Health Conditions

However, that’s not the messaging or target audience of the aforementioned CGM ads that popped up in my feed, which suggest that pretty much anybody who wants to lose weight or feel better or improve their health would benefit from a CGM. Plus, it’s important to note that people with lower incomes are at a greater risk for prediabetes and type 2 diabetes—not those who can afford to buy CGMs out of pocket.But when it comes to the general public, experts aren’t convinced that CGMs are necessary.Currently, there is “no compelling evidence” to say that people without diabetes or prediabetes would benefit from a CGM, Christine Byrne, MPH, RD, a Raleigh-based dietitian who specializes in eating disorders, tells SELF. In fact, one 2019 study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, in which researchers analyzed CGM data from 153 people without diabetes, found that 96% of the readings were in the normal range.The non-diabetic CGM market thrives on an assumption underlying a lot of wellness and biohacker culture today: More data about our bodies is inherently better. But that’s not necessarily true, Byrne points out. For starters, CGMs aren’t always accurate, because there’s often a time lag of 10 to 15 minutes and a 10- or 20-point difference between what your CGM says and your actual blood glucose level. And they tend to over-read lows, in particular, Dr. McGill says, which some people may find “disconcerting.”Blood sugar is also a complex, multifactorial phenomenon. To make sense of your CGM data, you’d ideally be tracking “food, exercise, sleep, stress levels and how your energy fluctuates throughout the day, in order to better understand how these different components affect blood sugar,” Yasi Ansari, RDN, a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, tells SELF. In other words, just because your blood sugar rises 20 points after you eat a mango doesn’t mean mangoes are bad for your health (or even that a mango would have that same exact effect on your blood sugar on a different day).There are also potential mental-health downsides.Even if there was enough research supporting the idea that CGMs have a positive effect on your blood sugar, in reality they may also have unintended negative consequences beyond your physical health. For one, fixating on your blood sugar “could cause you to pathologize completely normal glucose responses and fluctuations,” Byrne says. “If you eat carbs, your blood glucose will go up, and that’s totally normal and fine.”And hyper-focusing on your blood sugar in order to inform your eating choices could also result in greater rigidity around food—especially in people with a history of restrictive dieting or disordered eating behaviors. “Similar to the effect that activity trackers or calorie counting apps can have, using this device may take away from the joy and pleasure of eating, as well as listening to your body when it comes to making food and exercise choices,” Ansari explains. You want to be able to eat and “not always be worried about the impact it might have on blood sugars,” as she puts it.And there are often easier (more affordable) ways to address many of the issues you hope to resolve with a CGM.If you’re concerned about or at risk for prediabetes or diabetes, talk to your doctor about getting screened, Byrne says. You can also start with basic, evidence-based measures for stabilizing blood sugar levels, like more physical activity.

There were an estimated 107,622 drug overdose deaths in the U.S. in 2021, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The death rate is the highest on record for overdose fatalities, and it was up 15% from the 2020 rate of 93,655 deaths—a number that was 30% higher than the 2019 rate. The data highlight a surge in overdose deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic.Pandemic disruptions—including restricted access to rehabilitation facilities, naloxone (a drug that can reverse symptoms of an opioid overdose), and medication-assisted therapy—may have played a part in the increased death rate, Jules Netherland, director of the department of research and academic engagement at the Drug Policy Alliance, tells SELF. However, the rate was climbing before the pandemic took hold. “Unfortunately overdose deaths were going rapidly up before COVID, but the increase during COVID has certainly escalated,” Netherland says. She adds that communities of color are being hit harder and that strategies need to be implemented quickly to reverse the current trend.Alaska saw the biggest increase in the overdose death rate in 2021, rising 75.3% from the 2020 rate. Other states that saw steep increases include Vermont, South Dakota, Kansas, and Oregon, per the new data. Wyoming saw a 0% change, while overdose deaths in Hawaii went down by 1.81%.Among the 107,622 deaths, 80,816 involved opioids, according to the data. In addition to opioids, overdose deaths from synthetic opioids (primarily fentanyl), cocaine, and psychostimulants (like methamphetamine) also increased in 2021 compared to 2020.Drugs contaminated with fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that’s up to 100 times stronger than morphine, per