josseh

I found in my experiences, that people knew I was drinking, but I would be drunk in mind, but it was always very good at not showing it, people used to say to me that I could drink 10 pints of lager and not be drunk, but in reality I was hammered.

Ncognito13

I was constantly drunk at work. I once argued with my boss and I was blackout drunk. How I didn't get fired blows my mind. (He gave me a raise because I demanded it)

phoebe64

When I am sober, I can smell my hsuband after 1 beer, actually while he is still drinking it, from across the room. he seem to metabolize alcohol that way very quickly. It is on his breaht or coming from his body very quickly. But, I often notice the smell on others. I do not smell it if I had been drinking as well.

So, to answer the OP question, i will guess most people knew and never said anything. There again, not every person who has had a drink, is drunk, or an alcoholic. But if I were smelling it on someone at work repeatedly, I would have a good guess.

I should qualify my answer. My mother was an alcoholic and I grew to know that smell. I knew it would be a bad afternoon or night as she would often be an angry drunk, and my parents would fight about it. I grew to hate the smell, and do to this day. I would sometimes drink with my husband, even when I was not really into it, because then, I did not notice the smell that bothered me so much. Eventually, I became an alcoholic myself.

KatieA

OMG!! I thought I was the only one to know about the garlic trick! It kind of does cover up the smell of stale alcohol. But what a disgusting cocktail.

KatieA

Also, I do think alcoholics tend to notice more than most people. We're just wired that way I guess.

hopeful4

Well, I have a super smeller after all of these years. If my AH takes a drink I can tell by the smell in an instant. I can also tell by the way he holds his hands and his speech (not slurring, just different). Now, we have been together for 16 years. This is nothing anyone else would notice. It amazes my family. I have never been wrong, not once. He mixes with Rx benzo also so that makes a different. But the smell....I don't care how much mouthwash you use, I can smell it always.

SoberLife2014

When I went to work I chewed a lot of gum, and I put on a lot of hand sanitizer. If anyone ever said they could smell alcohol I said it was because I just put on hand sanitizer. If I was shaky I said it was because my blood sugar was low. If my face was red it was because I was drinking a red bull. No one ever hinted that I smelled like alcohol from the night before. I guess it's because we were all putting on so much damn hand sanitizer (I'm a nurse). I think one co worker might have suspected that I was an alcoholic. She would joke around and say stuff like "Haha you know alcoholics get red faces". I had a patient's family member make a comment one time on an elevator that something smelled like alcohol and he looked at me funny. I think I got away with it because I have certain characteristics that make me look innocent. In fact, some people would even joke about how I was probably a goody two shoes that never drank! However, for some bizarre reason my husband didn't smell alcohol on me even after two bottles of wine! He just knew something was up.

Ethos23

I knew, and that's enough for me. I was paranoid because I knew the depravity of my drinking and how intoxicated I was. In the early days I was paranoid that others would find out, but in the end I knew and that was sobering enough for me.

Teddington

My wife used to regularly tell me I reeked of alcohol in the mornings after the night before. No one at work ever commented though... Perhaps they were just being polite.

letustrythis123

I think some people metabolize it differently. One time a friend got into the car after just having one. He was in no way a big drinker. Whole car smelled like beer. Even when I wasn't drinking up a storm, I couldn't smell it on everyone. Even when I arrived at parties those drinking did not smell bad as far as I can tell. Maybe I just have a weak sniffer. I don't think so though. I just think that some people smell and some don't.

I wrote somewhere else that I still instinctively step back when someone approached me. That happened the other day at the health club with my new trainer. Then I snapped back to reality and remembered that I didn't have to put extra space between us. I used to hold my breath very tightly if I needed to zip children's coats or if one of the kids needed homework help. Irrationally, it just made me madder when the kids needed stuff because I knew that if I got close enough they would know so that made us have even more distance.

what a big mess.

letustrythis123

I never had a red face. Almost wished I would of. Could of used the color in my face. I don't mean to sound flippant. I never got that or the patchy skin. Instead, I got the bags almost overnight. Noticed them in Late october. Seemed to pop up out of nowhere.