When did you realise you might have a drinking problem?
I drank nightly from the beginning but I realized I had a problem when it kept taking more and more alcohol to give me the buzz I craved every evening. And naturally, then the blackouts started.
I also realized when the daily hangovers started. I remember looking around at people at work and realizing that nobody else was hungover.
I also realized when the daily hangovers started. I remember looking around at people at work and realizing that nobody else was hungover.
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Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: London
Posts: 367
When I bought a bottle in the afternoon, drank it and pretended I hadn't, then drank another with my hubby after in the evening. Then I realized I preferred drinking on my own and not with others...and it rollercoastered from there.
When I realized the buzz lasted for an hour, then the other 23 hours were spent either chasing that buzz, recovering from it, or just being miserable and wanting it all to end. The 3AM wakeups in terror, the fear or anger in every situation - the realization that I could either drink or have some kind of normal life, but I couldn't have both.
It had been pointed out to me once when I brought nips into a movie theatre (what, normal people don't do that?!) that maybe I had a problem but I did not think so.
When I started drinking daily I knew it. I just knew I was an alcoholic. I kept pouring the booze down my gullet and beating myself up saying "You're such an alcoholic!"
When I started drinking daily I knew it. I just knew I was an alcoholic. I kept pouring the booze down my gullet and beating myself up saying "You're such an alcoholic!"
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Join Date: May 2015
Location: UK
Posts: 1,042
So many signs over the years (over 30 years!) many of them listed by others here, blackouts, more drunk than anybody else at a function or gathering, hiding empties, first thing on my shopping list, often the only thing on my shopping list, drinking every day, hungover every morning............. all of these and more for years and years.
I too was in denial and had engineered my life around drinking alone or drinking with other heavy / problem drinkers, everything else had become dull for me (really I had become dull). I knew I had a problem for a long long time... just didn't do anything about it. Shame, but at least I have made a good start now.
Good thread!
xx
I too was in denial and had engineered my life around drinking alone or drinking with other heavy / problem drinkers, everything else had become dull for me (really I had become dull). I knew I had a problem for a long long time... just didn't do anything about it. Shame, but at least I have made a good start now.
Good thread!
xx
It's hard to pinpoint an exact moment when I thought "I have a problem", I think I always knew - it just had to get more serious for me to acknowledge it. I was going to great lengths to hide my drinking for a long time, people were commenting on how I always smelt like alcohol, I knew it was wrong. Unfortunately it took a lot more than that to make me consider seriously quitting.
When I realized the buzz lasted for an hour, then the other 23 hours were spent either chasing that buzz, recovering from it, or just being miserable and wanting it all to end. The 3AM wakeups in terror, the fear or anger in every situation - the realization that I could either drink or have some kind of normal life, but I couldn't have both.
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Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: The Deep South
Posts: 14,636
I began to suspect it in my early twenties, age 20 or 21, when I was binge drinking my way through college. I remember being hungover on first day of classes sophomore year. I suspected I might be in the minority.
I was fairly certain I had a problem by age 26 or 27.
I was fairly certain I had a problem by age 26 or 27.
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Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 397
I knew I had a problem in high school. My friend bet me $5 that I couldn't not drink for 3 weeks and I made it 2 weeks and lost. I also blacked out in high school. We used to drink cheap vodka with Gatorade ugh.
I knew it was a big problem when I started working at a bar at age 25 and began drinking daily.
I knew I was an alcoholic, dependent on alcohol, when I was 30 and shaking so violently I could hardly walk or talk, let alone do something like hold a pen to write at work the next day. And I found that a few shots at and during work could fix that.
I knew it was a big problem when I started working at a bar at age 25 and began drinking daily.
I knew I was an alcoholic, dependent on alcohol, when I was 30 and shaking so violently I could hardly walk or talk, let alone do something like hold a pen to write at work the next day. And I found that a few shots at and during work could fix that.
They were stone sober and I was completely drunk.
It's really interesting now because I can spot someone who's had more than two drinks from about 10 pieces. After those 12 drinks I must have looked insane. Or pathetic? Both?
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