When does physical/chemical alcohol addiction start?
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2020
Posts: 29
When does physical/chemical alcohol addiction start?
I'm currently on a drinking spree. I've never ever drank so many days in a consecutive order than I did last July.
Since beginning of 2019 I rigorously keep track of my daily alcohol consumption and sum up all consumed alcohol on the last day of each month. Since I kept track, most months since 2019 used to be between total alcohol consumption of 50 – 75 beers (0.5l quantity).
I almost 100% only drink beer (~ 5% alcohol). I hate spirits, but I learned through this forum that alcohol is alcohol and it doesn't matter what you drink, it's all the same, right?
Usually I stayed sober for 2-3 days a week and drank on the remaining 4-5 days. In between I also experienced several periods of months of complete sobriety. Unfortunately I always relapsed eventually.
Since June and especially July it seems to get out of control. In July I consumed 106 beers in total and 25 out of 31 days I consumed alcohol. This is a new record, I never drank so much alcohol in so many consecutive days. It still continues now in August.
What especially frightens me is the high percentage of days I drank. I come home from work, get in front of the laptop and just get such a high desire to drink beer. It's so hard to resist. Mentally I'm definitely addicted already.
I'm worried that I'm also getting a physical/chemical addiction to it. I'm wondering when the actual chemical addiction starts?
On the few days I didn't consume I didn't feel any physical withdrawal yet (like shaking hands that many alcoholics experience), but I would like to know how many days (approximately) you have to consume alcohol to start getting chemically/physically addicted?
Is there a number? Are 106 beers a month a lot or how would you define that number risk-wise? Am I already chemically dependant or is it still not too late to stop on my own?
Thank you for every advice!
Since beginning of 2019 I rigorously keep track of my daily alcohol consumption and sum up all consumed alcohol on the last day of each month. Since I kept track, most months since 2019 used to be between total alcohol consumption of 50 – 75 beers (0.5l quantity).
I almost 100% only drink beer (~ 5% alcohol). I hate spirits, but I learned through this forum that alcohol is alcohol and it doesn't matter what you drink, it's all the same, right?
Usually I stayed sober for 2-3 days a week and drank on the remaining 4-5 days. In between I also experienced several periods of months of complete sobriety. Unfortunately I always relapsed eventually.
Since June and especially July it seems to get out of control. In July I consumed 106 beers in total and 25 out of 31 days I consumed alcohol. This is a new record, I never drank so much alcohol in so many consecutive days. It still continues now in August.
What especially frightens me is the high percentage of days I drank. I come home from work, get in front of the laptop and just get such a high desire to drink beer. It's so hard to resist. Mentally I'm definitely addicted already.
I'm worried that I'm also getting a physical/chemical addiction to it. I'm wondering when the actual chemical addiction starts?
On the few days I didn't consume I didn't feel any physical withdrawal yet (like shaking hands that many alcoholics experience), but I would like to know how many days (approximately) you have to consume alcohol to start getting chemically/physically addicted?
Is there a number? Are 106 beers a month a lot or how would you define that number risk-wise? Am I already chemically dependant or is it still not too late to stop on my own?
Thank you for every advice!
Member
Join Date: Jun 2017
Location: Alabama
Posts: 1,301
Good that you are aware. before I quit, or should I say before I got pancreatitis I was drinking probably about 15-18 light beers a day. About 5-6 days a week. Occasionally mix in a wine night or bourbon night. So what's that? Conservatively about 300+ drinks a month? I'd say you are drinking too much. And after drinking every day you might experience some withdrawal. Everybody's body is different.
You are here talking about it and obviously worried about it. Keeping track has to be tedious. Why not just stop. Its a dead end road my friend.
You are here talking about it and obviously worried about it. Keeping track has to be tedious. Why not just stop. Its a dead end road my friend.
Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 211,609
I think it's different for everyone.
John Hopkins provides a fairly useful framework.
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/heal...%20an%20effect
Its good to remember tho that even when someone might not yet be physically dependent, they can be psychologically dependent, and that alcoholism - bringing permanent changes to the body and mind - probably has started before any symptoms are noticed.
D
John Hopkins provides a fairly useful framework.
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/heal...%20an%20effect
Its good to remember tho that even when someone might not yet be physically dependent, they can be psychologically dependent, and that alcoholism - bringing permanent changes to the body and mind - probably has started before any symptoms are noticed.
