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

[TableFlowerss]

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.

@Fembot123

Is anyone finding the opposite, as in I seem to get be getting less tolerant as I get older 😭😂

Yes, this is what happened to me. I actually think I have a full blown alcohol intolerance now, apparently it can happen in middle age which I guess is me. I feel really quite unwell after a very small amount of alcohol. I had a glass of wine on Xmas day and that was the first time I’d had anything to drink in nearly a year. The side effects just aren’t worth it for me.

Even I think a bottle of wine and then vodkas is a lot. And I have a high alcohol tolerance, even if I don't drink anything for months.

I am completely teetotal and have been for years so one large glass of wine would make me incredibly pissed and probably sick.

My tolerance is the same no matter how much I drink. I don't drink, then go on a night out and drink maybe 2 bottles of wine, 6 vodkas, a few cocktails etc. That's basically all I drink in a year

@QueenPaw

My tolerance is the same no matter how much I drink. I don't drink, then go on a night out and drink maybe 2 bottles of wine, 6 vodkas, a few cocktails etc. That's basically all I drink in a year

Wow, can I come 😂😂

@Fembot123 I'm tall and heavier and have always had a high tolerance. I mean it's not advisable but it is all I drink, I don't drink at home at all. If I was just on wine then it would be about 3 bottles but that's unusual as I mix drinks

@QueenPaw

My tolerance is the same no matter how much I drink. I don't drink, then go on a night out and drink maybe 2 bottles of wine, 6 vodkas, a few cocktails etc. That's basically all I drink in a year

But tolerance builds up with repetition. Your example is of rare occurrences of heavy drinking, not of regular binge drinking.

Well - clearly the 11 units (I worked it out today) I drank last night (over 4 hours not 3) did affect me more than I thought, as I’ve just read my first message and I was definitely tipsy judging by the typos lol.

I also feel hungover today and I hate that feeling. So that will be me now until next weekend. The thought of a drink now is turning my stomach 😆

Definitely couldn’t sustain that level. I would say on average over the last few months, it’s been between 6-16 units per week. Sometimes I won’t drink anything.

I actually think I’m going to have a couple of weeks off drinking! I’ll start eating more next and that’ll be my next thread starter

@cbt944 sure but what I mean is if I said I built up tolerance people would assume I drank heavily regularly which I don't. If that makes sense!
I can go 1 year or 2 years with no drinking and it makes no change as to what I can drink so the tolerance is already there I guess

@SecretSpAD

I'm in virtual consultations with patients every day who are struggling in this lockdown. Feeling anxious, feeling depressed, feeling worried and feeling guilty for being weak because people like some posters on here are telling them that they are going to get fat because they are eating a bit too much, that they are an alcoholic because they are drinking a bit more than usual. It's adding to their stress (and don't even get me started on the twats who are saying it's fat peoples fault that we're in lockdown).

Nit everyone can cope with this situation, the lack of normal routine, the uncertainty and the anxiety for the future by being a clean living model of perfection. It would be fab if everyone took lockdown as a prompt to lose weight, give up alcohol etc etc but that is not possible even though it would make my job easier. People have to have a bit of leeway at the moment. For the vast majority of people, again nit those with actual problems (which they probably had pre covid) once normal life resumes, normal routine resumes, there are more things to do outside of the house etc they will get back to their normal life.

We are all in this together, but some paragons of virtue are floating around on a cloud of moral superiority and I do hope that nothing ever happens to you to knock you off.

And yes, I'm drinking a bit more. I'm eating a bit more and because I'm at my desk 14 hours a day during the week, I'm not moving as much as I should. I also know that I will return to a more normal way of life when life is normal again.

Thank you for this 😊

Wrll I don’t count it in units, but one large glass of red wine will make me feel pleasently relaxed.
Two large glasses will send me tipsy.
Four large glasses and I’m drunk.

This is specific to wine. Would take at least four shots of spirits to get me tipsy.

I had a higher tolerance in my early twenties when I went out every weekend, but I haven’t drunk regularly for years. My annual wine consumption is probably no more than about 10 bottles.

I’m not a big drinker so I’m tipsy after 2 glasses of wine! A whole bottle and DP would have to carry me up to bed. Your tolerance changes the more you drink. A bottle of wine lasts the two of us 3 days normally.

I’ve just read my first message and I was definitely tipsy judging by the typos
I did wonder
good luck with cutting back.

@EllasAuntie

This thread isn’t going to help if you’re concerned, threads about alcohol on MN seems to attract the, “oh I’m drunk after sniffing a glass of wine” brigade, tolerances are different, bodies are different,

This thread isn't going to help if some posters try to minimise dangerous drinking.@OscarWildesCat

There is no debate over drinking that amount of alcohol in 3 hours. It's binge drinking.
Maybe read about binge drinking? It affects the body more than drinking the same number of units over a few days.

It's a HUGE amount for a woman.

And unless the OP is using optics to measure the vodka, they are likely to be doubles or triples. Most people underestimate how small a measure of spirits is.

