This is great practical advice. I recently saw a sleep specialist and underwent a sleep study and was told all of this same stuff. I had been told it in the past but never really listened to it. I had to realize it was so bad off that I need to take consistent action, and be committed to it and make it a priority in my life, or things would never change. Just like my drinking issues, that, like my sleeping issues, are tied to my emotional/psychological issues. It really is all related. Our fears and anxieties contribute to our quality of sleep. We need to be committed to combatting everything that plagues us. You can do it!!

I could quit drinking tomorrow and will still be sleeping irregular hours 10 years from now - they're two different issues with me. This much I know.

But I *do* agree that if I ever want to get a normal full-time sleeping pattern, that I'd have to give up alcohol on weekends, because alcohol on weekends makes me sleep poorly. So yes, in order to live a normal life with normal sleep, my alcohol consumption must either be reduced on each occasion or stop altogether.

That said - I'm on these forums to concentrate on my drinking, not my sleeping.

After reading everyone's helpful responses here, I'm fully positive that I do have a drinking problem in some shape or form.

I realize this by seeing that I go all week without even thinking of beer. So why is it that on the weekend I drink these quantities of alcohol? It's like a jeckyl/hyde thing for me... a person who's totally normal during the week but then when there's free time on Fri/Sat I'm a person who's downing an 18-pack of liquor. It's like 2 different "me's".

I think back to all the times I've returned several cases of empty beer bottles.. I tend to wait several months to return them and by that time I'm returning 5 or 6 empty cases.. may not seem like a lot over that stretch but it's several hundred cans and bottles... all consumed within 60 days... it's too much, which means I'm drinking too much.

I can sugar-coat it all with the "only on weekends", "I don't crave it", "I'm not dependent on it" (which are all true), but the fact of the matter is that I am drinking up to 18-20 beer per weekend regardless of my excuse and I think that is too much to be drinking by myself.

I'm also thinking about my health and it kind of scares me to find out about the really bad consequences. I reckon I'm okay now, because I feel no physical problems, but if I keep up this behavior for another 10 years who knows, I might be in trouble. (I'm mid 30s).

From here, my first step will be to try and reduce the amount I'm drinking per weekend and see where this takes me.

There was a time I drank like that. Many years later I was using the same logic on a very different kind of drinking. Try not drinking for a couple of weeks and see what happens

been there done that many many times. Still do that. In the summer time especially, with my work, I'll go 3, 4, 5 weeks without a single beer and it doesn't phase me. The same will happen this coming summer. In a few weeks, I have work on consecutive weekends, which means I'll be going 3 weeks without drinking a beer. And it won't be a problem.

My concern is that when I do have 'free' weekends, that I'll most likely drink in the evenings, so long as there isn't an obligation early the next day. It's like if I drink 8 cans of Coke in one evening... I know it's too much and it's bad for me. Same with beer. There's no logical reason that I should be drinking 8 beer in one night.

I realize I'm exhibiting odd symptoms of alcoholism, but they're in me to some degree, and it's why I've began to think about it. I guess the older I get, the more I look back on... and there are literally hundreds of weekends gone by that I drank... started out in night clubs, then with the neighbors, and now on my own. The weekend pattern has never changed, not even once, but the pattern is there, so I'm taking a closer look at it.

To be honest, it's why I've always wondered if I have a problem... I'm not showing signs of dependance and the days and times I drink are restrictive and I don't have any urge to change those times... so why then am I allocating two evenings a week to do this? Sure it may not be interfering with my life in any major way, but the fact remains that I am drinking an 18 pack a weekend and I see this every time I go to the beer store and return empties. This is when I realize what I've been doing all these years. Why don't I just relax on a Friday/Saturday night, watch a bit of TV/do a few projects then go to bed?

I'm in the middle ground and yes, confused. But my deep gut instinct says there's a problem here to some degree.



...Put it this way:

if someone smokes cigarettes only on weekends... are they an addicted smoker and at risk as any other full time smoker?

update

the past two weekends in a row, I've limited my alcohol consumption to 6 beer on Friday night and 8 on Saturday night.

Anything over 8 beer for me in one night causes me to reach the 'regret' stage, where I wake up the next day and say yep, I think I drank too much again last night. Saturday nights would start after the kids are in bed (9pm or so, and go until 3-ish.)

Anyhow, the way I did this was to first tell myself that "it is 6 beer tonight and that's all". Second would be for me to open the beer case, but 6 beer in the fridge, then put away the rest of the case on the shelf.

It's worked fine, and after 6 beer, I'm tired and have no desire for any more. I'm able to say, 'well, I could drink more, but what's the point.. I'm going to feel like I'm 'medicated' instead of 'buzzed', so 6 is it'. It's worked well and the next day I feel no effects whatsoever.

As for saturday nights, I allow myself 8, using the same parameters as friday nights. It has also worked fine.

