chickippo

I first got drunk aged 8 at a family/neighbourhood party. I had a half pint glass and filled it til I locked myself in the bathroom and my uncle had to climb up a ladder to get into the room. my alcoholic parents thought this was hilarious.

paddyjnr - my parents from then on bought me Carling Black Label on a Friday night. what a lovely middle-class family we were from the outside.

paddyjnr1

I didn't like it first time around but I was assured by my Mum it would take away my nervousness.
It sure did work and always stuck in my head until my next drink in my teens.

Coldfusion

I can't even remember the earliest sips of beer my father gave me, but I do remember my first full can at age 12. By age 16, I was a fairly regular drinker, often consuming two or three servings and occasionally getting drunk.

Berrybean

Teenager. By which I mean early teens. 14 / 15. And straight off I preferred to get sloppy drunk if I could.

In the Xmas hols I was horrified by my SIL giving her kids cocktail shooters (three different drinks mixed. The kids had 2 shot glasses each. ) Her own mother is an alcoholic and she's grown up seeing the wreckage that alcoholism can leave in its wake. Knocking back cocktails and laughing at your own 14 year old head rush and them asking for another is hardly a good introduction into responsible drinking. Gah. I sound like a right old maiden aunt don't I. Made me feel sad though. They're at that age that they feel the buzz; feel part of things; and could easily remember those feelings and think they've 'found a solution' like I did all those years ago.

Introvrtd1

I started at age 35.....Kinda late for a commonly progressive disease like alcoholism. But 15 years later, I found myself quitting due to my drinking was ruining my health..... Its a long story, but this just answers a simple question.

Intro

sobriety26

My first drink was at my 21st birthday party at a club,I then started drinking on the weekends shortly after having my son I was drinking everyday but tried to hid it because people would just assume I was the worst mom in the world,no one ever knew about my drinking for a while until my intake went up,I was a good functioning alcoholic,I still worked took care of my son cleaned cook but it became boring,it also made me feel lousy as a person,im glad to be clean again after a shortrrelapse

eyeshake

I took my first drink at 17 on a summer abroad in Germany, a flask of Jaegermeister at 11 am on a class trip in Munich. I ended up very drunk and in a lot of trouble. I drank my first drink like an alcoholic.

Every time I drank on that trip, which was maybe a few more times, I ended up blacked out.

I didn't really touch alcohol my first year of college, but I smoked myself stupid and drank a lot of cough syrup because I couldn't get a hold of LSD. The times I did drink I drank myself to a black out.

I began upping my intake when I was 25 to a few nights a week. I would drink to get drunk, not black out. Although, I did black out many times.

When I hit 27, I became a daily drinker. I drank about 6-8 drinks a night for years. I was always able to justify it because I had the energy to exercise and go to work, etc, the next day.

Then I turned 30, and my volume doubled. I consumed anywhere from 8-20 drinks daily. Looking back at it, I guess I was drinking as if suicidal. I stopped 3 weeks ago, which is the longest I've gone in 6 years. If I kept it up, there's no doubt I would have killed myself or died from alcohol-related issues.

I've come to peace with the fact that I will never touch alcohol again. It's dealing with the regret, anger and disappointment that's proving to be my greatest challenge.

UhZoomZip

Outside of a sip of a beer sort of thing, I didn't have a drink until I was 21. I was abstinent until then, declaredly so.

dsmaxis10

I had my first beer when I was six. A bunch a kids were at my house and they had a beer miller lite on the table they were all discussing and daring people to drink it so I drank it. I still recall a buzz I got. But I really didn't start drinking that was just one time I started drinking six years later when twelve. I drank as much as possible twice caught at school drunk. Many mip to follow. I remember I drank the first seven times until I puked. It's said a kid before his teens would already be an alcoholic. 36 now but the best years of my life lie ahead of me if I use Spiritual principles to solve my problems.

babycat

I had my first drink at my friend's house at 16. His parent's were away in Germany and they always had a stocked bar. I just remember thinking "Wow! This is the best feeling ever!!" I did not drink a whole lot for a while. Mostly a weekend or 2 a month sometimes it would be longer in between. But, I always drank to get drunk. Very, very drunk.
It was not till I was about 22 or 23 that I really started to pick up the pace and drink more often. It is so true that it is a progressive disease. What would have got me wasted then would barely get me buzzed now. Sad.

SoberLife90

Teenager. 15 or 16.

emme99

I, like UhZoomZip, except for an occasional drink of my dad's beer, didn't drink until I was 21.

HighDraw18

Started drinking socially around 15-16. Started drinking in an alcoholic fashion in college at 20 and I cut way back around 22. 26 now and although my drinking is infrequent, it's problematic. Ready to give it up completely for good.

Grungehead

I got drunk for the first time (and blacked out) at age 15.

I became a regular drinker at age 18 (drinking at least 3-4 times a week).

I was a daily drinker by my early 20's.

Between the age of 29 and 44 I was in, and out, and back in AA and stayed sober all but one year of that time (1 year relapse at age 36).

I became a morning drinker at age 47.

I became an every waking hour drinker at age 50 until I got sober in April of 2013 at age 52.

***Just to show the progression of my alcoholism from my first drink.

Rcvringaddict30

I first tried alcohol at 15 in Spain, but I probably didn't get drunk at 18 or 19 for the first time. I always say, I drank to celebrate in my 20's and then to medicate in my 30's.
I'm now 37 and hoping to finish out my 30's by getting well.

Mountainmanbob

Stated drinking at 15 and before long was hitting it very hard.
MM

ilovedogs666

I started drinking regularly at 17.

Alcoholically at 22-23.

Got sober at 28 when I had no other option - I was killing myself drinking 24/7 and could not function at all.

txwildflower

First drink was at a party where parents were out of town, when the beer ran out I suggested cooking wine. It's as if my brain was hard-wired even back then to seek out anything to keep the party going.

Spacegoat

I'm in the minority here. Much too young in any case.

Edit: F' it…

Started messing about with asthma inhalers and the mothers cigarettes (she used to only smoke half of them, one after the other) at the age of ten after trying to hang myself unsuccessfully a few times. Plus the occasional can of beer that might be lying around after they were out.

Kinda made me forgot what I was at, started listening to Nirvana then also (can you believe it that In Utero went in at number 1 on the billboard charts then, I didn't even know that at the time)

Started procuring my own booze from about the age of 12, even pints somehow. Was getting arrested on the regular for being blackout drunk from about 14 onwards, etc etc etc. I don't recommend it!

Fella was saying to me from AA a while ago, so you were working since you're 12 and you spent all that money drink huh? Which got me to thinking… I spent my money on music, clothes, drugs, then drink, and some food of course. Meh

GnikNus

20. Quit at 37. 39 now.