This doesn't seem to be mentioned much.
My addiction developed over the years...err...decade(s). A few years back I bought one of those wrist-wrap blood pressure gadgets and began to regularly check my BP.
The results were quite alarming to say the least. My BP was
consistently in the range of 140-165/95-110. Of course in my (somewhat disabled) wisdom I went to the doctor and got a prescription for BP medicine, ignoring the obvious.
Years went by with minimal results while other effects of alcohol poisoning began to peek out of their hiding places. I would notice that when I would wean back a bit the symptoms would subside some but I'm not a good...err weaner. The doctors always said the same thing..."just stop drinking".
So, finally I stopped (17 days now). Been checking daily BP and results are empirically dramatic. BP has now pegged in the range 117-120/76-81 (normal)
without any medication.
Point is ( and I always knew this really): you can fool your mind ad nauseum (literally even) but you can't fool your body, it knows how much you're drinking.
