A month and a half ago I had my 22nd high school reunion. I had 5-6 drinks. I was drunk. I don’t get drunk often anymore. Ever since 2019 when I started tracking my daily alcohol intake, I significantly dropped my alcohol intake to less than a drink a day. I was less likely to binge in social settings and less likely to go to bars. However, I was still consuming alcohol on a regular basis and after repeated poor performance and general malaise, the alcohol fuel weekend was the last straw, I would take a 30 day break.
Month One
As the 30 day break wore on, there were a few instances where I still had a drink in a social setting although usually I’d have something non-alcoholic. I had desire to go to a bar and have a drink but it subsided over time as usual. As I neared the end however, I listed to an episode about effects of alcohol by Andrew Huberman, a Stanford professor with a wellness podcast.
There he described the many many issues with alcohol and also the fact that alcohol stays in the system for a long time, and that 30 day break may not be enough, but a 60-90 is better to see the full detox and full loss of alcohol effects on the body.
Six Weeks
At first I didn’t really notice the effects but once I passed the fifth week I realized that I am sleeping a lot better. I become tired earlier and I fall asleep faster. I have bouts of insomnia less often and I wake up less groggy and more refreshed. I no longer have the strange disturbing dreams I had in the first month. The sleep is deeper and less interupted.
As a result, my memory has drastically improved. I have been having trouble with word and name recall. It seemed that I knew the definition of a word but couldn’t remember it or a name. I would be like frozen computer with a spinning wheel. At about 6 weeks this was no longer an issue. I no longer stop typing or speaking for a loss of a word and when I try to find someone’s name, there is no more frozen moment where I am frantically searching my mind for the name, even someone I know well.
not-rushin 