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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think 12 units in 3 hours hardly makes you feel tipsy, never mind drink.

213 replies

TableFlowerss · 12/02/2021 23:02

With lockdown I’ve been drinking more on a weekend. Like many, I’m sure.

I only drink when DC are with their (with him 2/3 night a week. (totally understand that’s not possible for everyone - to drink when DC aren’t at home, obviously if they have NC with dad)

I never drink when I’m at work the next day either and it’s usually over 2 night a week only.

Since lockdown though, it feels like I drink more 😳 so to get tipsy, I’d now need about 10-12 units. I’m totally fine the next day, no hangover etc.... but what’s the norm to feel tipsy?

I feel like my threshold is higher basically. So I might drink a bottle of wine and a couple of vodkas one night (so 12 units) but then I’d have only a couple the day after. So no more than 20 units a week at the absolute maximum. Sometimes if I don’t fancy it, obviously I won’t drink at all.

I’ve got a friend who can drink a bottle of wine each night 😳😳 5/6 night a week, then go to work in a very responsible job the next day 😳😳 absolutely no way i could do that!

Again, I never drink when kids are home (at messy 4 night a week if not 5) and I absolutely don’t feel like I have a problem. Sometimes I just fancy a cup of tea!

But a recall at one point just needing a glass of wine to feel tipsy, not it’s nearly a bottle 🙈🙈🙈

What about you? Talking to my friends, theyr thresholds have increased too.

OP posts:
shouldistop · 13/02/2021 07:01

So about 8 bottles of lager? Yes, I'd be pissed. I feel a slight buzz after 2 bottles of lager (3 units)

pollylocketpickedapocket · 13/02/2021 07:09

@Clicketyclick21

What's your liver like? Any symptoms yet?
20 units a week and you think they’ll be liver damage??? Ffs
AStudyinPink · 13/02/2021 07:12

Alcohol is addictive. There are signs here your tolerance is increasing, which is one issue, but if you continue increasing your intake you will also want more alcohol, which will be the next issue. We’re nearly at the end of lockdown, coming up to summer - great time to cut back on a substance that does you no good.

Heatherjayne1972 · 13/02/2021 07:17

12 units in 3 hours??
I’d be horribly drunk by then

There’s no safe lower limit You can get liver damage just by sticking to the guidelines
Look it up

PracticingPerson · 13/02/2021 07:18

20 units a week and you think they’ll be liver damage??? Ffs

Yes this is possible. Why would people think it wasn't possible? Liver damage isn't split into 'fine or full blown cirrhosis'. I will most likely have damaged mine with my drinking in younger days.

AaronPurr · 13/02/2021 07:19

20 units a week and you think they’ll be liver damage??? Ffs

Why do you think there won't be signs of liver damage?

AStudyinPink · 13/02/2021 07:24

What the OP is doing meets the standard definition of binge drinking. He liver might be fine, it might not. Likelihood is, as she’s only been drinking at this level for a relatively short time, it’s not seriously damaged. But why go there? If she wants to be ‘tipsy’, she can do that without drinking a full bottle of wine and a couple of gins, just by having a few weeks off. Her tolerance will come down. Job done.

AnnLouiseB · 13/02/2021 07:27

If I drank a bottle of wine and a couple of vodkas I would be under the table. And that was true a couple of years ago, before a year of pregnancy and breastfeeding. Nowadays one glass would send me spinning. Everyone’s tolerances are different though!

midnightstar66 · 13/02/2021 07:37

Lots of things affect your tolerance, eg if you've just had a large meal you might not feel the effects, if you are particularly tired you might feel them more. Have a break for a couple of weeks and you should notice the difference

EllasAuntie · 13/02/2021 07:38

@TableFlowerss

That amount is classed as binge drinking. The NHS defines binging as more than 6 units in one session, for women.

Maybe look at Alcohol Aware and work out where you are with your drinking?

Binge drinking is very serious for health and as a woman your risk of cancers is increased a lot, in the long term, by drinking too much.

You are building up a tolerance which can be the slippery slope to dependence.

Are you drinking for the effects as you are unhappy?
Do you need to address anything that's making you drink to get tipsy?

pollylocketpickedapocket · 13/02/2021 07:38

@PracticingPerson

20 units a week and you think they’ll be liver damage??? Ffs

Yes this is possible. Why would people think it wasn't possible? Liver damage isn't split into 'fine or full blown cirrhosis'. I will most likely have damaged mine with my drinking in younger days.

The liver repairs itself. If you were drinking to excess in your younger years and now don’t, I’d be very surprised if it was damaged now.
EllasAuntie · 13/02/2021 07:41

I’ve got a friend who can drink a bottle of wine each night 😳😳 5/6 night a week, then go to work in a very responsible job the next day 😳😳 absolutely no way i could do that

Your friend is possibly a high-functioning alcoholic.

