that are unnecessary such as alcoholic beverages. If you look at your bank account, ask yourself how much you spent a week on alcoholic beverages and which of your financial priorities are lacking because of this unhealthy habit. Sobriety can save you a lot of money and you will gain a better understanding of where the money should really be going to in regards to your bills and your children.
It is possible that when you stop drinking alcohol, you will be forced to confront the emotions that have been too hard for you to face. In the past, alcohol was like a bandaid for negative emotions that you did not want to feel. Now that you have stopped drinking, you do not have a choice but to confront what you were trying to run away from. In this case, now you will have to be true to how you feel and use healthy outlets for your emotions instead of through drinking such as talking to someone, writing your thoughts in a journal, speaking to a therapist, etc. It is important to remember not to quit drinking cold turkey as you need to cleanse your body of the alcohol toxins through detox programs. Once you do wean off drinking slowly, you will realize just how much better your health, finances, and who you are as a person will be.
Established in 1939, High Watch is the world’s first 12-Step treatment center. Every individual who walks through our doors joins a definitive culture of compassion, dignity, and respect from a genuinely caring staff dedicated to seeing the disease of addiction find remission. Providing proven therapeutic approaches and comprehensive 12-Step education, patients leave High Watch with the confidence to maintain abstinence and live a healthy, happy, sober life. Start your journey today by calling 860.927.3772.