the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), may have contributed to the spike in the overdose death rate, Netherland says. “We do know fentanyl has contaminated a lot of the drug supply and is driving” overdose deaths, she explains. But eliminating fentanyl won’t solve all the crisis and bring the rate back down, Netherland warns. Instead, experts need to focus on harm reduction strategies. “Until we really scale up harm reduction and treatment services, I don’t think we’re going to turn this around,” she explains.Netherland points to a number of different measures that could slow the overdose death rate’s climb, widespread access to naloxone and fentanyl test strips among them. The test strips would reveal if a product has been contaminated with fentanyl, 2 milligrams of which can be lethal, depending on a person’s size. Overdose prevention centers, which have been established in New York City, could also bring down the death rate, Netherland says. These allow people who use drugs to do so in a controlled setting, where trained staff can supervise and assist if they overdose. Additionally, until states decriminalize possessing small amounts of currently illegal drugs—which Oregon did in 2020—people who buy them won’t be able to tell whether their supply has been contaminated with a dangerous substance. “Criminalizing and prohibiting the purchase and sale—it means people aren’t going to know what they’re getting,” Netherland adds.Related:

Kourtney Kardashian gave an update on her in vitro fertilization (IVF) journey on Thursday night’s episode of The Kardashians. “We are super excited because it’s the first time that Travis and I have made it to an egg retrieval in six months of doing fertility treatments,” she said.The episode showed Kardashian, 43, and her husband Travis Barker, 46, visiting their fertility specialist for an update. During this appointment the couple received good news: An ultrasound showed the doctor a follicle, a fluid-filled ovarian sac in which eggs form, per Mayo Clinic.“That is exactly, precisely what we wanted to see. Right now, [the follicle] is around 19 millimeters,” the doctor said. He saw only one viable follicle but clarified that one follicle can result in multiple babies. “Hopefully, it’ll be high quality and be a normal embryo,” he said.“I feel like it’s a blessing that we’re here and able to be doing this. Because the last two times we tried we weren’t able to get to this phase,” Kardashian said. “One follicle–the fact that we have any just gives me a lot of hope.”After the ultrasound, the doctor prepared Kardashian for the next step, known as egg retrieval. During this process, eggs are extracted from the follicle through a thin needle inserted into an ultrasound guide. Patients are sedated and given pain medication for this procedure, according to Mayo Clinic. Barker’s sperm retrieval also occurred during the doctor’s visit. After both sperm and egg retrieval, fertilization occurs, the goal of which is a healthy embryo.“So after they retrieve the egg today, hopefully then they make an embryo, which takes six days, and then they test the embryo and then they implant the embryo, and then it hopefully becomes a pregnancy,” Kardashian said. She added that she was cautiously optimistic, due to the number of steps in the IVF process that have to go right in order for a successful pregnancy to occur. “Yes, we are super excited and grateful to be here, but I think we also don’t want to feel too attached or too happy before we know because there are so many steps.”Kardashian also said she looks forward to hopefully parenting with Barker: “I do love being a mom. I think having that experience with Travis would just be incredible. I know he’s a really, really amazing father.”Related:

On Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended that people get the Moderna or Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines instead of the Johnson & Johnson shot. The recommendation comes after the CDC’s advisers pointed to increasing evidence that the Johnson & Johnson shot raises the risk of blood clots.The CDC has reportedly recorded at least 54 cases of thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS), a rare kind of blood clot paired with low platelet counts, in people who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Through September, seven women and two men, most with underlying medical conditions, have died in relation to having TTS after the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. And new data suggest the risk of the syndrome is higher than previously thought. The risk now appears to be around 1 in 100,000 among women between 30 and 49 years old who got Johnson & Johnson, according to the New York Times. (This demographic had the highest risk overall in the data.)Early on Thursday, the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices agreed that vaccine recommendations should be updated after reviewing the new data, and within a few hours, CDC director Rochelle Walensky, M.D., M.P.H., decided to move forward with the updated recommendation.However, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine won’t be removed from pharmacies and will remain available