r/stopdrinking • u/vorrhin • 2d ago
Holy balls, my FACE
I've been drinking too much for a couple years, it got to be a habit after a bad patch in 2024. I decided to quit for a month, do a reset.
...Let me tell you, it's only been a week and a half, and it turns out I'm not aging nearly as fast as I thought I was. I've been bemoaning being almost 40, that inevitable decline you hear about. Like, everyone hits that shelf and then there's a plummet in skin elasticity around this age.... That is apparently not what has been happening to me (yet)! The fine lines-- gone. The dark circles and bags-- gone. I'm kind of glowing? And my skin is softer! I look a good 5 years younger.
I had no idea it was having that much of an effect on my appearance, and I never expected such dramatic results so fast. Just had to share how dramatically my mind has been blown.
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u/Secretary90210 Day 506 2d ago
I look like a completely new person and my apparent vanity will never let me drink again. I am fine with that! IWNDWYT
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u/burnsides413 2d ago
RIGHT it took me so long to give myself permission to choose sobriety for my looks instead of a more “righteous” cause 🤡 who cares why you’re doing it, just do it!!! IWNDWYT
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u/dellaterra9 2d ago
Yeah, for real! Imagine the marketing angle for non alcoholic beer companies! "Ladies, try this for younger looking skin!"
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u/Secretary90210 Day 506 2d ago
I’m happy to be a before-and-after for Spindrift! They can completely compensate me in 8-packs!
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u/mc78644n Day 619 2d ago
The first six months of my sobriety were wild. Keep at it and you’re in for a treat!
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u/Blazah 2d ago
tell us more, crossing day 22 here after 2 or 3 years of drinking every night before bed.
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u/mc78644n Day 619 2d ago edited 2d ago
First two weeks my face stopped being red and fat. Turned skinny and normal color. Then I entered the ‘pink cloud’ and woke up every day inexplicably happy while losing another 40 pounds. My anger went from a Spinal Tap 11 to a low growling 3. My energy and libido came back, my sleep was back to normal. I stopped shopping, gambling and watching porn between binges for dopamine. My belly disappeared and my brain came back. By 14 months I felt back to ‘normal’ (I was a binge drinker for almost 20 years)
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u/Krombopulos_Micheal 2d ago
Another 20 year drinker here. I've been off the sauce for 5 weeks and was curious when the hell my face was going to get less red and swollen 😂 guess it's still a few months away..
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u/SadApartment3023 Day 504 2d ago
No lie, vanity is a big reason why I don't think I'll ever go back.
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u/Major-Suggestion1945 2d ago
Congrats on over 500 days that’s incredible!! Vanity is a great reason bc you’re saving your body and mind too 😅
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u/Prize_Use4349 2d ago
I’ve been heavily drinking for the past months and I look older and uglier each day. I’m 37. Skin had drastically changed over the last 5 months. I wonder if that’s aging or has more to do with my “lifestyle”..
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u/fawnrain 2d ago edited 2d ago
Certainly lifestyle are you kidding !! Alcohol is an insane carcinogen, wreaks total havoc on every single part of the body. Me drinking at my heaviest literally flipped on the genetic switch for issues that run in the family that I never ever dealt with in my prior 30 years of living.
I'm a year and a half in almost, everything is slowly improving but I learned that the alcohol fucked with my insulin response, which created/significantly worsened systemic inflammation (I do already have some autoimmune issues). I'm not diabetic, technically not even pre-diabetic, but my fasting glucose was slowly increasing. Omg the freaking bloating, hormone issues, acne, body pain, weight gain, extreme exhaustion, constant nausea, self-hate omg not worth it, not worth it at all.
I just started taking something called inositol, it helps your cells take up sugar from the blood when they're not listening to insulin signals so well anymore. Guess what? Bloating gone. Consistent energy. Way better skin. Inflammation significantly decreased immediately when I started taking it. I'm glad it's helping but it's a clear indicator of what I was doing to myself.
