The thing is that everyone can only speak from their own experience. With alcoholism, nothing is written in stone and there are exceptions to almost everything written in the books. Some of what is written would suggest that if a person could stop or drink normally for periods of time then they can't be a real alcoholic. That is complete and utter nonsense in my mind.
I drank for over 3 decades and was always able to stop for periods of time and even drink normally for brief periods. It always led back to the same place tho, more and more benders of epic proportions. For me that meant as much as a half gallon of vodka a day and eating valium like skittles.
By the same token my experience is only predictive of what is likely to happen if I were to drink again. It says nothing of what another persons experience might be. We all have to find our own paths, dance to our own music.