Surprised at how much 2 units of alcohol is!
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 135
Surprised at how much 2 units of alcohol is!
Hi Guys
I have posted on this forum before. I am seeing my doc regularly & an alcohol counsellor as well, so getting all the help I can get.
During counselling I was asked how much I drank per day, I couldnt say. I drink wine & diet lemonade. This may sound strange but I would freeze the drinks in beakers, so when I had them they were like 'slushies'. I would prob have 10 on the go & keep topping each one up.
One day I measured 2 units of wine and made a line on my beaker and was horrified at the small amount of booze it was. And how much I was getting thru. Some of my bigger beakers were the size of large McDonalds cartons I'd use. It gave me a bit of a kick up the bum. I'd normally be drinking from waking til the evening.
Gem's I have gotten from my counsellor is do not think of drinking as a reward, dont plan drinking seshions, keep a diary.
The thing I love about this forum is that when I am craving for a drink I can distract myself and read all the posts.
I can def relate to the posting below:
http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...ife-sober.html
I am 40 and have spent my whole social life hiding behind alcohol.
Anyway that's enough of me...whilst I have been writing this I have not been drinking to that's GOOD.
Thanks everyone.
Jxx
I have posted on this forum before. I am seeing my doc regularly & an alcohol counsellor as well, so getting all the help I can get.
During counselling I was asked how much I drank per day, I couldnt say. I drink wine & diet lemonade. This may sound strange but I would freeze the drinks in beakers, so when I had them they were like 'slushies'. I would prob have 10 on the go & keep topping each one up.
One day I measured 2 units of wine and made a line on my beaker and was horrified at the small amount of booze it was. And how much I was getting thru. Some of my bigger beakers were the size of large McDonalds cartons I'd use. It gave me a bit of a kick up the bum. I'd normally be drinking from waking til the evening.
Gem's I have gotten from my counsellor is do not think of drinking as a reward, dont plan drinking seshions, keep a diary.
The thing I love about this forum is that when I am craving for a drink I can distract myself and read all the posts.
I can def relate to the posting below:
http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...ife-sober.html
I am 40 and have spent my whole social life hiding behind alcohol.
Anyway that's enough of me...whilst I have been writing this I have not been drinking to that's GOOD.
Thanks everyone.
Jxx
Member
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: UK
Posts: 1,130
Units
Wine slushies! Wow! Never tried that, thank God. There are so many ways we try to disguise how much alcohol we are taking, aren't there? I think your counsellor sounds great and I'm so happy to hear you're reaching out for help. I went past my local store last night and the guy there was so pleased to see me he gave me a free bottle of beer! Perhaps I hadn't been in for a while. I should probably have said, no, I don't want it but I took it home with me and have not drunk it. Should pour it away, I guess. I am not sure it was really an act of kindness on his part. As someone else on this forum said, "giving me one beer is like giving a horse a handful of oats!"
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Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 45
Before coming to this board, I never heard of alcohol being measured in "units." I now understand this is a UK standard of measurement. In the US, we measure alcohol by ounces, not units. According to wikipedia, a 5 ounce glass of wine that is 12% is equal to 2 units. According to US guidelines, two glasses of wine is considered moderate, safe drinking. Why is this considered such an unhealthy amount in the UK? If I could stop after drinking two glasses of wine, I would NOT consider myself as having an alcohol problem. Unless someone is very thin and guzzles two glasses on an empty stomach, they are NOT going to get drunk, get a DUI, act like a fool, or wake up with a hangover the next morning. I guess I just don't get the UK standard?