for people who are “unable or unwilling” to receive Moderna or Pfizer vaccines, the CDC said, because “receiving any vaccine is better than being unvaccinated.”While that’s true, studies suggest the Johnson & Johnson single shot is significantly less effective than two-dose COVID-19 vaccines, and laboratory evidence suggests that’s especially the case when it comes to the omicron variant, as the New York Times reports.Some 16 million people in the U.S. have received a Johnson & Johnson vaccine, compared to 73 million who have received Moderna and 114 million who have received Pfizer. Since October, the CDC has been recommending that people who received a single Johnson & Johnson vaccine get a booster two months out from the initial dose. (Compared with six months out after full vaccination with an mRNA vaccine.) And the agency has allowed people who received Johnson & Johnson to mix and match with a Pfizer or Moderna booster, which the vast majority have chosen to do.Vaccination continues to play a major role in managing the pandemic. That’s even still the case as the omicron variant, which seems to be able to infect vaccinated people at a much higher rate than even delta, continues to spread. And although news of lessened vaccine-provided immunity is daunting and discouraging, people who are fully vaccinated with two-dose mRNA vaccines like Pfizer or Moderna seem to still have strong protection against severe illness and death, and getting boosted does seem to at least help increase protection against symptomatic infection. Would it be great to have vaccines that helped us completely avoid getting COVID-19 at all? Sure. (Enough people would still need to get those vaccines, which is a whole other issue.) But having vaccines that still appear to highly reduce the odds of getting severely ill or dying from COVID-19 is probably the next best thing.Related:

Doctors aren’t exactly sure of what causes inflammatory bowel diseases, although it is thought to have an autoimmune component, per the CDC. And, unfortunately, treating these conditions may require some trial and error. If you’re dealing with persistent poop problems, stomach pain, and anything else that seems concerning, see your doctor to see whether you have an inflammatory bowel disease.10. You’re dealing with a food sensitivity.Food sensitivities, which range from intolerances (triggering a digestive system reaction, such as lactose intolerance) to full-blown allergies (triggering an immune system reaction, such as Celiac disease), can cause some pretty intense symptoms, including diarrhea, if you’re exposed to the food that triggers a response in your body. Just like having any other health condition that causes diarrhea, these reactions to food can cause green poop because of undigested bile, Dr. Farhadi says.11. Your diarrhea has led to an anal fissure.An anal fissure is as intense as it sounds: It’s a small tear in the thin, moist tissue that lines your anus, according to the Mayo Clinic. This can happen due to constipation, passing hard or oversized poop, chronic diarrhea, anal sex, or giving birth.Anal fissures themselves don’t cause green poop—if anything, you may notice a bit of red due to bleeding from the tear. But if you have an anal fissure due to chronic diarrhea, you might notice some green poop in the mix. Thankfully, eating more fiber (so your stool is easier to pass) or taking a sitz bath to calm inflammation is often enough to help you feel better with time.12. You recently had your gallbladder removed.Now, for the last stop on the bile train: Removal of your gallbladder, which stores bile, can result in green poop. This pear-shaped organ might need to be removed if you have gallstones, which are hard deposits of material that can block the flow of bile and cause a world of hurt. Also known as a cholecystectomy, this is one of the most common surgeries in the United States, per the NIDDK.Once your gallbladder is gone, your body no longer has a place to store bile. As a result, you might have some diarrhea that includes more bile than usual, causing your poop to have a green color, Dr. Bedford says. If you’re dealing with this symptom and you recently had your gallbladder removed, you shouldn’t stress it—the diarrhea typically goes away within eight weeks as your body adjusts. If it doesn’t, or if you’re concerned, bring it up with your doctor.What should you do if your poop is green? Here’s when it’s time to see a doctorGreen poop can be completely normal, but it can also be a sign that you’re dealing with an underlying issue that may not resolve on its own. So if you’re pooping green and can’t figure out what’s going on, don’t feel embarrassed to check with your doctor, Dr. Bedford says. Seriously—they’re so used to this stuff!That said, as a reminder, you should seek medical attention if you’re experiencing any of the following symptoms alongside your green poop, as they can be indicative of some of the health issues we covered above that require treatment:Abdominal pain or crampingBlood in stoolFatigueWeight lossVomitingFeverBeyond that, the key factor is whether or not your green poop is persistent, Dr. Shen says. If it pops up only after you inhale a massive salad followed by a green juice, you’ve probably found your culprit. If you can’t track it that easily and it’s sticking around, there’s a chance something might be up with your health, Dr. Bedford says. It’s worth checking in with a medical professional just to be safe.Related:

