To those who drink 3-4 bottles of wine per week

[prayerbeforebed]

Can you cope with everyday life the next day and are you comfortable with your intake?
Is it too much ? Is your health affected ?
I find that I am using wine as a crutch since my shock split from husband and subsequent discovery of an affair.
I drink three bottle is wine per week when I did used to enjoy one . I don't want anymore but I find it completely relaxed me and gives me a little buzz of happiness in anitherwise difficult time.
I don't want to ruin my health but I feel a bit guilt.
Thanks

As I know from my DB, gradually this will depress you more as alcohol has a depressant affect. How about getting some of the minor half bottles of wine, or diluting with fizzy water until your tolerance gradually reduces?

• mini or half bottles

@lilgreen I dont. I love the taste of red wine and wish there was a non alcoholic version that tasted as good.

Everyone drinks alcohol to change the way you feel. Otherwise we’d all be drinking squash.

So true! If you think of the faces everyone pulls when they first try alcohol, we train ourselves to like it.

@karencantobe

That's the problem, isn't it, I love the taste of a fruity white, I can drink it like water!

Non drinkers don’t live as long as moderate drinkers! Just throwing that out there.

Yes but there's some suggestion that this is because there are more moderate drinkers in the wealthier income brackets, which means that other aspects of their lives may be responsible for their longer lives.

Haven’t read all the thread, but OP is describing addictive behaviour. Dealing with the underlying issues would be beneficial, so that it becomes less of a crutch, and more of an occasional treat. It’s so easy to slip into what doesn’t seem an excess at the time, but a whole lot harder coming to terms with the need to cut back.

Good wishes for getting through a difficult period.

I drink that much. I am not 'hungover' the next day or 'tired'. But I know I drink to much and I admit I use it as a crutch. But I dont want to stop. It's hard I do t have an answer just letting you know

I agree with you @lazylinguist about threads like these. There are lots of defensive comments on here. I don’t drink because it doesn’t suit me any more. I couldn’t give a rat’s arse what anyone on here does, to be brutally honest.

I do find it interesting though.

anaheimlighthouse.com/blog/7-signs-of-alcoholic-denial/

*I don't feel dependent but I look forward so much to sitting down enjoying the feelings that come with it . The release, the relaxation, the happy buzzy feeling .

You see, it's not even the amount, but THIS is the problem.*

Why is THIS the problem? I haven't touched alcohol in years (my children are very small) but when I did occasionally drink, of course I enjoyed it and looked forward to it if I planned on drinking. Nowadays I really look forward to a relaxing cup of coffee once my kids are in bed. The feeling, the relaxation... and that does not mean I have a caffeine problem.

Bold fail, obviously.

PLEASE ffs consider this. Alcohol is a depressant. The OP has had a shitty time yes. A bottle here and then to numb the shock etc I get. But habitual necking of many bottles will only worsen her depression and ability to bounce back as a person. Alcohol isolates people....the illness of alcoholism thrives on isolation, this will not help her.

It's a neurological depressant, which isn't the same thing as depressing your mood. This article is useful in clarifying the difference. It can and does alter mood, yes, but it doesn't suddenly tip you into depression.

Do you mean three bottles a day? How could you be hungover from three a week. That's like a glass and a bit a day.

Fwiw I have about half a bottle to a bottle 4-5 nights a week but I only drink spritzers. I never feel hungover. If have to drink over a bottle to feel hungover.

Wouldn’t be a problem for me. I drink half a bottle a night most nights. Maybe 6/7 so 3 bottles a week. I enjoy it and it relaxes me and I never feel rough the next day. Expensive hobby though!

Try watering it down with soda water/ lemonade.

Use a smaller glass.

Keep the bottle in another room so you have to get up to refill.

Don’t buy it with the supermarket shop.

Never buy more than one bottle at a time.

I think "guidelines" set regarding units of alcohol are unrealistic and need to be adjusted for size/weight, general health, etc.

When I started university, I drank nearly every night. Mostly beer with the occasional shot. When I graduated and started my career, I was drinking at least a bottle of wine each night. After a while of that, I realized it wasn't doing me any good, and I stopped drinking during the week. I have at least a bottle of wine a night on Fri/Sat/Sun, but all of my blood tests are sickeningly normal. My life is high-stress, and this helps me balance.

