When a doctor asks how much you drink, what do you say?

[Sheamie]

You know the usual questions when you’re at a medical appointment- do you smoke/if yes, how heavily, do you drink/if so to what extent etc.

If you drink alcohol, how do you answer, and what does your drinking pattern actually look like?

I have always told the truth. Now I drink maybe a cocktail and a glass of wine twice months. Sometimes it’s much less.

Since hitting menopause I can’t handle much alcohol.

The truth. I usually don’t drink but will have two or three occasions in a year where it will be three or four drinks in one go.

I’ve long suspected this is what doctors do, so I always tell them about half of what I actually drink.

I tell the truth, but I barely drink. I generally say only on special occasions - I might have a drink with a meal out occasionally, or on a night out I might have a couple of ciders, but I go out so rarely it's almost nothing.

I think I last had an alcoholic drink on holiday in May?

I eat far too much though, that's my vice.

I laugh and say ‘about 4 glasses of wine a year😅’

I think most people tell the truth or thereabouts. I used to drink 1 large glass sof wine or G and T every night so said 14 units per week.
I now drink much less after 6 mi the on mounjaro . Takes away the desire to drink .

In my younger days when I drank more than was good for me but not red flag levels (20-30 units a week at different stages in my life) I told the truth, but always with the clarification that these were genuine figures, carefully counted - I wasn't counting one huge glass of wine as a single unit like I suspect a lot of patients do. I think a lot of doctors hear eg 21 units and mentally double them.

Now I drink about 5 units a month, and I tell the truth about that too.

I say 14 units a week. It may be that some weeks.
Tends to be more like 21 units.
Used to be a fair bit more.

The truth. Don't drink alcohol. I wonder whether doctors believe it when you tell them you don't!

Well obviously tell the truth

The truth. Most weeks nothing, if I go to a gig I might have a couple of pints of cider.

I tell the truth, which is that most weeks I don’t have any alcohol and then every few months I’ll have one instance with several drinks (like 2-3 glasses of wine).

This question always makes me think of Fitz from Cracker.

Dr: how much do you drink?
Fitz: a bottle
Dr: wine?
Fitz: whiskey
Dr:a week?
Fitz: a day.

I tell the truth, I don't drink at all. They never believe me but it's the truth. Yucky stuff.

Why would anyone lie?

I say the truth which is that I don't usually drink anything unless I'm on a night out, when I will binge drink. I never keep alcohol in the house or drink on my own. So how much I drink depends on how many parties I get invited to.

I say I average 2 units a week but not every week. As in truth I will drink 4-6 units on one outing and perhaps 1 glass of wine at home in a month.

The truth! Very rarely. Going out for a meal, Christmas, birthday etc. and never to excess. Uni years when I could drink to excess are a long time ago now.

Nothing

I never drink now, it makes me feel unwell

I've heard that before and it used to really irritate me (irritates me less now because I no longer drink). I used to drink not much, and would tell the truth and it would piss me off if I thought the dr didn't believe me.

I can’t remember the last time I had a drink, I know it was sometime this year but it was months ago! So I just say that I rarely drink

I tell the truth but I have heard that GPs double what you tell them as most people lie. I drink 1 small 125ml glass three nights a week, have two nights a week off, and have 2-3 glasses at weekends, so overall it's 1-1.5 bottles a week, max. But I bet she thinks I have more. Also always do dry Jan.

I told the truth before a recent operation - between one and two bottles of wine a week depending on social plans. The nurse said that was officially too much but I'd have been fine under the old rules so she wasn't worried.

The truth – I have a glass of wine or two very occasionally.

I did use to massage the figures a bit when I was more of a heavy drinker when younger tho..

I lie! I say 1 bottle of wine a week but it's more like 2-3 bottles. OOOPS