[QUOTE=tealily;6535484]Just wondering how many others may have been in this situation.
I drank off and on, never heavily, from late teen/college age through my 20s, 30s even most of my 40s, without an issue. I could take it or leave it. I stopped completely during pregnancies and breastfeeding without problem or complaint.
I think back, and I never bought wine or beer at a store to bring home. Even in my 30s, in the last house we lived in, I can remember having only an occasional bottle of wine in the house (a "single" bottle, never more than that), and even vacuum stoppers to store any that was left over. (!)
Then, in my mid late 40s, I started drinking more and more. One bottle between my husband and I became two. Wine nights became the thing with my fellow 40-ish moms. Then it wasn't just weekends, it became Sundays and Thursdays. I didn't just have one glass, I had a whole bottle, and then some. Then it was every. single. night. Over the course of maybe 6 or 7 years, I developed a huge problem, and now know I can't safely drink any amount any more.
I know I was probably "medicating" myself for anxiety and depression.. Was it that we have a susceptibility at a certain point in our lives, and once we go too far, that's it? That once you cross a line in becoming addicted to the substance, it has let a genie out of the bottle, so to speak, or flipped a switch?
I am NOT nostalgic for drinking or trying to bargain for a way to get back to that earlier pattern, just trying to figure it out! I'm new to the whole recovery universe.
I also remember, thinking back, how much fun I had, those times back in my 20s and 30s without feeling the need for alcohol. I didn't long for it, or plan for it. I really could take it or leave it. I just hate that I let this substance do this to me.
Just curious for any thoughts.[/QUOTE
Once again your telling my story. I always wondered wondered if perimenopause and full menopause played a part in it going way wrong?