I don’t need to read up on binge drinking, I’m not concerned about my drinking, the point I’m, perhaps badly, trying to make is that any time these threads are started, the OP is clearly asking, is this too much? and the responses come in thick and fast from posters who cannot tolerate alcohol at all, who will tell the OP how terrible it is that she is drinking this much and how they’d be ill on this amount etc/hungover for DAYS etc. Clearly not the case for the OP therefore not really helpful?. I agree it isn’t helpful to normalise it either, it’s like if I was a smoker, asking if it’s ok to smoke 15 a day, the answer is no not really but do I need 25 responses along the lines of, “oh I’d be sick, how do you do that, no way” etc etc. It smacks of superiority to me.

Sounds positive, OP.

the OP is clearly asking, is this too much? and the responses come in thick and fast from posters who cannot tolerate alcohol at all, who will tell the OP how terrible it is that she is drinking this much and how they’d be ill on this amount etc/hungover for DAYS etc.

In all fairness to the posters who have responded saying how it would affect them and their tolerances, the OP did ask for other poster's experiences. Of course some posters will repond who don't drink much or often, but many have been from posters who do drink regularly, and have experienced a change in tolerance when drinking more and doing so more frequently.

If that much in that time isnt making you tipsy your body has a high alcohol tolerance, you are drinking too much and your liver is probably shot. But all that is your choice - like people choose to smoke/eat too much etc. its up to you if you want to change it or just accept thats the way that u are

Are you sitting drinking alone? And when you say “tipsy” are you just using a softer word for drunk?

I think I’d be less concerned about how much than if you’re sitting alone getting drunk.

Also are you sure you’re pouring single shots of vodka?

I would be slaughtered if I drunk a bottle of wine and some vodka in 3 hours but I do smoke c. 15 roll ups in a day so my body is no temple. Swings and roundabouts

I don’t need to read up on binge drinking, I’m not concerned about my drinking, the point I’m, perhaps badly, trying to make is that any time these threads are started, the OP is clearly asking, is this too much? and the responses come in thick and fast from posters who cannot tolerate alcohol at all, who will tell the OP how terrible it is that she is drinking this much and how they’d be ill on this amount etc/hungover for DAYS etc. Clearly not the case for the OP therefore not really helpful?. I agree it isn’t helpful to normalise it either, it’s like if I was a smoker, asking if it’s ok to smoke 15 a day, the answer is no not really but do I need 25 responses along the lines of, “oh I’d be sick, how do you do that, no way” etc etc.It smacks of superiority to me

Superiority? LOL Maybe it's just a fact.

You do need to read about binge drinking NOT because you have a problem but because your lack of knowledge on it means you are giving an emotional, sarcastic and downright unhelpful advice.

The poster asks is she being unreasonable to drink 12 units in 3 hours before it even makes her tipsy.

The answer is YES. Because for most people unless they are high consumers of alcohol, they do not need to drink that amount to feel tipsy. MOST people say that amount would make them sick.

That's not being 'superior' it's stating a fact.

And if you don't know what binge drinking is, read the link I left.

I hardly think the NHS and Drink Aware are being 'superior'. Do you?

I know a Mumsnet bottle of wine is a lot like a Mumsnet chicken, but more than a bottle of wine in one day and especially in 3 hours would make me feel so ill!

@TableFlowerss

One poster says she is talking to 'patients' and if she is, her advice here is not actually helpful. I really hope she is not a HCP brushing aside people's real issues.

If it's too hard for you to accept opinions on MN, maybe do the analysis on Drink Aware.

That asks how you drink, why, how much, etc.

I think from what you say here, you ought to be concerned because if someone entered your drinking habits onto that assessment, it would say you are in the 'amber' zone- not yet dependent on alcohol but edging towards a problem.

Please talk to the AA or your GP and get help before it gets worse.

@SecretSpAD If you are a medical professional, surely it's important to distinguish between people drinking and eating a little more than usual, and someone who perhaps does have an issue that needs addressing?

Using phrases like 'paragons of virtue' is not what I'd expect a HCP to use. It's emotional. Your post doesn't do much to help the OP it only minimises her problem.

[quote QueenPaw]@Fembot123 I'm tall and heavier and have always had a high tolerance. I mean it's not advisable but it is all I drink, I don't drink at home at all. If I was just on wine then it would be about 3 bottles but that's unusual as I mix drinks [/quote]
I’m short, you could rest the bottle on my head 🤣🤣

Using phrases like 'paragons of virtue' is not what I'd expect a HCP to use. It's emotional. Your post doesn't do much to help the OP it only minimises her problem.

Agree. It doesn’t seem a very modern approach, somehow. Like a doctor in the 70s being like, “Oh go for it! You’re not a saint!”

It’s not a moral issue. Nothing to do with virtue or superiority. Addiction is merely a physiological response to long-term, regular use of a drug, and there are some signs of a movement into that territory here, in my (very) unprofessional opinion.