Zorah, I am RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE!!! And I have asked the SAME question!!!
I am very hung up on the am I/ am I not question. I have taken pretty much every alcohol assessment online, and they say I have some problematic drinking patterns, but I have not had the experience of most "alcoholics" where they can really relate to most of the items on those questionnaires. I also have a medical/clinical background, so I know all the diagnostic criteria, and such....
This is what I've decided: I have a problem with how I use alcohol, and I am NOT okay with continuing it. I am 12 days completely sober, and like you, it has been "moderately" difficult. So, I went to AA. I asked for help to figure it out. I was very open with the fact that I'm not sure I have a "real" problem, and I'm afraid of wasting people's time, but that I want to figure it out. I got a sponser. I started reading the Big Book. I still just introduce myself by my name only. People seem okay with that. I don't know if that will change if I'm there longer.
I do understand that alcoholism is progressive. I know that it has progressed a little since I took my first drink. It could be a whole lot worse though. My sponser told me the other night, "why don't you try to be grateful that you are not in a place that you are experiencing withdrawals, intense cravings, lost job/family/friends, etc, instead of trying to figure out whether you have a problem or not". That was a shift in thinking. To be grateful for where I am right now, and that I have chosen to stop a pattern that I don't like.
Best of luck to you in figuring out your own answers. Keep doing what feels honest to you.