SoberTyger

I have always been an alcoholic with a binge drinking pattern. I could stay sober for a while but once i have a drink i spiral into an uncontrolled binge - en recent years lasting up to approx 2 weeks, before i got so weak and worn out i had to call relatives to come and pick me up - because i just never managed to stop on my own.
During a typical binge i would hardly eat, after just one day of drinking i lost all appetite and even though i felt strong hunger, i just couldnt eat.
I'd typically start drinking 2-3 bottles of wine or maybe 12-16 beers the first night, most likely i friday. On the saturday I'd wake up with a mild hangover usually thinking I'd be alright, but as day progressed I'd always end up going to the pub in the afternoon/evening, drinking until black out with no idea how i got home. On the sunday I'd drink whatever alcohol i had in the house just to get going, and then head straight to the bar at around 10am, and drink until mid afternoon. Then head home and sleep for a couple of hours, and then go out for a second drinking session that usually ended in black out as well. Often I would then buy a bottle of hard liquor on my way home (I do not remember buying these bottles of vodka, but i seemed always to have a half empty bottle on my table next morning). waking up at 6 or 7 am I would down whatever vodka i had left, and tremble and shiver in bed until 10am, when the bar opened and I'd repeat it all over again.

Apart from the odd drunken facebook post I'd shut off any connections with the outside world, not answer my phone, not show up for any appointment and of course not going to work (if i had a job at the time - usually, after a binge, i didn't any more when i sobered up).
After a couple of weeks had passed like that, my relatives would be concerned about me seemingly having vanished from the earth (or, I'd feel so weak and low I'd send out a SOS email to my dad), and my parents would come pick me up and take me home to sober up - even then, the first few days I might go around and steal any alcohol I could find in the house and drink in secret - even at my age of over 30, i always had to rely on my old folks to get me out of the mess i made of myself.

What a way to waste my life...

PhoenixJ

Yes- drinking IS dying. I know- 'cos I did. Revived 3 times from burns caused in blackout. Well documented in a thread describing this event. Binges- well, it seemed to my warped, damaged mind- the most logical way to seek living. Neither living or dead. Much better off without it.

Doug39

In my younger days I probably drank 10-12 hours everyday and slept 10-12 hours every night.

As I got older I usually started drinking around 4 every afternoon and was drunk enough by 8 or so and passed out.

That madness lasted 27 years.

CousinA

Bad enough to beat me into a state of reasonableness where I was able to see that something had to change, that I didn't have a clue what or how and I was able to accept the help being offered.

-allan

swlnyc2017

ooooooohhh boy by the time I got to detox, I was drinking about 170 beers a week...I was dying....my skin was like sandpaper....my hair was like steel wool...my brain was like tapioca pudding...thank God I got sober...whenever I get the urge, which rarely happens anymore, hasn't happened in years, I remember that time and get a lot of gratitude....it was a horrible, painful part of my life, I suffered a lot and now I don't anymore and I find joy in just the little things

LunaBlue

My drinking habits changed over the years. When I was younger, I worked in bars and lived the party lifestyle and so drank nearly every day for a number of years. I had drank heavily on weekends and all summer as a college kid prior to that, and as a high school kid prior to THAT.

Reaching my late 20's/early 30's I began to change my drinking patterns. I got out of the bar and went back to school. I recognized a major problem with alcohol. I tried to control it. I binged and sobered up, rinse and repeat, over and over. I went to rehab, relapsed a few months later. Sobered up on my own, got several years of sobriety, relapsed again and haven't gotten to that level of sobriety since.

My bingeing was similar to yours. I was known to "disappear" "fall off the radar" and that's when my friends and family knew I was on yet another bender. Sometimes they would see me and know instantly. Other times I would hide out at home, not really knowing if it was 5 am or 5 pm. As long as I had more booze I didn't care. Sometimes, my friends or family would pull me out of it (the bender) and by then I was usually willing because I was sick and had had enough and was surrendering. I've never had a full-on intervention.

I always ate when I was drinking though. I love food. I absolutely didn't eat 3 healthy meals a day but I ate one delicious fattening meal a day, at least. Not sure if this helped or hurt me! And I drank tons of water when I woke up feeling like I was dying (I was dying.)

I had a withdrawal seizure once when I'd been drinking for a month straight. I didn't have a job at the time and I woke up and drank, napped, woke up and drank, you get the idea. That scared me, but not enough. It still scares me, but not enough.

My more recent benders are shorter and further between. So I guess I could say I'm making progress if I look at the big picture. But I want the big picture to look like absolute sobriety. I want there to be NO benders, NO first drinks. That's what I'm working on now. I'm on day 28. Keep working and writing Tyger. I've been following your story.

Oh, and I've done the same...my parents have rescued me, brought me to their home, and then I drank their booze...but I think they left it there on purpose as a small sad favor to help with the miserable detox they knew I'd be going through, and I appreciated that.

Willdoit

Some amazing tales there folks, one thing that has helped me has been terrible hangovers so one day I drink till black out the next 2 days I cant go near alcohol.

But usually 2 days after its a rinse and repeat , every time I draw I got drunk.. Having 3 bad hangovers a week is crazy, not to mention the horrible situations you get in , I drank and drove as a 57 year old. My booze problem was getting bigger and bigger, this site has been great to me.

My AV can tell me when I read some of the posts "I am not that bad drink wise " but its self delusion , drinking takes me one way.

incognition

It was pretty much a standard pattern of "do productive work during the day" and "get blackout drunk at night" for me. I'd drink about half a fifth's equivalent of vodka every night; at the time I started drinking, I'd immediately stop responding to my phone, email, what have you and become incommunicado until the morning. This saved me from a lot of embarrassing social encounters, but also led to me becoming increasingly isolated over the years, as I was at home drinking alone rather than going out and socializing with friends.

