Change4good

I got sober at 42, but I have known I was an alcoholic since I was 20. I remember drinking by myself in college. I remember feeling different from others about my drinking, but it was only slightly alarming then.

During my early 30s, I drank a bottle of wine every night. Knew this wasn't good, but I did it. Somehow, I managed to graduate college, get two masters degrees, and land a job.

Stayed sober for two pregnancies, but after that, the wheels came off. Knew that I was headed to a bad place.

How about others? When did you know?

Pipping

I started drinking a lot when I was 25 and really wanted to quit by 26 because my hangovers were terrible. I couldn't let go of the fake confidence drinking gave me so I carried on drinking heavily until last year and quit just before I turned 39. I was really worried about my drinking from my early 30s and despite numerous sick days, having no money and feeling like death I remained in denial. There was no big event that made me quit, I just couldn't deal with living half a life anymore.

sickofthiscrap

I was aware my drinking habits weren't quite "normal" in my twenties. I drank alone at times then, but only at times. In my thirties, drinking alone became quite a regular thing, as did other alcoholic behaviour...sneaking extra drinks before and after I went out, for example. I realised sometime in my thirties that I was an alcoholic, but I didn't do anything about it until this year (I'm 39).

Gilmer

I knew I had much more of a lust for drinking than everybody I knew. I admitted it to people to try to moderate and get some outside accountability, and many told me I had to quit.

I decided to quit in Jan. 2013, but I still didn't call myself an alcoholic. After I joined SR and read here for awhile, I realized that I was in the same boat as everybody else--didn't matter if I called it a "drinking problem" or "alcoholism"--I definitely qualified!

mfanch

I knew in 1984.

I quit for good in 2009. Oof, that was a long road.

luvmygirls

I could have written your post word for word, except I only have one master's degree.

Wholesome

I knew in my early 20's that I didn't drink like other people... I could drink more. It started to become a problem around 30 when I started drinking alone a lot. Slowly over the years it's gone from 4 or 5 a night to 6-12 or more! These are tall boys not regular cans. I'm 36..... so I'd say I've been drinking alcoholically for about a decade with the last 6 years being the worst. Time for a change.

JanieJ

I have had a drink problem since I was about 14. used to get spirits from my parent's drinks cabinet and mix them together then top the bottles up with water. For years I denied that it was alcoholism. Used to fix that by hanging out with others who could drink more than me, and made excuses for themselves and me such as "alcoholics drink spirits, not wine, I only drink wine" But about ten years ago, I tried to go a week without a drink (I was ill) and then it became clear to me that I am an alcoholic.

So it took me 30 years to admit it.

It's shocking to think that I have drunk alcohol pretty much every day of my life for nearly 40 years.


Day three now :-)

GotGrace

I didn't realize I was an alcoholic until after I quit and hung around here for a few months. I knew I drank more than most people and wasn't "normal" in my drinking habits, so I worked up the nerve to quit just to see how it went. After a few weeks of reading on SR and identifying with more posts than not, it became clear to me that I drank alcoholically. Call me what you want; if it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, it's a duck!

luvmygirls

used to get spirits from my parent's drinks cabinet and mix them together then top the bottles up with water.

Me too. And I'm sure my dad noticed, as he is an alcoholic too.

HeartsAfire

Same here but with no Master's.

anattaboy

Janie said it already. I knew by 20.

Boylan

Right from the get-go as a teenager I knew I liked booze way too much. I always drank more than everyone else, always suggested that last drink before we left the restaurant/bar.

Even though I denied for years I was an alcoholic, in the back of my mind I think I have been concerned about my drinking since the beginning.

I just never understood the concept of two drinks and stop. I still don't. What's the point in that? Why bother...?

Thank God somehow I married a normal drinker. He kept me mostly on the straight and narrow for years...until...until nothing did.

PurpleKnight

Mid 20s for me, finally started to address things by late 20s!!

sillysuzanfree

I knew I had a bit of problem back in my teens. Once I hit my early 20s I was able to take a step back from alcohol and beginning pursuing my dreams. I still drank but not in the same way. Later in my 20s even though alcohol was not causing any problems I knew the way I thought about it was abnormal. I couldn't imagine anyone NOT craving a drink on a late Friday afternoon and felt sorry for anyone who couldn't or didn't drink. Still I didn't let it bother me too much. I enjoyed and got away with it for many years. It took until my mid-40s to realize and admit I had a full blown problem...I have 2 and a half years sober now.

Fly N Buy

Denial, denial, denial.......

My habits indicated heavy drinking to say the least. Couldn't imagine life w/o booze...
I suppose the self imposed label came in last 2-3 years after 30+ years of drinking in increasing degrees. I am certain others identified me as an alkie many years before.....

Joe Nerv

Pretty sure I knew my deal 2 weeks after I discovered the effect alcohol had on me. I remember sitting in the balcony of the club I started going to regularly, with 3 drinks next to me, thinking this is what I plan to do from here on. Regardless of the fact that I knew that would mean I'd be an alcoholic. Alcohol was so wonderful to me in the beginning that it was worth any price that I would have to pay. I embraced it completely. Alcohol became my god, and I used it as such. And it worked. For about a year. I don't have to tell ya what went on after that... But I'm here now. And much happier.

XIIIXXIXXVI

I think I "knew" (although I'd never admit it) when I was 18... This was around the time I had drank myself out of college and instead got a corporate job. I would sneak liquor into work and drink in the bathroom stalls (as well as doing lines of coke off the toilet paper dispensers) and on the weekends would binge with "friends." I spiraled so far downhill that one night after partying I tried to drive my car into the river because of the depression during coming down from being high. I woke up the next morning in the hospital's acute psychiatric ward. This was about the time I realized I had a real problem. I even went to a therapist for a while and made efforts to clean up my act but my addiction was still bigger than my desire to get clean and although I never did hard drugs again, in no time I was back to drinking.

-B

Soberpotamus

Hmmm. Perception is a tricky thing.

I knew I had a drinking "problem" in my early 20's in college. I think I knew I was drinking "alcoholically" by my mid- to late- 20's. I must've known deep down I was an alcoholic but not sure at what point I called myself an alcoholic. I know I finally thought of myself as a real alcoholic when I checked myself into IOP at age 36.

Thatdeliveryguy

The first time I went on a a 7 day 24 hour a day binge that ended with me having panic attack at the hospital.