Texas21SFASU

Is it just me, or do/have ya'll experienced this? For me, there isn't/never has been a 'tipsy good middle ground' I'm either stone cold sober, or black out drunk- trashed. There has never been a 'happy drunk medium' (.. at least that I can remember) It has always been either I was one hundred and ten percent gone, or one hundred percent straight sober ... but never an in between. Numerous friends have commented in the past on how I would be 'normal' at bars or wherever I was with them, then within a minute or two, I was completely drunk beyond recognition.

I think maybe because once I have a sip, I chug it all, everything goes down & hits all at one time? Who knows, just seeing if I'm alone in this or not...

Thoughts?
Thanks.
SFA.TX.AD.

Dee74

I think most people would identify with this.

I had two speeds...'off' or 'yer kidding...right?'

D

Swash10

Unfortunately i was exactly the same, it was like flicking a light switch. One second i would be absolutely fine, the next i would be a wreck!

instant

presumably your blood alcohol may have told a different story. Certainly took me more alcohol to get drunk once things progressed. I think this may be called (behavioural) tolerance.

Change4good

I believe this is true for many people.

Personally, I never blacked out, but it was probably only a matter of time before that started happening if I didn't quit. I COULD stop at 3-4, but I never really liked doing that. Then, I was more comfortable having 6+.

Now, I am more comfortable having none. :-)

Peaches2012

I stopped having the tipsy feeling years ago due to gulping vodka down as fast as possible because i was hiding it from everyone around me .Spent a good part of a year in blackout , ive found i still gulp drinks non alcoholic might i say even now.

2granddaughters

Yup ... it's that first drink that'll get ya.

All the best.

Bob R

flutter

Oh yea.. I was the queen of "just one more" even if I could barely slur the words to say it. SO happy to be free from that madness and obsession/compulsion now. Crazy stuff, isn't it?

Forward12

That is the essence of what makes an alcoholic or not. The alcoholic has no "off" switch, once that first sip goes down, it's drink yourself into oblivion time.

Innerchild

You arent alone its the main symptom of alcoholics we cant just have one drink because we crave more its an allergy our bodies cannot handle and never will be able to handle one drink. You arent alone.

Ginzo45

My first 10 or 15 years I was a happy drunk, then it got steadily worse as the disease progressed. The last few years have been: Sober...Power-drink...Blackout. No more happy drunk in-between. They told me that would happen in rehab 20 years ago, but I didn't believe them. I believe them now.

penny74

l had a fine buzz for years..
Then l started forgetting things..
And then a lot of things went down the drain.

pikledboodah

That was me as well...

desertsong

The first drink or two would give me a nice buzz, but then I'd keep going. I'd be fine and then it was like it would all hit at once and then BOOM, I would be in a blackout. Horrible feeling, huh?

Deserto

Agreed Desertsong.

On my recent slip I had two beers and studied it with a semi-scientific mind.

Two beers and I had a pleasant buzz. After about 20 minutes it started to wear off.

"That's the point," I thought. "That's the point where most people stop, where the buzz wears off and you realize you don't need anymore. And in case, you can't catch that buzz again.

"Don't chase it," I thought, "And you'll be a normal drinker."

And then proceeded to chase it madly down. Never did come back, either.

Che

For some people it is like gambling. If they have no set the amount they are bringing beforehand (or even the amount they will have on hand at all during the night), they have trouble keeping track of just how much has been used.

You feel good and you keep saying 'one more won't hurt,' but all it really takes it one more over to make you feel like ****. Even worse, before you feel like **** you can get several drinks over in 10 minutes before the effects really come to you.

For some people it's best to avoid such decisions all together and just set the number at zero. Especially if they want something alcohol can't do, because that 'tipsy, sorta happy' feeling is all it can offer, and drinking more won't erase problems or increase elation, it'll just make you feel sick.

easyrider73

That was me on many occasions due to the fact the family hated me to drink, so I was drinking so much more and fast in 'hiding'... Go out to the garage for a smoke and down a beer or two in 5 or 10 minutes tops. Funny thing was I was never really 'hiding' anything, everyone new...

tomsteve

i never had a happy medium drinking. even though, from the time i took my 1st drink to the time i stopped i had breif times without alcohol, i wasnt sober either. just dry.

the reason being is i am an alcoholic. thats what i did when i drank.
it was when i got to the point of desperation, admitted to myself that alcohol was the problem in my life, i wanted to stop and stay stopped, found a great solution in AA, learned how to stay stopped and became sober.