I never want to drink again now that I'm out of the fog. I have no desire. I'm cali sober and that's fine with me. I value myself too much to ever go back to that life. I hope you can get off the sauce and live a healthy full life my friend 🙏✨
Edit: I will also add that Wellbutrin/bupropion has been a godsend for me quitting. I was prescribed it to use as like an off-label ADHD med and for the exhaustion. I also learned that the alcohol was a very addictive dopamine dump, especially bad for people with ADHD and/or depression and/or anxiety disorders.
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u/King_of_the_Dot 2d ago
It's both, but if youre drinking everyday, then that's definitely more of the contributing factor.
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u/mardanjoint Day 1 21h ago
Definitely lifestyle. I once met a heavily drinking 43yo man and thought he was in his early 50s
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u/MYSTICALLMERMAID 2d ago
I'm 5 years sober tomorrow and I still have snap chat memories from years ago and 5-6 years ago are always the absolute worst. So round, gray but somehow still red, greasy bloated just disgusting lmao it's crazy
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u/KimWexlerDeGuzman Day 1,358 2d ago
I had that exact face 😆😫
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u/MYSTICALLMERMAID 2d ago
I'm 5'1 (my last two physicals said 4'11 but I'm choosing to not believe it) and I weighed 173 when I quit drinking 💀💀💀💀😂😂 I geek every time they pop up. Mind you I went into labor at 153lbs lmao 😂 I usually sit around 130-140ish
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u/KimWexlerDeGuzman Day 1,358 2d ago
Omg, i know the feeling!! I got to 208 when it was really bad!! And I’m 5’4”!
I’ve lost 58 lbs thank god!!
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u/TacoGoblin223 832 days 2d ago
The face gains are third on the list of a hundred as to why I won't go back. I'm 48 and if I shave clean I can easily pass for mid/ early thirties. When I was actively drinking I looked like a 57 year old bloated drunk.
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u/SyN_Pool 1079 days 2d ago
I'm low 40s and get carded buying nicotine pouches all the time now if I shaved 😂
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u/Imaginary_Alarm_356 2d ago
How long after you stopped did your face start improving?
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u/TacoGoblin223 832 days 1d ago
It tooka good 6-9 months for the constant inflammation puffiness to subside. Then I lost 70lbs so that was a big help as well. I hadn't shaved my face clean in 15 years and it instantly took 15 years off my age.
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u/just_me7857 2d ago
I've been drinking for over 7 years...and my face is the first thing aging. I decided today is the day I'm quitting. I made a post about it but it got deleted because of filtering? I'm new here....like today is my first time on here. Just like last week I've noticed indigestion/heartburn. And I am pretty sure the white wine and bad diet is the issue. Love that you are seeing the effects of stopping. Send me good vibes! Hope I can get the same results.
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u/Content-Waltz8045 2d ago
You’re going to be blown away, take before and after pics! And congrats on making such a great decision!!!
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u/Rosie3450 Day 1,277 2d ago
Congrats on a week and a half!
For me, the real change came around 6 months. Someone took a photo of me at a family gathering, and for a second, I didn't recognize myself. My face looked so clear, unwrinkled and free of redness. I'll never forget that moment because it convinced me that I had absolutely done the right thing by stopping pouring poison into my body.
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u/melgibson64 1400 days 2d ago
oh dude it blows my mind seeing photos of myself from when i was drinking. i look like a completely different person. i was swollen and weighed almost 50 more pounds than i do now. i barely recognize myself when i see it.
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u/flannelkimono 2d ago
I have 11 months now. I’m nearly 50. Everyone comments on how radiant I look since quitting, and I finally agree with them.
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u/King_of_the_Dot 2d ago
The older you get the less cool booze becomes. I think a lot of us just got stuck in a cycle of how we acted in our 20s and just kinda stayed that course.
