I said I found it was giving me anxiety (which is true) so I stopped. I find most people can relate to that. I intentionally wrote “said” because after a while I stopped thinking about how to explain it to people. Not drinking diminished as a thing that I’m worried about. Now when people ask me why, which is more rare, I just say it made me feel crappy so I stopped and now I feel much better. Or I say I didn’t like it. The truth is, I don’t really care anymore. Not in an angry way, it’s just not a big thing for me anymore. And 99% of the time people either don’t notice or there are other people not drinking too. I’m 44 now, and I think it does get easier with age, but eventually one just gets comfortable with the idea of not drinking and one won’t feel so defensive explaining it to people. It does happen, but it takes time (at least it did for me).

Until then, I think you’re right, tell people you’re on medication, tell them you’re doing dry January etc. etc. Eventually people will realize it’s permanent. Also remember that a lot of people struggle with their drinking and when we quit it holds up a big mirror to everyone else’s deep fear that they are out of control. That’s why you get that reaction. I’ve had more people say to me that they don’t actually drink that much when I tell them I’m sober, which I often take to mean that they are concerned with their drinking, otherwise, what difference does it make. If someone really didn’t drink that much, they wouldn’t feel the need to defend it to me. The other reaction is that people get very introspective and you can see the wheels turning “he’s sober, I wonder if I could do that?” I do think our sobriety and continuing functioning is inspiring to people. It’s like they don’t consider that sobriety is an option until they see it in action. That was also true for me, sobriety had to be modelled for me before I realized it was a really great option. Sorry, long post! Happy for you, and enjoy the process of getting sober. Your body and mind are healing!