# IBSers, do you still give into social pressure and drink?



## MaroonGirl (Jun 9, 2016)

Hi all,

I used to pretend to be OK and drink to appear normal at social/work parties until it came back to bite me in the behind. I am pretty sure alcohol is not healthy for the gut and drinking can definitely aggravate it multiplefold.

So, do you still drink or have you let your friends and peers know that you can't? How do you socialise?


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## Patrick ibs c (Mar 5, 2016)

no i stopped when i got my ibs -c


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## lithium (Oct 9, 2015)

Drinking whiskey burns my esophagus and stomach. Can't drink nowadays.


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## marleyma (Aug 13, 2014)

I too stopped drinking about 3 years ago. The aftermath was never worth it!


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## kookykatlady (Oct 9, 2016)

I will drink occasionally, but I pretty much always regret it


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## MaroonGirl (Jun 9, 2016)

I crave the occasional glass of white wine with dinner but I do not drink anymore. It's been 10 months since my last drink. It does feel like it has helped quitting even though I'd like to get drunk to forget everything once in a while (not healthy, I know.) I am better of without it.


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## jza (Oct 4, 2016)

I am fine with certain types (vodka, gin or wine) in moderation. I don't touch beer, whiskey, or other dark alcohols; these cause my SIBO-C symptoms to flare up even after just one drink.


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## Patrick ibs c (Mar 5, 2016)

drinking did take away pain of ibs-c for me


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## can.diem (Jan 3, 2017)

Yeah, I drink some. No one pressures me to drink, and I think that's cruel of someone to do that to a person with a stomach condition, or any condition.

Beer gave me the best buzz, but I'm cutting that out of my diet entirely. Wine is nice, but like any other alcohol, it's all going to make me have some side-effects later on. Not giving alcohol up, cold turkey. A little on occasion is OK with me. The buzz is worth the aftermath.


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## StevieO (Dec 6, 2016)

This really bums me out. I'm 28 and everyone I know drinks every weekend.

It's harder to socialize, but I think it's all about getting habituated to socializing and loosening up without alcohol.


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## daak (Jun 13, 2017)

StevieO said:


> This really bums me out. I'm 28 and everyone I know drinks every weekend.
> 
> It's harder to socialize, but I think it's all about getting habituated to socializing and loosening up without alcohol.


I'm just 2 years younger but stuck in the same situation pretty much.

When i first got IBS about a year and a half ago it wasn't anything special : only pain, and not even that big. So i continued drinking with my friends ( and drinking usually comes with fatty food ( you know it, i know it, everyone knows it ) ) and it was one of the poorest decision i ever took. Getting back to normal got harder and harder until one day it became chronic...You wouldn't believe how much i have been mad at myself for ignoring all those red flags.

But that's all gone now, my mind is set in stone and I've embraced this new way of life.

I simply told my friends that i got an intestinal disease and that having alcohol would be hard for quite a while until its settled. Sure my time with them is different, i don't have the same "fun" as i used to. But i get a different kind of fun.

Modern society has a weird fascination with alcohol, its like a mandatory thing for the youth to bond. Its up to us to stand against such a dictate and create a new dimension of entertainment.

Even if its harder or awkward do not give up on your time with friends tho as it is essential for your moral and moral is a keystone against IBS ( really even scientifically, Spasm and acid are made more prone for sad/anxious people ).

IBS is gonna be a story of our past one day, but for now we have to deal with it, its a part of our life. And to step away from it we must fight, so even if the temptation is hard don't get shitfaced.

A beer or a glass of red whine is fine ( and healthy ) but not any more.

Finally we should all remember this episode of our life, even when IBS will be nothing more than a distant memory. It should be a reminder whenever we treat our body badly with either food beverage or something else...That punishment is never too far away.


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## MaroonGirl (Jun 9, 2016)

StevieO said:


> This really bums me out. I'm 28 and everyone I know drinks every weekend.
> 
> It's harder to socialize, but I think it's all about getting habituated to socializing and loosening up without alcohol.


I feel your pain....Two years ago, I used to to escape my stomach pain, which in restrospect as really harmful. In the UK , all they do is drink to go out so I know i can be hard. Try to drink soda or water or just get dinner with friends. What kind of IBS do you have?


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## MaroonGirl (Jun 9, 2016)

.


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## spelljen1991 (Jul 7, 2017)

I'm a bit late in the game, but I developed my IBS at 18, and I drank all through college, and suffered because I didn't want to be the weirdo who didn't drink







Oh how dumb. I still drink occasionally, like a glass of wine here and there occasionally, but when I go all out it is a disaster. The worst part, most of my friends don't know I have IBS, so they just think I'm not super into drinking(which is fine), but if I cut it out completely I'm worried I'll get too much shit (no pun intended) from my friends. Even my parents push alcohol on me. It's the worst. Like mom, I can't drink 2 glasses of wine a night, and that's ok! No I don't want to drink right now. It's their go to and it sucks, because everybody in my family drinks. Beer is an absolute NO GO! I get sick literally after one glass. Wine is better, and hard alcohol makes me drunk after one drink so it's not terrible. I can limit myself and not have too many issues, but it does really mess with you. I'm not sure why alcohol is so polarizing either. Like I don't want to drink, that doesn't mean you can't. No I'm not a mormon. No I'm not an alcoholic. Like can't I just not want to drink? UGH!


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## Desert Fox (Jul 24, 2017)

I don't give in, I have not drunk a dip of wine until now I am 20. I normally stick to a very strict diet consisting in 99% of blend food centered on the minimization of fats. I hate hanging out with peers for dinner because it is not often reasonable to make people eat the same food as you. I loathe being almost housebound and whacking on such asocially rigorous and Stoic lifestyle. This had definitely been unheralded before IBS evolved in my teenage to devastate every sense of joy of life, but I have no choice at all and hence would rather be it.

Be it not IBS, who would like to live with so many frustrations and obstacles?


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## Barney71 (Aug 1, 2017)

This is a very good topic. I managed to socialize without drinking, because for a certain time after being diagnosed with IBS I wouldn't touch alcohol at all. I was really scared and lost in life, I didn't do anything that may harm me more in any possible way. I was like scared mouse and it wasn't a bad approach, but now after some time has passed I think entirely different. I try to do things that I enjoy at life, basically live the life how I want. Obviously I don't mean that I'm hitting the road on bike while on drugs like a hippie from the "60s, but I try to do things that I like moderately, like alcohol - I know don't restrain myself, but never once I did get drunk. Basically for the last 5 years the most I had is 8 shots of vodka and I didn't feel good after that, not sure if it was the IBS or just the huge break from drinking, but I felt bad. Now when I'm on the party I drink a few shots, or 1-2 beers but not more and I feel pretty much okish


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