D
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Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Sonoran Desert & Southeast Asia
Posts: 6,561
I read some of your previous posts, cerd2000. I can really relate, although I am older than you by a couple decades at least. Please quit now while you can - the social isolation is a killer, especially as we get older. I did the same to a large degree, although I dated a lot after my divorce in my late 30's. But it gets much harder to find quality partners as we get older, and as long as we keep drinking it leads to bad relationships or no relationships. Ultimately you have to remove the substance first. This is the only way. Then work on getting healthy, and the rest will come along.
I tracked my drinks also and drank about 90-100 craft beers or glasses of wine per month at one point and it was affecting my health. That quantity is now well above safe consumption guidelines. You aren't drinking all day but I would say you're in the danger zone. It is a progressive disease, as you can see, and will get worse, possibly quite rapidly. What generally happens next is a morning drink, to relieve the hangover, and at that point you will be in big trouble. Please stop while you can, and the withdrawal is not too severe.
I tracked my drinks also and drank about 90-100 craft beers or glasses of wine per month at one point and it was affecting my health. That quantity is now well above safe consumption guidelines. You aren't drinking all day but I would say you're in the danger zone. It is a progressive disease, as you can see, and will get worse, possibly quite rapidly. What generally happens next is a morning drink, to relieve the hangover, and at that point you will be in big trouble. Please stop while you can, and the withdrawal is not too severe.
Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Oxnard (The Nard), CA, USA.
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If you're wondering if you have a problem with alcohol, sober up and see if life gets better as it has for me
Consider sticking around here at SR while you get sober.
Consider sticking around here at SR while you get sober.
Member
Join Date: May 2022
Location: California
Posts: 355
I was a light beer drinker too. Only on occasions, then only on the weekends, then everyday after chores, then when my eyes popped open in the morning until I passed out. It took 20 something years, but I eventually became dependent and could not fathom life without beer. I cut back, I quit, and.........I always went back to drinking beer. I had liver pain, hypertension, pre-diabeties et cetera, et cetera. Hangovers would last all day, if not into the next day. But I knew how to cure it; drink more beer. Drinking more beer lead me to losing my wife, my daughter and my job at the family business. Believe us when we say, "it get's worse", "never better".
Member
Join Date: May 2019
Location: UK
Posts: 3,988
Like Farrier, I’d say I was a “light” drinker. I’ve learned not to give any specific figures as other people can latch on to such data and use it to justify their own drinking. However, I was without a doubt dependent on alcohol every evening. If I didn’t drink (rarely), I missed it like crazy, got fidgety and wouldn’t be able to sleep. Someone on another forum whose spouse died of liver disease from drinking tried to shoot me down for drinking “so little”. Absurd. It was controlling my life, and when I finally quit I got my life back.
Cerd, I’m afraid to say you have a problem with alcohol. Maybe read some of the success stories on here. You’ve reached the stage where alcohol isn’t an occasional pleasure anymore and never will be again for you.
Cerd, I’m afraid to say you have a problem with alcohol. Maybe read some of the success stories on here. You’ve reached the stage where alcohol isn’t an occasional pleasure anymore and never will be again for you.
Member
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 8,666
Originally Posted by cerd2000 
I'm currently on a drinking spree. I've never ever drank so many days in a consecutive order than I did last July.
Since beginning of 2019 I rigorously keep track of my daily alcohol consumption and sum up all consumed alcohol on the last day of each month. Since I kept track, most months since 2019 used to be between total alcohol consumption of 50 – 75 beers (0.5l quantity).
I almost 100% only drink beer (~ 5% alcohol). I hate spirits, but I learned through this forum that alcohol is alcohol and it doesn't matter what you drink, it's all the same, right?
Usually I stayed sober for 2-3 days a week and drank on the remaining 4-5 days. In between I also experienced several periods of months of complete sobriety. Unfortunately I always relapsed eventually.
Since June and especially July it seems to get out of control. In July I consumed 106 beers in total and 25 out of 31 days I consumed alcohol. This is a new record, I never drank so much alcohol in so many consecutive days. It still continues now in August.
What especially frightens me is the high percentage of days I drank. I come home from work, get in front of the laptop and just get such a high desire to drink beer. It's so hard to resist. Mentally I'm definitely addicted already.
I'm worried that I'm also getting a physical/chemical addiction to it. I'm wondering when the actual chemical addiction starts?
