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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

How much do you drink?

29 replies

HildegardeCrowe · 26/06/2021 09:56

Sorry posting for traffic. Just wondering how much people drink and what they perceive as problem drinking. I drink around two bottles of wine a week which I know is over the guidelines but what worries me most is that I drink it all over two nights (not consecutive), so a whole bottle at a time. I don’t get drunk, it just makes me very relaxed and happy. But the next morning I feel guilty and vow to change my drinking patterns.

OP posts:
Subeccoo · 26/06/2021 09:58

More than you.
Cutting down but still not good enough.

PatchyTwat · 26/06/2021 09:58

I don’t drink on a daily basis, maybe go to the pub once a week and have 2-3 drinks. Occasionally, maybe once a month I spend time with friends and can have a bottle then but it makes me very drunk and I feel like death as my tolerance is low.

I don’t think 2 bottles a week is extreme alcoholism territory really, but if you aren’t comfortable with it then yes it’s needs reducing.

FourEyesGood · 26/06/2021 09:59

I hardly ever drink these days - maybe one gin and tonic a week. It affects my sleep.

FizzyPink · 26/06/2021 10:00

If I don’t go out then nothing. I just don’t ever really fancy a glass of wine at home.

However, once I’m out then I love a cocktail/prosecco/rosè. Yesterday we had a girls day out shopping and I had 3 cocktails and 5 glasses of rose over the course of the day/evening which is quite a lot. But now I probably won’t drink again until next weekend.

During lockdown I went months without drinking but I’d never go out for lunch/dinner and not have a glass of something so I guess I’m a social drinker

Wishihadanalgorithm · 26/06/2021 10:00

Quite often I don’t drink at all in the week. For instance, last night I went out for a meal with friends and I drank water whilst they were on the gin. It didn’t bother me at all.

However, sometimes I can drink two bottles of wine in a week.

If I was doing this every week, or even every couple of weeks, I would think it’s too much and worry about how it would affect my health. I wouldn’t worry about becoming alcoholic just yet but I’d make sure that two bottles of wine in a week was a once a month activity at the most.

HildegardeCrowe · 26/06/2021 10:01

Yes I’m not comfortable with it @PatchyTwat. I’d like to be able to open a bottle of wine and put it back in the fridge half drunk.

OP posts:
RealisticSketch · 26/06/2021 10:02

That would be a lot to me. I drink one glass of something about every other night. I did drink a similar amount to you at one point which combined with a sedentary job made me pretty overweight. When I left the job I found it easier to cut down as it was work stress that was my trigger.

amylou8 · 26/06/2021 10:03

Pretty much the same as you. The equivalent of about 2 bottles of wine a week (prefer beer and whisky tho 😁). Generally on a Saturday and Sunday, I tend not to drink during the week.

Sally872 · 26/06/2021 10:03

Sounds OK to me.

I drink 1-1.5 bottles of wine over the weekend. And if we have something on I would probably drink 1.5 bottles in one night and half a bottle on another evening.

kitkatsky · 26/06/2021 10:03

2 bottles of wine is ok isn't it? It would be within the 14 units?

ThroughThickAndThin01 · 26/06/2021 10:04

Same as you, two bottles over two nights. Sometimes a bit more. More at Christmas time. Dry January. I’m mostly happy with that.

HildegardeCrowe · 26/06/2021 10:06

It’s between 18-20 units for me @kitkatsky as I drink 12-13% strength wine. So I’m drinking between 9-10 units at a time which is officially binge-drinking!

OP posts:
1stTimeMama · 26/06/2021 10:07

Neither me or my husband drink at all.

ComtesseDeSpair · 26/06/2021 10:11

The units are really an arbitrary measure - I really wouldn’t worry too much about two bottles of wine taking you a couple of units over the guidelines. It doesn’t cause you problems and you have some non-drinking days each week - it sounds like you have a healthy relationship with alcohol.

Some weeks I can drink 80-100 units, others nothing at all. I’m happy with that.

justanotherneighinparadise · 26/06/2021 10:12

I don’t drink at all however two bottles of wine a week doesn’t sound much to me! I’m surprised that’s over the units for a menstruator/cervix haven’t/whatever terminology is acceptable nowadays.

Conchitastrawberry · 26/06/2021 10:14

Maybe 5 or 6 times a year. I don’t drink at home unless we have people over which is practically never. Husband used to drink a lot, maybe 5 or 6 cans a night but realised it was a problem so stopped completely. He hasn’t had a drink in over 10 years. Most people I know drink every day.

longtompot · 26/06/2021 10:16

More than you op, but trying to cut down. I've started measuring my glasses of wine, so I know just how much I've had and it seems to help me not have so much. I try not to drink mid week, but occasionally have a g&t or two.

lockdownalli · 26/06/2021 10:18

I used to be a professional drinker but don't drink alcohol at all now.

Never felt better - it's actually poison.

EmmaStone · 26/06/2021 10:19

As I've got older, I just can't tolerate alcohol the way I used to, so I now hardly ever drink, and tend to be designated driver. I am definitely a social drinker, but more then 3 glasses of wine in a night, and I don't sleep, I can't regulate my temperature, I get a bunged up nose (this can happen with just one glass), I get the fear over what I've talked about, and I get really cross with myself for making myself feel rubbish the next day when precious weekend days are to be fully utilised. I've also been trying to lose a few pounds, and the knowledge of how many empty calories there are in the booze (when actually, I'd have much preferred a doughnut!), also puts me off (but the main thing is it making me feel crap). And I do a lot to keep healthy (eat well, exercise regularly etc etc), and I don't really see what alcohol brings to that end goal, but that's quite sanctimonious, and if I enjoyed the taste of it as much as I do chocolate and cakes, it wouldn't cross my mind.

So 2 bottles a week would be a lot for me, but that doesn't necessarily mean they are for you. However, if it makes you uncomfortable, then I would attempt to cut down.

Melitza · 26/06/2021 10:21

I drink a glass of wine, about 175mls, 3 times a week normally.
Last week we had a short break and I probably drank 2 glasses a night.
We're out tomorrow and then I am not drinking alcohol Mon to Friday at all.
I increase my water intake when I have alcohol.

Distiller91 · 26/06/2021 10:21

More than you but recently gave up. I feel less groggy, less bloated and my skins better already tbh

4PawsGood · 26/06/2021 10:23

I don’t drink any more but don’t think your amount sounds too bad.
However, if it’s more than you want to drink, could you buy 1/2 bottles instead or buy lower alcohol wine? That only works if you’re drinking white.

Ichoochoochoosethis · 26/06/2021 10:24

On average I’d say around 1 to 1.5 bottles wine Thurs-Sat, although in my younger days it was probably more like a bottle a night! Shock I’m happy with where it is now, think it’s a healthy balance with some completely dry weeks thrown in

Clarich007 · 26/06/2021 10:31

We open a bottle of wine, reseal it and have it over 3 days.That's for 2 of us.Do we don't drink a lot.Ithink the alcohol gene is missing in me I enjoy a small glass but that's enough.I'm done.
However food is a different matter 😃

Wimpund21 · 26/06/2021 10:32

I'm a very infrequent binge drinker.

I don't drink at home so will go for months and months with nothing - - but if I'm at a party or event I enjoy quite a bit too much.