Am I an alcoholic?
Member
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 1,947
No, I never get out of control - it's weird - I drink 9 or at the most 10 glasses and suddenly I've no desire at all for another drink - I'll even leave half a glass because I can't face it.
Seems like I'm addicted to 9 glasses of wine - no more or less - 6 days a week.
Seems like I'm addicted to 9 glasses of wine - no more or less - 6 days a week.
what happens on the seventh day???
have you ever had more than 10 glasses of wine???
you may or may not be an alcholic, and we may or may not have some important truths that are buried in your heart, but
if you are on this site, and you are questioning if you are an alcholic, perhaps it indicates that there is a problem....it seems this would be difficult on the body after 30 years of 9 glasses of wine a day.
no matter i appreciate you reportilng on your experiment...I've kind've looked at my addictions as an objective scientist also. like it's fun or something for me!
and way to go on the 8 days....i'm one day behind you
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 601
On average, I only drink 6 days a week. Usually, I'll drink every night for 3 weeks and then have 3 days off - that sort of thing.
I have had more than 10 but not very often - maybe a wedding or Christmas or something. Wouldn't do it now, I don't think. Years ago, I did occasionally finish a full two bottles but not for a long while.
My biggest consern is I'm slowly destroying my liver, or memory, or intellectual function or something. I think my concerns are for 10 or 15 years from now, but to sort that out I have to do something now.
After I've done 28 days off consecutively, I think I have the following choices:
1. Return as normal - 6 days a week, 9 glasses a day.
2. Abstain forever
3. Drink only Fri/Sat/Sun, probably about 30-35 units a week.
Of course, is option 3 really an option? If so, why haven't I done it already?
Could you really be bothered counting the units and never drinking in the week? What about holidays, birthdays, or if Christmas Day falls on a Wednesday? Laughable, isn't it?
I have had more than 10 but not very often - maybe a wedding or Christmas or something. Wouldn't do it now, I don't think. Years ago, I did occasionally finish a full two bottles but not for a long while.
My biggest consern is I'm slowly destroying my liver, or memory, or intellectual function or something. I think my concerns are for 10 or 15 years from now, but to sort that out I have to do something now.
After I've done 28 days off consecutively, I think I have the following choices:
1. Return as normal - 6 days a week, 9 glasses a day.
2. Abstain forever
3. Drink only Fri/Sat/Sun, probably about 30-35 units a week.
Of course, is option 3 really an option? If so, why haven't I done it already?
Could you really be bothered counting the units and never drinking in the week? What about holidays, birthdays, or if Christmas Day falls on a Wednesday? Laughable, isn't it?
Member
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 39
I know why I drink. Mostly to numb myself. I am trying to hide my true feelings or I'm trying to release them (like anger).
But why do normal drinkers drink and why would it need to be nine drinks six days a week????
If you are one of them, answer that for me?
Just curious.
But why do normal drinkers drink and why would it need to be nine drinks six days a week????
If you are one of them, answer that for me?
Just curious.
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 601
Hi Eyes2, Funny - we drink for very different reasons. I've been lucky in life and I'm usually pretty happy - it's just that a drink makes an OK time really great. That's why I do it - to go from good/OK to really buzzing. Eversince my wife and I met 16 years ago, we've just had a great time made even better with red wine - it's just getting to be a worry about the cumulative effects of 80+ units a week.
I drink 9 glasses cos that's what gives best buzz - any more and I start to feel slightly less happy, a bit dizzy.
I drink 9 glasses cos that's what gives best buzz - any more and I start to feel slightly less happy, a bit dizzy.