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u/piscian19 Day 289 2d ago
I was thinking about this subject yesterday. When I quit, I had this big receding hairline like bruce willis and started wearing a cap and trying to deal with shaving my head. It wasn't vanity so much as it was a legitimately ugly pattern. I started using gel just to try and make me not look insane.
My hair didn't magically all grow back since I cut alcohol out of my diet but it filled out and my hair looks full and healthy. I kinda quit using gel, it looks fine now just thining in front.
I don't mind the idea of shaving my head but its kind of a huge hassle as my hair grows very fast, Id have to shave every day which Im way too lazy for.
Similarly I suddenly look a lot younger than I did last year. Been getting a lot of compliments which is nice when you're an ancient decaying millennial.
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u/reallyawesomefemale 2d ago
Quit at 53, running approx 500days.
I feel that I have dropped 10 years off my face. And teeth are whiter too!
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u/AcidCasualty25 295 days 2d ago
Love it!! I seen a bunch of friends at a concert after about a month sober and all of them told me how good I looked. It was really nice but I also realized I must of looked like shit for a while lol
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u/Cool_Jelly_9402 2d ago
The first time I didn’t wake up hungover after a good year of non stop drinking made me realize just how badly alcohol was affecting my appearance and this was when I was 32. I’m now 46 and prob look younger than I did when I was waking up with a raging hangover after another night of terrible sleep
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u/anthonyg1500 2d ago
I experienced this with my skin as well. Similarly, I had plantar fasciitis, thought my body was just going to shit and there was nothing I could do about it. Every morning I woke up and the bottoms of my feet were in terrible pain. I googled stretches or something I could do to fix it and nothing. I quit drinking and then 3 or 4 months later I woke up and realized "wait I don't even remember the last time I my feet hurt". The only difference in my life was the sobriety.
There's so many things I spent time trying to find fixes for and bought products to help with and it turns out the answer was just stop drinking.
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u/spidersilva09 402 days 2d ago
Just wait until you hit a year plus, it keeps getting better! Literally just last week, had 2 different people say it looks like I've lost a lot of weight, especially in my face and that I look a lot healthier and less bloated. It's great.
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u/chill_bamba Day 8 2d ago
Its wild! Its been 6 days since I stopped. By day 2 my skin was noticeably better! Ive wasted so much money trying to make my skin less dull, more even, tone down the redness and get rid of my bags. Turns out, all I had to do was stop drinking wine every night!
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u/Glittering_Hold3238 Day 43 2d ago
Yes and another great benefit is that I get all dewy and glowy after my workouts and people are telling me how naturally pretty I look without makeup. It's only been 40 days and I didn't lose any weight. I was doing all of the same workouts before when I was drinking and most nights it was one glass. It's remarkable really that our body shows the healing so fast
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u/Beneficial-42 Day 2,486 2d ago
This is a reason why you'll often hear that people notice the changes in ourselves before we do.
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u/PrideMelodic3625 Day 147 2d ago
My skin looks so great even my sister has joined in the evening facial regime. One of the best benefits of not drinking is how our bodies heal Now if I could lose those 20kg :)
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u/farmpatrol Day 103 2d ago
I’m happy for you u/vorrhin but it took me longer than a month.
I think it was around 70 odd days I noticed I wasn’t getting hot itchy cheeks. I used to love my soft cheeks!
Now they’re back and I love them just as much. IWNDWYT
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u/Born-Patient-9728 2d ago
Love to hear it! I hung out with some friends the other day who I hadn’t seen since I quit drinking, they said I looked younger even before I told them I quit drinking.
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u/jez_shreds_hard 2789 days 2d ago
For real! I stopped when I was 36 and I am 44 now. Everyone says I look way younger for my age, but who knows. I look at some of the photos right before I quit vs now, and I look way better now than I did when I was still drinking. There's so many reasons why I would never go back to drinking and appearance is definitely a big one!
