ScottFromWI

Welcome to SR ReadyToQuitNow. I was a maintenance drinker towards the end of my drinking too, although I was a beer drinker exclusively. The tolerance and ability to keep "functioning" regularly are usually the next things to go, it's mostly just a matter of time as to when that starts happening. It came on pretty quickly for me, mostly in the last year or so.

The good news is you'll find a whole lot of support here and information about quitting and staying quit, hope you can join us!

LadyBlue0527

Same here. I think most would read my usage and scratch their heads. I've quit many times over the years. The last time through I made it almost 18 months. When I returned to drinking I only drank one day on the weekends. Sometimes not even every weekend. When I drank it would be anywhere from a 6 pack to 8 or 9 beers. Far, far less than what I could handle in my prior years drinking.

The thing was, it wasn't the amount or how often in the end that did me in. It was my body's inability to process alcohol anymore. It was anyone's guess how many beers it would take for me to become an idiot.
One day I drank TWO drinks at a bar in a two hour time span. I had not eaten all day. I am a beer drinker and these were vodka drinks. I hadn't had anything to drink in at least a week. I also felt safe driving because I was there for two hours. I got into my car to drive and was feeling no more than a very slight buzz. Barely buzzed even, you know that glow feeling you get when the alcohol just begins to take effect? Nothing more than that. I ended up with a DUI because for some reason my level spiked as I was behind the wheel.

That was the day I realized that I have no right letting any alcohol pass my lips, ever. My body no longer has the capability to process alcohol and when drinking, all bets are off and anything can happen.

I am no longer willing to place that bet.

Dee74

Welcome ReadyToQuitNow

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Rob32u

Five a day on average, for nearly twenty years. Cut way back last year and had some health issue this year which were probably partly due to drinking. This scared me to quit completely. after some tests it's probably nothing extremely serious but i realize it helps to just have something concrete to motivate you to quit, not just the knowledge that you should quit.

sugarbear1

It's not how much we drank, it's that we can't stay stopped

Che

It is amazing what you can do to the human body without killing it.

When I read this thread, I always have to remember everyone is different. The amounts I read here would genuinely have killed me.

I think when I started to have a problem, it was around 3 units of alcohol every night. That was enough of a problem. It may have gone up to 4-5 units on heavier days, but I would have felt annoyed if I couldn't sneak at least 1 for a night. The only time I would ever stop was if I had a serious commitment coming up in the next week, and then okay I could be sober for 3-4 days, and then I'd drink as soon as I got home from the commitment. My very worst drinking nights, were around 7-8 drinks, and that would make me sick as a dog for the next 18 hours, unable to do anything and not wanting to even see a bottle. On such a night I felt scared of myself, and scared for my life.

Maybe it's lucky I was a lighter weight than what other people seem to have been able to do to themselves. And that alcohol is generally more expensive here.

I have to keep in perspective, that the amount I drank was too much for me. Even if there are people who happily go through their lives having about as much, and never really think they have a problem.

gaffo

I am so happy to report that I can barely remember how much I used to drink every day. This time of year I am aware of the "Holiday beer" season which serves as a reminder. There is a local Christmas brew that I won't name that I used to savor around this time of year it was around 7% alcohol and it tasted great but it would get me really drunk, bloated and eventually hungover. I kept coming back to it until it was no longer on the shelves. I'm always glad I don't have to deal with that anymore. I used to drink at least six a day plus more to be a good host. I was spending over US$100 every week. Where did I get that kind of money? Oh yeah, credit cards.

lebroncavs

However much I had is how much I drank. There is no set amount really. I just drank until I passed out somewhere.

beachedMermaid

Gawd, I remember how bad I was during my year of drinking. My husband and I were putting away 10 standard drinks a night, per person. A NIGHT. I think the only reason we didn't die of alcohol poisoning during that year was because we would drink that over the course of about 4-5 hours and we ate a LOT of food and drank a lot of water with it. Of course, all that food just made us fatter and fatter so either way we were probably on the quick road to death.

We're much happier now, almost a year later. And, I'm happy to report, much more fit and trim.

gatorman

4 to 5 bourbons a day for 45+ years. I never even thought twice about it until after I retired. Then my 4 to 5 started to increase. First I tried to cut back or not start drinking until after a certain time. Nothing seemed to really work. Then one day sober lead to another day then I found SR. SR for me has been 'accountability'. SR has made a difference. I'm now on day 152.

