That is a good question indeed and I welcome any constructive comments to my reply.
I drank last week after a little over 5 weeks sober.
The 'relapse' started about 3 days before I 'drank'.
Drank is in quotes because I had 4 sips of a drink with about 3/4 shot of gin in it and poured the rest down the sink.
Im not starting my counting weeks over, Im 6 weeks into recovery with one slip.
Fortunately there was no slope. This was 6 days ago, I havent had the urge to drink, I didnt get drunk, once I felt the buzz I stopped.
Its hard to tell if my tolerance is weaker as I was always a beer drinker.
I drank for relief, Im having a really stressful time, and after 3 days of letting myself get depressed, it was really too late for something healthy.
I did call a friend, but I had already made up my mind before I called, I couldnt log in to SR bc Ive been having computer problems.
I had been coping with my problems (for the the 3 days prior) with pot, food, ativan, and ambien. It was quite obvious to me that I was just replacing the alcohol with these. So at 2am, not able to sleep, I let myself have some alcohol.
To me the 'relapse' had little to do with alcohol, it was about what I was (or wasnt) doing to cope.
And honestly, I have felt much better since it happened, I havent taken any substitutes (pot/food/sleep meds/anxiety meds) since then. And I realize that I need to starting doing something positive to change the situation on day one, not let it build up for 3 days until it feels like a rock that I cant get out from underneath.