Binge Drinking vs Alcoholicism
Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Dallas, TX
Posts: 325
Do you really just want to have 3 beers and stop? 3 beers would just make me tired and grumpy. I never thought to try moderation and still don't see the point of that for the drinkers like me who drank to get drunk.
I knew I needed to stop drinking in 2008 but tried a million different ways to get healthy while still drinking "socially". It only gets worse when you know you need to quit, but for some reason no one believes us until they experience the progressiveness and negatives of problem drinking.
I knew I needed to stop drinking in 2008 but tried a million different ways to get healthy while still drinking "socially". It only gets worse when you know you need to quit, but for some reason no one believes us until they experience the progressiveness and negatives of problem drinking.
Member
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah
Posts: 17
Ally cat you will find the best success in getting sober by emotionally healing yourself. Somewhere and somehow there is an association within you that triggers you to use at that degree (binging). I am assuming that you are trying to stop yet I have a notion that you feel you must first determine if you are an alcoholic or a binge drinker.... My friend, it really doesnt matter how you label it, it is how you view it that determines if you should be stopping or not. If you think you need to stop, pursue stopping. If you are trying to determine if you are a binge or alcoholic, that could be confusing for some.Therefore, if you are wanting to ultimately stop by gaining info from this thread I would recommend you see a therapist and deal with the deeper issues. dont worry about the alcohol, it will go away naturally when you heal.
Member
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: UK
Posts: 5,678
Welcome to SR AlleyCat 
I think it is important to find your own way through this. All people here can do is tell you their experience. I was very relieved to find people that I identified with here... The worst thing we can do is struggle with this on our own.
Glad you're here x
I think it is important to find your own way through this. All people here can do is tell you their experience. I was very relieved to find people that I identified with here... The worst thing we can do is struggle with this on our own.
Glad you're here x
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: "I'm not lost for I know where I am. But however, where I am may be lost ..."
Posts: 5,273
Hi Allycat. Glad you are here and have a plan. It may not be a plan that everyone agrees with, but something about your relationship with alcohol is troubling you and you are taking action. That's a good thing.
Some don't ever identify as "alcoholic" and sucessfully recover from serious alcohol addiction. I am one. There is much debate on the subject, but personally I think getting caught up in an endless cycle of trying to figure out "am I?" or "am I not?" can keep one stuck in a troubling cycle of alcohol abuse and addiction. For the record, permanent abstinence is how I overcame my addiction.
Keep moving forward. Read and learn from others here. I wish you all the best on your journey.
Some don't ever identify as "alcoholic" and sucessfully recover from serious alcohol addiction. I am one. There is much debate on the subject, but personally I think getting caught up in an endless cycle of trying to figure out "am I?" or "am I not?" can keep one stuck in a troubling cycle of alcohol abuse and addiction. For the record, permanent abstinence is how I overcame my addiction.
Keep moving forward. Read and learn from others here. I wish you all the best on your journey.
instant
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 5,711
I was always lured back in by the fun and buzz..........not to mention "missing out". Getting a real buzz once in a while won't hurt etc sounds reasonable but I couldn't really control it. For me it was either hit and miss or too much work.
Sobriety is simple and pleasurable- despite my dire predictions to the contrary !!
Sobriety is simple and pleasurable- despite my dire predictions to the contrary !!
...not falling down them
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 1,200
Hi Allycat,
When I drink three beers one of two things will happen:
1. I will obsess over moderating until I;
2. Go get more beer.
I can moderate for a week or two but inevitably wind up getting more beer. Then I end up on a binge, call off from life/can't and don't care to meet my obligations, and then quit drinking again in fear and remorse.
Then I reach a point where I feel good again, the obligations are all caught up, the crisis is past.
So I think "okay I'm just going to have three beers". Pretty soon it's six beers, then a twelve pack, and on and on.
The whole cycle starts over. Once I get started drinking, whether it's beer, vodka, blended whiskey, whatever!, it turns into a binge in a matter of days or weeks.
Whatever you decide, I wish you the best on your journey!
When I drink three beers one of two things will happen:
1. I will obsess over moderating until I;
2. Go get more beer.
I can moderate for a week or two but inevitably wind up getting more beer. Then I end up on a binge, call off from life/can't and don't care to meet my obligations, and then quit drinking again in fear and remorse.
Then I reach a point where I feel good again, the obligations are all caught up, the crisis is past.
So I think "okay I'm just going to have three beers". Pretty soon it's six beers, then a twelve pack, and on and on.
The whole cycle starts over. Once I get started drinking, whether it's beer, vodka, blended whiskey, whatever!, it turns into a binge in a matter of days or weeks.
Whatever you decide, I wish you the best on your journey!