Barbs

I was a daily drinker. Started with just a glass of wine a night, then two occasionally three. That was seven years ago when my youngest went off to college.

This past year, I was drinking 6 glasses of wine and 3-5 shots of Tennessee honey whiskey just about every night. I decided it was time to stop when I found myself reaching for a shot of whiskey before I left for work in the morning. That was 72 days ago.

Loekken

It was quite different but usually a pint of vodka a night or so and beers along. Sometimes more, sometimes less. But described dosage would make me still function 'normally' throughout a week.

flguy1

I drank 7 days a week for the last year or 2 after heavy drinking my entire life. (I am 51). I usually stuck to beer but also switched to tequila from time to time.

Normally 7-8 beers ever night Mon-Thu and 8-10 on Friday nights.
Sat afternoon would start around 4 and drink until 9 - usually 2 margaritas and 10 beers. Sunday 1-2 Margaritas and 6 beers.

Finally had enough and today is day 26 of no drinking.

JudicatorPanzer

When I drank I would drink a lot in a short period of time. I am a binge-alcoholic. After a bout I would stop for a while feeling crappy physically and mentally. On my binges I have drank myself over a .4, my highest BAC being .58 as far as I know.

MattM316

At my heaviest level of drinking I could easily drink a 70cl bottle of vodka day after day until I ran out of money.
But 70cl seemed to run out way too fast so that could become a litre bottle.

Standard beer and standard cider never did anything at all for me, so it would often be extra strong cider (7.5%) too.

I did that for years until it started catching up with me physically and mentally in my late 20's.

STDragon

Wow, don't know why but I found this thread fascinating.

When I was 18, I got a dream job - working in a major brewery while going to collage for two years. This was back in the early 80's. You were allowed to drink beer for free during your breaks. It paid ~$550 a week and I had no financial responsibility - so relatively the best money I ever made and free beer!

You weren't allowed to drink while working the line, but the old guys would take bottles of beer before they hit the pasteurizer and lay them down on your line. When it got to you, that was your beer to drink (and hide from the boss).

The other students and I worked the last shift of the day, so we'd stay late, drink and play cards.

So those were already days of heavy drinking and it became a regular thing right up until recently. (I'm in my early 50's.)

So just before I quit, I was drinking 6 or 7 beer an evening and 10 or so on Fridays, Saturday and Sunday plus a mickey of something hard to sip on for that extra edge. Not sure when it became a solid everyday habit but for sure years before 2006. That's when I stopped for a year - but not so much by choice so it didn't stick.

I could get up every morning and go to work, I never missed a day because of my drinking. So I told myself it wasn't a problem for me. 'cept I couldn't stop, booze had total control of my evenings and I wrestled with that nearly every morning.

RainbowBird

I was drinking roughly every day since Oct 2011 with a few short periods, as in less than 2 weeks straight at a time sober.

At my highest, I'd say I was drinking around 3-4 bottles of wine a day, so I guess 15 to 20 glasses of wine a day! I'd try to get sober and wean myself off. I'd think things were going well and let my guard down and bam, back up again. At one point, I'd start drinking at 5 or 6am and stop around 8pm.

rubythrill

I was drinking a fifth of vodka a day, sometimes even more.

PhoenixJ

Same as RBB. Cheap wine. When I became an expert drinker 'back in the day' I would buy enough alcohol for the next day- so when I passed out and woke up in hell- my medicine would be ready. I also left an note to my hung over self in my pocket where I hid my stash- because once the **** started working in my blood- I would change the hiding place 3 or 4 times. Sometimes I would get a present when I would find a forgotten stash- bonus, now I can get twice as pissed!

shortstop81

Similar to some other posters, near the end of my drinking I wasn't drinking as much or as often as earlier in my drinking career. Mostly it was on the weekends, and 6-8 drinks spread out over most of the day (beer or cider).

The withdrawals were more awful than ever, coupled with remorse over breaking yet another promise to myself to permanently stop. Although I tried to be secretive with it, my loved ones were no dummies and would inevitably find out. So I was still hurting them and eroding their trust in me, even though I wasn't stumbling around blind drunk.

At the end it was killing my soul and body.