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AIBU?

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Original poster

AIBU To assume people tell fibs to their Dr about how much they drink?

289 replies

Diel · 26/09/2016 18:36

I went to see my GP recently and he asked how much alcohol I drink, I was about to give my usual 14 units answer but decided to tell the truth and say about 3 bottles of wine a week. GP looked horrified and told me I absolutely must stop this. This isn't news to me as I know it's more that I should drink but he then asked if it's because I can't sleep, um, no, it's because I love wine. Anyhow, surely I'm not alone? Or do people just not admit to this vice?

OP posts:
brasty · 30/09/2016 01:09

3 bottles of wine as a regular habit is far too much alcohol to drink.

BBM · 30/09/2016 02:08

Several years ago I had a general check up with GP where I was asked this. At the time I was still with my ex H and we tended to share a bottle of wine on Fridays and sometimes on Saturdays too (not always, as often up early for DS;s football training/tournaments)
I advised them that I probably averaged a maximum of 1/3 bottle, twice a week. "So I'll put you down as 30 units a week, as people always underestimate it" was the response I got.
Didn't challenge it immediately because I had thought I "knew" my levels were low......being told in a blase way that I was clearly underestimating made me doubt myself.........
I did however go back in and challenge them to prove that I was having their 30units a week, when 2 bottles of wine contain 18-20....and the majority of each was consumed by my ex......Will never forget the feeling of horror that I was apparently exceeding guidelines - or their then lecturing me on having to watch how much I actually consumed, carelessly, each week and needed to cut back!

user1474627704 · 30/09/2016 10:57

3 bottles of wine as a regular habit is far too much alcohol to drink

In YOUR opinion. In mine, its fine. And if I'm the one drinking, its my opinion that matters.

Don't fool yourself that the guidelines are based in science. They aren't.

BillSykesDog · 30/09/2016 11:34

user they are based in science. But they're not based in science for the average person. They're based in science which gives a limit based on basically the weakest healthy person. This is based on the fact that we don't know who are the individuals whose livers are going to cope poorly with alcohol so the limits are set so that even those who do have that sort of liver can drink at those levels without doing damage.

The problem is that also means that a lot of people (like you) realise that many people can drink in excess of those limits without doing damage. So they decide it's a reasonable gamble to take that they can exceed those limits. Which means those people are then effectively left without effective limits.

It's a catch 22 situation. Do you raise the limits and some people whose livers cope poorly will drink more that they can cope with but more people take them seriously? Or lower limits which are definitely safe for everybody but are so unrealisticly low many ignore them? The powers that be have decided on the latter.

You are taking a gamble that you have one of the bodies that can cope with 3 bottles a week. It's actually a gamble with very good odds you are right, but it's still a gamble.

EffieIsATrinket · 30/09/2016 12:19

There is no safe lower limit when it comes to many cancers though. In population terms the less you drink the lower your risk.

bluebellation · 30/09/2016 12:30

I recently underwent a scan and MRI of my liver as I have some benign cysts in it (genetic apparently). The heptologist asked how much I drank and when I said 20 units a week (quite an underestimate!) she didn't bat an eyelid (or advise me to cut down). I have regular liver function tests and have never had a problem.

For some people, 3 bottles of wine a week may seem a lot, but to others it's fairly normal - sharing a bottle of wine over a nice meal is one of life's pleasures, and god knows they're few and far between these days.

insan1tyscartching · 30/09/2016 12:36

Well I don't drink at all so not sure whether GP believes that I am telling the truth or not. She always asks and for the last thirty years I've replied truthfully though.

wherearemymarbles · 30/09/2016 12:49

Well, if you fill out a life insurance type form etc and put 'no' in the box where it asks if you have ever been asked by your GP to cut down on alcohol then trott off and tell your gp you drink 50 units a week be carefull you dont need to claim on it!!

But by and large gps tend to take what people tell them with a pinch of salt anyway

user1474627704 · 30/09/2016 13:31

You are taking a gamble that you have one of the bodies that can cope with 3 bottles a week. It's actually a gamble with very good odds you are right, but it's still a gamble

It's not really a gamble, its based on scientific observation. If you drink a lot for years, and your liver is just fine (and you have regular tests, for another reason, like I do, so you know this for a fact), its not a gamble. I've proven my body can handle it. I know how much I can drink, and its a lot more than the very low recommended limit.

Its not even based on limits for weak but healthy people. The actual stats don't support the guidelines. In a very large scale study (and not just one) people who drink 2-3 times the guidelines are healthier overall than people who don't drink at all. But that doesn't suit the trend, or the point of the guidelines; which is to save money, not lives.

Marynary · 30/09/2016 13:57

I think the attitude of GPs and health professionals depends to some extent on how much they drank. As the saying goes "an alcoholic is someone who drinks more than you". I remember a student doctor trying to give me a lecture about the fact that (at the time) I drank one bottle of wine a week at the weekend (over three days). She said that it was 12 units not 9 and as I had it over three days I was "binge drinking" !

Marynary · 30/09/2016 13:58

drank drink

EffieIsATrinket · 30/09/2016 14:06

In a very large scale study (and not just one) people who drink 2-3 times the guidelines are healthier overall than people who don't drink at all.

Which studies are these?