I also noticed that after the first weekend of limiting my drinking, that I felt quite a bit more happy during the week, for whatever reason. Kind of like an excitement of youth returning. I don't know why, but was it related to slowing down my drinking. Or maybe it was just a happy week. I'll know this coming week after I've limited my alcohol intake two weekends in a row.

In all honesty, it seems the difference of just 2 beer in one night seems to make quite a difference for me the next day and how I feel during the week. For example, if I drink 8 over a spread out time (6 or 7 hours), I feel fine the next day and into the week. If I guzzle those beer in 3 or 4 hours then it hits me a lot harder. So the difference between drinking say, 7 beer or 9 beer makes a huge difference on me. 7 beer and I'm good, but if I hit 9, I risk feeling more like sh*t the next day and into my work week. I wonder why just 2 drinks can be the 'teeter-totter' for me.

I'm learning to realize that fine line between drinking the first set of beer and feeling the buzz or exceeding that amount and starting to feel like I'm becoming 'medicated'. Thankfully at that medicated stage I realize that the "party" is over for the night and it's time to stop

sounds like a lot of work to me Bool - but I'm glad you feel it's working for you :)

D

try limiting the amount of alcohol consumption by putting a certain amount in the fridge and putting the rest away, like in the closet, in the garage, etc. What's ijn the fridge is what I get for the night. 6, 8 beer, whatever.

If i find that after what's in the fridge is finished that I sneak out to the shed to grab another 2, then I know I have a problem creeping in.

Because if there's 8 in the fridge, that means I told myself at the start of the night that 8 will be all for this evening- so have fun. But if i went out and brought in 2 more beer, then I broke my own rules for the night and I have a problem. I want this to work.

That sounds exhausting.. we all find our own path :)

what's exhausting about it.. going out to the shed to get more beer? :gaah

I believe Flutter was referring to all of the effort you are putting into coming up with & analyzing all of your parameters & formulas to find your particular level of drinking that you are comfortable with. I get it, I was once coming up with all sorts of formulas & theories as to my drinking (like a mad scientist), I eventually proved them all wrong by coming to the conclusion I was an alcoholic and needed to stop drinking ;-)

All of the best to you :ring

Yeah...it's just a lot of focus on alcohol. Wouldn't it be nice to not have to think about it, plan, limit? If you don't drink it at all, then you don't have to do all that. How important is it?

I'd rather plan and limit and have fun with it other than abstain altogether


just being honest.


so I want to see how well I can plan and limit and follow my guidelines of control for myself.

If I can follow them, then would it be considered responsible drinking?

Only you can answer that.

Boy, is that ever the truth, Bool. Been there, done that, and know I'm not alone. Smokers would rather smoke, junkies would rather use, and alcoholics would rather drink. But people who are able to control themselves, and stick to their limits, usually don't end up at SR. And you first came here in 2006...so do you think maybe it's time to evaluate whether that's a realistic goal?

Well A for honesty & E for effect. Drinking is affecting your sleeping patterns & how you feel afterwards (in a negative way), enough so that you decided to search, sign up & post on a sober recovery forum. I think you know that this is not good for you (18 plus beers on the weekends ;-).

I'm not exactly sure what you are looking for to be honest... us to tell you that "No. you don't have a problem... go ahead & drink a case or two every weekend!" Sorry but that is not going to happen.

We are here to support you if you want it, I do also understand how difficult it can be when you are first trying to come to terms with the idea that you may have a problem.

Keep posting & keep working on your problem. You will know when you move in the right direction of a solution.

Take care & all of the best ~ NB

Getting honest about where we are at and asking for help is a wonderful thing. Placing this question here is just that i believe, in your own words you are asking for help and guess what.... we alcoholics LOVE TO HELP. So you're in the right place. No one of us can say if you are or are not an alcoholic, that glorified decision is squarely placed on your head. If you are there is a solution to a better life, if your not... have a drink on us. Good luck!

thank you everyone. Let me play this out for a while and see where it leads me now that my concern is more in my mind.

Does not matter if you drink a 24 pack of beer or 1 beer. If you feel like you have a problem with alcohol then you have your answer.

Bool, I came from an environment where alcohol was not present at all. I started drinking once in a month during business trips. Slowly, it progressed to level that I changed my job to a city where alcohol was easily available and it became daily. As all SR friends have mentioned, alcoholic or any type of drinker, does not matter. If it causes any problem at this stage or not, even a drink once in year is a problem. The reason being Alcoholism is a progressive diseases .

Bool, Please ask this one question to yourself and answer it honestly. Did you drink 8 beers , on the very 1st day, you started drinking ? Most probably, the honest answer , will tell you the truth.

[QUOTE=Bool;3239267]If I tell myself I'm not drinking this weekend, I can do it easily. But I find it a waste of time knowing that I can do it, so I just drink it. "[QUOTE]

The problem starts here. Right now, you are finding it waste of time knowing that you can do it. But please look at it this way, all your weeks ends are getting wasted in hang over. So I were you , I would rather waste time for " not drinking " , knowing that I will have lots of time saved from having no hang overs during week ends.