On the few days I didn't consume I didn't feel any physical withdrawal yet (like shaking hands that many alcoholics experience), but I would like to know how many days (approximately) you have to consume alcohol to start getting chemically/physically addicted?
Is there a number? Are 106 beers a month a lot or how would you define that number risk-wise? Am I already chemically dependant or is it still not too late to stop on my own?
Thank you for every advice!
Since beginning of 2019 I rigorously keep track of my daily alcohol consumption and sum up all consumed alcohol on the last day of each month. Since I kept track, most months since 2019 used to be between total alcohol consumption of 50 – 75 beers (0.5l quantity).
I almost 100% only drink beer (~ 5% alcohol). I hate spirits, but I learned through this forum that alcohol is alcohol and it doesn't matter what you drink, it's all the same, right?
Usually I stayed sober for 2-3 days a week and drank on the remaining 4-5 days. In between I also experienced several periods of months of complete sobriety. Unfortunately I always relapsed eventually.
Since June and especially July it seems to get out of control. In July I consumed 106 beers in total and 25 out of 31 days I consumed alcohol. This is a new record, I never drank so much alcohol in so many consecutive days. It still continues now in August.
What especially frightens me is the high percentage of days I drank. I come home from work, get in front of the laptop and just get such a high desire to drink beer. It's so hard to resist. Mentally I'm definitely addicted already.
I'm worried that I'm also getting a physical/chemical addiction to it. I'm wondering when the actual chemical addiction starts?
On the few days I didn't consume I didn't feel any physical withdrawal yet (like shaking hands that many alcoholics experience), but I would like to know how many days (approximately) you have to consume alcohol to start getting chemically/physically addicted?
Is there a number? Are 106 beers a month a lot or how would you define that number risk-wise? Am I already chemically dependant or is it still not too late to stop on my own?
Thank you for every advice!
I believe your post evidences an ‘obsession of the mind’ and a ‘craving of the body’.
it matters less when physical dependence might happen / has happened, than the degree to which alcohol is already owning you….. OWNING YOU.
I wonder what might happen if instead you sought the answer to ‘how absolutely wonderful might my life become if I embrace recovery’?
Member
Join Date: Nov 2018
Posts: 5,191
It's sneaks up on us before we know it's happening. No one knows when that happens to them. I don't know at what point I crossed the "line" and became an alcoholic. I do know that I crossed it many years before I realized what had happened. I think that's true for most of us.
Member
Join Date: Apr 2020
Location: Mid-Atlantic states
Posts: 1,042
I think we have all heard, "If you are really asking questions like this, and are on a forum for alcoholics, then......"
I will tell you that I never had many physical withdrawals but I was drinking a scary amount of alcohol. It definitely was affecting me, and I am sure I was having some physical withdrawals that I didn't know about. I must have, though, because when I quit I felt so much physically better that it HAD to be affecting myself negatively. Also, if it had not, it was about to happen.
My best advice is to stop now, even for thirty days. Take notes as meticulously as you have counting the beers. I think you will see a true difference.
Life is so much better when we finally decide to just stop the madness and get off of the wheel of drinking and the constant negative feedback loop that is the very essence of drinking obsessively/alcoholically/however you want to say it.
Good luck to you and just give it a try. I think you are very brave in your honesty and you seem bright. Give yourself some peace and love and try to stop and you will be glad you did.
I will tell you that I never had many physical withdrawals but I was drinking a scary amount of alcohol. It definitely was affecting me, and I am sure I was having some physical withdrawals that I didn't know about. I must have, though, because when I quit I felt so much physically better that it HAD to be affecting myself negatively. Also, if it had not, it was about to happen.
My best advice is to stop now, even for thirty days. Take notes as meticulously as you have counting the beers. I think you will see a true difference.
Life is so much better when we finally decide to just stop the madness and get off of the wheel of drinking and the constant negative feedback loop that is the very essence of drinking obsessively/alcoholically/however you want to say it.
Good luck to you and just give it a try. I think you are very brave in your honesty and you seem bright. Give yourself some peace and love and try to stop and you will be glad you did.