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 601
Hi Carol, I'd tell him this:
1. Make sure to do the 28 days.
2. After the 28 days, try to drink only at weekends until Christmas - if so, great.
3. If not, have 3 months off, Jan/Feb/Mar 2009
4. Try weekends only from April 2009, if so, great - if not - you need to stop forever.
1. Make sure to do the 28 days.
2. After the 28 days, try to drink only at weekends until Christmas - if so, great.
3. If not, have 3 months off, Jan/Feb/Mar 2009
4. Try weekends only from April 2009, if so, great - if not - you need to stop forever.
Member
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: New England
Posts: 660
Hi Everyone :)
I just wanted to say "thank you" for all the great information you have shared on this thread. The comment about losing short-term memory really sunk in and shook me up a bit. Might be just what I needed to get me through this evening without a drink!
Thank you again :)
~Melissa
I just wanted to say "thank you" for all the great information you have shared on this thread. The comment about losing short-term memory really sunk in and shook me up a bit. Might be just what I needed to get me through this evening without a drink!
Thank you again :)
~Melissa
Forward we go...side by side-Rest In Peace
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Serene In Dixie
Posts: 36,740
Here is an interesting link about alcohol and brain functions
Alcohol and Brain
Good to see you again Mellisa...
Alcohol and Brain
Good to see you again Mellisa...
Thriving sober since 12/18/08
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Orlando, FL
Posts: 3,115
Originally Posted by General 
Hi Carol, I'd tell him this:
1. Make sure to do the 28 days.
2. After the 28 days, try to drink only at weekends until Christmas - if so, great.
3. If not, have 3 months off, Jan/Feb/Mar 2009
4. Try weekends only from April 2009, if so, great - if not - you need to stop forever.
1. Make sure to do the 28 days.
2. After the 28 days, try to drink only at weekends until Christmas - if so, great.
3. If not, have 3 months off, Jan/Feb/Mar 2009
4. Try weekends only from April 2009, if so, great - if not - you need to stop forever.
Member
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: West Highlands
Posts: 36
Many, many years of loving, hating and fearing alcohol have lead me to recognise abstinence as the only serious approach to a level of drinking I perceive as a problem.
I am in my early 50s, until I was in my late 40s I could drink very large amounts and appear to be well controlled and almost sober, then I just started to become silly, very silly, when drunk. My nights became foul and sleepless, my professional work began to suffer, my days were the slow easing of the hangovers that were becoming worse and worse. I began to despise myself.
You have chosen to be here. Keep an eye on yourself. Don't panic. Act if you feel you need to. Get help if you feel you need to.
I am in my early 50s, until I was in my late 40s I could drink very large amounts and appear to be well controlled and almost sober, then I just started to become silly, very silly, when drunk. My nights became foul and sleepless, my professional work began to suffer, my days were the slow easing of the hangovers that were becoming worse and worse. I began to despise myself.
You have chosen to be here. Keep an eye on yourself. Don't panic. Act if you feel you need to. Get help if you feel you need to.
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 601
Thanks guys - deeply insightful stuff. I have a degree in Psychology (Honest) and I rarely come across such far-sighted thinking.
Part of the issue is the lack of adverse consequences to my drinking - unlike Jock, I haven't seen my work/relationships/self-image suffer. Although perhaps the latter is taking a bit of a knock. If my like is so wonderful, why drink every night? 9 days clean now and I find myself a bit restless in the evenings, but otherwise it's just good news all over. Mood is more stable, blood-pressure's down, I've already saved about £100. Yes, ksplash, I do have the oersonal resources to enjoy an evening without alcohol - I can go running in the local countryside. There is a child-like joy to this especially at night with a head-torch on.
Here's the big question: If I could push a button that would take away my desire for alcohol forever, would I press it? Would you?
Part of the issue is the lack of adverse consequences to my drinking - unlike Jock, I haven't seen my work/relationships/self-image suffer. Although perhaps the latter is taking a bit of a knock. If my like is so wonderful, why drink every night? 9 days clean now and I find myself a bit restless in the evenings, but otherwise it's just good news all over. Mood is more stable, blood-pressure's down, I've already saved about £100. Yes, ksplash, I do have the oersonal resources to enjoy an evening without alcohol - I can go running in the local countryside. There is a child-like joy to this especially at night with a head-torch on.
