Is three bottles of wine a week too much?

[PinkOrchidDream]

My husband, not me. Since I've been pregnant, so abstaining from drink altogether, I've been more aware of his drinking. It's by no means a problem judging by his behaviour but I just wondered if this is (obviously a bit unhealthy) but normal for some. It's spread out over the week so he doesn't binge at weekends.

30CaptainCabinets. Mm, I’d probably refer him to our inpatient drug and alcohol nurse if I admitted him to my ward and he reported that he drank 30units/wk when I did his admission questionnaire.
This is probably why most people don't report their drinking level. I certainly wouldn't. I'm happy with my level of wine and can do without being lectured about it.

@moynomore

Mm, I’d probably refer him to our inpatient drug and alcohol nurse if I admitted him to my ward and he reported that he drank 30units/wk when I did his admission questionnaire. 🤷🏼‍♀️

This is hilarious. I know lots of medics and surgeons socially and all of them drink more than 30 units per week. Not saying it's good, but it's true.

Then they should be referred too, what's your point?

Then they should be referred too, what's your point?

That no one who drinks 30 units a week needs to be "referred" to anything. I'm not saying it's a good lifestyle choice, but they certainly don't need to see an inpatient drug and alcohol nurse ffs.

Then they should be referred too, what's your point?

Point it, you'd be referring most of your colleagues and half the country if people actually stated what they drink. Over zealous much?

Referred ? Are you completely mad? Unless you have a serious amount of money and motivation and want to check in to The Priory, nobody is going to be terribly interested in a man drinking 3 bottles of wine per week.

I'm not saying its a healthy choice or a wise one but it is a choice that many are making.
I genuinely know people who drink this in an evening...now that is a problem.

Have you read 'alcohol lied to me?'
Made me stop drinking over night

@rubberplants No, I haven't read that. I'll check it out. Thanks for the tip, and well done for stopping

@PaperbackRider

Then they should be referred too, what's your point?

Point it, you'd be referring most of your colleagues and half the country if people actually stated what they drink. Over zealous much?

Kind of proves my point that people drink too much

Kind of proves my point that people drink too much

People do a lot of things too much. Doesn't mean we all need referring to specialists on an inpatient basis.

@moynomore

Kind of proves my point that people drink too much

People do a lot of things too much. Doesn't mean we all need referring to specialists on an inpatient basis.

My comment was a glib riposte to someone else's comment about inpatient services

Kind of proves my point that people drink too much

What you think is too much. But it hardly warrants referrals to specialists!

New study shows any amount of alcohol affects all areas of the brain and makes it shrink www.theguardian.com/society/2021/may/18/any-amount-of-alcohol-consumption-harmful-to-the-brain-finds-study

So no it not good for you, even if you don't get a hangover. The effects will appear long term so people tend to ignore how bad it is for you if they are moderate drinkers.

@DeclineandFall

New study shows any amount of alcohol affects all areas of the brain and makes it shrink www.theguardian.com/society/2021/may/18/any-amount-of-alcohol-consumption-harmful-to-the-brain-finds-study

So no it not good for you, even if you don't get a hangover. The effects will appear long term so people tend to ignore how bad it is for you if they are moderate drinkers.

'The study, which is still to be peer-reviewed...'

So, in other words, typical Guardian, finding something with no supporting evidence and presenting it as fact.

I had half a glass last night actually, wont have any tonight. I consider a glass most nights fine and have read about health benefits for doing so. I am not concerned and am happy with my choices, I may live to 99 who knows as the generations in my family have so far, but i am certainly not concerned at all about my wine enjoyment!

@Coldwine75

I had half a glass last night actually, wont have any tonight. I consider a glass most nights fine and have read about health benefits for doing so. I am not concerned and am happy with my choices, I may live to 99 who knows as the generations in my family have so far, but i am certainly not concerned at all about my wine enjoyment!

But wilfully ignored the health deficits of doing so even though the research shows they're much more significant and outweighs any benefits, as this doesn't suit my opinion

No I just feel happy with my choices, I drink one glass a night , sometimes none, i dont understand the problem here.

