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?

No, the second sentence was entirely my own and I didn’t attribute it to you! You said ‘if you are lying it’s because you drink too much’, as I have repeatedly acknowledged. I am saying that that surely means you have a drink problem… if you drink too much, you have a drink problem, and that problem is that you drink too much!

I once told the practice nurse that I drink one mug of coffee a day and she replied ‘ooh, that’s a lot of coffee!’

I mean, wtf? Nobody is going to tell the truth if they’re criticised for normal consumption.

Yes! I never claimed that you said it 🤷🏻‍♀️.

I mean drink 😁

That's weird 😁.
Perhaps she thought you said bucket?

I'm an alcohol addict who is currently in recovery.

When I was drinking, my answer was 'more than I should'.

When I stopped drinking and answered the question honestly about how much I had been drinking, I could tell they thought I was exaggerating. I really wasn't.

I think doctors are kind of programmed to disbelieve, either which way!

I don't drink because it makes me feel awful. I say No units per week, I don't drink. Only one time a snooty nurse gave me a strange look like she didn't believe me!

Much the same for me. I haven't had a drink since 7th September, for example but when I go to visit good friends for the weekend towards the end of November, will probably have a glass or two of wine with dinner.

Why lie it just makes doctors suspect that those of us who say “ I hardly drink at all, maybe birthdays and Christmas” are raging alcoholics who are lying. When i I was being medically investigated ( turned out to be gallstones) every single doctor I saw asked me, sometimes more than once, how much I drank it’s bloody annoying. A work colleague of mine suffered from pancreatitis, he spoke about getting a badge made saying NO I DON’T DRINK AT ALL because he was so annoyed about the assumption that he was an alcoholic and was in denial.

I hope they dont start asking me about coffee consumption, its more like 1 litre rather then 1 mug!

Alcohol though is just a few units over xmas and new years. Drinking to me is just something special I do at christmas.....like eat sausage rolls or cook a full roast dinner!😄

If you lie to your Dr or your lawyer, you are only fooling yourself. Only you stand to lose. Won't effect the doctor, the doctor is only asking so s/he can help you. If you don't want to be helped maybe don't waste their time and leave the slot open for someone who genuinely wants to be helped

I rarely drink the past few years, Christmas Day and NYE I have a couple of drinks and if I'm on holiday I might have the odd cocktail but that's it. For a long time before then, I wasn't a big drinker anyway, maybe once a month I'd have a few drinks. In my 20s I drank a lot, but can't be bothered with it now. I do say that to Dr's and can't say I've not been believed.

I tell the truth. But then I drink next to nothing (literally nothing most weeks).

If you are someone who lies though, why do you lie? Isn't it a little childish? I get that it's embarrassing when the doctor 'tells you off', but since the doctor can diagnose you quicker/treat you more effectively if they have all the information at hand, it seems a little self-sabotaging to lie.

I answer honestly. If I’m at the GP, I’m typically there for a health concern. If I lie, can I receive appropriate advice? If I needed to be advised not to do something, then they’re doing their job. Why lie?

The truth, which is incredibly rarely, but I do admit to what is probably classed as a binge-drinking session once or twice a year for a night out, where I might have quite a few drinks and be a bit tipsy. And then nothing really between those times. As it stands I've not had any alcohol since well before summer that I can recall. My work Xmas night out will probably involve a decent amount though!

I'm honest, I have one or two gin and tonics Friday, Saturday and Sunday night. I think that's fairly normal, really.

But that's Chinese whispers

Somebody wrote it, someone else then repeated it and before you know - IT IS THE TRUTH :)

My GP doesn't double up mine.

I drink Wayyyyyyyy too much. Seriously. Im not proud, Im not boasting , it is what it is. I did manage 12 years clean and dry but circumstances change and its my coping mechanism. GP is well aware, as is the whole team at the surgery and they support me best they can. So for me there is no point in lying to them, if I lied Id be in a worse place then I already am

The only problem being with being honest, is one of the younger GP's will put every bloody thing down to my drinking. I suffered for months loosing control of my hand, the grip would go, it went numb, constant pins and needles, she was insistent it was Peripheral neuropathy, due to my drinking - it was a ruddy compressed nerve in my neck . I saw her extremely concerned about memory loss and aniexty - drinking - was the bloody menopause

The truth, about 1-2 units every couple of months.
I might not have been as truthful if they asked how many chocolates I eat a week. 😂

Thankfully I've stayed sober and it's great being able to answer this question honestly! I imagine most big drinkers fudge it a bit, I definitely did

It annoys me that people lie and therefore my own entirely honest answers will be assumed to be half the actual total. Am I supposed to lie myself to make up for that?
Don't ask me how many crisps I get through in a week. I only have a glass of wine a couple of times a week to soak up the crisps.

I didn’t mention that my mug is equal to two double espressos at the very least. 🤣

My goodness I never knew MN was full of teetotallers!!! I am absoultely not saying whow much I drink now, Also had a physician friend tell me they double it. His best was though a woman coming into the hospital barely able to breathe ( and he's a respiratory physician) and he asked if she smoked and she was adamant she had given up. He asked when and she said "when the ambos turned up" 😂

This thread has prompted me to go on one of those alcohol unit calculators to see what I’m consuming.

It’s 70/80 units a week.

which is less than ideal, but obviously no surprise as I’m aware that I do drink regularly!

I haven’t been to a doctor in many many years, last time was for the contraceptive pill in my 20s, which didn’t agree with me at all so I stopped using it. But I think if I did have call to speak with a doctor, and they asked, I would answer truthfully.

I tell them the truth - I have 2 - 3 large measures of white wine most Saturdays, less if I have a Double measure of gin. I do use a measure for the gin as chap makes them too strong.

Wine is rarely more than half a bottle ever. I have the most pitiful alcohol tolerance and any more than that is hangover territory.

The truth.

I don't drink regularly so I don't have a weekly amount of units.

I might meet up with friends and have three glasses of wine and then not drinking for the next three months.

So I tell them generally 0% but if I were drinking this is probably what it would be.