Bipolar I disorder usually involves recurring episodes; 50% of patients with the disorder end up developing a second episode within two years of the first one4.Bipolar IIBipolar II, says Dr. Wang, involves less severe depressive and manic episodes than bipolar I, although some people experience severe depression and hypomania, a milder form of mania.To be diagnosed with bipolar II, Dr. Zimbrean says someone has to have at least one episode of hypomania lasting at least four days and one major depressive episode.Bipolar II is milder than bipolar I, but you shouldn’t confuse it as a form of bipolar I disorder because it’s a separate medical diagnosis2. It’s also just as important to treat. People with bipolar II may not experience extreme mania or do anything super risky, but they can be depressed for longer periods of time, which may interfere with their ability to function in daily life.Cyclothymic disorderCyclothymic disorder is another condition on the bipolar spectrum. However, people with cyclothymic disorder don’t have full-blown mania or depression, so they can’t be diagnosed with bipolar disorder7. “Their mood is basically constantly fluctuating between mild depression and periods of elevated mood, but it’s not severe enough to be incapacitating or recognized as very abnormal,” Francis Mondimore, M.D., director of the Johns Hopkins Mood Disorders Clinic and associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, tells SELF. “When it is diagnosed, these mood fluctuations are very treatable and often very responsive to treatments with medication.”Unclassified bipolar disorderSometimes, a person can exhibit symptoms of bipolar disorder but don’t meet the criteria for having bipolar disorder. For example, Dr. Wang says illicit drug use can complicate bipolar symptoms, making it difficult to tell if depression and mania stem from the drug use, from the person’s genetics, or both.What are some signs of bipolar disorder?Because there’s not just one type of bipolar disorder, people’s symptoms and the severity of those symptoms can be different. That said, all types of bipolar include episodes of mania or hypomania and depression, potentially resulting in distress and difficulty functioning in everyday life2. Mood episodes can vary in duration, but symptoms usually last every day for most of the day, for as long as several days or weeks.It’s also important to note that a person’s bipolar disorder signs and symptoms can change over time. For example, bipolar symptoms can occur only in pregnancy or change when the seasons change2. And some people may also experience anxiety in addition to their mood episodes. Here are some of the most common symptoms of depressive, manic, and mixed bipolar episodes that can occur with bipolar disorder.What are some signs of depression?One of the primary features of bipolar disorder is periods of depression. Depressive episodes in bipolar disorder can look a lot like major depressive disorder7, which includes symptoms such as:Persistent sadnessHopelessnessPessimismIrritabilityLoss of interest in activitiesLoss of energyTrouble concentratingMemory issuesChanges in appetiteChanges in sleep habitsSuicidal thoughts

About 281,550 people in the U.S. will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year—and 43,600 will die from it, according to the American Cancer Society1. When we dig deeper into the numbers, it turns out there are racial disparities at play as seen with so many other health conditions, such as diabetes.White and Black people are diagnosed with breast cancer at roughly the same rate, but Black people are more likely to die from the disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention2. Between the years 2014-2018, CDC data shows that 27 out of 100,000 Black women died from breast cancer compared to 19 out of 10,000 white women. (The death rate for other groups of color is lower than Black women or white women.)Experts say there are a number of factors at play here, and SELF spoke to Oluchi Oke3, M.D., an oncologist at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, to learn more about the harrowing racial disparities in breast cancer. As a Black physician, Dr. Oke understands the importance of closing health care gaps for all patients. SELF: To start, what are the most common racial disparities we see in breast cancer?Dr. Oke: The disparities we see are in the onset of diagnosis—meaning at what stage of cancer people are diagnosed—and also in the overall percentage of people of a certain ethnicity that pass away from breast cancer. We see disparities in the type of breast cancer they get. And the average age for a breast cancer diagnosis is younger in Hispanic and Black individuals4.Black women are also more likely to be diagnosed with what’s called triple negative breast cancer, which can be hard to treat, and has a poor prognosis. It is more aggressive, so it grows faster, and we find