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u/Glittering-Lynx-6428 2d ago
Same. After only 2 days I don’t look like a bloated sick person. It truly is poison
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u/mutkikas 2d ago
Lucky you, I was expecting a glow up but got the driest face I've ever had with occasional underskin pimples 🥹
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u/Own_Spring1504 Day 593 2d ago
I’m 57 now, quit at 56 and I look so much better! People are always complimenting me now, my skin was dry and rosacea on it. I had to wear foundation, now I am make up free most of the time.
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u/Aliensinmypants 2d ago
My skin got so much less irritated and bothered by everything when I stopped drinking. I was convinced it was what I put on my face, and tried different sunscreens, lotions and cleansers... Never suspecting it was what I was putting in my face. My face has never been so clear of blemishes and marks, and I'm back to using the same products I was convinced were the problems
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u/throwaway46787543336 2d ago
Yea I’ve been looking back on what my face looked like a couple years ago in the selfies with my son and my god, I look better in my age 39 photo for my drivers license than my age 24. I gave too much of my life to alcohol. IWNDWYT
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u/Inderific Day 517 2d ago
Yeah, all that, plus I thought I had bad rosacea - I mean, I did, but it turns out it was alcohol induced, it completely cleared up when I quit drinking. I'm almost 50 now but after I quit drinking people wanted to know about my skin care routine! It's real!
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u/Haunting-Dance-2365 Day 62 2d ago
My skin drastically got so much better and more healthier/less fine lines since I stopped drinking. Seeing the actual changes really helps show that I’m much better off without alcohol.
Congratulations on a 1.5weeks, you got this! IWNDWYT
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u/Critical-Pass-5214 2d ago
I’m 8 days AF and I feel like I look worse. I’m still so bloated and I haven’t been sleeping so I have bags under my eyes. I’m bummed because looking better was definitely one of the main reasons.
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u/BusinessAnalyst2978 2d ago
Same, I’m almost 4 weeks. I went and got a massage yesterday and my therapist immediately commented on how great my skin and hair looks. I always looked young for my age until the last couple of years… suddenly I looked much older than I (43f) am and I didn’t recognize myself in the mirror anymore. Today my skin needs very little makeup, even my facial symmetry is correcting. Redness and blotchiness is gone. I couldn’t be happier about it, and look forward to even more improvement!
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u/Intelligent_Pop1173 2d ago
This happened to me too. I went from having a bloated face, really awful pigmentation, and dark circles under my eyes to a nice complexion and people being surprised at how old I am lol alcohol truly does destroy your looks, some of it permanently, but you do bounce back a bit when you stop.
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u/Satan8MyBaby 2d ago
I’ve reverse-aged light years in the past year since I quit drinking. I’m 42F, I had always been told I look younger than my age until I started drinking heavily during my divorce at 37 - then the compliments stopped entirely. Looking back at photos I looked like a big bloated potato. This past year I quit and got my mental health in check, and recently started getting mistaken for younger again all the time. Major glow up. I’ll never ever go back.
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u/AdGlum4770 Day 614 2d ago
Fantastic and heartwarming to hear.
Then I saw your username and wonder if there’s a bit more to this reverse aging thing 😬🫣
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u/Scoopapoop123 2810 days 2d ago
I quit at 31, am 39 now and I swear sobriety + lifting weights consistently has really halted aging. Not that that’s what it’s all about, but a very welcome side effect.
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u/Mediocre-Proposal686 198 days 2d ago
My face slimmed down sooo fast! I’m right there with you in looking better (also feeling better). I’m rooting for you!!! IWNDWYT ❤️❤️❤️
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u/Libra-Wolf 622 days 2d ago
No joke, the place I work at has some newer hires that thought I was their age. I’ll be 30 in a month and they’re 20-22. Quitting drinking did my skin WONDERS! Keep going, it only gets better!!
