Originally Posted by
Irondan 
Hi guys
I have been struggling with this, so I dont know why I havent been here before. I hope nobody minds me jumping straight in.
I am now 38 and generally have drunk every Friday and Saturday night since I was 16. This was when my friends and I could get into pubs. I started working at 18 and every weekend from Friday through to the morning of Sunday would be spent partying and drinking lots of beer whatever was available.
To be honest, I have always been good at not having anything to drink when I know that I am working the next day, although I do go to bed earlier on a work night than on a weekend, so this could be part of the problem.
Now I dont know if I have a problem or not, but every Friday and Saturday night I will have far too much to drink, normally at home. My wife doesnt drink and I think as the alcohol doesnt really change my personality and I can tolerate quite a bit she doesnt really mind.
The problem might be that I really enjoy beer/wine etc. Tomorrow night my wife and I are going out for a meal and I am already looking forward to the pint of lager I will have before the meal, the bottle of white and then bottle of red during the meal and then a couple of large glasses of whisky after the meal. Probably a few more whiskys at home before bed.
On Saturday I dont have anything to do and so with the british weather being quite nice at the moment, in the afternoon I will probably be sat in the garden reading the papers and working my way through a crate of beer. In the evening probably some wine and then maybe some whisky or martinis.
Sunday I wont drink and then thats it for the week, although on Friday I will be at the races, that starts with alcohol at 12:30 and then will continue till midnight.
I think that this is more habit then anything else. I have always had rules where I wont have anything to drink before midday and I wont drink if I am working the next day, but if I am on holiday for a week, I will drink every day. This might be a problem if I ever retire.
The final issue is that I dont know if I want to give up drinking, I really enjoy wine and beer, but I know that I consume far too much. I would be lost on a Friday evening after a hard working week not having a drink, its just what happens.
I have looked at all the alternative things to do besides drink, but I do these anyway. If I watch a film, I drink, read a book, I drink. Most months in England its dark in the evening, so going for a walk wont work, plus only pubs are open in the evening. I run, I swim, I do it all, but I also drink too much on a weekend.
I know I am a minor case in comparison to some in here, thanks for reading and I hope I havent wasted anybodys time.
Dan
Irondan writes>>>The final issue is that I dont know if I want to give up drinking, I really enjoy wine and beer, but I know that I consume far too much. I would be lost on a Friday evening after a hard working week not having a drink, its just what happens.
I have looked at all the alternative things to do besides drink, but I do these anyway. If I watch a film, I drink, read a book, I drink. Most months in England its dark in the evening, so going for a walk wont work, plus only pubs are open in the evening. I run, I swim, I do it all, but I also drink too much on a weekend.<<<
I didn't want to give up drinking. I was a world class athlete, a performing artist and was successful in business.
I kept drinking even after it didn't work anymore. When alcohol began to stop working is when I began questioning a drinking pattern change. This drinking pattern change is due to tolerance.
It's sort of like my automobile, if its running smoothly attention is not drawn, but when it runs ruff, I pay attention. The difference is, with a machine a defective part can be replace, but the damage alcohol will do to the human body may not be repairable. Permanent organ damage is not uncommon.
Contrary to the popular notion, which is backed by some science, that moderate amounts of alcohol can be beneficial, e.g. health benefits for the cardiovascular system is erroneous. This is just another way the alcoholic beverage industry promotes their products.
With the exception of trace amounts of alcohol in many foods, there's no safe level of alcohol consumption. Alcohol is poison, it's a toxin that kills cells such as microorganisms, which is why it's use to preserve food and sterilize skin, needles etc. The toxicity of alcohol is worsened because in order for it to be cleared from the body it has to be metabolized to acetaldehyde, an even more toxic substance. I view it this way, any food or drink contaminated with acetaldehyde that an average person consumes would be immediately banned as having an unacceptable health risk.
At the point alcohol wasn't working for me anymore, I educated myself re: alcoholism, including attending AA meetings and psychotherapy. Nothing mattered including my love ones and friends telling me I needed to abstain. Until my awareness was either life or death, then and only then did I reached my bottom and surrender and was set free.
The odds are, telling alcoholics not to drink almost enviably won't work. It may make the people of concern feel good, but as it was with me, my deniability was symptomatic of alcoholism.