Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to ask how much you drink?

34 replies

Sparrowlegs248 · 03/08/2013 20:10

I think know i drink too much. Its becoming a bit lot of a habit. DH hardly drinks at all, he has the occasional bottle/can of lager. I drink wine, most nights. Recently up to a bottle a night but not every night. There are 3 nights a week that i don't drink at all but the other 4 i generally drink between 1/2 a bottle or a full bottle. I like it. But realise its not good for me. Feel a bit Blush about it really. I think DH would prefer me to cut down and we are ttc so i would stop altogether if we were sucessful. Just wondering what is normal for others?

OP posts:
sydlexic · 03/08/2013 20:18

I don't drink at all, but if I did I would stop before TTC. I think you know you are drinking too much, or you would not ask.

Doilooklikeatourist · 03/08/2013 20:20

Much the same as you .

3 nights alcohol free , weekend starts Thursday !

However I am a 50 something mother of 2 teenagers , so not TTC ing at all .

I have a month off alcohol at least once , usually twice a year ( february and September )

Overthehillmum · 03/08/2013 20:21

That's quite a lot according to my doctor!! I told her that I drank a bottle of wine on a Friday, over about 4-5 hours, but never drink sun-Thursday nights and only occasionally on a sat, which would be maybe three or four vodkas if I was out with friends, over a course of about 6 hours. Apparently I am a binge drinker and high risk! That one bottle on a Friday tars me !! I have decided to stop drinking alcohol for a while, last night was my first wine free Friday for a while!

Shellywelly1973 · 03/08/2013 20:21

I drink very rarely-Christmas & birthdays, sometimes not always.

If your ttc u need to stop drinking.

KirjavaTheCat · 03/08/2013 20:22

None at all. But I'm pregnant... Before that, perhaps a beer or two once in a blue moon, if I fancied it.

LindyHemming · 03/08/2013 20:23

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ilovepowerhoop · 03/08/2013 20:23

I tend to have up to a bottle of wine on a friday, 2 or 3 long vodkas (made with a double shot of vodka) on a Saturday and sometimes 1 of those wee bottles of fruit cider on a Sunday. I dont drink the other 4 days of the week

Fairylea · 03/08/2013 20:24

I used to drink exactly like you. Then I met dh who doesn't drink at all and I had an inkling I drink too much so I just stopped. Completely. I know others would say just cut down but for me I know I am quite addicted andone drink would always lead to another. So it had to be all or nothing. It's now been 4 years since I last drank any alcohol.

It's amazing how much better I feel for it.

Bowlersarm · 03/08/2013 20:25

DH and I are drinking most nights at the moment. We share a bottle of wine and one night a week we might have a bottle each. It's too much, and after we've been away on holiday we'll cut it back.

Normally we don't drink 3/4 nights of the week, but find we drink more in school holiday time.

If I were you, I would stop totally for 2/3 weeks, and then reintroduce it slowly to a more acceptable amount.

Binkyridesagain · 03/08/2013 20:26

Today I have had one glass of wine, if I can remember where in the house I have stored the other wine, I will probably have 2 glasses but that will be it for next couple of months at least.

If you are TTC, then I would cut down on the amount you are drinking.

SillyBlueHat · 03/08/2013 20:26

I used to drink a bottle of wine pre kids per night and thought nothing of it. Obviously I stopped when pregnant which did me the world of good. Now I drink a glass per night and could not drink an entire bottle.

YouStayClassySanDiego · 03/08/2013 20:28

I drink most nights, happily.

I'm 45 and bounce out of bed each morning suffering no ill effects. I eat well, exercise and take plenty of supplements.

I will die of something, I'll risk the drinking.

Undertone · 03/08/2013 20:28

I'm feeling guilty because i had the first drink I've had for ages last night. 3 pints of strong cider and i was all over the place! I was sick when i got home Sad Blush

Think i might give teetotal a go. Drinking is horrible, when you think about it. I'm 29!

IDontBowlOnShabbos · 03/08/2013 20:28

Oh I have an alcohol free month in February too doilook except on leap years Wink
How long have you been trying to conceive for op?

It's probably best to cut down now so it's not as hard to do so when you do become pregnant.
I probably drink too much to I'd say. Although I had no problem stopping when pregnant or bf.

Not so much now... hides Wine

WingDefence · 03/08/2013 20:28

I used to drink a fair amount but cut down completely when I started TTC two years ago for DC2. Then I got pregnant with DD and had her 4 months ago and still haven't got back into drinking much. I enjoy it now more when I have the odd glass.

This NHS link says that alcohol reduces your fertility. You'll have to cut right back or stop completely when you get pregnant and also hangovers with young children are awful so many reasons to cut back now.

