I know it's been done to death but........ How much alcohol do you REALLY drink? And how much to you say you do in RL?

[Bumpandkind]

Just asking as I sit with my 2 nd glass of wine and plans for more. Since DS was around 9 m, I've found old drinking habits increasing.

Lie to your doctor because life insurance companies request access to your medical records and your insurance will rocket in price.

And your doctor will assume you are being economical with the truth.

I drink 2-3 glasses a night at the weekend, used to be a bottle most nights more at the weekend. Too much I know but oh so lovely. I had to cut back, dh and I did it together. I manage it by sipping rather than gulping.

Lying to a medical professional is stupid though. How much alcohol you drink has a bearing on any diagnosis they may offer for a medical problem.

Lying to a medical professional might seem stupid but doctors are well aware that most people have no idea how much a unit of alcohol actually is so they take people's estimates with a pinch of salt.
Many people think that a medium glass of 11% wine is only one unit or that a 'home measure' of spirits is only one unit.

because life insurance companies request access to your medical records and your insurance will rocket in price.

Yes, and rightly so. By drinking heavily you are a greater risk to them. I guess you wouldn't mention any other medical issues either for fear of high life insurance premiums. They are a business, not a charity.

Life insurance is invalid if it can be proven that somebody has deliberately misled the insurance company. However, it is quite difficult to ascertain whether somebody has actually been drinking 15 units a week instead of the 10 units that they admitted to their GP. Other medical conditions are easier to ascertain and would invalidate life insurance if not mentioned when the policy is taken out.

I used to be a bit of a binge drinker before the kids. Out 2-3 nights after work drinking a bottle of wine. Now I can get a hangover after 2 glasses so I rarely drink. Sometimes i'll have a glass of wine or a cocktail on a Sat night with dinner but I just don't have the capacity to drink that I previously had

Once a week I will have probably a bottle of wine, or a few rum and cokes. Most nights I don't drink anything. Before children when I had a stressful job I used to be a regular heavy drinker - half a bottle to a bottle of wine most nights, more on the weekend. I totted up my units once and discovered I was getting through about 70 a week (as a bottle of wine contains 10, not 4 as a lot of people think!). But pregnancy and then family life straightened me out, and I'm really glad - I come from quite an alcoholic lineage and I might well have gone the same way.

Okay I'll be honest. I drink every day. Can't remember the last day I didn't have a drink - possibly the day DC2 was born. It probably averages out at a bottle of wine per day. When I go out with friends (around every couple of weeks), I probably drink 1-2 bottles. I have no issues with drinking at home, or by myself - it makes me equally happy to share a bottle with DH or a friend, or by myself with a book.

And if I'm asked? I probably halve the amount I a actually drink. I know I should drink less, yes, I do know that.

I think I probably drink too much. I don't drink Sunday to Friday but then have fri, sat and sun where we probably have a couple of bottles of beer out at our local, then a bottle of wine each at home.

It is a habit and I sometimes feel like it's too much but it's so enjoyable!
I am not tempted to drink at all in the week, don't even think about it but when Friday comes we always make sure we have some beers in.

I drink 3-4 bottles of wine a week. It seems to be Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Sometimes a Sunday if at my mums for lunch.

I recently went away with my family (12 adults) and we drank over 60 bottles of wine, 200 lagers and a load of gin in a week. It's safe to say we are a family of drinkers.

I am honest about my intake, my GP is cut from the same cloth if that helps!

When I worked in A&E 20 odd years ago, one of the first things we were taught was "double the amount anyone admits to drinking". I don't think they'd have honestly had that unwritten rule if there wasn't a good reason for it. Occasionally the truth eventually slipped out one way or the other, confirming this to be reasonably accurate.