The Dog
Join Date: Apr 2023
Location: Fly over state USA
Posts: 5,488
I agree with others, if you are starting to be concerned about your alcohol intake then quit now. I wish I had quit when I began to be concerned because it would have been a lot easier then. The more times you think of quitting and decide you don't need to makes that urge to drink get stronger. I "quit" last spring and then talked myself into thinking all I really needed to do was cut back with the help of a friend of course. Within a matter of weeks I was back to 2-3 bottles a week. Then on the 4th of July weekend I was pretty much plastered the whole weekend. Moderation does not work whether you are drinking whole bottles of whiskey or cases of beer. If the whiskey is there I am going to drink it all. You sound like if the beer is there you are going to drink it all. It is time to quit. Today is day 28 for me.
saoutchik
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: London
Posts: 16,247
Hi cerd.
It's difficult to answer your question with precision because there are degrees of chemical addiction and because there is invariably a psychological component too.
The thing is, according to medical advice you are drinking too much and too your credit, you realise you are drinking too much. My impression (or my guess) is that you are right at the point where you might be able to pull things back to the point where you can drink a safe amount - or you might not.
I would suggest quitting for a minimum of 4 months (preferably 6) and maybe you can reset. I only say that because your drinking is not at the level mine and others here was at before quitting. For most of us that was not an option and I have not heard of many moderation successes, if any. You may well want to carry on not drinking after that much time.
If that doesn't work and you do have to quit permanently don't worry, there are no downsides and some unexpected upsides. Good luck.
It's difficult to answer your question with precision because there are degrees of chemical addiction and because there is invariably a psychological component too.
The thing is, according to medical advice you are drinking too much and too your credit, you realise you are drinking too much. My impression (or my guess) is that you are right at the point where you might be able to pull things back to the point where you can drink a safe amount - or you might not.
I would suggest quitting for a minimum of 4 months (preferably 6) and maybe you can reset. I only say that because your drinking is not at the level mine and others here was at before quitting. For most of us that was not an option and I have not heard of many moderation successes, if any. You may well want to carry on not drinking after that much time.
If that doesn't work and you do have to quit permanently don't worry, there are no downsides and some unexpected upsides. Good luck.
Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 211,609
I had a look at your past threads back to the first one in 2020 Cerd and I think, if you go back and read them, you’ll agree there’s been a longtime pattern of thinking it might be best to quit, or even just cut down…and not being able to do so for any real stretch of time.
Regardless of whether there’s physical factors or psychological ones at play I think you’re at a crossroads right now.
I found life, and my physical and mental health, a lot easier with total abstinence.
D
Regardless of whether there’s physical factors or psychological ones at play I think you’re at a crossroads right now.
I found life, and my physical and mental health, a lot easier with total abstinence.
D
Member
Join Date: Dec 2020
Posts: 2,662
HI Cerd
Your post reminds me of how my mind has been working the last few weeks. How much should I drink, what type, what time shall i start, stop, what time. I'm so tired of the counting and the constant thoughts of it. Taking it totally off the table seems an easier amd less tiring option.
Your post reminds me of how my mind has been working the last few weeks. How much should I drink, what type, what time shall i start, stop, what time. I'm so tired of the counting and the constant thoughts of it. Taking it totally off the table seems an easier amd less tiring option.
Member
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: New York, New York
Posts: 601
Cerd, all the replies here are on point and very helpful. But this wisdom will not help you if you don’t accept it. My advice, as a man who drank more & drank more often, slowly but surely, year after year, ending with drinking from the moment I woke until the moment I passed out, all day every day is read advbike’s post over & over again and educate yourself here about how to stop this awful trip you are on which will end very badly. Once you start to live a sober life the encouragement & support here will keep you going and you will be amazed how you turned your life around. I hope to see you here.
Member
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: New England
Posts: 4,481
Cerd- many of us stopped on our own, don't let the concern for needing medical attention or advice stop you- I let that happen to me for a very long time. The longer you wait, the harder it will go for you- or not- everyone is different. We can't tell you what's too much (I think any drinks are too much, but that's just what I've learned) but no one comes here trying to drink MORE. The goal is not to drink- at all. The time is now- before more years are gone (again, my experience.) Let me say this- it took me years to decide it was time to get serious and stop, but once I did, it took almost no time to see this was the only way to live an authentic, healthy life.
Member
Join Date: Oct 2019
Posts: 750
Quite a substantial portion of alcoholics do not get physical withdrawal. The chemical dependence can be dangerous but its something that can be fixed in days. So an alcoholic gets past the chemical dependence, now what? Now comes the hard part. Now comes cunning, baffling, and powerful.
Any alcoholic that is chemically dependent was an alcoholic long before they were chemically dependent. I was probably born alcoholic.
