Is one bottle of wine and some whiskey a lot?

[ChooChooCho]

Over 2 nights? Not a drinker myself but a carer for a family member who has always enjoyed one glass a night. Visiting this morning and they've definitely drank a whole bottle of wine and a third of a 1 liter bottle of whiskey, Over the the past two nights.
Over reacting to alert their main health professional, who has previously offered alcohol support if needed?

Yabu - not a huge amount, it's okay.
Yanbu - can't hurt to mention it.

@wildraisins

You could just casually mention it like "oh, I noticed you enjoyed a few drinks last night, were you celebrating something?" and see how they respond. Could be that they were just enjoying themselves.

I think as a carer you do have a responsibility/ duty of care here and should ignore people on here who are saying it's none of your business - it is. But you do have to tread lightly because the person should also have autonomy to make their own decisions. It could just be a one off, so just keep an eye on it and see if it becomes a regular thing.

If they are still drinking this heavily in two weeks' time when they only previously used to have one glass a night, then you know there's something going on and can ask about it more directly.

Absolutely this. Very reasonable

@contrmary

That sounds like a reasonable amount to be drinking. It's quite easy to get through a bottle of wine a night and a little bit of whisky is fine, so if you're saying they have half a bottle of wine and 150ml of whisky per day that's nothing to worry about really.

150ml of whisky is not really any different to having a gin and tonic. (Mixing it the proper way 1:1 and using a 150ml can of tonic.) It's just whisky seems like a "harder" drink when really it's not.

That's a lot to drink per day!

Half a bottle of wine and 150ml of whiskey?! 150ml of whiskey is the equivalent of three double pub measures and then two glasses of wine on top. That's a big night out for most people abs absolutely not a healthy amount to drink every day.

@AryaStarkWolf
Well, it is and it isn't. People have carers for a reason and OP has already said that this person has mental capacity issues. They obviously need help with certain things. It's not so much being treated like a child as having someone looking out for you - I'd certainly want that if I was ever in a position where I struggled to look after myself. The trade off is that you have someone keeping an eye on your wellbeing and yes they will comment if you're suddenly drinking a lot more than you used to, because they care about your welfare.

It was burns night last night which might explain the whiskey?

I also think this depends on who it is

If this is a young person with additional needs, then I’d watch it.

Of this is an elderly person, for example a father, with dementia, unless he was at risk of hurting himself, I’d let him crack on. Life’s hard enough as it is, never mind being old and struggling and then being told you can’t have a few whiskeys on burns night.

It is a lot but it's not necessarily important unless it is a pattern of excess. One or two nights of binge drinking does not make an alcoholic. If they're doing it every night, it is a problem. Check their trash/recycling bins for empty bottles?

@BarbaraofSeville

Well it depends what's in the glass doesn't it?

My fairly normal wine glasses hold 45% of a bottle (2 glasses from a bottle and there's only a tiny bit left).

I've already said my G&Ts were 90 ml of gin, that's almost a bottle a week if I was having one a day.

Doctors probably know that most problem drinkers minimise the amount they drink when asked.

that's not a "normal size."

90ml of gin is also not normal.

A bottle of wine over 2 nights - fine.

1/3 litre of whisky over 2 nights - a lot.

A bottle of wine + 1/3 litre of whisky over 2 nights - a hell of a lot.

I wouldn't call that binge drinking spread over 2 nights tbh...

10 units in bottle of wine (approx), then 6 units in the whisky. So 16 units in 2 days ...8 units per evening for two evenings. I don’t think that’s “problem drinking”, (assuming it’s not every night), though clearly not “healthy”.

An adult drinking that amount occasionally, including Burns night, should be allowed to make own decisions (assuming capacity to do so).

@Saz12

10 units in bottle of wine (approx), then 6 units in the whisky. So 16 units in 2 days ...8 units per evening for two evenings. I don’t think that’s “problem drinking”, (assuming it’s not every night), though clearly not “healthy”.

An adult drinking that amount occasionally, including Burns night, should be allowed to make own decisions (assuming capacity to do so).

1 unit in 25ml whisky. 13 units in 330ml whisky.

@AgeLikeWine

A bottle of wine over 2 nights - fine.

1/3 litre of whisky over 2 nights - a lot.

A bottle of wine + 1/3 litre of whisky over 2 nights - a hell of a lot.

Why is 10 units (bottle of wine) fine and 13 units (330ml whisky) a lot?

It is quite a bit. But times are hard right now! I'd hate to think that somebody would "report me to a health professional" for thinking fuck it, I might have a whisky chaser with that wine (two nights in a row).

