Hi Spin, your post really resonated with me. I too am an alcoholic, but started with another drug of choice. I am also a 29 year old female, and have used alcohol as a stress relief. If something went wrong at work, I would immediately think drinking when I got home will make it better. I was trying to escape from stress or any other emotion.
I also had no idea how physically addicted I was until I quit. I was chronically tired for 2-3 weeks, and had other common symptoms. Check out the excerpts from the book "Under the Influence" here:
http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/alcoholism/138571-excerpts-under-influence.html Reading that book helped me understand a lot about my drinking.
I have also had a hard time convincing others that I had a problem, because the rest of my life seemed so functional. Good job, college degree, etc. But I have found out how much I was missing out on by drowning emotions in alcohol all the time.
Welcome to SR, glad you are here! Keep posting and reading!