My understanding of what makes someone alcoholic has nothing to do with chemical dependence. Its an allergy to alcohol combined with an obsession to drink it.
Once I start drinking I can't control how much I will drink or how I will behave. Maybe it will only be a few beers but that's not up to me. Its is never 1 or 2. Being stuck with one or two or even knowing there will be a 6 pack or less remaining sounds like the plot to a horror film for me. I would never get myself in a situation where I could only just start drinking and be stuck with no more alcohol. Once I start I have to have more!
Knowing the way we respond physically to alcohol and still wanting to drink is insanity. People with food allergies just avoid what they are allergic to. The alcoholic has a mental obsession to consume what they know is harming or even killing them.
If it was just the physical allergy we could just instantly stop drinking with no effort. If it was just the obsession we could just have 2 and stop.
Any alcoholic that is chemically dependent was an alcoholic long before they were chemically dependent. I was probably born alcoholic.
My understanding of what makes someone alcoholic has nothing to do with chemical dependence. Its an allergy to alcohol combined with an obsession to drink it.
Once I start drinking I can't control how much I will drink or how I will behave. Maybe it will only be a few beers but that's not up to me. Its is never 1 or 2. Being stuck with one or two or even knowing there will be a 6 pack or less remaining sounds like the plot to a horror film for me. I would never get myself in a situation where I could only just start drinking and be stuck with no more alcohol. Once I start I have to have more!
Knowing the way we respond physically to alcohol and still wanting to drink is insanity. People with food allergies just avoid what they are allergic to. The alcoholic has a mental obsession to consume what they know is harming or even killing them.
If it was just the physical allergy we could just instantly stop drinking with no effort. If it was just the obsession we could just have 2 and stop.
Member
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: NC
Posts: 1,737
The only way to definitively know when it starts is to find yourself in active addiction. Normal drinkers don't mathematically monitor their intake or work to control their drinking. An alcoholic like me might ask how much longer they can drink before it's too late, but that was just the beginning of the rationalization and conjuring whatever BS I felt sufficient to justify continued drinking. I saw ever greater warning signs and ignored every last one. That's the nature of addiction, it's a disease that convinces you that you don't have it.
If you find it difficult to stop now, recognize that for what it is: you're either on the path to being addicted, or addicted. The truth is, it doesn't matter where you stand relative to that invisible line that demarks physical addiction. The only question is how much further you choose to go before you stop it or it stops you.
If you find it difficult to stop now, recognize that for what it is: you're either on the path to being addicted, or addicted. The truth is, it doesn't matter where you stand relative to that invisible line that demarks physical addiction. The only question is how much further you choose to go before you stop it or it stops you.
Member
Join Date: Mar 2017
Posts: 349
Cerd,
I can’t look back on my drinking and pinpoint the tipping points from casual drinking to dependence to addiction. I just know that it was a long, steady slide over years. The pattern (drinking more and more often) was unmistakable.
Drinking is ritualistic for many, and it was for me. Same beverage, same glass, same pattern every evening after work. Aside from the concerns of addiction, recognizing and changing these patterns was key once I decided to quit. I had to force myself to different activities when I would usually drink, and I had to push myself to do that for 30 days to give my brain a chance to adapt. I ate as soon as I got home (I used to drink on an empty stomach) then out for a walk. I walked miles.
If you are not ready to theow in the towelon your drinking career, tou could try shaking up patterns you see in your life. As new patterns formed for me I felt better, and so sobriety developed its own momentum.
Best, -bora
ps. Leaving drinking in the dust is still the best decision I ever made.
I can’t look back on my drinking and pinpoint the tipping points from casual drinking to dependence to addiction. I just know that it was a long, steady slide over years. The pattern (drinking more and more often) was unmistakable.
Drinking is ritualistic for many, and it was for me. Same beverage, same glass, same pattern every evening after work. Aside from the concerns of addiction, recognizing and changing these patterns was key once I decided to quit. I had to force myself to different activities when I would usually drink, and I had to push myself to do that for 30 days to give my brain a chance to adapt. I ate as soon as I got home (I used to drink on an empty stomach) then out for a walk. I walked miles.
If you are not ready to theow in the towelon your drinking career, tou could try shaking up patterns you see in your life. As new patterns formed for me I felt better, and so sobriety developed its own momentum.
Best, -bora
ps. Leaving drinking in the dust is still the best decision I ever made.
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