LauraS

Just curious about how much people here were drinking when they decided they'd had enough.

Taking5

I had a bad habit in AA of comparing my drinking to others in the rooms. I felt like some of the people were rank amateurs compared to me.

I evidently made a few comments along these lines and an old timer picked up on this. He pulled me aside and said that the guy (I think I called him a lightweight) that drank 8 beers a night had just as much right to judge his life unmanageable and pursue recovery using the 12 steps of AA as I did. (I drank a LOT more than that, and hard liquor to boot). The oldtimer went on to say that me judging other's need for AA did not fit well in the rooms and was a blatant violation of our 3rd tradition - the only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking.

So I am now a convert. I do not believe questions like this serve anybody's recovery, regardless if you are using AA or not.

LauraS

LOL, I am more like one of the rank amateurs, and sometimes that makes me question whether I really "belong" in AA. I am not sure why I really want to know this, except that I read about someone drinking a similar amount to myself and that made me feel more like perhaps I do belong. Maybe I wanted to hear something encouraging.

Pinkcuda

Exactly why we don't like to talk about it. AA is about your drinking only.
When we admit that we are powerless, that in no way implies we were more or less powerless than someone else. There are a lot of members in AA whose drinking I can not relate to. There are a lot of members who can not relate to my drinking.
Step one in the 12&12 suggests that we raise the bar in sharing our experience rather than waiting for the newcomer to sink to the level that we were drinking at.
Alcoholism is progressive. If I drank more than you it's only because I may have a few years on you. There was a time years ago when I had a goal of being able to drink an entire pitcher of beer by myself. That didn't make me less of an alcoholic than I am now.
The last thing I would want to see is an Alcoholic go through the extra years of hell before their drinking was on par with mine.
You have my permission to call yourself an alcoholic any time you want.

flutter

Too much to be good for me in any way. Enough to cause problems if I continued.

Actually looking back, no matter how little I ever drank, it never really was "good" for me anyways.

So glad to get it out of my life.. happier, healthier..me.

Doesn't matter the amount, type or frequency. What matters is if it is causing a problem for you.. then you have a problem.

Somewhere on this board, someone posted a survey/test thingy.. and really.. if you drink more than 1 drink a day, more than 2 days a week.. you are drinking way more than the average person. For women, moderate drinking is 1 drink in a day. That doesn't mean don't drink all week then have seven on Saturday. That is binge drinking and dangerous.

see how much sense this doesn't make?

Is it a problem in your life? Health? Relationships? Work?

Stop for a month.. if it doesn't matter to you, you're probably just fine. If you find it's difficult, stick around here and absorb some stuff from this site and let everyone support you as you find your way.

laurie6781

It really is not the AMOUNT you drank, or what brand, or if it was beer, wine, or hard liquor, it is about what alcohol does to you.

I didn't understand that for a few months into recovery and even though I literally died to get here, I was still questioning if I was an alcoholic.

Then this little sentence, in the Big Book of AA was pointed out to me. It is in the first paragraph of Chapter 4, page 44:

Well, there it was. That is exactly what had happened to me for so very long.

After that I really did not have any more doubts.

Hope that helps.

Love and hugs,

baggervance

Im a AAer I dont mind the question especially if your new, I started when I woke and drank till I passed out never keep count didnt want to know.

Sweets79

Depended on the day...If I was really dealing with unbearable emotions I would start drinking a pint of Jim Beam in the morning/afternoon, and when that wore off, maybe a pint of Vodka or some Jack....Other times I would drink almost a whole bottle of Skyy vodka...not sure how many ounces, not the huge bottle..the medium sized, that would last me for one day and maybe the next morning...Alot of times I started early in the day...The last amount I drank was last Friday...a small bottle of Jack and 2 Mojitos...and the Mojitos were a joke...I was like I can't taste any alcohol in here?!? You sure there's alcohol in here?!? lol...So my last amount before I decided to try to quit again wasn't a whole lot...but at times I definitely have drank more in one day than people without an alcohol problem drink in a week.

CarolD

Heck...I really could not say with assurance.

I was a long time blackout drinker ....usually drank
in bars/lounges/clubs. Being "in the biz" I had
los of free drinks and was "poured heavy:...
insured by my .over tipping.....

I've noticed an odd thing....I still drink a lot

FightingIrish

On a weeknight...two double bottles of red wine, and sometimes 2-3 beers on top of that. By that point I usually passed out.

On weekends, it was probably that same amount twice per day, with a huge pass-out in between.

shaun00

enough for it to corner me into real suicide attempts.

And to not really give a rat ass that my daughter hadnt seen me for years.

Because the last of my drinking was done on the street it difficult to say how much........depends on how much money i begged or stole.

meths or strong lagers.....id drink anything that got me to oblivion.

