pocketrocket

So I started drinking in mid 2006, prior to that I hardly used to drink at all... i'm currently 39. I started off light, perhaps a 5-6 beers a week and by 2009 I was drinking everyday, perhaps 4-5 drinks a day, sometimes more and that included Martinis and scotch... was a good life!

In mid 2010 I made a change for the better and gave up hard alcohol and cut my drinking down to about 2-4 beers a day and this pattern continued until start of 2012. Since 2012 I have been drinking 2-4 a day and sometimes on taco tuesday will drink 6 or 7 beers with friends. On the weekend I usually have 4-5 a day.

I still do not touch hard alcohol or wine, drink only beer but sometimes IPAs which are 6-7% abv. I just drink purely for enjoyment and never get intoxicated sunce I usually will drink only 1 per hour.

I had a full medical test 12 months ago and I was fine. My BP is 125/85 which is good for my age and I am very active and quite fit. Blood sugars and liver enzymes etc were all good.

However, I feel I have a problem with drinking too much but all around me (cousins, girlfriend etc) think i'm being a hypochondriac and my drinking is not all that much!!

So here I am to ask you... what do you think? Am I drinking too much? Is 3-4 beers a day all that much really?

ScottFromWI

How much you drink or how frequently you do it really isn't the only indicator of whether or not you have a probem with Alcohol. What do you think? It's really a decision you have to make for yourself.

Can you quit drinking for several days and not think twice about it?
Do you ever feel you need to drink just to feel normal or relax?
Do you find yourself obsessing about it?

There are a lot of online tests that ask questions like the ones above and give you a response as to how severe your drinking might be, but even then it's up to you to decide if you have a problem.

Another thing to ask yourself -are you really just drinking 3-4 beers a night? I used to tell that to my wife and friends ( and even myself ) when in reality was drinking a LOT more than that.

Bottom line - honestly look at your drinking and how it affects the rest of your life. Could you live without it starting tomorrow and be none the worse for the wear? If so you probably don't have a problem. But if not, then you might.

Mentium

It is only a problem if you think it is. That isn't dodging the question. Many quite 'advanced' alcoholics don't think they have a problem. Some people who don't drink much, think they do.

It is about how you feel, what it is or isn't doing to you and I would suggest, crucially perhaps, how much control you have. If you are in doubt just quit for a couple of weeks for the hell of it and see how you feel about that.

Sadly I'm a bit of an expert. Even sadder, not so much at quitting as knowledge about problem drinking.

hellomynameis

I read somewhere once that normal people don't even have a thought that they might have a problem. So if you think you have a problem..you probably do. Don't judge amounts or types of things you use but rather the affect you feel that they have on your life. And just b/c you are a gutter rat doesn't mean you aren't headed that way.

hellomynameis

Oh yea and the other thing- are you going to start looking at your "potentiality of a problem" when the medical tests show you have one? b/c by then, the stopping and sobriety will be much harder to chase...

resolute50

Are you drinking to reach a certain high?
Cause as time goes by,that point you want to reach gets further away requiring more alcohol. It is very much a progressive disease.

Did you switch to higher content beer for a reason?

AllieB

Agreed with the above.

But, also....

pocketrocket

I can abstain but I woukd definitely feel withdrawals and my mood definitely becomes worse, after a hard workday a few drinks relax me!! On a weekend I have 2 during lunch and 1 perhaps in the eve and I may have 1 during dinner... now that doesn't sound excessive does it?? Yet medically that is twice the safe limit.

I have no issues with alcohol except the concern if what it is doing to my health! as i've said i've never drunk to the point of intoxication... i'm always in control of myself and there are ocassional days where infact I do not drink and many days where I will drink only 2... however sometimes in social settings when others are doing the same I will also drink 5 or 6 beers.

My cousin seems to think my level of drinking is no big deal as he says he knows other people who are alcoholics and they drink to the point of falling down drunk - 12 packs + bottles of wine etc every day so in comparison he thinks my drinking is nothing!

ScottFromWI

So then the million dollar question is...do you think you have a problem? If you think it's affecting your health and you think you'd have withdrawals, then it might be a problem. Maybe you should try going without for a while and see how it goes. Have you actually checked with your doctor regarding health concerns? Or is that just an observation on your own part? Getting a checkup and asking never hurts, and it's completely confidential.

We can't tell you if you have a probem...it sounds cliche but it's absolutely true.

duane1

I was an alcoholic the first time I took a drink. Do you feel any pull toward alcohol? Do you ever think you need to drink in order to have fun or relax? What are you gaining by drinking?

