sugarbear1

You asked, "Does all of this sound like alcoholic behavior to you guys?"

My answer is yes, this does sound like alcoholic behavior.

I can't tell you if you are an alcoholic or not. That is a decision you and only you can determine.

Zebra1275

However, I do not have withdrawal symptoms from alcohol. Yet.

I do not drink alone. Yet.

I could never imagine hiding bottles Yet.

I bet if you come back and read your post 5 years from now you will be doing all this things if you are still drinking. Alcoholism is progressive, everything that is happening to you right now is only going to get worse.

There is so much alcohol in my house right now and I don't sit around thinking about it all day. With so much alcohol in your house you don't have to worry about running out. I bet if you had zero alcohol in your house you would think about it.

Only you can answer the question of whether you are an alcoholic. Stick around SR and read a lot, you may get some answers.

Eliasson

Hi and welcome! As everyone has said, only you can decide if drinking is a problem for you. I didn't drink every day either, never hid alcohol, didn't go particularly crazy if I couldn't have a drink. I'd say I was more of a binge drinker, sometimes to the point of blackouts. There are two sayings I like that really helped me realize I had a problem. One is "I didn't have a problem every time I drank, but every time I had a problem I had been drinking". The other is "when I could control my drinking, I didn't enjoy it, and when I enjoyed my drinking, I couldn't control it". I don't have an "off" switch either. I never know at any given time whether I'll be able to drink just two glasses of wine, or if it will be a binge night. I got tired of the guilt and shame and self loathing and hangovers and lack of self esteem. I have 4 children who need a sober, happy mom. I have 43 days sober today and call myself a recovering alcoholic. I was told to "look for the similarities, not the differences" and there were plenty. Keep reading and posting the people here are so supportive. Oh and my favorite saying, "To thine own self be true". Best wishes to you!

checkmate1

sounds to me your a binge drinker that's what I was and I'm an alcoholic because I did it 5 times a week.....I have said and done many stupid things during a binge at least once a week there was some kind of drama I lived like this for 13 years. When you start and don't want stop is a sign there is worse things to come. I didn't drink everyday either but things will only get worse for you unfortunately.

GettingStronger2

[QUOTE=scarletrose;3114034] I hope that I can do this with alcohol. Just walk away. I deserve a better life than to be a 37 year old woman dancing on bars and falling down drunk. It's not fun anymore.

[QUOTE]

I hope you can as well. If you are able to do that, you are very fortunate. And probably not an alcoholic. For most of us, it takes more than just walking away to recover and stay sober.

I wish you luck!

landminesgirl

Hi and welcome! You sound an awful lot like me. . . I'm 36, married with two kids, full-time job, do triathlons and marathons. . . I have a 1/2 marathon coming up next Saturday.

I also questioned whether or not I was a true alcoholic. I don't drink every day (anymore, I did when I was a SAHM). But I do have trouble stopping once I start, and I think about alcohol more than I should. I black out easily, after 2 or 3 drinks. And I regret much of what I say and do after drinking. All fights with my husband occur when I've had something to drink, and all self-loathing comes during a hangover.

I haven't been able to quit completely, but I'm working on it. To echo what many others have said - don't be consumed by trying to label yourself or define the extent to which you have a problem. If drinking is in anyway affecting your life negatively, you most likely are in the beginning stages of wanting to change that behavior. And you're in the right place!

Tell your husband that you're conducting a little experiment and you want to see if you can abstain from alcohol for 30 days. Ask for him to be supportive (not drink in front of you, not take you out to a bar, etc.) It will be very hard to try to stop without his support. . .

Good luck - use SR. The people on this site are AMAZING.

haligh

But when you drink and blackout and flirt you are choosing alcohol over your husband. I'm not saying that to be harsh - I had the same problem. I'm in a relationship with someone I love beyond anything I ever dreamed of. My eyes are never diverted to another man when I'm sober. But then I drink, I get drunk, I blackout and I flirt. My man deserves better of me - he would never do that to me and he would have been crushed if he was aware of my behavior.

ReadyAndAble

Really? I would say I walked away from alcohol, and I would say I'm definitely an alcoholic. I guess it depends on how someone defines both "walk away" and "alcoholic." And I think it's up to ScarletRose to define those terms for herself.

artsoul

Hi scarlet!

Just wanted to add my welcome..... I'm really happy for you that you can see your drinking as "not normal." I didn't know I had a problem for a long time (well into my 30's) because I was a binge drinker and it seemed that everyone got drunk once in a while.

Over time, though, I started breaking promises I'd made to be home at a certain time, only have a few, etc... I'd feel in total control when I had that first drink, so why did I end up still wanting a drink at 3 a.m.? It's baffling, for sure.

I understand the expectations you think people might have about you being the party girl. I thought the same thing at first, but found that I actually like myself more when I'm sober. I feel freer just to be me, to be a little crazy or silly, because I'm not worried about appearing sober, getting the next drink, trying to walk/talk. Now I see how stupid people get when they're drunk and I just don't want to be that person anymore.

Glad you're here - we're all behind you, so keep going -one day at a time.:day6

Aiden

Hi Supercew, only just seen your comment. Yep thats right, I've met hundreds of Fake Alcoholics, Hard drinkers who have had a rough run and ended up in AA for one reason or another and not been qualified by anyone cause people have forgotten how its done even though its written in black and white in the book Alcoholics Anonymous. You can spot them because they are the ones who get sober put the plug in the jug and attend meetings and say well I never had to work the steps and I'm just fine. These poor suckers don't even know that they could be out partying like its 1999 instead of drinking **** poor coffee and listening to some John moan about his noisy neighbors for the sixth week running. Oh well, who needs to read the manual anyway?

Courage,

Aiden