BottleBound

I am 21 and I lead a fairly normal life with a good social life and a good job. I don't know what constitutes alcoholism, but I think if I'm worried about it then I probably have a problem. For the last couple years I've been drinking alone every night. I mean every single night. I'm not getting wasted, just drinking enough to put my life out of my mind and put me to sleep. It's usually a few mixed drinks then a few beers before I am too tired. However, I've been drinking more and more in the last few months. It's like it isn't working as well anymore and I need to drink more. I don't feel like I have to drink during the day at all, but I cannot go to bed unless I drink at night. I'm worried this could be the start of something bad. Also, alcoholism runs in my family. My dad and grandfather were both severe alcoholics.

socallednormal

Sounds like a problem. First of all, a few mixed drinks plus a few beers every night of the week is quite a bit of alcohol to start with, and now you're drinking more? If you drink every night without fail, and you've been doing it more than a few weeks (2 years!) then you could already be dependent on it without even knowing it yet.

Secondly, alcohol disrupts sleep cycles, even in much lower doses than you're using. Your sleep will get worse, you will feel like you need to sleep more, and consume more alcohol, and then get even worse sleep, need more alcohol, etc.

Even if you set aside all of the other negatives of drinking so much and focus only on sleep, it's just not worth it. You could get help from a doctor for your sleep, and get improved rather than worse sleep. There might even be physical reasons why you aren't sleeping, like apnea.

BottleBound

Thank you for your response. I have struggled with insomnia since I was a little kid. I've done therapy and tried a ton a different medicines and none work.

I didn't know that what I'm drinking seemed like a lot. Frankly, I feel fairly normal even after drinking. It is the only thing I've found that let's me sleep through the night. I know it isn't healthy, but any night that I've tried not drinking I just lay awake thinking about it until I break down and give in. I have no idea what to do. I don't want to be reliant on it. I grew up with that and it's not what I want, but I don't know what to do.

GracieLou

Welcome to SR. There is a lot of support and information here. I felt normal while I drank too until I didn't.

As what to do it all starts with one day. The fact is you have to start. Read the boards and get more information. Look at different recovery methods.

It takes time but it is so worth it. Hang in there.

ippochick

hey bottle.

it might be a good start to calculate how many units of alcohol you are consuming in a night and in a week. you might be surprised at how much your drinks add up to.

welcome!

Louise82

Great idea.

This is a UK unit calculator, BottleBound, but hopefully you'll be able to use it from the States: https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/underst...nit-calculator

And welcome!

Allison10

From my personal experience thats how i started and now is a problem. RUN!!! I am on day 0.5.