ReadyAtLast

If YOU think you have a problem,or even just have concerns, I would suggest you listen to your inner voice.

It doesn't matter what others think of our drinking or their opinions on it.I know I hid a lot of mine or pretended I'd had less than I had so no one really knew the truth anyway

As i've read on here though,if someone thinks they have a problem then it's probably a good indicator that they do,even if just in the early stages. It is progressive too.

Aiden1226

Hi there! Welcome! Do I think you have a problem or anyone else? That is not for us to answer. Are you looking for someone to say, "No, you don't have a problem". Or are you looking for the answer within yourself? Cause you and only you can make that decision. Have you ever tried to not drink when you are with friends or girlfriend? Have they been drinking and offered you one that you accept with out thought? You must test you. Are you worried or feel a bit awkward, that if you tell those around you you're not drinking tonight, they may look at you funny or laugh because you said no? There are so many reasons we do what we do, as drinkers or alcoholics, that are results of trying to not stand out. I am recently new to this SR and I know that it took me to open my eyes and my mind, to see what others around me saw. I hope you find the path "you" are looking for and stop traveling on the path you think others want you on. Lead, don't follow. Good Luck!!!!

Michelangelo

3-4 beers a day does not look like alcoholic drinking. If you are worried, try to reduce consumption. Some days 0 and some days 2-3

ScottFromWI

I hope this doesn't come across as "medical advice", but a few years ago when I was starting to think maybe I had a drinking problem, I talked to a counselor provided through my place of work. He gave me a very unexpected suggestion after I had talked with him about my drinking and associated things. His suggestion to me was to drink JUST ONE beer, but do it EVERY DAY for 30 days. At the time i wasn't drinking every day, so at first i was like "cool - now I can tell my wife that a doctor told me to drink EVERY DAY!" But guess what I found out about 10 days in - 1 beer became 2. And then 2 became 3. And you know the rest of the story.

ru12

How is your drinking affecting your life? It doesn't matter what other people think about the way you drink, if you are worried then make some changes. The number of drinks I consumed had a way of progressing through the years and I wasn't happy with it. So I stopped. Best decision for me.

LadyBlue0527

Now that's just alcoholic torture!


To pr: It sounds like between the switch from hard stuff to only beer and watching your amounts that you're in the throes of moderation. You did say too that you know that if you tried to abstain you'd withdraw and your mood becomes worse. People who don't have a problem with alcohol couldn't care less when their next drink is. They don't have to put the time and effort into switching what they drink or think about how many. It's a non issue.

My husband can tear it up with the best of them. There are nights that he will stop at a few and then there are nights that he'll admit that he overdid it the night before. However, he stopped drinking 2 weeks before I quit. He didn't "quit" because he doesn't have a problem. He just happened to not have situations present where he felt he wanted to drink. Then I decided to quit. He decided to abstain for a while in support of me. His best friend has called a few times inviting him down to his house to throw back a few. He hasn't gone nor does he care about going. It's been almost 4 months now. It's almost irritating to watch someone be able to make that decision and just not care. All the same, he's doing this for me and I appreciate it.

My point being that you're spending a lot of time trying to determine if you have a problem. As everyone is saying, only you can answer that question. However, you did say that you like the relaxing effect that it gives you and not being able to have that makes you irritable. That's somewhat of a tell, don't you think?

Sobersunshine

Pocket, you sound like me many years ago, when I would drink daily but not get really drunk all that often. then daily 3-4 drinks turned into 6-7 drinks, and morning drinking, and getting drunk every night, and so on. Alcoholism is a progressive disease. Many of us move into full-blown alcoholism gradually. I'm not saying you are an alcoholic. Just saying that if you are, you will find yourself drinking more and more,especially as your tolerance grows. Keep reading here, and good for you for taking a good look at your drinking.

Dejvice

Over the years it all just sneaks up on you. Don't have to be falling down drunk to be an alcoholic, as time goes by you get good at planning it....4 beers here.....2 beers there.....2 in the garage.

Question......could you go for a taco on a Tuesday without the beer?

Nuudawn

To me, it is your difficulty adhering and addressing your own counsel that is most problematic.

FeenixxRising

Much of the problem has to do with craving. When you have a drink do you "crave" a second drink? After the second drink do you "crave" a third drink? Be honest with yourself. When you stop after a few drinks would you prefer to keep drinking?

Most of us who have admitted we have a drinking problem are unable to stop after one or two drinks. We can't help ourselves and we will just continue to drink. Speaking for myself, I did not drink everyday, but once I took a drink, I craved a second drink. After the second drink, I craved a third drink. After the third, I wanted a fourth drink, and on and on and on.