jwell100

I am trying to gain perspective on my own situation and think it may be helpful to share with each other how much (fill in the blank) we used prior to trying to get ourselves under control. I visited this site daily for the past seven days and read many posts with many different perspectives. I imagine (but do not know) that peoples' perspective on abuse and recovery is shaped by the situation from which they came. I imagine (but do not know) that serious abusers (whatever that is) may have a different perspective on an issue than a minor abuser (whatever that is). That said, here is my situation:

Prior to joining this site, I drank 7 days per week for about as long as I can recall. For the past year, my daily consumption was between 4 -8 scotch and waters.

In the past seven days, I drank no alcohol on 5 days. On two days, I drank alcohol but not to the point of drunkenness. I now get a "high" from:

- Playing / talking with the kids and my wife at night;
- Not being so irritable;
- Waking up in the morning feeling good and refreshed;
- Knowing that, although I am far from perfect, I do not have to drink and
have control over my life.

I would love to hear other situations so I can better understand mine.

Thanks.

Aysha

When using..Not enough.
Now..One is too many.
It caused problems in my life.
Whether I used a little or alot.
It didnt matter.
I always ended up broke..feeling like $hit.
And numerous other things that I am not too proud of.
Losing self respect and trust from my family.
The point is I used..Period.
I am learning to go by the old saying "Quality. Not Quanity."

Astro

One's too many, a thousand's not enough. Quality, type, or quantity don't matter either. The only thing I really have to remember is that the first drink was what got me drunk every time. Didn't matter if I was drunk one hour or a day later, from the first sip I was on a mission to find a sick bliss in the depth of my addiction.

Just a couple things to think about: Normal drinkers don't put away 4-8 scotch and waters daily, and they didn't drink 7 days a week for as long as they can remember. I've also heard that normal drinkers don't even contemplate whether they have an issue with alcohol or not, those thoughts just don't occur to them. I can't say whether that's true or not, I'm far from being a normal drinker. Normal drinkers probably don't count how many days they did and didn't drink.

You've got some great thoughts about where natural "highs" can come from. Wouldn't it be great to feel that way for the rest of your life without ever taking a drink again? It's possible, many of us have found plans for our recovery and do whatever it takes to achieve sobriety. I hope you'll join us, it's an amazing way to live.

LibertyorDeath

I drank too much too often. Now I get high from:

-Waking up before anyone else does and sipping coffee out on the porch while the air is still cool and the day has such promise~

-Working outside. I've cleared a field over these past sixty some odd days and have my eye on another. I enjoy seeing what I can accomplish one day at a time~

-Laughing with my children and husband...being there for them....doing things for them. I am no longer emotionally absent from their lives.

Some days are more difficult than others but I understand that that is normal. I can do this today. I can stay sober today.

Best wishes to you!

Liberty~

austingemini

On weekends. Friday and Saturday mostly. Sometimes 3-4 drinks, sometimes 13-14 drinks. It's not really (to me at least) a matter of how much you're using/consuming, but rather how you feel if you don't. Once I had one, I'd think, even if just a little, about the next one. Almost obsessively. Even while people were having what would normally be an enjoyable conversation.

I'm sure you've heard this enough on here but it's tough to imagine someone who's recognized the value in a group like this and consumed that much alcohol (ie: you) is ever going to be able to enjoy just one or two drinks once in a while. Just shooting straight.

CarolD

Well...
According to the Center for Disease Control

Moderate drinking is no more than
2 drinks a day for men..1 for women

They consider a drink to be
12 oz. of beer..5 oz. of wine...1 1/2 oz liquor.

Your body and mind processes all 3 toxins equally
so drinking only wine or only liquor or only beer
or mixing them is of no importance.
They all do the same damage.

I passed moderate drinking as a teen.
I quit drinking at 53.

I consider I drank alcoholically for 5 years.
Impossible to know how much I consumed
I blackouted and drank in bars.

