grizz

Hi all,
my AW's drink of choice has always been wine. Now, as of late she says that wine has too much sugar and calories and is switching to bloody mary's. My question is...is switching to hard alcohol the next level of progression or is this just quacking and alcohol is alcohol no matter if it is beer, wine or hard alcohol?

grizz

Tuffgirl

Hhhmmm...I am not sure there are way less calories in wine versus a bloody mary, and my philosophy is alcohol is alcohol, be it a beer, wine, mixed drink, or shot. It all contains alcohol at some level.

But...from what I hear...making the switch means its easier/faster/maybe even less expensive to get the buzz off the hard liquor. I know I can drink 3 beers in one evening and be buzzed but ok. But compare that to a martini - I can only drink one in an evening. The effects of the martini hit me much harder and faster than beer.

Just my humble opinion; she is going with hard liquor for the effect I described above.

Learn2Live

This is from National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism

WHAT IS A STANDARD DRINK?

A standard drink contains about 14 grams (about .6 fluid ounces) of pure alcohol. Below are approximate standard drink equivalents.

12 oz. of beer or cooler

8-9 oz. of malt liquor
8.5 oz. shown in a 12-oz glass that, if full, would hold about 1.5 standard drinks of malt liquor

5 oz. of table wine

3-4 oz. of fortified or dessert wine
3.5 oz. Shown

2-3 oz. of cordial, liqueur, or aperitif
2.5 oz. Shown

1.5 oz. of brandy (a single jigger)

1.5 oz. of spirits (a single jigger of gin, vodka, whiskey, etc.)
Shown straight and in a highball glass with ice to show level before adding mixer

BlueSkies1

Well she's definitely quacking. Calories on her derriere are a bigger concern than the impairment in her brain? Where's the logic in that?
Switching to a higher alcohol proof of course will enable a quicker and more lasting intoxication.
It's quacking any way you look at it...will it lead to the next level of progression? Continued drinking over time seems to do that, no matter what the poison of choice.

Mel12

Dietary "logic" of that kind is what started me on vodka martinis, a habit that has proven to be hard to quit.

ShootingStar1

It may be cheaper to drink vodka than wine. I think you get more alcoholic volume per bottle of vodka than per bottle of wine. And the question I'd wonder about is that vodka can be drunk on the sly if it is in the house.

People talk about vodka as one of the drinks a hard core alcoholic gravitates to. I don't know that to be true or not. My AH drank often wine with dinner, then later in the evening switched to his Manhattans, almost all booze because the wine just didn't do it for him. Even gin and tonic just didn't have the kick he wanted.

This is a terrible grief causing disease, and I am so sorry your AW has it. They say on this forum, "more will be revealed" and I'd suggest observing so you know what you're dealing with.

BothSidesNow

Titanic

Continued drinking means progression, no matter how one looks at it (or pours it!).

The bloody marys are also introducing another huge risk. Tons of salt. More dehydration than just from the alcohol. More work for the kidneys. Higher blood pressure. More systemic problems. Less fight in the body against the disease. Faster progression.

4MyBoys

It all went downhill for me when my STBXAH moved from beer to whiskey. The one innocent glass looked like no big deal compared with the piles of beer bottles but he it progressed to a full glass of whiskey with a splash of coke. He was a totally different person on whiskey compared to beer. Totally mean......

ZiggyB

Ayep, my axbf would often drink vodka instead of wine or beer citing the fact that it had fewer calories but he still drink a lot of vodka, IMO that was actually worse. He was also a fan of the martini. Not drinking at all would be the sensible thing to do if one wanted to lose weight, but that doesn't seem to cross their minds.

SoaringSpirits

Things took a turn for the worse when my AH switched to vodka over beer. He said he was concerned about weight gain. Which was funny, because he never voiced any concern about what his drinking was doing to his family, just his belly! With the vodka, he could down more potent alcohol in less volume, and with less smell, and he could do it more easily in secret. I think it's a sign of progression.

CentralOhioDad

A decent bottle of wine (for everyday drinking) is around $15, the 1.75L of vodka is about $19. The wine will last her 2 days plus she doesn't get the buzz from 1/2 bottle, so she gets frustrated, but knows drinking a whole bottle looks bad. So, she drinks the vodka, and gets 6 days out of it and still gets the buzz she needs. So, instead of $15/day for the buzz she needs, she picks $3+/day with the vodka, and tells me she's saving us money!

grizz

Thanks everyone for the replies. Sadly everything that you have told me I already knew, just needed the confirmation. As someone wrote, more will be revealed. Central Ohio dad, I almost had to laugh when you said a bottle would last two days. She is up to almost two bottles of wine a night. It will be interesting to see how much vodka that equals.

grizz

WishingWell

Question - why are you staying with her if she is actively drinking ANYTHING?

By using the "AW" you know that she is an alcoholic . . . why are YOU there?

Is she making any attempt to stop? In treatment? What boundaries have you laid out for yourself?

EnglishGarden

Hi grizz,
I'm sorry it's still so hard.

Just don't forget: no rescuing. She's going to be having consequences. Let them unfold. A perfect crisis without your meddling could break her enough that she seeks recovery.

If you're just about to rescue, check in with us first!

choublak

Why spend your time doing all this math of how much they drink in how many days though? How do you benefit?

Lulu39

The **** hit the fan here when my XAH swapped beer for "povo" bourbon. He said the beer made his tummy feel "all funny and sore", awwww. He always finished the night off by drinking 6-8 big cups - not glasses BIG CUPS of wineinabox. Sometimes he started the afternoon with wineinabox then had bourbon and then back to wineinabox until the wee small hours.

I made him do all that, of course

Lulu39

I used to benefit by being able to gauge how abusive he might be and how much money he had blown. YMMV.

flutter

Reasons I switched from beer/wine to vodka:

1. It was cheaper, I could purchase and re-purchase bottles without it really showing on our monthly grocery bills.
2. I could pour my drinks as strong as I wanted.
3. Those stronger drinks got me drunk much faster
4. I didn't have bottles and cans and more bottles to hide or throw away.
5. I thought it was easier to hide, when I started hiding my drinking I would keep a bottle hidden in a closet and gulp from it occasionally.. that is much easier to do than opening a new bottle of wine, or a can of beer.

It was the end for me, the progression of my alcoholism skyrocketed with my new 'tricks' with vodka and ultimately almost killed me.

Just my .02

Florence

My AH switched to vodka because he got more bang for his buck and thought that it was easier to hide. It's easier to hide, I guess, because it's colorless, but I can tell you today that after living with an alcoholic for years, I can smell it across a room.

Florence

I want to second this. My AH's switch to vodka was the beginning of the end. Prior to this, we drank a lot of wine together and had some cocktails at home. But something about the vodka took him over to the dark side. I don't know if it was because of the switch to vodka that his alcoholism progressed so quickly, or if the switch lead to the progression, but this was the point at which it was clear to me that we weren't just partying or moderate-to-heavy drinkers, we were in really dark territory.