Member
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Santa Barbara, CA
Posts: 63
i have the same problem with bingeing, I can stop drinking for months at a time but whenever I start again I have a lot of trouble stopping/moderating after the 1st few beers. the last binge I had lasted five days and could have put me in the hospital or worse.
its much easier for me to stay sober than to try to moderate or make rules about my drinking. i always end up breaking them anyways and feeling horrible about it afterwards, "playing with fire" just doesn't seem worth it anymore
its much easier for me to stay sober than to try to moderate or make rules about my drinking. i always end up breaking them anyways and feeling horrible about it afterwards, "playing with fire" just doesn't seem worth it anymore
12-Step Recovered Alkie
Join Date: May 2010
Location: West Bloomfield, MI
Posts: 5,797
Binging and alcoholism aren't mutually exclusive. In AA, the definition we have for alcoholism has nothing to do with amounts of booze or the frequency one drinks. My sponsor is a stone cold full-blown alkie even by AA's standards and he drank about 5-10x per year in his last couple years.
Member
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Cape Cod, Massachusetts
Posts: 367
Originally Posted by AllyCat 
I have a problem with binge drinking. A couple of weeks ago I started celebrating on a Saturday afternoon and didn't stop until Monday night. I'm not really sure if that is classified as binge drinking, more like a bender. I do drink on too many occasions, yet I do not drink everyday and recently stopped drinking during the week. My biggest problem is drinking shots. I will start with three to get a fast buzz, but then my brain takes over and I am drinking three shots an hour until I pass out (not all the time, though). If I drink beer, I never really get drunk. If I drink wine, I will get intoxicated but it will be at a socially acceptable level. I do not believe I am an alcoholic. I have read different material and have decided to give moderation a try. There is a program, well I'm not sure if it should be called a program, but a book written by Rahul Nag that describes how to go about drinking in moderation. I am going to give that a try before I decide if I need to abstain from alcohol completely.
It did scare me that when I stopped drinking 10 days ago (the program starts with a 30 day abstinance from alcohol) right after my bender, that I experienced more severe withdrawal symptoms than I was expecting. I had full blown night sweats, insomnia, anxiety, gastric issues, and depression. I also notice some physical signs of alcohol abuse that I didn't realize were caused by drinking until I was reading some literature. I have no doubt this will work for the short term (1 year), but I am hoping I can keep up using his techniques to become a casual drinker for life.
Before I started this program, I was an all or nothing drinker. I either didn't drink at all or I got drunk. This is what scares me about moderation, that I haven't moderated myself much before. Oh, I know how to when I must, such as in social situations. It is only a problem when I am at home.
One other obstacle will be my wife. She knows I drink too much now and then and has worried on the few occasions that I have "lost myself" for a couple of days, but other than that she doesn't see an issue at all with my drinking. She likes to have a few drinks now and then and occasionally has some beyond her limits, and enjoys this type of drinking. So, in a way I feel a bit pressured to be able to socially drink with her. In saying that, I am not trying moderation instead of abstinance because of her. My fear is that occasionally she does want to drink to excess and that is where I will need to let her know that I am fine with my three beers. I would be just fine with never waking up with a hangover again.
I know I may get some backlash at this post, as I think most of you will think I am being foolish, but I don't.....time will tell.
-AC
It did scare me that when I stopped drinking 10 days ago (the program starts with a 30 day abstinance from alcohol) right after my bender, that I experienced more severe withdrawal symptoms than I was expecting. I had full blown night sweats, insomnia, anxiety, gastric issues, and depression. I also notice some physical signs of alcohol abuse that I didn't realize were caused by drinking until I was reading some literature. I have no doubt this will work for the short term (1 year), but I am hoping I can keep up using his techniques to become a casual drinker for life.
Before I started this program, I was an all or nothing drinker. I either didn't drink at all or I got drunk. This is what scares me about moderation, that I haven't moderated myself much before. Oh, I know how to when I must, such as in social situations. It is only a problem when I am at home.
One other obstacle will be my wife. She knows I drink too much now and then and has worried on the few occasions that I have "lost myself" for a couple of days, but other than that she doesn't see an issue at all with my drinking. She likes to have a few drinks now and then and occasionally has some beyond her limits, and enjoys this type of drinking. So, in a way I feel a bit pressured to be able to socially drink with her. In saying that, I am not trying moderation instead of abstinance because of her. My fear is that occasionally she does want to drink to excess and that is where I will need to let her know that I am fine with my three beers. I would be just fine with never waking up with a hangover again.
I know I may get some backlash at this post, as I think most of you will think I am being foolish, but I don't.....time will tell.
-AC
Good luck with the whole moderation thing. That was never my long-suit and it seems, when I look back on my drinking carreer, that all my resolve to stop after one or two was always washed away by the taste of the first one.
Just out of curiosity, have you ever tried to moderate or control your drinking in the past? If so, how did that work out?
I certainly don't begrudge anyone who can have a few, stop abruptly, then go about their business with no discomfort.
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