Here's the problem. I think that if the standard for what defines a person with an alcohol problem is ridiculously low, then no one will take it seriously. Most female social drinkers I know would balk at the idea that having more than one glass of wine is medically unhealthy. (Most US women are not tiny, petite people.) Also, many of the questions on the AA "Are you an alcoholic?" quiz are ridiculousy arbitrary, such as "Do you ever drink alone?" (well, yes, people who live alone may drink a glass of wine alone with their meal), "Do you drink for reasons other than you enjoy the flavor? (well, yes, if people drank only for the taste, they'd drink chocolate milk instead). If you answer "yes" to these two questions, then according to AA you're an alcoholic. Consequently, people don't take these types of things seriously, which is unfortunate, because if more realistic guidelines for what constitutes alcohol abuse or alcoholism were given, more people might listen and people who TRULY have an alcohol problem might take it seriously.
Here's the problem. I think that if the standard for what defines a person with an alcohol problem is ridiculously low, then no one will take it seriously. Most female social drinkers I know would balk at the idea that having more than one glass of wine is medically unhealthy. (Most US women are not tiny, petite people.) Also, many of the questions on the AA "Are you an alcoholic?" quiz are ridiculousy arbitrary, such as "Do you ever drink alone?" (well, yes, people who live alone may drink a glass of wine alone with their meal), "Do you drink for reasons other than you enjoy the flavor? (well, yes, if people drank only for the taste, they'd drink chocolate milk instead). If you answer "yes" to these two questions, then according to AA you're an alcoholic. Consequently, people don't take these types of things seriously, which is unfortunate, because if more realistic guidelines for what constitutes alcohol abuse or alcoholism were given, more people might listen and people who TRULY have an alcohol problem might take it seriously.
Forward we go...side by side-Rest In Peace
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Location: Serene In Dixie
Posts: 36,740
Let me clarify a bit here.....
Regardless of how good it tastes ..damage is happening.
That's true for all drinkers....not only alcoholics....
From the U.S. Center for Disease Control
Moderate drinking is no more than
2 drinks a day for men..1 for women
They consider a drink to be
12 oz. of beer..5 oz. of wine...1 1/2 oz of liquor.
Your body and mind processes all 3 toxins equally
so drinking only wine or only liquor or only beer
or mixing them is of no importance.
They all do the same damage.
Moderate drinking is no more than
2 drinks a day for men..1 for women
They consider a drink to be
12 oz. of beer..5 oz. of wine...1 1/2 oz of liquor.
Your body and mind processes all 3 toxins equally
so drinking only wine or only liquor or only beer
or mixing them is of no importance.
They all do the same damage.
That's true for all drinkers....not only alcoholics....
Last edited by CarolD; 08-10-2010 at 02:20 PM.
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 135
Hi guys
Just to clarify, when I was drinking my 'slushies', I was prob on 20-25 units a day. My husband 25-30.
I am not drinking at the moment and boy do I feel better, no shakes, I have completely transformed concentration & the constant chaios is reducing as I am getting things done. Plus I can remember what happened after 3pm in the arvo.
Just to share my experience, every time I have detoxed I have found (for me) that gradual reduction (over a few days) helped heaps. This is not advice, just what has worked for me.
Kind regards
J x
Just to clarify, when I was drinking my 'slushies', I was prob on 20-25 units a day. My husband 25-30.
I am not drinking at the moment and boy do I feel better, no shakes, I have completely transformed concentration & the constant chaios is reducing as I am getting things done. Plus I can remember what happened after 3pm in the arvo.
Just to share my experience, every time I have detoxed I have found (for me) that gradual reduction (over a few days) helped heaps. This is not advice, just what has worked for me.
Kind regards
J x
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Join Date: Sep 2009
Posts: 200
Originally Posted by jacknscoob 
One day I measured 2 units of wine and made a line on my beaker and was horrified at the small amount of booze it was.
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Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: LA - Lower Alabama
Posts: 5,068
"Do you ever drink alone?" (well, yes, people who live alone may drink a glass of wine alone with their meal), "Do you drink for reasons other than you enjoy the flavor? (well, yes, if people drank only for the taste, they'd drink chocolate milk instead). If you answer "yes" to these two questions, then according to AA you're an alcoholic.
