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by yza 3086 days ago
No alcohol for a year.

While getting ready for exams this november-december, I had to quit all social activities and as a side effect, I haven't had any drinks for a month or so. While it did not improve my studying or sleep significantly, it helped me realize the effect alcohol has on my body. Couple of drinks after the last exam gave me quite a hangover, something i did not experience much before. Now the interesting observation is that my hangovers got much easier to a point of almost disappearing as I got into drinking again. The realization of this semi-permanent effect combined with studies showing connection to cognitive impairment (memory, concentration etc.) got me into trying a year without alcohol.

Edit: formatting
1 comments
canadiancreed 3086 days ago
Ran into something like this with caffeine. I used to drink four to six pops a day. You wouldn't think it'd be a big deal, but cutting that out for a month took me from being tired all the time and getting up twice a night to take a piss, to sleeping through the night and actually feeling decent in the morning.

While I'm sure doing the same with alcohol would be different and potentially deadly (so I've read anyways), it couldn't hurt to cut it back or out completely. Livers definitely like it according to my doctor.

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0xcde4c3db 3086 days ago
> getting up twice a night to take a piss

Highlighting this for a quick PSA: this is not normal. People (at least Americans) seem very eager to dismiss this as a thing that just happens for no particular reason, or because you dared to have a small glass of water within 4 hours of going to bed. It's not highly specific to any condition, but it points to an abnormality in some physiological process [1]. It can be anything from lifestyle factors (e.g. high caffeine or alcohol use, or unusually high sensitivity to them) to chronic disorders, to having no identifiable cause. For me it was sleep apnea.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nocturia#Causes

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canadiancreed 3086 days ago
Oh no I totally agree with you that you are right it's not normal at all. For myself lowering my sugar levels (my diet consisted of high amounts of sugars and salts....a great combo I know), more psychial activity, and lowering caffeine levels resolved the issue. This was after doing a few checkups including dealing with a urologist (not pleseant at all, but better safe then sorry)

So ya in a nutshell, if this is happening to you, dont' ignore it. Because your'e right, it's not normal.

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