The longest multi-day binge I ever went on probably only spanned 3 days. These were relatively rare. I'd eventually get sick if I spent too many days drunk off my ass, to the point of dry-heaving and not being able to drink any more. Looking back, this was probably a very good thing; I have no idea how much more alcohol I'd have put away if my body didn't react the way it did.

Only 6 years later, I can no longer handle alcohol the way I once did and can't go on extended binges even if I wanted to. Again, probably a good reaction to what's essentially a poisonous substance.

tomsteve

sometimes i think theres a misconception( or maybe denial?) about this "binge" drinking.
binge-a SHORT period devoted to indulging in an activity to excess, especially drinking alcohol or eating.

but i could see alcoholics rationalizing that 2 weeks is a short period as opposed to a decade.

zjw

yeah i binged on weekends and such initially. but after i turned 21 pretty rapidly i was a daily drinker only a 12 pack a day or soemthing most of the time but in the final years of my drinking career i was good for 15-20 a night day in and day out horrible hangovers and so on i'd wake up feeling like death thinking how insane it was by nooon was already eager to drink again that evening and usually cehcking to see how much i'd have to go buy. i couldnt stop to save my life.

Bunny211

Mine was progressive.

Started off in college with a binge every few months...just one night. Got worse and worse until, at age 30, I was drinking around the clock. I was intoxicated for the entire last month of my drinking. I don't think I even ate a bite of solid food in those 4 weeks. I'm so glad I'm sober today.

Misc72

I was a 1 night binge drinker. It was just ingrained in me to party. I'm just now realizing at 44 years old that I have always had an issue with it. Because I was brainwashed that it was just what you do to have fun. When I was 16 years old I read "No One Here Gets Our Alive". It was all about Jim Morrison from the Doors. I became obsessed with him and even though I'm a female I wanted to be just like him. I can't believe a book did that much influence on me. Even though I only binge 1 night at a time it takes a devastating affect on my life. So many lost days to hangovers, falls, black outs, horrible actions, the list goes on and on. So no matter if you were a daily drinker or a once in a blue mooner like me, the repercussions are the same.

SoberTyger

I was actually told i was a binge drinker by my doctor when i described my drinking pattern, but really the label is not important, I am an alcoholic and that's it.
When i had been drinking heavily for a week or two I would usually stop for weeks sometimes a months or so, then plunge in again - in those days, though, with no intention of quitting, i just happened to stay sober for whatever reason. A few times i would manage to keep my drinking to one night or two, and manage to stop at that - and in my alcoholic mind, would use this as excuses to try again and to convince myself i did not have a problem. "I only drank 16 pints of beer 2 days in a row, as an exception from my usual 2 week binges, I am not a problem drinker" Ha, what twisted logic!

steve-in-kville

I'll be 40 this coming winter. Typical weekend was one solid blackout. I'd start Friday night on the bourbon, or cheap Canadian stuff depending on finances. Wake up Saturday morning and drink tons of water, but was dropping a shot into my coffee. Off to the liquor store for another two fifths... or a handle. Drink slowly all day, but blacked out by supper time. Wake up Sunday and again, bourbon in my coffee. Basically a repeat of Saturday. Monday morning was pure hell on earth. Detox for a few days and was back at it. Rarely missed work, though, by God's grace!!

I have a 4-day weekend coming up. This will be the first one in a long while sober... gonna be interesting for sure!!

ScottFromWI

Other than when I was asleep ( aka passed out ) or at work for 6-7 hours on weekdays, I drank every waking moment of my life. So for the most part the better part of 2 decades of my life was literally a 365 day a year binge.

Obladi

I understand the morbid fascination, but do not find war stories or comparisons of how bad it was for me to how bad it was for someone else to be in the least bit helpful. I don't mean to be rude, but even the title of this thread is triggery for me. I know I can ignore the content and have done so, but wanted to put it out there for consideration.

With Peace
O

Misc72

Obladi, it helps me to understand my drinking issues by hearing the agony others also suffered. As I struggle even today with the question of I'm I an Alc or not? So to see these stories makes me understand my own question. And to see that they have overcome their struggles is very inspirational to me. But I understand why you wouldn't like it also. We are all different.

leanabeana

I wasn't a blackout binge drinker but that's exactly why I could be in denial for so long. I wasn't a "crazy" drunk, just a secret, low-profile drunk and that's why people didn't give me a hard time about my drinking. I think the most I ever drank in one day was a bottle of Fernet and it messed me up real good.

For me, it was more the daily need for a half-bottle to a bottle of wine. I just couldn't go without it and I decided not to be a slave anymore.

Joeshope54

I was mostly just a heavy beer drinker 3 to 5 times a week until my early 50s then whiskey got into the mix. I would drink both beer and shots daily and usually ended up passed out in a lawn chair outside or in front of the TV with a plate of uneaten dinner in my lap. I would be out right now drinking if it wasn't for health reasons related to my drinking. Good luck to everyone.

iew101

I'd run usually a 6 pack 4 nights a week then hit it hard on Saturday night and smoke weed sun night. Was that way for about 5 years (minus a 51 and 71 day stretch of sobriety)

During my last 4 month stint the amount was about 8-12 and I would go 3-4-5 days in a row. When **** hit the fan finally I drank 8 out of 9 days. That 8th day did me in. 59 days sober now and never going back.