Tolerance hasn't changed after a year of sobriety
 

So first off... one relapse day after 13 months had led into now 4 nights of drinking. I realise I can't drink normally. Many have said it and I believe it... you just need to stop completely.

However, my question is if anyone else who relapsed after a year or so found their tolerance levels were largely unaffected? I know it will depend of drinking levels.

However when I quit I'd drink a litre or 2 of wine no issue. That's was a year ago. Day 4 of relapsing, a litre of wine hardly touches the sides and in then first 3 days I drank much less.

I plan to quit and back to day 1 tomorrow but any thoughts on this?

Yikes! I've never relapsed after that long, but I'm pretty sure I'd be the same given other relapses. and what they call kindling - ever increasing. If there's no tolerance reset after drinking a certain heavy amount - which I suspect - I'll definitely be in the same boat.

A year sober is still fantastic though, you can't be too hard on yourself.

I relapsed this year after four years. I seem to remember that I picked up right where I left off. No drop in tolerance that I can recall. Thankfully once the holidays passed I was able to get back on track. I should add that when I drank for those 5 weeks, things immediately started to spiral out of control. It was not good.

In my experience, plans to quit never worked but plans to stay sober had some hope of success. Stick with us if you want to experience recovery!

I find no matter how long I go in between drinking my tolerance doesn't change. Or I just black out longer. Who knows.

I quit 2 years ago for 60 days. Quitting drinking was not my focus as I was on a juice reboot deal. I went 62 days knowing I would drink again. The first day drinking was like wow what the hell happened. I had 1 vodka an tonic, 4 beers and asked for a shot. I barley made to the door of the bar to hurl all over the parking lot. Ha I am now a "normal" drinker. NOT

By day 3 - was on a fishing trip - tolerance had returned. 15 beers and lost count of shots floating down the river. It was like I never took a break from it.

Alcoholism is a progressive disease. Even when you aren't drinking.

Nobody had gotten "better" after a long dry spell. The only reprieve is sustained sobriety. I hope you figure that out.

Why?

To me this is like getting freed from prison then being locked up again and wondering if they changed paint in the bathroom. Who cares? You're locked inside and you need to get out and that's all that really matters.

This made me laugh, but so so true.

Thanks for the answers. Well, day 1 again. Im not worried about losing the 13 months. Im not really a counter in that sense. I found quiting was best done quietly, without fanfare, no last big drinking session to 'say goodbye'to booze and give it any credit, for which is doesn't deserve.

Onwards... looking forward to getting back to clarify and feeling great on a daily basis.

I have had 50 days plus on a few occasions (never managed 100 days).

After a period of a few weeks away from booze my first night was always at about 60-70% of where I left off. Within about four days I would be back to 100%. Then scarily (of late) my tolerance would reach new levels.

As an example - in about 2015 two bottles of wine - maybe a glass more on top - would have seen me flat out in bed. Nowadays I can drink four bottles of wine in an evening with a beer or two on top. Perhaps even a spirit or two as well.

In my experience it just keeps getting worse and worse. My drinking sessions could last for 12 hours. It was miserable and lonely. I'm scared it will get even worse if I go back.

Tolerance builds up during your early drinking. You notice it takes more to get you drunk as you progress. In late stages of alcoholism, it reverses, and can do so drastically. One drink an you can be a drooling idiot. I actually got to see this in action as a bartender in my early 20s. One guy would come into the bar and order a highball. He was personable, alert, and normal. I would pour his drink and then I would move down the bar taking care of customers, by the time I came back to his end of the bar, he would be blotto, spitting, and incoherent. This may have occurred after his second drink; It was a long time ago when I was a bartender, so I don't remember exactly. I'd never seen someone lose it that fast, and I mentioned it to one of the regulars who explained he was an alcoholic. I was 22, and didn't know much about it. That was my first introduction to wet brained (final stage) alcoholism. I was shocked, not in a horrified way, but shocked in a not understanding way.

Alcoholism is progressive. It gets worse even when you have had a long stretch of sobriety. I've only been told this. I experienced it when I was drinking. It just kept getting worse. When I quit, I never drank again, so the part about getting worse during sober vacations, I've only read about. I never tested those waters.

About three months in I got the red "f it" zone and drank. I didn't have any safeguards in place then like I do now. My stomach immediately blew out on me like I was drinking pure acid. My mind was screaming for more. I ended up having to dump the rest of the bottle. I was sick for three full days afterward after consuming only three drinks.

Wow. that's insane... thanks for the message reply. I'm enjoying reading more here which is helping

About 10 years ago I stopped drinking for a year and a half. I wasn't trying to stop for good but I was in the worst physical shape I had ever been in and so I went on a big health kick. I intended to drink one day but I wasn't sure when.

The first few times I drank, I only drank a little bit but felt the effects of the booze really fast. it also made me sort of sick and woozy so I drank very little in my first 6 months. But, one night I had some old friends come into town and we hit the bar like old times and I ended up drinking the entire night and into the next day like I had never missed a beat