it at a later stage. When we find it later, the cancer may have spread to lymph nodes or to another organ too. And so we are seeing more African American women dying from their breast cancer, partly just because they’re getting diagnosed later, and also because they’re being diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer.Lack of health insurance is a barrier in receiving timely screening to detect breast cancer early on and is a big reason that we see higher breast cancer death rates in Black women. The most well-known study related to this was published in 2017 by researchers at Emory University5 who reviewed information from over half a million people in the national cancer database. They looked at five factors that may impact the difference in outcome between Black versus Caucasian women with stage 1-3 breast cancer, including demographics, characteristics of cancer, comorbidities, health insurance, and type of treatment. The difference in health insurance was the biggest contributor to the difference in death rate for each group. They showed almost three times as many Black women were uninsured compared to white women, and 35% of the excess risk of death from breast cancer in Black women compared with white women was due to a difference in health insurance. The type of tumor also contributed to the increased risk of death, but not as significantly as the lack of insurance contributed.

Keep in mind that your treatment options may change over time based on new research and newly available therapies. Make sure you have ongoing conversations with your doctor about which treatment options may be best for you.Autoimmune diseasesWhen you have an autoimmune disease, like psoriasis, your immune system goes a bit haywire and mistakenly attacks healthy cells4, often setting off mysterious symptoms before you get to the bottom of it. There are more than 80 autoimmune conditions that impact different parts of the body, including everything from multiple sclerosis to arthritis to celiac disease to type 1 diabetes4.And some of these diseases are more likely to affect people who already have psoriasis. For example, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, both autoimmune conditions that affect the gastrointestinal tract, are more common in people with psoriasis compared to those without it. However, researchers don’t know why this happens, and with many of these conditions, it is impossible to say which came first or if one caused another.“There’s no specific answer to the ‘chicken-and-egg’ question,” Shivani Kaushik5, M.D., an assistant professor at the Rutgers Center for Dermatology, tells SELF. One possible theory, according to Dr. Kaushik, is that many autoimmune conditions, including psoriasis, Crohn’s disease, and ulcerative colitis, may be linked because they all cause inflammation in the body. “For many patients who have extensive psoriasis, there is no doubt that they have inflammation going on inside as well,” she says, as opposed to the inflammation you only see on the outside of the skin.There is no surefire way to avoid developing multiple autoimmune disorders, but keeping your psoriasis in check by regularly taking your medications, such as biologics to target the immune system directly, and getting in touch with your doctor if you have new or worsening flare-ups can help you create a plan to keep inflammation under control.Psoriatic arthritisPsoriatic arthritis (PsA), while technically also an autoimmune condition6, has a more specific connection to psoriasis than other autoimmune diseases. Psoriatic arthritis most commonly shows up 7 to 10 years after the onset of psoriasis symptoms7, and happens when the immune system starts to attack healthy joints and/or tendons causing inflammation, pain, swelling and stiffness in the hands, knees, wrists, ankles and feet.The two conditions are inextricably linked, but the connection isn’t totally clear to experts yet. Having psoriasis doesn’t necessarily cause psoriatic arthritis. Only about 20 to 30% of people with psoriasis are eventually diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis8 and a small number of people with psoriatic arthritis have no preexisting psoriasis symptoms9.“We do know certain kinds of psoriasis patients tend to have higher chances of developing psoriatic arthritis,” including scalp psoriasis and inverse psoriasis, according to Samar Gupta11, M.D., an associate professor at the University of Michigan Medical School and the chief of VA clinical rheumatology and medical education.So, it’s crucial to communicate any joint pain to your doctor if you have psoriasis, since early detection can help you start treatment sooner, which can help prevent psoriatic arthritis-related joint damage.Cardiovascular diseaseThere’s a lot of research showing that chronic inflammation may cause fat and cholesterol buildup, called plaques, in your arteries12. Over time, and if you have a lot of buildup, plaques can burst and eventually lead to a stroke or heart attack. Reducing overall inflammation is really important when it comes to reducing your heart disease risk, Dr. Menter says, and one way you can do that is by controlling your psoriasis with medication.