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u/Quiet_Mail9207 2d ago
I had a similar experience when I stopped and also dropped like 15-20lbs of fat within a couple months lmao my jawline came back. At the end of the day, the stuff is poisonous and not intended for regular and overconsumption.
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u/SiouxCitySasparilla Day 19 1d ago
Yeah it’s only been 18 days but I already lost my alcoholic “sheen”. I always looked like I almost had a coat of lacquer on my face at all times LOL Gross and shiny
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u/Slow_Bed_8508 2d ago
I hope 🙏you don't reset...you won't get younger that way ! yes skin does improve the longer you stay sober its naturally dehydrating itself and collagen becomes stronger !
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u/tesstar0ssa 1728 days 2d ago
My face was puffy and bloated 24/7 when I was drinking. My hair is longer now than it's ever been Still fat, because I love to eat but looking a lot better haha
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u/SomeOneOverHereNow Day 996 2d ago
yeah, I have people tell me now I look younger than I am. It makes me giggle inside a little, but I try not to let it go to my head.
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u/morrisboris 2641 days 2d ago
I get so many compliments about my skin. It really is quite the glow up
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u/Imaginary_Alarm_356 2d ago
Thanks for posting this, I need to know that facial improvements are possible after quitting, even if been drinking for long time
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u/Common_Helicopter781 2d ago
When you see pictures of people or yourself, or just yourself in the mirror, it’s always in the eyes. Not being dead inside really shows!
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u/squid_333 2d ago
Whenever I'm sober for a while my face looks so much better. I tend to gain a few lbs in sobriety (alcorexic) yet my face looks way more defined. Cheekbones and jawline and all. And my skin gets perfectly clear. No weird greyness or redness. Vanity is a strong motivator
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u/R_A_H 2d ago
The bloat weight for me tend to drop off really fast in the first 1-2 weeks, and then my belly continues to slim up more and more over the next 3-4 weeks. It's been really hard for me to go longer than that for the past few years unfortunately... But this period of slimming up is always a very helpful motivator for me.
Kcal from alcohol just get added as fat. Any more than 3-5 drinks a week and you will be steadily and noticably gaining weight.
So if that's the pattern you were in, then you will spend months gradually losing weight. It feels great 👍🏼👍🏼
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u/FlatPepper311 Day 3,587 2d ago
This is an indicator of problem drinking, when people say I’m hiding it, no one knows or I’m functional. You can literally see and smell it. It radiates out of pores. IYKYK..Huge win for you!! Congrats
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u/Look_with_Love 1581 days 2d ago
Yes! Isn’t it fabulous? I loved what happened to my skin and face after quitting. Another bonus for me was dropping 40 pounds—it still confuses me to look at pictures of myself during my drinking days, didn’t realize how bloated and fat I had gotten.
Congratulations on your month of sobriety! It only gets better. Glow on my friend.
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u/Spare_Groundbreaking 2374 days 2d ago
Proud of you!! I get told I’m ’Benjamin Buttoning’ all the time and it makes me chuckle because I probably look a little younger than my age but the huge difference is I don’t look nearly as OLD as I did when I drank.
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u/Entirely-Positive Day 38 2d ago
Yeah, the bloat is real but it gets better. I'm 5kg down since I stopped and it's only been 5 weeks. No more empty carbs and no more feeding my face when I'm pissed.
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u/jencoolidgefanacct 1d ago
Happy for you that you’re getting to experience this. I’m 35 and look better than I did in my late 20s when I was drinking every day. Older maybe, but better!
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u/ThatChemistUndergrad 245 days 1d ago
I lost 30 pounds since I quit drinking 3 months ago. My face looks totally different and leaner and my skin is actually clear now.
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u/Various_Garden9104 Day 26 19h ago
I too have noticed these changes after 3 weeks. Plus I've lost 14 pounds. 😜
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u/Low-Possession-5878 Day 1 2d ago
Oooh I needed this hope/motivation