In other news, "reporting" them is going to make them feel they have so little control over their own lives they are more likely, not less, to do it again. Imagine someone coming in and telling you you shouldn't really have eaten that whole pizza, or that family packs of kit kits are not meant to be eaten by just one person. It just elicits a "fuck off" response.

From the NHS website, this is considered binge drinking:

8 units of alcohol in a single session for men.
6 units of alcohol in a single session for women

So if this were 16 units over two days, yes, this is binge drinking.

@Thewiseoneincognito

It screams depression to me. To drink that much alone. Daily drinking is bad enough at one or two glasses, this is clearly a few steps on.

Daily drinking of one or two glasses is what “normals” do according to AA.

The key to alcohol abuse is whether the person can take it or leave it.

@TheVanguardSix

From the NHS website, this is considered binge drinking:

8 units of alcohol in a single session for men.
6 units of alcohol in a single session for women

So if this were 16 units over two days, yes, this is binge drinking.

It’s not 16 units, it’s 23.

If this is regular it's a lot and I'd be concerned. If alcohol support has been offered it probably regular.

@TheVanguardSix

From the NHS website, this is considered binge drinking:

8 units of alcohol in a single session for men.
6 units of alcohol in a single session for women

So if this were 16 units over two days, yes, this is binge drinking.

Most of us are binge drinking quite regularly then. i would expect a time frame for the session because "session" is really varied. Would never think that having 5 pints in the course of the evening, let's say from 6pm to midnight, would be binge drinking. But according to nhs it would then.

As a one off its OK.

On the whisky issue though, a third of a litre bottle is roughly 10 measures. Half a bottle of wine plus 5 standard measures of whisky in 1 night, sat at home alone, is a lot. And that's assuming the whisky was consumed over 2 nights. If it were a regular thing it would amount to just over 3 normal size bottles of whisky in a week.

And whoever said a proper gin is 1:1 measures, it isn't. A strong G&T would be 1 part gin, 2 parts tonic. A standard would be 1 part gin, 3 parts tonic.

Are there 1l whiskey? I thought standard is 70cl? That would make 100ml difference on the third so that's actually considerable

It’s not 16 units, it’s 23.

Go easy on me. I'm knackered and in menopause (and I'm sticking to those excuses for as many years as a I can ).

When I last read, it looked like 'the drinker' had a period of heavy drinking over two days- half a bottle of wine each day (5 units) plus the whiskey (we'll say 2-3 units per day) bringing 'the drinker' up to roughly 7-8 units per day over those two days, so 16 units in total. In accordance with the NHS, this person is a binge drinker. Those are the 'male' figures.

Would never think that having 5 pints in the course of the evening, let's say from 6pm to midnight, would be binge drinking. But according to nhs it would then.

I'd be calling up the dancing pallbearers if I had 5 pints! There was a time when I could nurse 5 pints in an evening many moons ago.
But I understand your POV. Over a period of hours, 5 pints doesn't seem harmful. But yes, the reality is that it's a lot of work to put your liver through and the blood tests don't lie, unfortunately.

Unless it's your child and they're under 18, or they have limited capacity, why would you be talking to someone else's health professional?

If this is a regular occurence then I think it is a lot. Age, health and any medication also need to be taken into account. An older relative used to have a glass of wine a night with their evening meal, however over a period of time this gradually crept up to a bottle a night and possibly more on occasions. Always denied this but the empty bottles in the recycling box said otherwise. It did become a real problem - they were a bit frail and unsteady and also on a range of medication - add a bottle of wine into the mix and falls became an increasingly frequent event - usually at night going to/from the toilet. Some were relatively minor tumbles, others required trips to A&E. The worst was a fall head first from the top to the bottom of the stairs resulting in a broken shoulder, fractured wrist and severe injury to the face requiring plastic surgery. They had decision capacity and although concern had been raised about the amount of alcohol being consumed on many occasions, it was only after this latter fall when the hospital arranged for an alcohol worker as part of their falls risk assessment that the relative took the issue seriously. The possibility of a detox programme was discussed but this did not prove necessary as it was assessed as a behavioural habit rather than alcohol dependency. In the end they decided to stop drinking alcohol altogether and substitute non alcoholic drinks, recognising that if it was there, they would be unlikely to stop a just one glass.

Far too much. Whisky is strong, and a bottle of wine a night is far too much - not a normal amount at all.

A normal amount might be two large glasses in a night, not a bottle. And even then, that’s taking you way above the recommended weekly amount if you do it every day.