Tracy Lloyd knows the importance of mammograms, especially for Black women, who are disproportionately affected by breast cancer. When Lloyd was in her 20s, her older sister passed away from the disease. Lloyd vividly remembers the painful experience and started getting yearly mammograms in her mid-30s. Generally, people with average breast cancer risk are advised to get mammograms starting at 501, but people with a higher risk may begin screening earlier. In 2019, Lloyd skipped her annual mammogram. To her surprise, her doctor found a small tumor in her breast when she remembered to schedule a screening the following year. This is her story as told to SELF’s associate health director Melissa Matthews.My sister lost her life to breast cancer in her 30s. As a young Black woman, she faced a greater threat from the minute she was diagnosed. Breast cancer deaths are 40% higher among Black women compared to white women2—so I understand how important it is to schedule an annual mammogram for myself.But in 2019, I skipped my mammogram because my insurance changed when I switched jobs. I never had any symptoms that alarmed me, so I figured there wasn’t much to worry about. In August 2020, I almost skipped my mammogram again because of the pandemic. Since I work at an outpatient imaging center scheduling other people’s mammograms, I remembered to book one for myself since I already go into the office for work—otherwise I would have skipped the screening again due to COVID-19.After the mammogram, my doctor recommended doing an ultrasound. I’ve had ultrasounds before that turned out to be no big deal, so I wasn’t too concerned about it at first. But this time, my suspicion grew when the procedure started taking longer than usual. I remember thinking, “Why is she going over the same spots?”Then, one of the doctors at the medical office where I work told me I needed a biopsy because something didn’t look right. In my 20s, I had some fatty tissue that was found in an ultrasound, but it was harmless. I assumed the same fatty tissue was stirring up questions again—until I was given a diagnosis I never expected to hear.I had breast cancer.“Are you sure?” I asked the doctor. After years of normal mammograms, it was just so hard to wrap my head around it. “Yes, it’s cancer, but it’s really small,” the doctor told me. Before I knew it, we were going over when I would need to see a surgeon to remove the tumor.I left work early that day. The scariest thing about cancer is that you never know how it is going to affect you physically or emotionally—or what will happen next. As soon as I got home, the surgeon’s office called me to schedule my first appointment.Because of COVID-19, nobody else was allowed to come with me. As I sat there alone, the surgeon told me the tumor was so small she was surprised the original doctor even saw it on the mammogram and ultrasound. I had stage IA breast cancer3, a very early stage of invasive cancer, so my tumor was about the size of a grape and hadn’t spread to other areas of my body. In that regard, I was lucky. Black people are more likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer when the disease is more advanced and harder to treat.At that point, my surgeon thought she could do a lumpectomy, a procedure that removes the cancerous tissue in the breast. However, she also urged me to do genetic testing to determine if I was at risk of carrying the BRCA1 or BRCA2 cancer variants. These are inherited cancers due to genetic mutations—and they’re more prevalent in Black women4. If I had even one, I would need to have a double mastectomy to reduce my risk of having the breast cancer come back5.

