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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to wonder if I have a drinking problem?

22 replies

magdaboom · 02/03/2017 17:45

I am young-ish (late 20s), single and I don't have children. During the last year I started going out socially a lot more than I used to and the amount of alcohol I consume increased a lot.

I use to drink maybe a glass of wine or two a week, and I perhaps got drunk two or three times a year. Now I get drunk every single Friday. I am a lightweight so I get very drunk with 3/4 drinks and if I drink more than 4 drinks I usually end up puking.

I am worried that getting drunk once a week every week is way too much and that I am harming my health.

From your perspective, is this too much drinking? Should I make an effort to curb it down?

Thanks

OP posts:

PurpleDaisies · 02/03/2017 17:48

If you're worried about your drinking, you should cut down regardless of what anyone else thinks.

There's some information on binge drinking here...
www.drinkaware.co.uk/alcohol-facts/drinking-habits-and-behaviours/binge-drinking/

toffeeboffin · 02/03/2017 17:49

Is it just Fridays, or during the week that you drink too?

TizzyDongue · 02/03/2017 17:52

Would the 3 glasses be large glasses (meaning a bottle)?

It's not a lot per se, but a lot to have in one go. In as much as it'd have an affect on you body.

If it bothers you then maybe it'd suit you better to stop drinking all together. But put it like this, I wouldn't think you drank a lot if I lived with you - though if you couldn't manage a Friday without drinking I might think you had a problem attitude towards drink.

FlyingElbows · 02/03/2017 17:53

If you're worried then cut back. This however, op, is mumsnet where you will receive loads of replies telling you that caning 6 bottles of wine a night is perfectly ok! I'd maybe look for some outside sources to help you make your choice.

exWifebeginsat40 · 02/03/2017 17:58

consequences, innit. i quit because the consequences of my drinking were disastrous. many, many terrible things happened along the way but none of them stopped me.

are the consequences of your drinking becoming an issue? only you can say. i will say, though, that in my experience people without drink problems don't spend time worrying about whether they have a drink problem.

Timeforabiscuit · 02/03/2017 17:58

Alcohol can affect people differently, so you not feeling right drinking a quantity of alcohol is worth taking note of.

Alcohol is a metabolic poison, so your body chucking it back up again is a good indicator of not putting it in there in the first place.

If you find you're having trouble cutting back, then it might be worth having a look at the reasons why (physical symptoms, social issues) and then come up with some strategies to help. I think the penguins thread are the topic that can help.

Good luck!

ItsAllGoingToBeFine · 02/03/2017 17:59

I'd say that if you are drinking to the point of getting drunk every week then yes, you are drinking too much.

ChazsBrilliantAttitude · 02/03/2017 17:59

Even if you are within safe drinking limits that doesn't mean the amount you are drinking is right for you. If you are drinking until you are drunk every Friday how do you feel about it? How do you feel the next day? Could you go out on a Friday and not get drunk or that just what you and your friends do i.e. you've unintentionally slipped into this pattern of drinking without really intending to.

TheZeppo · 02/03/2017 18:02

Yes- come join us in the penguin huddle! I drink like you do. I don't like it and am trying to change it.

flumpybear · 02/03/2017 18:03

If it's making you sick then drink less. Perhaps have water every other round. You'll find yourself merry still which is nice .... sick is not nice for anyone
You're not an alcoholic you just need to listen to your body

Trifleorbust · 02/03/2017 18:06

You don't drink very much by 'drunk' standards, but if you feel it's excessive you should cut down.

SaucyJack · 02/03/2017 18:07

Do you even enjoy it? I love a drink, but I stick to my limits these days because I don't actually like laying on the bathroom floor choking up bile. And let's not even mention the hangovers.....

Original poster

magdaboom · 02/03/2017 18:10

"Is it just Fridays, or during the week that you drink too?"

toffee I get drunk on Fridays only, I sometimes go out for a drink during the week but I usually only have one and then I go home.

OP posts:

HakeLively · 02/03/2017 18:16

My alcohol tolerance has fallen off a cliff since I turned 30. Doesn't take a huge amount to make me puke and be debilitated the next day. Started to really seem like a waste of weekend. I still drink, pretty much every weekend (usually only Friday or Saturday now) but I'm not fussed about reaching that 'drunk' stage anymore- when I was younger that seemed to be the 'goal'

I wouldn't say you have a drinking 'problem' but it doesn't sound like it's having a good effect on you, so there's definitely room to adjust to a level that does. I.e., be merry and have a laugh but no puking! That's just not fun.

ElvishArchdruid · 02/03/2017 18:16

I think it's your own perception of the situation, it's really quite mature. Many of all ages party at the weekend, even if it's just going down the pub, they wouldn't question it, I know friends who have been like this 20+ years (legally) without question. Even on work nights with children, thanks to them crèche like services with play pits. (If that's what they're called)

If you know your limit and don't get into a state where you are vomiting weekly, I wouldn't say you have a problem. This is just my view though.

AYankinSpanx · 02/03/2017 18:26

This however, op, is mumsnet where you will receive loads of replies telling you that caning 6 bottles of wine a night is perfectly ok

I've never seen advice like this. I know you're exaggerating but I find that MN is fairly balanced and helpful with subjects like this.

Trifleorbust · 02/03/2017 18:50

This however, op, is mumsnet where you will receive loads of replies telling you that caning 6 bottles of wine a night is perfectly ok

Never seen it. If anything, I think MN as a community has a quite conservative vibe wrt alcohol. I suspect if you went to your GP and said you're worried you have a drink problem because you drink once a week, they would ask you for tips on cutting down!

ElvishArchdruid · 02/03/2017 18:53

I wish I lived MN world, maybe we could adopt a village and all live by these standards. I get berated if I have a bottle of wine over the weekend, as DH has gone through puberty at last and cut down his drinking significantly, which means my Friday bottle of wine is tutted at if it doesn't make it to Sunday.

For Valentines Day the children and I picked out some craft beers, plus an alcoholic Dandelion & Burdock, that sounded interesting. I notice the bottles have gone but can't recall seeing them opened, when purchased he had a right moan about it.

That's why I wonder is this an assertion you've come to yourself, or is it friends/relatives moaning about it, making you paranoid? Do you get a hangover? Everyone is on the 3/4 units a week malarkey, which is apparently the safe limit to consume. At 3 drinks are you cheerful but not overtly drunk? When you say drunk are we talking no recollection of the night before?

ElvishArchdruid · 02/03/2017 18:55

With Trifle maybe the answer is cut down to 3 drinks? Would you feel better with that?

MaidOfStars · 02/03/2017 18:59

Contrary to a PP, I think Mumsnet is very conservative in drinking.

I've had 3 pints tonight. Feel quite pissed, in a nice way. Haven't had alcohol since last Saturday. Will have another few pints tomorrow, then nothing until following weekend (ish).

This makes me a binge drinker. There will be clutched pearls.

MaidOfStars · 02/03/2017 19:01

OP, I think it's normal to question how much you drink. I suspect you aren't drinking enough to worry more than, say, crossing the road in a major city.

greenthings · 02/03/2017 19:42

I think if you are drinking once a week to the point of being sick and/or hungover, you are probably drinking too much on that day!

And I speak as someone who has drunk a lot more, especially in her 20s and 30s. Two hangovers a week were usual, and that meant feeling crap 2 days out of 7, which looking back seems an awful waste. Unlike some people who "breeze" through hangovers though, I hated them with a passion.

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