This is a widely used assessment for possible harmful alcohol use patient.info/doctor/alcohol-use-disorders-identification-test-audit

Just did this and says normal :)

Yeah me too

Although after all these comments I poured myself a glass of sparkling peach water in my favourite wine glass tonight and it was lovely ! :)

That alcohol audit is useless because a functioning alcoholic will score low on it. Even when I was drinking a bottle of wine a night (sometimes more) I never “failed to do what was expected of me” nor did I ever forget what happened the night before or have a drink in the morning etc. In fact every answer to question 4-10 would be never.

It perpetrates the idea that you only have an issue if you drink from first thing in the morning, have blackouts, etc. Once you reach that stage it’s pretty clear you’re an alcoholic and don’t need a test to tell you! A functioning heavy drinker will do that test and think oh my scores really low so it can’t be that bad. As I did at the time!

The only way to cut down or stop drinking is if the person wants to. All these self help books etc can help I guess if the motivation is there, but if it’s not then they’re not going to do anything. I’m a smoker, I read the Allen Carr book, it didn’t change a thing, because the truth is I don’t want to stop smoking. Drinking is the same. There are resources out there if someone wants to cut down/quit. I cut down drinking when I felt I wanted to. Not because anyone else said I had a problem.

@Meruem

That alcohol audit is useless because a functioning alcoholic will score low on it. Even when I was drinking a bottle of wine a night (sometimes more) I never “failed to do what was expected of me” nor did I ever forget what happened the night before or have a drink in the morning etc. In fact every answer to question 4-10 would be never.

It perpetrates the idea that you only have an issue if you drink from first thing in the morning, have blackouts, etc. Once you reach that stage it’s pretty clear you’re an alcoholic and don’t need a test to tell you! A functioning heavy drinker will do that test and think oh my scores really low so it can’t be that bad. As I did at the time!

The only way to cut down or stop drinking is if the person wants to. All these self help books etc can help I guess if the motivation is there, but if it’s not then they’re not going to do anything. I’m a smoker, I read the Allen Carr book, it didn’t change a thing, because the truth is I don’t want to stop smoking. Drinking is the same. There are resources out there if someone wants to cut down/quit. I cut down drinking when I felt I wanted to. Not because anyone else said I had a problem.

That's very interesting. Hadn't thought about that.

That alcohol audit is useless because a functioning alcoholic will score low on it. Even when I was drinking a bottle of wine a night (sometimes more) I never “failed to do what was expected of me” nor did I ever forget what happened the night before or have a drink in the morning etc. In fact every answer to question 4-10 would be never.

Not sure. I did the test and states "never" on most of those types of questions (i.e. never not able do what I need to do, never forget the night before) and I got "at risk" due, I suppose, to the number of drinks and the frequency and the fact that sometimes I have concerns about how much I am drinking. It is an indication that someone may be on a slippery slope and may need to take stock. That can't be a bad thing.

@moynomore

Then they should be referred too, what's your point?

That no one who drinks 30 units a week needs to be "referred" to anything. I'm not saying it's a good lifestyle choice, but they certainly don't need to see an inpatient drug and alcohol nurse ffs.

Glad you find it so funny, but 30units/wk (that they admit to, it’s usually more) is double the recommended alcohol intake for men and women per week. Week by week, that absolutely has a knock-on effect.

If the person doesn’t feel they have a problem, that’s absolutely fine, but I am going to fulfil MY duty of care and refer them to the appropriate inpatient service so I can hand on heart say that I have provided holistic care to my patient.

After the referral,what happens?

@BeneficiaryMadness

From an old guardian article..

How do they know this? Without the aid of an Orwellian two-way telly in every living-room, how did they conclude what constitutes too much? They simply applied their own measures to the 13,000 homes they polled. It was the government that plucked out of thin air a weekly 14 units for women and 21 units for men as the limit for "sensible and safe" drinking. It was the government that worried over the size of the glasses holding these units

I was wondering this! Even with lots of scientific data etc someone had to decide what level of risk they felt was acceptable (seen as drinking just about anything other than water carries risk in some shape of form) and then applied that as a recommendation to a whole population. Obviously we need recommendations as guidelines but they should be taken with a pinch of salt and individuals can decide their own personal acceptable risk with regards to their own bodies. Getting in a car has a risk of an accident (injury, stress, financial implications, death, hurting other people) but we still do that, even when it's not strictly necessary.