Drinking all weekend?

I do it. I am completely professional and like butter wouldn't melt all week and then the weekend hits and I party and drink and then spend Sunday hating myself. It's no life really, and I need to sort it out. Early 30s here.

I've had two alcoholic drinks this year and will probably have a glass of wine and/or a lager on Christmas Day. So I'm not saying I'm never drinking again but feel some much better without alcohol in my life. No hangover. No stinking of stale booze the next day. Saved a fortune. So many benefits and don't feel I'm missing out at all. Would your husband join you in a dry January to see how you get on?

It is a lot. Try having a soft drink every other drink during a session.

It’s not normal or healthy. Sadly, a lot of people do it though. Get the help you need to stop completely & enjoy life booze free.

I’d say we do all do it and it’s normal. Depending on your background and class if I’m honest. If you’re a pisshead on benefits then sadly it seems worse than being a MC mum having drinks with the girls. I’ll probably get flamed for that but it’s true.

Go back and read what the OP has said. And then come back to me. @WashItTomorrow

My weekend drinking turned into week night drinking. I never drank before 18:00 during the week and very rarely at the weekends but it became a problem. Now 16 months sober. I feel fabulous, physically and mentally. I could never stop at one.

It's normal for some people to drink the amount you do, yes.

However, we don't ask if our behaviour is normal unless we're unsure about it. I'm a recovering alcoholic and I also can't just have one drink, because I can't stop at one (over 1 year sober!).

Does this mean you're an alcoholic? Not necessarily, however I would classify your drinking as 'binge drinking', which does count under an 'alcohol use disorder' spectrum.

I think we often think of people who abuse alcohol as people who drink to excess daily, but in reality it's a progressive disease and full dependency is really one of the later stages. I could certainly go all week without drinking, until one day I couldn't, however, this isn't true for everyone.

I would recommend watching Adrian Chiles documentary drinkers like me, which is on youtube, it's a documentary focused around middle aged and middle class drinkers, might give you some food for thought.

But it’s not right for her - clearly.

Is it addiction though if I don't give it a thought all week and can take it or leave it at the weekend?

But you don’t take it or leave it at the weekend. You just take it!

Is it having any negative impact?

I love a drink but then saying that on mumsnet means you are an alcoholic.

Do what’s right for you OP.

It's not completely irrelevant. If she is consuming an extra 4000 calories a week on a regular basis, then she MAY be increasing her levels of visceral fat. This could compromise her liver. And as her liver appears to be getting a battering on a fairly regular basis, she may be creating herself some problems that will be difficult to do anything about by the time she is aware of it.

My DH had a very serious drinking problem. Hospitalised twice. I thought if I shared a bottle of wine each night it would stop him drinking the whole bottle!! Hahaha.

So I was drinking almost 4 bottles a week and he was drinking the other half bottles with me.....then all the rest hidden round the house. Once I realised this I just stopped completely. This was 8 years ago. I am not even tempted now. Had a blood cancer during the 8 years and chemo put me completely off even starting again.
For your health cut down or stop. You know you are drinking too much. It can be done. Just because everyone else drinks too much, doesn't make it less dangerous to your health. Liver cancer and cirrhosis creeps up.

If it really is a litre of Baileys on top of two bottles of wine, repeated over two days, that would be (10 + 10 + 17) x2 = 74 units.

You should be listening to your body here not building up a tolerance again.

I think the fact that you are asking shows that some part of you realises that this is not good for you, whether it is normal or not is another question. The majority of people drink more units than what is recommended, although recent studies have shown that there are no benefits to drinking alcohol.
I am younger than you and have a stressful job, so used to live for the weekend, until I got bored of being hungover until Tuesday & feeling depressed after drinking.

If you can drink two bottles of wine in one sitting and repeat that the following night then you have a problem. I would be absolutely hammered after that amount of alcohol. 6 units is about my limit and even then I can end up with a hangover then next day, and I'm younger than you OP. I usually have a few on a Friday/Saturday/Sunday, I think that is fairly normal, but quantity is everything.

Completely irrelevant. Why do the weight police always have to jump onto these threads?

That’s an awful lot to have on a regular basis. I think the fact you’re asking about it here indicates you’re concerned about it. I’m in my 40s and have a glass of wine or two an evening, and I feel that’s not healthy. I gave up drinking for three months once and felt amazing, lost weight, had more time for hobbies and slept so much better. Really hard to do when your social life revolves around drinking though

How's your weight OP? Apart from being 17 units, a litre of Baileys is 3280 calories.