Gottagetmoving · 30/09/2016 17:05

Just because someone drinks 3 bottles a week and feels fine, it doesn't mean they will stay fine. You don't know whether your body is one that won't suffer long term damage until it happens.
If you want to drink every night, or heavily on a few nights, then that's your choice, but it is silly to claim it's harmless just because it's what you want to do.
Regular drinking can increase anxiety, which can lead to more drinking and more anxiety.
It's relaxing while you drink it but the after effects, whether you feel them or not, are there.

gottaloveascamhun · 30/09/2016 17:15

Liver function tests don't show damage until it is too late and the damage is irreversible, in a lot of cases.
I recently stopped drinking (5 weeks ago) and am intending to be sober indefinitely. There are so many positives about not drinking and the realisation that you don't need alcohol anymore is brilliant.

TaraCarter · 30/09/2016 17:22

In a very large scale study (and not just one) people who drink 2-3 times the guidelines are healthier overall than people who don't drink at all.

Guidelines as in 14 units for women and 21 for men, or as in the new guidelines of 14 for everyone? Anyway, I am very interested in what studies showed that drinking 28-63 units a week was better than not drinking! Did they include sober alcoholics with ongoing health issues in the tee-total group?!

TaraCarter · 30/09/2016 17:28

This is all I've found so far and it is highly interesting. www.medicaldaily.com/alcohol-consumption-health-benefits-moderate-drinking-flawed-science-379001

Gottagetmoving · 30/09/2016 17:41

Very few places sell wine in 125ml measures though you can ask for it. No one pours themselves 125ml measures of wine at home

True...very few places do 125 months glasses...but that is a glass of wine. A bottle has six glasses in it.
I pour 125ml at home., so it's not true that no one does.If I poured more I would drink more. That's where drinking to excess starts.

TheHubblesWindscreenWipers · 30/09/2016 17:51

n a very large scale study (and not just one) people who drink 2-3 times the guidelines are healthier overall than people who don't drink at all.

Not true. The article linked to by tara above points out a few of the reasons why this isn't the case.
There don't seem to be any benefits to alcohol per se- compounds found in red wine may have some benefits but alcohol itself doesn't.
The idea of self control (delayed gratification ability) being a powerful marker of success and health has been explored before - the marshmallow test being the classic example.

People have the right to drink as they wish, but they should be given the correct data on which to base their life choices.

EffieIsATrinket · 30/09/2016 17:57

Totally agree Hubbles especially with your last paragraph

DoYouRememberJustinBobby · 30/09/2016 18:04

My DP filled in the sign up forms for our new GP and answered the alcohol part truthfully (a couple of glasses of wine a night) and got a leaflet about the AA or something similar.

TheHubblesWindscreenWipers · 30/09/2016 18:19

I'm not teetotal btw, I just haven't had a drink for almost two years now due to health kick while ttc, horrific sickness during pregnancy and being utterly knackered with a kid who never bloody sleeps. More accident than design but it's been interesting to not drink.

Grown adults have bodily autonomy- but we do need accurate data to base our choices on. My opinion fwiw is that alcohol probably isn't very good for us. A relax with dinner/couple of glasses with friends to let your hair down/general socialisation is probably good for us - social connectedness is important. People who have self control enough to not overdo it (too often) and have a social network are likely to be healthier anyway, whether they are on wine or water. There's also a big range in how people cope metabolically with ethanol as well, just as there is with drugs and cigs. You could give a hundred people identical drink patterns and outcomes would vary. Trouble is you don't know if you're going to be auntie Mildred who knocked back sherry like it was water and lived to 98 or develop complications.
The unit limits aren't based on great science to be honest but they're the best we have. I think most people know whether they have an issue or not - whether they truly admit it is another matter.

Anyway, personal choice, but let's have correct data to base it on

HairyLittlePoet · 30/09/2016 18:44

This thread has made me go and get myself a chilled glass of wine. And I just measured out exactly 125 ml into my wine glass and it turns out my crystal glasses are that standard size. Good to know.

I think I drink less than the 14 units on average, probably anywhere between 0 and 7 drinks a week. I expect a weekly average is perhaps 8 units. Hardly ever at pubs. Occasionally drink a few more at friends house parties, perhaps 3 times a year, and drink every night usually on holidays. I absolutely cannot bear hangovers any more so always always stop when I realise I'm on the cusp of writing off the next day to feeling vom, and usually ward off the worst that way. Each year I make a batch of wild damson gin and vodka, give lots away to friends as gifts and save some for me. I'm still working my way through the last of 2014's batch. My parents are practically teetotal and probably imagine me to be a lush with such consumption.

I always assume my doctor doesn't believe me when I report this.

I have however already drunk half of my glass of wine whilst writing this post and it has already kicked in. Cheers. Wine

GoofyTheHero · 30/09/2016 19:32

I'm another one who never drinks enough to give me a hangover the next day... with 2 under 3 I couldn't cope with it. Probably still over the weekly limits though.

TaraCarter · 30/09/2016 19:41

People have the right to drink as they wish, but they should be given the correct data on which to base their life choices.

This. It drives me round the bend that recent updates of the guidelines have been greeted with heckles of "nanny state!"

A nanny state would be restricting sales of alcohol to stop people drinking 14+ units a week, not just publicising that their current research suggests that the upper limit should be 14 for women and men.

user1474627704 · 30/09/2016 22:23

Not true. The article linked to by tara above points out a few of the reasons why this isn't the case

Yes true. You can't dismiss years of expert research wih one hastily googled link.