Just last year, I had to put my lovely cat to sleep on a Tuesday, and I didn't touch a drop until Friday (similar situations with past cats/crises led me straight to the corkscrew). Quite honestly, some people just handle alcohol better than others (I mean, look at Keith Richards with all his years of drink/drugs/cigs he'll outlive us all!). I'm by no means a health nut love cheeseburgers and steak -- but I drink a lot of ice water, no soda, no artificial sweeteners, never smoked anything (though I now enjoy a tasty edible from Colorado every now and then, if you know what I mean). My doctor calls my cholesterol levels perfect, so maybe I'm a good example of The French Paradox!

Different strokes for different folks. Have a lovely weekend, everyone!

It's interesting. I'm on a thread for insomniacs and now that z-drugs are practically banned and HRT getting harder and harder to get hold of, a couple of posters have mentioned they are using increasing levels of alcohol to get to sleep or know people who have. I think using alcohol as a coping mechanism to deal with actual conditions that are not being diagnosed or fobbed off by HCPs is way more common than most people think.

I was drinking up to a bottle most nights and felt that I was on a slippery slope. I have since cut it right back and only drink on social occasions when I still find it hard to have another glass once I've had one so am glad I got on top of it.

I found a lot of help here on MN where there was a wittily named and long running thread which was full of good tips and support. If the name comes to me I'll update but can't remember it right now. Someone else will I'm sure. You know you need to jump on this.

I drink quite a lot - more since a close bereavement
It’s difficult - I choose to drink rather than need to - ie can stop if I want to without any problems
It has no impact on my day to day life other than I’m very slowly gaining weight
For that reason alone I will be doing a dry February and then from March weekend and social occasions only

@PatellarTendonitis
For a time I worked with women with substance misuse issues, from alcohol to hard drugs. In the majority of cases many of them had been to the GP when they initially were trying to deal with trauma of some kind and weren’t put on anything that was “too addictive”. Logical to a degree but I question which is worse. An addiction to say Valium or an addiction to heroin? A phrase often used in my write ups at the time was “self medicating”. I personally think there’s an argument for prescribing drugs that would actually help people with a proper plan at the beginning for a later gradual withdrawal. GP’s won’t prescribe anything now. I went to them when I was raped begging for sleeping tablets just for a week or two so I could get some sleep and feel stronger. I was refused. Unsurprisingly at that time my alcohol use shot up. I got it back down somewhat over time but I still drink most nights as you can see from my posts on this thread. Women (probably men too) are fobbed off and expected to just “cope” with whatever life throws at them but sometimes we can’t cope. Unless you can afford to go private, waiting lists for any kind of counselling/therapy are months long. Treatment for things like insomnia are non existent. Some people are strong enough to deal with it, but not everyone can. So what do you do in that situation?

I have been drinking a lot more over the past year. This week I had awful stomach pains (couldn't move about properly or eat a meal, let alone drink alcohol) and after examining me the doctor asked about foods, alcohol etc. He thinks I have gastritis / duodenitis caused by the alcohol. So yes, I am now cutting back massively.

GP’s won’t prescribe anything now.

Except for ADs, mirtazapine seems really popular now, despite the fact it's a known appetite stimulant. Even private, getting hold of sleeping pills is almost impossible. Some on that thread are indeed self-medicating and a couple use cannabis (one is in a country where it's legal). I'm actually considering it myself, tbh. But hey, at least they're not prescribing 'addictive' substances. My guess is the next 'target' of the NHS-don't-prescribe campaign will be those on long-term ADs.

And yy, therapy, it's not often available unless it's private and doesn't always work for everyone.

Sadly, I've got some friends who have chronic pain issues who are now using street drugs due to the new prescribing restrictions.

I went to them when I was raped begging for sleeping tablets just for a week or two so I could get some sleep and feel stronger. I was refused.

I'm so sorry. That's shit.

Ah yes. Mirtazapine. That’s what they gave me. I went from 10 stone to 14 stone in the space of about 3 months! 2 years later I am slowly getting back down. Just over 12 stone now. But I barely eat anymore. To the point I could probably win an MN competitive under eating thread

It’s interesting you say about the pain. I also have quite chronic pain, I have even considered whether I have something like fibromyalgia. But again I know it’s something you can’t really get any help with. And I do think that’s a part of why I drink a bit each evening. If I drink my muscles and joints don’t hurt as much.

And thank you for the flowers. I’m ok now in that I can put it in the past so to speak. I think I will be forever changed by what happened but it doesn’t rule my life now.