Social group and boyfriend still tries to get me to drink alcohol
I gave up drinking once I got diagnonsised with migraines. I was having them 2 or more times a week and it would take me at least a full day to recover from the migraine. Post migraine I would also have very bad mood swings which extremely difficult for me to deal with. They would keep me in bed to the same degree the headache pain would.
I don't miss drinking alcohol at all. The risk of having to experience another one of those horrible migraines that I can potentially avoid by not drinking is just not worth it to me. I still get migraines but I try to avoid anything that might bring them on and I take Topamax to help prevent them.
There are two other good reasons for me not to drink, but these are not why I choose not to. One is that I also have epilepsy and two is that both my mother and brother are recovering addicts and I was advised not to drink since I was considered higher risk for addiction with two first degree relatives with substance abuse problems. So knowing that I've never been a big drinker anyway since I didn't want to end up like them.
Well, my friends and my boyfriend seem uncomfortable that I've quit drinking. I feel like it's a closed issue that should never be discussed again but they often ask if I'm sure I don't want something. Today my boyfriend even said you don't know if it'll give you a headache. I don't see why people care whether or not I'm drinking. It doesn't bother me, why does it bother them?
As a person who doesn't drink myself either, I think some of the issues come about from people's perception, two specific ones. Firstly, if they have some inner conflict about the amount they drink, your not drinking can make them feel quite insecure. And secondly, some people sometimes feel (and it can be entirely not your fault) that your not drinking means that you're judging them for drinking.
It's also possible that they don't understand what a migraine entails. Lots of people out there think it's just a bad headache or have a fairly minimalized view of what migraines are, and so might think that you're "missing out" on all the fun of drinking is an overreaction or something.
It could very well just be misapplied concern, if they feel that alcohol is essential to a fun night out (which, I've found out, some people do) then they may feel that you're missing out on half the fun or whatever.In the end, I don't know, I don't understand why people drink in the first place, so understanding why people don't like it when other people don't drink is even more confusing.