Here's the big question: If I could push a button that would take away my desire for alcohol forever, would I press it? Would you?
Forward we go...side by side-Rest In Peace
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Serene In Dixie
Posts: 36,740
I supose I did press the button General
I've not desired a drink for 16 years
this happened when I was about 3 years
into AA recovery and had finished my Step work.
No equivications ...no reservations ...no obcessions
We have a new thread in Alcoholism about miracles.
I think it will be quite interesting....
Glad to see you again....
Blessings to you and your family
being me
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: CA
Posts: 252
I would push that button in a heartbeat. Like you, I have a good education, good job, and have not lost any of that to drugs/alcohol. But I have spent way too much time catering to it (being controlled by cravings) and have been unhealthy. It has been hard to make my family understand I have a problem because I am a happy person sober or not sober. But, the constant smoking stopped being fun and I finally quit that. Now admitting that I can't "control" my drinking is another freeing step. I know I have to push that button with my own work, but I can see a healthy, free me, and that is where I am going.
K
K
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 601
Yes,
I too had a hell of a battle with cigarettes but I won that one - probably 20 years off them now, but it was a nightmare at the time and I had a number of relapses. Figure I've saved £75,000 over that time - so where is it?
I too had a hell of a battle with cigarettes but I won that one - probably 20 years off them now, but it was a nightmare at the time and I had a number of relapses. Figure I've saved £75,000 over that time - so where is it?
member
Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 2,433
Welcome to SR General
To be honest, personally I don't care for labels. The term "alcoholic" doesn't tell me much about a person. These days, I simply consider myself a non drinker - or an ex-drinker, to be more accurate - and leave it at that. I am recovering from the consequences of alcohol abuse, not from alcohol itself.
Though tempting, I would not press such a button. I'd rather get to that place by working on my-Self (i.e all aspects: physical, emotional, thought processes, social and spiritual). Pressing a button to solve my problems is exactly the kind of behaviour I'm trying to avoid these days
To be even more honest, though your moderation schema sounds good on "paper", I'm wondering why bother with it at all? If drinking is going to require such careful monitoring and rules, why not stop altogether? There is no need to worry about the prospect of sober holidays and such... Just focus on today. I notice you're in Britain.. I recommend you check out the stop drinking book by Allen Carr, despite the goofy title it's actually very good.
Good luck
To be honest, personally I don't care for labels. The term "alcoholic" doesn't tell me much about a person. These days, I simply consider myself a non drinker - or an ex-drinker, to be more accurate - and leave it at that. I am recovering from the consequences of alcohol abuse, not from alcohol itself.
Though tempting, I would not press such a button. I'd rather get to that place by working on my-Self (i.e all aspects: physical, emotional, thought processes, social and spiritual). Pressing a button to solve my problems is exactly the kind of behaviour I'm trying to avoid these days
To be even more honest, though your moderation schema sounds good on "paper", I'm wondering why bother with it at all? If drinking is going to require such careful monitoring and rules, why not stop altogether? There is no need to worry about the prospect of sober holidays and such... Just focus on today. I notice you're in Britain.. I recommend you check out the stop drinking book by Allen Carr, despite the goofy title it's actually very good.
Good luck
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 601
Just done a quick comparison of some things over 10 days when I was drinking and the last 10 days when I haven't:
Blood pressure 139/91 123/81 +12.7
Heart-rate 64 62 +3.2
Weight 173 171 -1.1
Mood 5.6 6.2 +10.7
I'm actually 11% happier when I'm not drinking!!!!
Blood pressure 139/91 123/81 +12.7
Heart-rate 64 62 +3.2
Weight 173 171 -1.1
Mood 5.6 6.2 +10.7
I'm actually 11% happier when I'm not drinking!!!!
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