.....Too much for sure

Ravensoul

I'll answer..(yes, "too much but never enough" is an often true answer, as is the classic "all of it", but since you asked for specific numbers....)

It has varied over the years (about 10), started as the occaisional drunk at a party or concert, then grew into every weekend, then into binges every weekend, then eventually into some every night, and finally binging every night. Oh yeah, what constituted a binge? Well, that also varied, from a litre of wine in a day/night to 2 of them or a 6-pack to 2 of them.

I've also gone through extended periods of total abstinence during that time (incl. when I was pregnant with my daughter) and likewise periods of moderation and non-daily drinking.

Before deciding recently to get my $hit together, my consumption was at least a litre of wine (or a 6 pack, tho' for the last yr or so, stuck mostly to wine) per night. And on weekends or days I wasn't working, sometimes twice that.

Currently, I am working my own "program" of cutting back to "moderate" consumption over several weeks with the goal of going cold turkey after I have sustained 1-2 drinks per 24 hr period for at least a few weeks. (never occured to me that just stopping could kill me until I came here...gee, have done it several times before, from similar levels, with no severe effects, but not taking the chance, knowing the risks now) Aiming for the end of the month. (and then at least a month of total abstinence, followed by either continued abstinence or moderate social consumption...am not going to think that far ahead yet, but wait until I get to that bridge)

I very much agree that changing our habits/behaviors is key, and replacing drinking with other activities and preoccupations is very important...I got into the habit of drinking in the evenings and isolating from my family too much (partly due to relationship problems with my late spouse, but after a while, due to addiction/habit more than anything, but yes, still self-medicating due to sadness/anger)
I find that if I fill my time with other activities, be it game night with the kids, going out somewhere and doing something w/o alcohol, exercise, whatever, I find that if I DO drink that day, I drink very moderately and don't crave more.

Hope this is helpful in some way.

PupMum

Most of the last 4 years I have drunk 1-2 bottles of wine a day (and up to 3 on a weekend day as start earlier). Almost all at home alone. I only drink good bottled wine (cheap stuff is in casks in NZ). There is beer in my cupboard left by guests which is safe from me. I'll use it to kill snails sometime! I had occaisional attempts to drink different stuff but spirits used to make me nuts (not just drunken nuts) and I have a mental connection between beer and Homer Simpson shaped body which has always made beer undesirable. Of course since I have cut-back (trying to stop but still drinking about 40% of days) I have dropped kilos - guess that wine had some calories too!!

nogard

I used more every single concious moment and now I don't think about it at all.

Kevin

Luckyv2

My problem was that I could never get enough sad really but if ya really want to know I could smoke up to 2 ounces of crack in less than a 24 hour period should have been dead more than once. War stories like this are good to remember what it was like! That is the connection that bonds us together is knowing that we have all been there and done that...

What is the miracle of it all is RECOVERY

Whatever that is LMAO

Still not sure what it is..have to admit though I have been clean now for almost 26 months and it hasn't been a bed of roses either. Life keeps happening and I have to keep on happening with it..when I slack off than I get that vicious cycle going through my head. The other day I actually wanted to use so bad I even asked someone for a 20 LMMFAOHTH they said NOPE I won't help you loose your clean time. Ahhh a angel .....

So they say that one is too many and a thousand is never enough. shoot I never did one so I don't know what that is like LOL

SoosieQ

I went through phases when I thought I could be a casual drinker. Problem was, my tolerance level was right there to kick me in the pants every time. I used to get annoyed with my friends for asking me how much I drank (the first always lead to the umpteenth). Pills were worse coz a doctor was counting and I couldn't hide nearly as well.

I really think you are brave to be so honest here. Not every slip is a miserable one; just know that if you have issues with addiction, you will be miserable before long. Or, at least, I am!

thisisnotmylife

I am writing in regards to my husbands vicodin habit. He reported always taking more than the prescribed amount of all medications but his vicodin had reached about 18- 20 pills a day when he went into rehab.