Alcoholics Anonymous : Is A.A. For You?
So if you can cite where you read this I would appreciate it.
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Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 1,525
While I agree that more than 1 glass of wine a day for a woman doesn't make her an alcoholic, I do think there's a reason why the CDC doesn't recommend it. Health risks increase beyond that level, for women notably the risk of breast cancer.
I don't think anyone is arguing that 2 glasses of wine a day makes a woman an alcoholic, but it's not the medically recommended level in the US OR in the UK.
I don't think anyone is arguing that 2 glasses of wine a day makes a woman an alcoholic, but it's not the medically recommended level in the US OR in the UK.
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Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 45
Thanks, Julez. I misread the OP's statement and thought he meant that 2 units of alcohol was a lot, when he was really saying that he was drinking way beyond that. Others on this board have recently stated on other threads that they thought that 5 units a day was "a lot" (which in American terms is about 2 glasses of wine), which really surprised me.
The whole guideline of one glass limit for women and two for men does seem arbitrary and not based on any solid medical evidence--only the assumption that women are smaller and weigh less than men, which isn't always the case. People metabolize alcohol differently, too (Asians have very low tolerance, for example). Since most people don't drink every day, two glasses of wine, even for a woman, is not likely to cause medical problems (at least, this is what my doctor told me during the days I was trying to drink moderately). I guess I find it laughable that anyone would be concerned with consuming two glasses of wine when I used to go through a 5 litre box of wine a week! Now THAT'S a problem.
Dgillz,
At the bottom of the AA test for alcoholism, it states:
What's your score?
If you have answered YES to any one of the questions, there is a definite warning that you may be an alcoholic.
If you have answered YES to any two, the chances are that you are an alcoholic.
If you answered YES to three or more, you are definitely an alcoholic.
AA Alcoholics Anonymous 20 Questions AA Twenty Questions of A.A. Rehab, AA, addiction treatment, addiction recovery
This criteria for defining alcoholism sounds very rigid to me, and in effect labels many social drinkers as being alcoholic when I don't think this is accurate.
The test still contains the question about drinking alone, but I notice it has deleted the question about whether you drink solely because you enjoy the taste of the beverage, or whether you drank for the effect (and if you drink for the effect, chances are you're an alcoholic). I remember this question very clearly, because some of my friends were reading through the quiz a few years back and thought the question was ridiculous. I will try to see if I can scout out the older version of the test.
The whole guideline of one glass limit for women and two for men does seem arbitrary and not based on any solid medical evidence--only the assumption that women are smaller and weigh less than men, which isn't always the case. People metabolize alcohol differently, too (Asians have very low tolerance, for example). Since most people don't drink every day, two glasses of wine, even for a woman, is not likely to cause medical problems (at least, this is what my doctor told me during the days I was trying to drink moderately). I guess I find it laughable that anyone would be concerned with consuming two glasses of wine when I used to go through a 5 litre box of wine a week! Now THAT'S a problem.
Dgillz,
At the bottom of the AA test for alcoholism, it states:
What's your score?
If you have answered YES to any one of the questions, there is a definite warning that you may be an alcoholic.
If you have answered YES to any two, the chances are that you are an alcoholic.
If you answered YES to three or more, you are definitely an alcoholic.
AA Alcoholics Anonymous 20 Questions AA Twenty Questions of A.A. Rehab, AA, addiction treatment, addiction recovery
This criteria for defining alcoholism sounds very rigid to me, and in effect labels many social drinkers as being alcoholic when I don't think this is accurate.
The test still contains the question about drinking alone, but I notice it has deleted the question about whether you drink solely because you enjoy the taste of the beverage, or whether you drank for the effect (and if you drink for the effect, chances are you're an alcoholic). I remember this question very clearly, because some of my friends were reading through the quiz a few years back and thought the question was ridiculous. I will try to see if I can scout out the older version of the test.
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