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?

Do you drink? No
Do you smoke? No
Do you do any recreational drugs? No

Two pints of cask ale a month.
Never smoked, not one
No recreational drugs.

Do you drink? No Yes
Do you smoke? No
Do you do any recreational drugs? No

I should add my eating habits are really bad and I am over weight so I don’t get a gold star from the docs. I would love to try mounjaro but sadly not available where I am in Ireland.

As an aside (and sorry to pick you as an example!) I think this is why framing the question as 'how many units' is unhelpful. Assuming a large glass is 250ml (a large in most pubs) and the wine is a standard 12% strength, then each large glass is 3 units. If the G&Ts are free-poured (as most of the G&Ts I've had at home or at friends are) rather than strictly measured then each one could easily be 1.5 - 2 units. Very easy to think 14 drinks = 14 units when actually the reality could be more than double that.

To answer the question myself, I don't lie but I will aim to average things out if just asked to provide a weekly total with no context - some weeks I drink nothing, most I'll have half a bottle of wine, and every couple of months there'll be a week where I drink a lot more than usual (e.g. on holiday or over the festive period).

The truth

The truth- lying if you drink excessively is stupid. It's always the one bottle a day people who insist that's fine, but doctors will call them alcoholics

In my case 'How often do you drink and how much do you drink in one sitting?' would be more helpful.

I have cut my drinking to about 20 units a month, but I drink a bottle of wine spread over two nights so five units at a sitting. I think that is probably close to binge drinking.

I'd say it's usually less than 14 units but sometimes more at Christmas and on holiday. Last week I had two G&Ts on Friday (4 units), two Hugo Spritz on Saturday night (3-4 units) and two glasses of red on Sunday (4 units) about twelve units. We had family round on Saturday but mostly I only have alcohol on two days a week so it's more often <10 units.

When I worked in insurance, we did the same.

I tell the truth. I rarely drink, maybe 1/2 glasses of wine per month.

I tell the truth, I have wine every night. I easily have 15 units a week, especially if it includes a night out, but then I worry that he mentally doubles it because of the 'half it for the doctor' thing.
He told me I should be working on reducing my intake and gave me a leaflet that we both know I won't read. I'm slim, play a lot of sport, don't smoke and my visit was about peri menopause symptoms.
I do sometimes worry about it, not so much the amount I drink, but how much I enjoy it because if I do have to stop for whatever reason I know I'd find it difficult.

I didn’t drink for a few years in my early 20s because of a medical problem and when I answered the question honestly doctors would look at me with this face 🤨. But now it’s much more common for people of all ages to not drink so I’d hope they believe me

it depends what is going on in my life, I do know that i tend to drink more if I am feeling stressed and have a lot going on. Sometimes I will go for weeks without drinking any alcohol, early this year I was quite unwell and went off drink. In fact I did not have a drink for about 4 months. I used to drink loads when I was young but once I got to the age where hangovers became two days events I cut down drastically. Can't recall the last time I was asked about drinking or smoking at the doctors. I am down on my notes as a "former smoker" as I had the odd fag as a teenager and that was decades ago and it peeves me now as surely I must count as a "never smoked" now and was at far more risk from passive smoking because when I was young everyone who smoked did it everywhere, on the bus, in the cinema, in the office, and of course in pubs. I used to work as a bar maid when I was a teenager and my hair and clothes used to stink! I dread to think of what it was doing to my lungs.

I say nothing, which is true. I used to, but I realized it gives me anxiety, so there's no pleasure in it really.

Maybe the multiplication thing is true, because I doubt many people are going to say nothing if they actually drink. I really don't see the point in lying though - its confidential and your doctor can't help you if you don't tell the truth, they aren't there to judge.

No alcohol for the past 40 years. However, they know the medical reasons behind this and so they believe me.

I tell the truth which is currently around 9 units a week on average. It used to be significantly more and I told the truth then too.

I don’t blame people for lying, though. I think there’s a valid concern about how medical records could be used against people in the future.

I tell the truth. In the past, when I was a twenty-something binge-drinker, I'd tell them that. Nowadays, I average a bottle of wine per week. Some weeks two bottles, and some weeks I don't drink anything at all.

I tell the truth, 1-3 units a week

I say that I'm that unusual person who actually drinks the recommended amount of 7 units a week - one or two drinks over 2 or 3 days.

Although at times such as holidays / Christmas I do drink quite a bit more than this.

I tell the truth. I'm teetotal. I haven't drunk alcohol for about 15 years.

It's easy to tell the truth when I drink very little, how much chocolate and crisps I consume however.....

That's how I am, too. Sometimes, when my DS has found a new beer, he will give my DH a small glass and I might have a sip. That happens maybe twice a year. Other than that, I have to think as to what year I last had a drink. Not fond of beer and wine and really only like a Bloody Mary w/ olives if I drink at all. I had one back in August 2023, so I will be due sometime in 2025.

If you feel the need to lie then maybe think about why? It’s your own health 😳 it might be embarrassing but then it’s a sign that it needs sorting.

I tell the truth but like PPs I rarely drink-maybe 1-2 units a month at best.