Am I on a slippery slope towards alcoholism?

[WhatDoIDooDIoDtahW]

I’ve always liked a drink, but I don’t get absolutely hammered. If I go ‘out out’ I can get drunk, but I’ve never liked the experience of being bladdered or hangovers..

However, since buying and moving out with DP I do like the occasional wine or g&t in the evening. My issue is, since DD was born (10 weeks ago) I’ve loved loved having a glass (or two) of g&t every night.

That’s fine, I’m my opinion, but if I’m not going anywhere and DP is home, I’ll have a g&t at 2pm.. then have the occasional one until I go to bed.

So in summary. On weekdays I have a g&t or two in the evening, but on weekends I’m a ‘it’s 5pm somewhere’ type of person.

What brought me to question this is my daughter is only 10 weeks old. I didn’t drink for 4 weeks after her birth. So in 6 weeks I’ve managed to polish off 4 full size bottles of gin and one or two bottles of wine.

The bottles are lined up in my kitchen as I’ve been keeping the bottles to try and use for something creative eventually. But adding another pink gin bottle to the collection tonight made me realise just how much I’ve consumed

Does it matter as long as I’m not drunk every night?

That’s good to know. If you want to stop do because parenting is hard and as time goes on it becomes harder and harder as so many things to juggle and such a huge responsibility to have a small person completely depend on you. And for that reason you don’t want to depend on something which is harmful. Don’t normalise it.

Does it matter as long as I’m not drunk every night?

Yes. If you have gone through that much are you are free pouring rather than measuring? You don’t need to be rolling drunk to have a drink problem, but drinking this regularly can lead to ‘needing’ a drink. It sounds like you are getting through more than the 14 units a week which can, long term, increase your risk of CVD, cancers & other health problems.
I’m not judging you, I, like a lot of people, drink far too much.

What else do you have that helps you relax?

Can you not buy the 50ml mini bottles of gin they do in supermarkets?
That's one double Gin or Two singles.
Allow yourself one a night, or only buy 7 at your weekly shop.
Buy enough mini tonic cans to match.

If you finish them in 3 days then none for the rest of the week.

You need to take control of this now as leaning to alcohol when stressed is a very slippery slope

Try vaping instead? Although suspect that's not great for you either.

Agree about the puritanical vibe on MN. drinking is a part of our culture, like it or not. It's not unusual. A couple of drinks of a night is to me not a big deal. What is a big deal is whether you feel like you need it, make excuses to have it, say I won't drink tonight and then do etc etc. That way lies trouble, but it can take years before it translates into actual issues with life. So the volume isn't the point, really.

What else do you have that helps you relax?

Probably nothing. I enjoy slapping on Disney songs and singing loudly (and badly) to DD with DP while dancing around the kitchen. - but I wouldn’t say that’s relaxing, just fun and now routine while we wait for dinner to cook.

I occasionally knit (and remind myself I’m 23 not 73) - which is relaxing but I don’t really have time to sit down and knit anymore with a newborn.

But no, I don’t really have a ‘thing’ I do to relax

So have you had a drink tonight? What happens if you don’t?

I think that drinking in the aft on your own isn't great. I'd nip that in the bud. You mentioned pink gin. It's highly addictive because it just tastes like. Refreshing fruity drink. If I have it in the fridge I often crave it during the day. Perhaps get in a similar non alcoholic soft drink in for the afternoon. A couple of g&TS a night is no problem if measured correctly, as long as you're not dependent on them. I don't think that you have a problem, but you are right to consider it and cut down before it could become a problem.

Do you actually measure it out? It sounds like a LOT if you were only having one or two a night.
Not being drunk isn’t a yardstick for healthy drinking. The more you drink the higher your tolerance.
Drinking every night is unhealthy. You should have some days off.

Yes I’ve had my two tons this evening. Glass is washed and put back in the cupboard so I am done after two and haven’t been tempted to have more after that.

I understand that perhaps if I continue to drink this amount then this two could turn into three, then four ect.

I will cut back. The poster that mentioned buying the miniatures with the cans of tonic has a good idea going.

One or two a night doesn’t equal 4 bottles in 6 weeks though does it?

@Lllot5 I think that’s my point- I’m only having one or two a night, yet have 4 bottles empty. So they must be too strong.

I’m not actually sure what a single measure is, I just pour until it looks like enough

What is one bottle? A litre?

A 50ml measure is a double. 25ml is a single.

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Two gins.. not two tons! I really would be questioning myself if I was managing two tons of gin an eve

I’m off to use my little measuring thingy to find out roughly how much I’m pouring into my glass in the evening.. I’ll report back! (Interested to know how much more I’m pouring than I should now..!

I just googled how many measures you get in a bottle of gin. In a 1-litre bottle, there are 40 "shots".

So if you've had 4 bottles in 6 weeks, you've had (40 x 4 = 160); an average of 26 (160 / 4) shots a week, or almost 4 shots every day.

I think that's a lot.

I genuinely think you need to decide not to drink tomorrow and then see what happens. Don’t give it a thought = not a problem. Spend all night thinking about it and then cave and have one = problem.

My maths is AWFUL though, so there's an equal chance that you're practically teetotal....

So you’ve had 4000ml of gin over 42 days. That’s 95ml, or just under four shots, per day on average, so it seems that your two daily drinks are doubles. Only you can decide if you’re happy with this level of drinking. Personally I don’t find it particularly shocking but I think the advice is to have at least two consecutive dry days per week to allow your body some recovery. Do you find it’s having an impact on your sleep or mood?

Ok so done with water not gin(ha ha) I’m pouring roughly 70ml a glass. So 140ml an evening

It doesn’t look that much before gin glasses are enormous!

Are you using those big G&T goblet glasses? I'm sure the reason we all drink so much now is that glasses are huge. Have you seen the glasses they used to use in the 60s? Teeeeeny little things.

140ml is a medium-sized glass of wine size. So you're drinking that of gin? Every day?

And a bottle of Gordons pink gin says 70cl.

I drink far too much and will be cutting it down considerable.

What an eye opener!

A normal single gin in a bar is 25ml, you get 28 single gins in a bottle, so your measurements are way too big, so when you are thinking ‘I’ve only had 2’ you’ve probably actually had about 6. I’d use a measure to try and make your drinks weaker. I don’t think having a drink every day is a major issue, I just think it’s important to be informed of what you are actually drinking