It's rather interesting, actually, what happens to one's physiology when drinking (beer, for me) becomes part of one's lifestyle.
I knew it was time to cut back when I tried not drinking one night and I developed insomnia. My body had gotten so attenuated to it, my energy level would ramp up every night between, say, 7:00 and midnight, to compensate for all the sedative I was taking.
On the plus side, though, I could (and still can) go to parties, have five or six beers in the course of a couple of hours, and still keep my head about me. One time I even maintained an hour-long conversation, mostly in French I could barely remember.
I knew it was time to cut back when I tried not drinking one night and I developed insomnia. My body had gotten so attenuated to it, my energy level would ramp up every night between, say, 7:00 and midnight, to compensate for all the sedative I was taking.
On the plus side, though, I could (and still can) go to parties, have five or six beers in the course of a couple of hours, and still keep my head about me. One time I even maintained an hour-long conversation, mostly in French I could barely remember.
Bar tabs can get expensive, though.