What exactly is a binge drinker?
 

The people with me in AA all have stories about their drinking days. It seems that most would drink for days on end, some even weeks. They would do nothing but drink. Not eat, not bathe, not go to work etc.

My drinking was a little different. I used to drink only socially, but always too much. Then, for the last 5 years or so I started drinking every day after work. 3 or 4 double whiskeys. I never drank during the day, not even weekends. I never missed work, or sport or any appointment, nor was I ever late for anything. I realised drinking like this every day will damage my health and I stopped.

My question is, drinking far too much in one go like for instance at a party, does that also qualify as binge drinking?

Careful about comparing yourself, your drinking, to others...

NIAAA defines binge drinking as a pattern of drinking that brings blood alcohol concentration (BAC) levels to 0.08 g/dL. This typically occurs after 4 drinks for women and 5 drinks for men—in about 2 hours.

For me, binge drinking was drinking a lot quickly, over a relatively short period of time. It never entailed drinking solidly for days on end or even 'just' drinking the morning after.

I was both - started as a binger, ended as an all day everyday drinking.
To me they're just different points on the same continuum.

I was a binger who drank in his spare time and stopped sometimes because of work or other responsibilities.

When those responsibilities were removed, I drank all day everyday.

D

4 or 5 double shots at any one sitting after work IS binge drinking...

getting loaded every Sunday watching football IS binge drinking...

some people binge drink every day... I used to wake up on a day off and head straight for the garage for a beer and a shot - a shot for me was a long pull on a big bottle of vodka... then ten minutes later, I get my second beer and 'shot', then ten minutes later, my third... binge drinking at its finest... I didn't 'ease my way' into the morning, I binged into it...

don't try to define it or narrow it down... OR try to downplay your own drinking style by categorizing it (this is for everyone)

It sounds like you are a binge drinker. The all day for days drinking is what I refer to as a bender.

Thank you Frickaflip. That explains it. I do not compare my drinking to others Doggonecarl, nor do I downplay my drinking Lbrain. I do not have to. I do not have to explain myself to anyone on this forum. I simply asked a question.

Yes, that would qualify as binge drinking.

I started out binging occasionally and progressed over time. I didn't reach the point of all day, every day ... but, and it's a significant but ... I believe now it's only because my body was overloaded and trying to process the alcohol, and essentially trying to keep my alive ... which meant I would binge drink one day, and spend two days recovering, or withdrawing, in some cases. Although I was able to mostly function, work, and meet deadlines (though not always), I was spending all my down time recovering from days I was drinking.

Women, too, as I'm sure you're already aware, don't process alcohol as efficiently or quickly as men do. Just a biological difference. Plus, we're smaller, or tend to be. So it's like a triple whammy there. The binge drinking itself, the size difference, and the metabolism difference. All meaning that it hurts us more, and more quickly, and can be more devastating in a sense.

I believe that is one reason I stopped in my mid-thirties. Maybe a man would've lasted longer? Who knows? I just couldn't take it any more, physically or mentally.

I agree with Dee. I think it is probably just a point on the same continuum, and that it's progressive.

And who would've thought 4-5 and more was binging? That would've been laughable to me in the throes of my active addiction. Totally laughable.

That was my ideal at first as well, after the social drinking went by the wayside. To drink after work, and also on the weekends, usually during the evenings as well. It is a bit of a tight rope, though, and it can get really bad fast if work ever stops interfering with the drinking.

It can turn into the stereotypical 'alcoholism' -- drinking earlier in the day, then in the morning, etc.

Depending on the amount, yes. Three or four double whiskeys, for example, would probably put a female drinker well into "the zone" outside of social drinking, both by measure of BAC and level of drunkenness, even with high tolerance. It is eight drinks, after all.

From what you wrote, I would say that you are fortunate. Sustained regular heavy drinking is the beginning of the end. Be happy that unlike many others, you had enough sense to stop when you did.

Darwinia, although sometimes posts seem harsh please take a moment to understand why it appears that way. All questions are valid and should be answered, of that there is no doubt. We all somewhat share the same brain, the brain of an addict so when we see posts such as yours we know where our heads are at when we would ask the same question. Are we all exactly the same? Indeed, no. However, yours is not the only post on this board that poses the same type of question and there's a reason our minds do this.

In looking at your post doesn't it appear that there's a bit of comparing going on? You start out by telling us about the people that you're in AA with and how they are and the next line says "My drinking was a little different". That does appear to be a bit of a comparison.

I'm reaching out to you right now as another person on this board who completely understands how you feel. We all do. We understand what alcohol does to our minds. It's irritating when someone steps in and posts an assumptive answer. There's a really good reason for it though. When we read a post we can almost inject ourselves into the words because we've all done or said somewhat the same thing. We know that most likely, the AV is at work. It's leading you down the "I'm not as bad as they are so maybe my problem isn't really that bad" road. A road very well traveled by all of us.

Couple that with that you were a binge drinker who moved into a daily routine with not so much binging and are now questioning if it happens once is that still considered to be a binge? There are a lot of AV flags there,

I know that Carl was giving you information out of care and concern, not finger pointing. After all, I'm sure that he has done this same thing as have I and we know what it means and what's to come.

A big virtual hug, I know that sometimes things can appear snarky but often, they aren't. They really are to help you.

This is hard to say too but I am going to stick it in here because I have come to learn this. The more mad I get about what someone posts in response to what I say the more I realize that I should really take into consideration why. It's hard to do because you want to be mad, you don't like people telling you what it is that you're really thinking. It's for a reason though all geared towards helping you and has your best interest at heart.

Perhaps that is so Ladyblue. I accept.

:V1

This is hard work Darwinia, you're doing it :)

I also was a binge drinker. After that first beer I was all in. I would get my fill and then have my ride stop and get a 6 pack on the way home. I'd have already had 8 to 10 beers. BUT, I'd be sure to leave that part out and tell everyone how I could buy a 6 pack and leave 2 in the fridge for a week. That's just how our minds like to work. You are not alone. We like to minimalize everything, especially when it comes to our drinking,

I remember those days. Waking up on Saturday or Sunday morning, and just chugging from whatever bottle of hard liquor I had at the time... no "easing" for me either back then. I look back now with disgust, but I never forget.

In many ways, episodic binge drinking can be the most catastrophic, as it causes the person to generally black out and then anything can happen. Unfortunately, there is a "binge drinking" culture among youth, that's where it started for me, only I never grew out of it like many people do when they reach their mid-20s.

If alcohol is causing problems in your life it doesn't matter about volume, frequency or pace of consumption . . . for me I drank in the evenings after work, never in the mornings or during the day.

But I knew it was time to get off the train before it crashed!!