You are comparing yourself with someone who is pretty much dependent on alcohol, and that amount of booze is not sensible. Sounds as if they have a problem but also you have lost perspective of what is normal and healthy.

ThenCatoJumpedOut · 13/02/2021 07:43

How old are you?

My tolerance has gone way down since hitting peri

I relax after 1 glass of wine (=2 units) and I go red in the face and woozy after 2 glasses. 3 glasses and I’m a bit drunk

So my tolerance has gone way down (age, hormones)

georgarina · 13/02/2021 07:49

I have zero tolerance at the best of times but haven't been drinking at all in lockdown..I only ever drink when I'm out, don't enjoy it at home, just makes me tired

TeenMinusTests · 13/02/2021 07:53

I think on these threads people who drink over the recommended limits use the fact that some people drink even more to justify their own high consumption.

I could however write nearly the same thread but substitute chocolate for drink. Smile

EllasAuntie · 13/02/2021 07:59

The risks of too much alcohol aren't just liver damage.

Liver damage happens after years of heavy drinking.

Before that, the risks are weight gain, high blood pressure, (so increased risk of stroke and heart disease) and then cancer.

Enko · 13/02/2021 08:03

12 units is a lot every week doesn't matter if you feel tipsy or drunk it is still a lot of alcohol to consume.

Lockdown has not changed my alcohol drinking habits. I am low consumption of alcohol. On average over a month I have about 2 units a week this is usually in form of a glass of wine. A g&t the occasional coffee liquer. I rarely drink beer. This was the same pre lockdown. Only pre lockdown the alcohol would all be consumed outside of our home.

I oddly still have a fairly high tolerance of alcohol and can drink about 10 units before dh says he notices I am affected (rare this happens obviously but at times pre lockdown if we were out with friends having a goos meal etc) it doesn't mean I think it is ok for me to drink that level. I know its bad. I know its not good for my liver.

For me if I was regularly drinking 12 units I would be aiming to cut down

WishIWasAsGoodAsBlueysMum · 13/02/2021 08:08

I’ve either been pregnant or breastfeeding (or both!) for the last three years. I know you can drink whilst BF, and do, but rarely get the opportunity to have more than a couple so I’m fairly tipsy after a couple of small glasses of wine. I had two small Baileys and a glass of wine the other week and felt positively drunk!

12 units would have me off my face. It’s definitely binge drinking. Whilst ok every once in a while, I probably wouldn’t want to do it every week.

SecretSpAD · 13/02/2021 08:09

Well I had half a thimble or watered down sherry at Christmas and I'm still hungover now.

In the real world - were in lockdown. It's shit. It's boring and most people (outside of the MN saints) are drinking and eating more than they usually do. Don't beat yourself up and don't listen to the people on here who are telling you that you are going to have strokes, liver disease, cancer etc because you are drinking a bit more than usual at a very stressful time in your life. What you'll find, when the world gets back to normal, is that you go back to your usual drinking patterns. In the meantime, don't start threads on here about food or alcohol because you'll end up needing counselling Grin

CoronaIsWatching · 13/02/2021 08:10

Love MN, the OP drinks a couple units more per week than the guidelines and there's talk of alcoholic liver disease, support groups and AA

OP just take a month off alcohol and that will reset your tolerance

Fluffycloudland77 · 13/02/2021 08:12

The maximum units per week is 14 so your way over and it will damage your liver and health eventually. There’s a direct link between alcohol consumption and breast cancer for example.

The problem is that a lot of people drink too much so you compare yourself to others in your peer group and decide it’s ok when really it just means their all in it up to their necks too.

Nith · 13/02/2021 08:16

Why do you actually want to get tipsy?

FossilisedFanny · 13/02/2021 08:19

I think if you ever need to question how much alcohol you are drinking then it’s probably time to cut back before it becomes a problem.

AStudyinPink · 13/02/2021 08:20

Don't beat yourself up and don't listen to the people on here who are telling you that you are going to have strokes, liver disease, cancer etc because you are drinking a bit more than usual at a very stressful time in your life. What you'll find, when the world gets back to normal, is that you go back to your usual drinking patterns.

This isn’t great advice. She’s far more likely to retain her new pattern without a conscious effort to bring her tolerance down.

Graciebobcat · 13/02/2021 08:22

@FossilisedFanny

I think if you ever need to question how much alcohol you are drinking then it’s probably time to cut back before it becomes a problem.
I don't think so. People are monitoring it to be careful, count calories and lose weight or generally stay healthy.