BUT..........i didnt think of a drink today....in fact i havent thought of a drink for a while....

im still amazed at the power of the fellowship....the program and god.

trucker

someguy999

so far im drinking about 4 - 5 24ozer of beer (budweiser) every night for at least 5 yrs. when i posted here apparenrtly thats not that bad so that gives u an idea if ur drinking even more than that nightly that then ur still good to go.

marty888

Someguy, that is such a stupid irresponsible response. This is a site for people who are seeking help. Its totally irrelevant how much you do or dont drink, what matters is what you do when you drink or what you will do to get a drink. Its all about whether you control the drink or if the drink controls you. If the drink controls you its time to stop forever

penny74

About 15 to 20 bottles of Heineken.

To go beyond is as wrong as to fall short.
Confucius, The Confucian Analects

yeahgr8

NOW, From midday to midnight, I can put away several beers, a couple of bottles of wine and then on the large spanish measures of bacardi with diet coke.

It has taken a couple of decades to built up to this level and tolerance.

I went through a year of not drinking at 28 and i remember trying to go to the bar with friends and limit myself to 2 drinks. I carried on for a few months like this wondering how on earth just one beer could **** with my head so bad and why it would take 5 days to recover mentally from a single drink!

It's been said a few times in this thread, the quantity is quite irrelevant, it is how it affects you and your life. Stop whilst you are a rank amateur or waste years of your life fighting a fight you can never win...one of control!

Marty i'm with you, FFS Laura be very careful who you listen to! MISERY loves company!

bohemianzen

I don't think the question was asked in the spirit of a "pi**ing contest". And I clicked on the link as I was curious as to what and how much ppl were drinking. Not to make myself feel like "geesh I must be ok, I don't drink that much" or "wow, I could drink them under the table".
In my humble opinion, it's food for the mind--I'm still early into this and seek knowledge of all types thru the board, experiences-bits here and there help me at different times. I've drank for the past 26yrs sometimes a lot and sometimes things other than beer which has been my primary choice. There were 2 times I quit for a year - once with Paxil (which I became intolerant of) and once because I was with a bf who didn't and no it didn't bother me a bit while I was with him even though it wasn't the greatest relationship.
As for the question-sorry to be long-winded, last weekend I drank a little over a case of beer 28 I think in the course of Friday after work to Sunday evening. Sunday I drank around ten or so and didn't feel that bad Monday morning, but Saturday I drank maybe 8 and felt like a wreck Sunday morning even sleeping in. Sometimes I can get a better buzz on than others. And sometimes I could drink and drink and it not never be enough until I passed out. I'm not proud of any that.
I think in reading people's answers the concensus will be that you can't diagnose alcohol problems by the number of drinks someone has - it's different for different people.
just my penny's worth

electrickery

If i remember correctly in that thread you said you had cut down to 3-4 bud light and the person who responded said that 3-4 beers a night would probably not result in dangerous physical symptoms during withdrawal..... possibly because they were thinking that 'light' meant low alcohol standard drink size beer.

electrickery

My trigger for joining this site was when on a weeknight I had a friend come over to watch a dvd with me and we had a glass of wine with dinner. He had maybe another 1-2 glasses while I had 1.5 bottles of red and wanted more.

A few days before I gulped down a glass of red at home to get a 'head start' because I was about to visit a friend for dinner and a glass or two of red. Thats all I had while there but when I got home I finished the 3/4 full bottle i had at home... also a weeknight, alone and with work the next day.

Alone I often drank more... no-one to watch over me.

This kind of reaction to alcohol is typical for me so I decided I needed to stop because I couldn't trust myself to ever stop after one or two if I had the opportunity.

I now realise how bad it could have gotten had I let myself keep going down that road.

Dime

Hi Laura,
There really is a very big danger here in that people may believe that because they do not drink near as much as some of us did they may not be alcoholic. For example I had a drinking problem years ago but did not believe that I had a problem because I could always find other people that drank a lot more than I did so I thought I was OK. The real truth is that I most definitely was not OK and was on a very predictable path of alcoholism and self destruction. I just hadn't drank as long as the others who were further down the path.

I am very active in my recovery and frequently meet with new people and hear their stories. What I have discovered is that a lot of people take action on drinking problems up a lot quicker and are spared a tremendous amount of consequences. These people are real alcoholics and only drank a fraction of what I did but were most definitely on the same path I was.

The recovery process for these people who get out early is so much easier.

introuble

Considering the time of this post, I would take this comment w/ a grain of salt. I think someguy was guilty of one of my old habits of PWI (posting while intoxicated).

That out of the way, at my lowest when I quit, I was able to put away 16 Bud Ice Lt from 11 am until 2 am the next day. When I realized I had a drinking problem, I stopped getting the hard stuff and preferred just beer or the occasional big bottle of wine.

If you really want to know if you have a problem w/ alcohol, take the advice that is in the Big Book. "Belly up to the bar and have a drink. Then, just stop drinking." If you can do that, then you are in a better place than I was/am. I could not do that if I tried. I have no control over alcohol at all...

But, the best bit of advice I can lend you is if the thought crosses your mind that you might have a problem, then chances are you very well may.