At this point, we’ve tried dozens of non-alcoholic beers that we think would absolutely pass a blind taste test with alcoholic beers. Non-alcoholic spirits have also come a long way, and when blended into a quality non-alcoholic cocktail, many are able to nail the flavor profile we used to enjoy in our traditional cocktails. These non-alcoholic beverages proved to be a game-changer, allowing us to easily make it a month without drinking, and continue on for several months. We drink non-alcoholic beverages three to five times a week now, and we only drink alcohol once every two to three months.Until I switched to non-alcoholic beverages, I never realized how much even moderate, casual drinking was affecting me. Without that glass or two of wine in the evening, my sleep immediately improved and has only gotten better over time. I used to wake with a ‘brain fog’ that I combated with coffee most of the morning, but by switching to non-alcoholic beverages, this fog has lifted and I have more energy and clarity.” —Kelly B., 343. “I gave myself a new treat at the end of the evening.”“I was widowed in 2019 and home alone with four-year-old twins during the pandemic. With no friends, no family, and no adult conversation, I turned to champagne as my one friend that I knew I could count on. If these French bubbles could talk, they would tell you what we have experienced together. Hope, grief, happiness, loneliness, sickness, sadness, success, and solitude were all served with a side of champagne.In February 2021, I asked myself, ‘Could I make it through the night without my beloved?’ I got ‘sober curious.’ The first night was hard. I felt like I had a hangover, but I hadn’t had a sip. As the days went on, I realized I missed alcohol, but I didn’t need it. I gave myself a new treat at the end of the evening: a non-alcoholic French sparkling cider that I could share with my daughters. Getting clear, getting focused, and finding the joy in an unclouded head helps me get through these days. I’m not sure how long it will last but I do know I’m not dependent on alcohol now.” —Monique S., 45 4. “I keep reminding myself of how far I’ve come.”“I gave up drinking on Thursday, November 19, 2020, and I haven’t looked back since. I definitely don’t regret my decision. I just went cold turkey. When I stopped drinking, it didn’t take long for me to notice the benefits. Within a few days, my energy levels had increased and my skin started to look a lot healthier. I’ve been working out every day. I no longer waste days on the weekend due to having a hangover and not being motivated to do anything. I love the feeling of knowing that I am taking care of my body and putting myself first. To stay consistent, I kept focusing on the benefits of giving up alcohol, rather than focusing on what I was missing out on.It can be hard at times, especially when you’re out with people who drink too much. I try to make an exit before they reach that point so I don’t have to deal with it. The times when that hasn’t been possible I just keep reminding myself of how far I’ve come and how much of a positive effect giving up drinking has had on my health.Since giving up alcohol, I had one night where I had a few glasses of prosecco. I was out with friends who were all drinking and gave into peer pressure. The minute I made the decision to have a drink I regretted it. I still had three drinks and then stopped. I haven’t had another alcoholic drink since then. I now don’t regret the decision to have the drinks as it showed me that I really wasn’t missing anything.” —Georgina C., 355. “I simply started reducing the size of the glasses.”“Before the pandemic, I would drink only one glass of wine a day, if that. I would generally drink four or five glasses a week. During the pandemic, I started relying on two or three glasses of wine to get me through the day, and that started to become a habit as the days wore on. I decided to try to cut back a little since I don’t like having a dependency on anything, be it alcohol, coffee, or the like.To do this, I simply started reducing the size of the glasses in which I drank wine. Starting out, I would drink my wine in a wine glass, but I cut this down to a smaller-sized glass. Then, as I felt comfortable with that amount, I cut this down even further to an even smaller drinking glass. After about a month, I was able to reduce my daily wine intake from three glasses to one small drinking glass only. Today, I can even go without that!Now that I’ve cut down my consumption from my peak drinking habits, I feel much more independent, which makes me feel invigorated and good about myself throughout the day. I can also focus on my work much better without feeling the need to drink a glass of wine to get me through the day.” —Marilyn G., 27Quotes have been edited for length and clarity.Related: