I can't stop drinking wine

[wineoclock123]

Any tips? I drink wine every night, and I can't seem to get a handle on it. It relaxes me, and makes me sleep. I have to be up at 630am every day for work, and I'm starting to feel dizzy most days. If I don't drink, I don't sleep!

Ooo thanks for the tip! Will be ordering some!

@wineoclock123 2 x bottles of wine a night, 7 days a week?!

If not an alcoholic, you certainly are alcohol dependant.

You’re drinking 10x over the limit of 14 units per week and putting your health at risk of cardiovascular and cancer related diseases.

It’s amazing that you’ve recognised that you need to stop… but I think you need to get some professional help to get there.

Wishing you the very best.

I can relate Op. I now use a drink free app and get a star on non drink days. At the moment my aim is 4 stars a week. Its a huge reduction for me and step in the right direction.

Stopping abruptly in people who have developed a tolerance can cause withdrawal seizures and potentially death. Tolerance is likely after a prolonged period of 2 bottles of wine a night. Alcohol is very different to opioid drugs for example in this respect - NO cold turkey.

This sounds like a high functioning alcohol dependency. Especially if you can't stop. Can you speak to your GP for some help?

I was drinking 5 bottles of wine a week. I made an agreement with myself to have a bottle on Friday night and the rest of the week I drink 2 dilute G&Ts only. My tolerance has reduced and so now a while bottle is sometimes a bit much and I drink 3/4.

I was drinking 5 bottles of wine a week. I made an agreement with myself to have a bottle on Friday night and the rest of the week I drink 2 dilute G&Ts only. My tolerance has reduced and so now a whole bottle is sometimes a bit much and I drink 3/4.

2 bottles of wine is a huge amount, the fact that you're used to it is worrying. You may not be 'downing it' but 2 bottles in 3 hours is binge drinking.

It doesn't matter of you're drinking wine or spirits, you have an alcohol dependence! Well done for realising that there's a problem but do you think you are able to cut down yourself? It's really not a case of just stopping and going cold turkey for a few days a week at this point. You need the strength to reduce it yourself by reducing to 1 bottle a day then go from there.

It does sound like you need professional help to avoid withdrawal.

I fully enjoy drinking, but no more than a few times a week and never more than 2/3 glasses/drinks!

How is your anxiety, how is work, could you be self medicating?

Before I knew I was autistic, I often used to use alcohol after work to dampen down my dysregulated nervous system.

Also how strong is the wine that you drink? Mine is 12.5%, I could not drink 2 bottles of that.

It is a dangerous cycle to get into. Do you want to break it?

Assuming you aren't physically dependent on alcohol (if you are then you will need medical help to stop), you could:

Try gentle exercise
Treat yourself to a hot choc or other lovely alcohol free drink/treat
Explore some sober literature or podcasts
Consider AA and/or counselling

I gave up drinking a couple of months ago. You do have to expect and accept some disruption, especially to sleep, but it is worth it. I feel much better overall.

There's all kinds of help out there op, if you want it.

You could try drinking soda water with a few drops of lemon and a couple of drops of angostura bitters in a wine glass. Yes the bitters are alcoholic but mixed with a large amount of water it still feels like a grown up treat drink.

I stopped drinking alcohol for 3 months from January this year and found it okay.

Of course there are reasons why people drink - and emotional sobriety (ie dealing with those reasons) is as critical as physical sobriety (I.e abstinence) to long term success. Drinking patterns are neural pathways, you have basically trained your brain and your subconscious vs willpower is very likely to win unless you retrain your brain. There’s a lot of really good quit lit, some of which has been mentioned. If nothing else, start reading it because it will start to affect the way you think about alcohol and that’s the change that really helps at the subconscious level.

Do come join in the alcohol support board, there’s a lot of very experienced people at all stages and having a supportive community (AA or otherwise) is really important.

I very much doubt you are “sleeping” at all on 2 bottles, so I echo the power through the no sleep comments until you re-set a bit but I am not sure about going cold turkey on 2 bottles a night. It’s quite a lot and, for the hard of thinking up thread, total sudden abstinence from significant amounts can be dangerous and can induce seizures. You might be totally fine, but it might be wise to consider a plan for a more gradual reduction and then quit completely (but by gradual I mean days, not months!). It’ll be the best thing you do, I promise you!

I know I drink more than I should, but 2 bottles per night is a lot

Can you manage one night without? Just one night. That's all. And come back tomorrow to let us know if you were able to do that

How much do you drink?

honestly come to think of it, most people I know would not manage a week without a drink which is appalling

I didn’t drink Friday, Saturday or Sunday.
i had a bottle last night and felt like shit this morning so I really do feel like I want to give up

Yes trying is lying. I haven’t drank that much alcohol but never experienced withdrawal as such. Just got a takeaway on those nights as my association is with cooking.

I was drinking a v similar amount to you and eventually realised it's a slippery slope that wasn't going to get better unless I quit. No one drinking that amount a night is healthy, or mentally in a good space - it's a depressant. I worried that if my life was broadly fine otherwise, and I was drinking that much, what was going to happen when I was stressed or shit hit the fan? For me - I lurked on the Alcohol Support forum here, full of brilliant women cheering each other on, read Catherine Gray's book Unexpected Joy of Being Sober and committed to just doing it. Tried AA but it wasn't for me. It was really hard but life is so so much better. If you're posting about it, I definitely recommend a break - maybe three months to see how you feel? Good luck!!

@wineoclock123

"DH also drinks, but he has a good few nights off because he works shifts, so can't drink on those nights. "

How about you don't have any wine on those nights too? It'll be a start and you'll experience the lovely feeling of no hangover the next day.
You could also try some Deep Freeze gel massaged into your lower back and neck to relax you before you try to sleep.

It is extremely dangerous to stop abruptly if you are a very heavy drinker. The body can shut down. The DTs can cause death if not monitored and given small amounts of alcohol. Like heroin withdrawal. But that's for people on bottles of vodka a day, not half a bottle of wine a night.

cold turkey from Heroin is not dangerous, just unpleasant

I was a nightly wine drinker, maybe a large glass or two which I really enjoyed however I started taking Mounjaro recently for weightloss (no debate on this please, it's incidental) and I've not touched a glass of wine since. I haven't missed it and within a week the difference was so noticeable. I don't sleep any better or have better energy levels etc as some say but my skin is glowing, I look 5 years younger, I have colour in my cheeks, I am less bloated and puffy. Enough for me to never want to go back to drinking regularly! I have swapped to a cup of tea and a mini ice-cream.

Go cold turkey - don't buy it - and get a good amount of exercise so you're physically tired. Accept it may take a little while do adjust. But once you have, you'll sleep, and better quality sleep too.