Hi Maz36,
This sort of thing happened to me many times. There were two things at the bottom of it.
One was the classic alcoholic thinking that this time I will handle, it, this time I'll just have a few and enjoy myself.
And the second, the further away from my last drink I was, the more uncomfortable I got. Life without alcohol looked bleak to say the least. I didn't know there was another life out there, my alcoholic life was the only normal one.
Eventually, through AA, I discovered that there was a better way available to me if I was willing to make the effort. But I wouldn't even look at AA until I was forced to, not by people, but by the booze.