(And 4 nights x a full bottle of wine is 40 units...)

Good luck.

Fairylea · 03/08/2013 20:29

Just wanted to add for me it was about recognising the fact I rewarded myself with a glass of wine once dd was in bed and I had started our dinner .. sort of like "ahhh and relax". So what I did was replaced the wine with a very cold glass of schloer initially, which tasters very slightly wine ish (the pink grape one anyway) and now I have a can of cold coke, which still feels a bit naughty as its full of crap and sugar. But I know I won't have another... and another.... !

Original poster
Sparrowlegs248 · 03/08/2013 20:30

Thank you all. I guess its become normal for me which is why i was asking what others do. Three nights i do ecercise and am home late so its not even as if i am just deciding against a glass of wine, more that i don't have time. I certainly would not drink when pregnant or with small children (am somewhat amazed at my pregnant colleague who drinks regularly)

So it can affect me ttc. Well theres a 'sobering' thought. I had no idea.

OP posts:
sparkle12mar08 · 03/08/2013 20:34

I'll have perhaps half a large glass of wine once or twice a month, or sometimes it's a large tia maria & coke or similar. There's many a week where I don't drink at all. It's just another taste, another flavour, and there's lots of other drinks I prefer - coke, cloudy lemonade, cherry cordial & fizzy water, lime & soda, coffee, hot chocolate etc. I've never, ever understood the whole drinking solely to get drunk thing, or the having, absolutely having to have an alcoholic drink.

If I'm out with friends I'll have one drink about half way through the night, and that will be it.

Original poster
Sparrowlegs248 · 03/08/2013 20:34

I don't suffer for the drinking - i'm not 'pissed' and i get up for work fine. (god i sound like i'm makibg excuses!!....) just trying to explain, i'm not drunk and sick. Just relaxed and able to sleep.

OP posts:
Original poster
Sparrowlegs248 · 03/08/2013 20:35

sparkle i always used to say i couldn't understand people who drank at home. But now i do......

OP posts:
Original poster
Sparrowlegs248 · 03/08/2013 20:37

Although thinking about it, wine drinking at home kind of coincided with stopping smoking. Never really realised that!

OP posts:
Corygal · 03/08/2013 20:37

I can't drink that much - slaughtered and silly after one large glass.

Bottle of wine lasts a fortnight.

aldiwhore · 03/08/2013 20:39

Okay.

If you're asking the question, you know you drink too much. You probably drink the same amount over a week as me.

If you're like me, you simply like alcohol and it's affects. You know that because of this you will have to control it if you're not going to fall headlong into a serious problem.

Like my friend who loves cake. She could happily eat cake all day. She has to be careful and if she can't be careful she will have to quit.

Don't let it become a problem. Cut down. Try having 4/5 nights a week that are zero alcohol... I found that cooking with alcohol (small bottle of wine so no finishing off leftovers) stopped me just being merry every night of the week, it's not a huge step from that to being wrecked and causing misery every night of the week.

Control in before you have to quit.

I have started actually saying Ahhhhhhhh and drinking tea, in my favourite cup, outside, wrapped up, enjoying the peace.

My danger time is at about 6pm... (in school holidays) if I can get to 8pm without opening wine, I feel good.

If you love booze and it's affects you HAVE to control it, because you're more likely to have it become an real problem. If you are sensible and love booze you can limit your intake so that you don't ever have to be in a situation where becoming tee total is the only option.

Saying all that I also agree with YouStayClassySanDiego I've lost non drinkers and drinkers alike to cancer and other assorted vile diseases. My super fit mother had a brain haemorrhage and survived. She never drank, smoked, ate fat, limited sugar, exercised loads. She's started drinking and loves it. Who am I to judge so long as it doesn't become your only state of being.

TTC - cut right down!!

sparkle12mar08 · 03/08/2013 20:39

And look at it this way - a bottle of wine is, what, £6-£8 easily. You could spend just half of that on some really good cordials, or unusually flavoured fizzes, and experiment. Use your favourite glass, buy some nice glass stirrers, umbrellas if you like them, sit down and savour it, really enjoy it. It isn't about the alcohol, it's about taking time for yourself, rewarding yourself with effort and attention, and that's easily done with drinks other than alcohol.

Sheshelob · 03/08/2013 20:41

I was am a complete pisshead before getting pregnant, and I got pregnant about a week after the biggest New Year's Eve of my life, aged 31. My body was less of a temple, and more of a temple of convenience.

All that said, as a fellow boozehound, I think you should listen to yourself if you think you are drinking too much. It was only when I stopped while pregnant that I realised how much energy went into drinking. I am actually far better at my job now as a sleep deprived zombie than as a constantly hungover party machine.