And now I'm married to an alcoholic. The reason he got away with it for so many years was: a) fooling himself about how many units he was honestly having, and b) because on his guilt-induced sabbatical he never experienced physical withdrawal like shaking. It used to be a real pita because he'd cut a day trip short to be home by 4 so he could start drinking. It's so much better now that he's stopped pumping his body full of a depressant toxin! He's got a better working memory, more motivation and sleeps better which obviously helps everything.

I'd say to anyone justifying their excessive drinking habits: please don't think just because you can stop for a few months that it shows you're not an alcoholic. They can all do that - it's talked about in all the AA shares and is part of the self-deceit!

The other thing from a medical perspective is that it might appear from your medical check-up's that you're managing to get away with it but the body works very hard to compensate for a long long time. The damage is an undercurrent ticking away that you don't see. So please be careful kinder to your body!

And now to answer the post. I drink socially but don't get out much because I've got 2 preschoolers.

I occasionally buy those tiny single bottles and give myself a glass at home, but only when my DH is out, which is kind of ironic because now I'm the one hiding my sneaky 2 units of red wine a fortnight!

This week I've had nothing. Last week a small glass of wine. The week before nothing again. The week before around 12/13 drinks (out for meals etc). It varies loads but overall I don't drink much at all.

Btw I love the taste of lots of drinks, a nice cold beer, a g&t, chilled sauvignon blanc, pinot noir.... And I look forward to the taste. It's just that I don't want it everyday, and when I do one or two is enough for me.

Plus I get awful hangovers, even after a couple.

I quite often get the drink craving at around 4pm, probably if I had one then instead of waiting til everything is done for the night I'd drink a lot more. But often by the time it gets to that time I've lost the urge and just have a glass of water!

Because you know you drink too much and so don't need the predictable lecture from a GP. Or worse, a leaflet

Oh yes, the dreaded leaflet.

I drink 30 units a week, all drunk Friday and Saturday night, that's a bottle and a half. If I am driving the next day I won't drink the night before so last week it was 15 units on Friday night.

This time last year I was drinking 350 units a week. Yes that is not a typo.

I was recently in hospital and I was asked the question, I answered truthfully, I told her what I have written above.She said, "I have to give you a leaflet you know"

So I was given the leaflet that told me all the dangers of alcohol, how much a unit is and how to cut down.

All the things I already know.

I drink maybe four bottles of cider a month at home, usually less. If I'm going out, I'll probably have three or four drinks, but seeing as I don't go out much that's not very often, maybe once every 2-3 months.

In RL I would say that I rarely drink. TBH it makes me feel bloated if I have more than one.

A few drinks on a Friday night - either a bottle of wine or 4-5 decent sized vodkas. Nothing else through the week.

None, but if you had asked me three years ago, my answer would have been: at least half a bottle of wine a night, sometimes two or three times that, and when I went out for the evening, as much as I could possibly manage in the alloted time.

I quit when it stopped being something I did for fun and started being something I felt I needed in order to relax.

The book 'Easy Way to Conrol Alcohol' by Allan Carr helped me quit, by the way.

Never looked back. Never have a problem 'unwinding', in fact, life in general is much easier and less stressful now I don't drink.

Dh and I usually share a bottle of wine Fri Sat and sometimes Sun evening. Plus maybe one other evening I might have a little bottle of beer or something?

Rarely get drunk these days though.

Another child of an alcoholic and a heavy drinker here. I don't really drink much. I do drink slowly, socially but never to the point of 'drunk' (I'm generally 2 drinks behind everyone else!) and I rarely drink at home - maybe once every couple of a months or so. When I do, it's one long drink, g&t or whatever.

I don't lie about my alcohol consumption. Sorry, meant to say that!

About 2 glasses of red wine a week. If it's christmas then more due to parties but very little. Most of my friends drink alot more and my parents drink masses, it worries me greatly.

I have a very low tolerance for alcohol and feel horrible in the morning if I go over a glass or two. Plus,I teach little ones which I find absolutely beyond fulfilling but I could not possibly do that even slightly hung over!