Is drinking a bottle of wine four nights a week a problem?

It's heavy drinking but I drink just as much but I don't feel I need it I can go without , I only drink socially not at home never buy for the house. But so I think it's too much ? Yes of course. It's toxic to your body

Yes it’s too much regularly (on holiday once a year it’s ok). Reducing the quantity you drink each day to half a bottle would be a good start, increase your alcohol free days by one more too. Another tip with white wine or rose is to add water and ice making it a wine cordial basically - I like one of these in summer some evenings but it’s only 100ml wine (1 unit) and only one drink per evening unless we are out at the pub (where I drink beer or cider). Ideally alcohol is the equivalent of one bottle per week though most of us admit it goes higher sometimes, the key word is sometimes, it’s problem if it’s every week

Yes they would be kidding themselves that this was a ‘normal and acceptable way to relax’ - you know it isnt on a physical, mental and social level - and so does at least one person close to you who has voiced it.

You say you work and take care of your family - but do you take care of yourself - physically, emotionally, socially?

AA don’t define problematic drinking as what, when, where, how often or how much - they define it as the impact it has on the relationships close to you.

It is not physically possible to be emotionally present and attuned to nurture the close relationships of those around you when your brain is sloshing around in either a drunken state or a hungover state or preoccupied and white knuckle riding it to Thursday. So you are missing out on relationship quality and you are not even aware enough to notice that your drinking was impacting this relationship without being told directly.

What else is going on for you? What was you childhood like? Are there any unsupported ND or MH issues.

It objectively is too much from an NHS perspective and subjectively socially from the feedback you have been given.

Do you want to cut down - or does this scare or anger you?

Yes it’s a problem.

That’s so much alcohol 🤷‍♀️

YANBU. This is definitely a problem

Yes it is a problem- for your health now, for your future health.

So, if you went to a wedding or similar at the weekend, would you drink more alcohol? Or would cut back on your weekday bottles to allow for a weekend binge?

Is that a bottle per night or one bottle over four nights, are you drinking alone or sharing? If its one bottle per night, alone, I would think thats a little excessive. One or two nights or just one glass per night I could agree with. My parents liked their wine and would share a bottle a few nights a week, my husband might have a bottle on the weekend and will share it if a friend comes over. I don't like wine.

that's about 56 unitis a week depending on the alcohol content of the wine but most of them are around the 14% mark these days. Then there's the financial cost, assuming £7 a bottle, that's £28 a week. So I'd be thinking about the hit to your pocket as well as your liver.

Yes I would say that’s a drinking problem. Well if you can stop with no issues, maybe it isn’t but it’s just far far too much. One bottle to yourself in one sitting? Four nights a week?

I would be pissed as fart and fat as fuck if I drank that much wine.

Very easily done. Don't beat yourself up. Get it down bit by bit.

I would say it is a problem. Over covid I drank half that amount (half a bottle of wine 4 times a week) and looking back it definitely causes some minor health issues. I stopped and felt far better physically and emotionally.

It's a problem because that's very bad for your health. It doesn't mean you are an alcoholic unless you couldn't manage without doing that. A small glass a night, not such an issue as that would be below the recommended maximum. But ideally need 2-3 days of no alcohol a week.

One of the features of alcoholism - and of all addictions - is denial.

We tell ourselves it’s not a problem because I can still hold down a job and keep my relationship together, or because we can’t see any health effects (yet) or because we’re not as bad as THEM.

As long as someone is in denial, there is really nothing anyone else can do about it. But it’s good you asked the question,

There is technically no "safe" upper limit, alcohol is a poison
Regardless of the effect on your liver etc,you could well be over the drink drive limit,if you do a school run or commute to work. This happened to a friend,it was lunchtime, someone hit her car on a roundabout, standard breath test, she failed,was arrested and lost her licence.

This

Look up functional alcoholic.

If you haven’t reached that stage yet, you are well on the way.

LOL, who drinks a quarter of a bottle of wine?

You're drinking less than me Op, and less than a lot of people I know. I can drink 2 bottles in one sitting and do so often. I do know I have a problem though. I am fully functioning in every way and hold down a very good job.

It’s a problem from the health perspective, as has already been pointed out.

The question is: now that you know it’s a problem from the health perspective, can you cut it down to a safe level - which would be about a bottle and a half over the course of a week, with several days free of alcohol.

If you try to cut down but can’t, or if you find reasons why you don’t want or need to cut down, then it is also a problem from an alcohol dependence point of view. Which means it will persist, and probably escalate. Unless you take action, and the sooner the better.

Four bottles a week, regularly, is excessive yes.

Yes. That amount of alcohol is damaging your body and significantly increasing cardiometabolic risk.

It's definitely causing problems. They might not be visible yet, but that amount of alcohol will be causing liver damage.

It would be a problem for me, I wouldn't be able to function normally if I drank that much.

But you can function. Obviously it could still be a problem because it's bad for your health (and finances? must be costing a fair amount each week).

And someone else is concerned for you, so possibly this is a drink problem by proxy. Why are they bothered by it?

One bottle of wine each night for 4 days, or drinking through a bottle of wine over the course of 4 days?