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Mental health

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Original poster

is drinking a bottle of wine every night mean i am an alcholic?

38 replies

bizzybuzzybee · 18/02/2007 18:00

namechanged for this.
what;s your definition of an alcholic? i take ad;s too I know, i know you shoudn't mix the two but i find alcohol relaxes me. this has been going on since christmas, prior to christmas i was only drinking one or two bottle a week.

namechanged for this.

OP posts:

Blandmum · 18/02/2007 18:02

It puts you well over the limit for 'healthy' drinking and you stand a chance of long term damage to your liver and general health.

Do you feel you 'need' to drink?

lulumama · 18/02/2007 18:03

don;t know much about alcoholism, although a good way to check, apparently is to see if you can go 28 days without a drink, without a problem...

alcoholism aside, if you are depressed and taking ADs drinking every day will make you more depressed and stop the meds working as efficiently

for that reason alone, i would look to cut down on drinking, if you feel you cannot do that alone, AA is a good place to start

your GP will have info about help with that

it is good you are aware this might be a problem

Original poster

bizzybuzzybee · 18/02/2007 18:03

that should read Does not is

OP posts:

Greensleeves · 18/02/2007 18:04

I think it means you drink too much.

However IMO being an alcoholic means needing to drink and not being able to go without it. Could you stop? If you're worrying that you might be an alcoholic, then stopping for a while will answer your question and make you feel better about yourself/more in control. If on the other hand you try to stop and find that you can't, thn you'll know it's time to seek help!

Aloha · 18/02/2007 18:05

You certainly sound as if you are becoming dependent on alcohol. And you are putting yourself at dreadful physical risk, plus you are extremely likely to make yourself depressed just from using alcohol. Drinking like this makes it pretty pointless taking anti-depressants. Have you been offered any counselling?

Original poster

bizzybuzzybee · 18/02/2007 18:07

As from tomorrow i am going to STOP drinking and see how long i can go without it for. i think it is more of a habbit.

OP posts:

Booboobedoo · 18/02/2007 18:07

Not sure about the 28 days thing...

My Dad could probably manage that long without a drink, but he's a binge alcoholic. Can down an entire bottle of vodka at an astonishing speed and you'd barely know he'd done it unless you knew him really well.

It's true, though, that alcoholism is more to do with dependency than rate of consumption.

Here's the AA questionnaire to help you decide if you think you need any help.

Blandmum · 18/02/2007 18:08

a woman shouldn't drink more than 21 units over a week. You are drinking between 56 and 70 units a week, dopnding on how strong the wine is

lulumama · 18/02/2007 18:16

booboobedo....fair dos...the person who told me that was a recovering alcoholic, so maybe it was their own personal test

colditz · 18/02/2007 18:17

it's not so much a case of should mix alcohol with ADs, but alcohol will stop the ADs working.

colditz · 18/02/2007 18:18

So if I have to have a shot of vodka every 3 weeks, I am an alcoholic?

not buying that!

Blandmum · 18/02/2007 18:21

coldits, the reason that you shouldn't mix ads and alcohol is that they can both make you drowsy. The ads don't make you drunk faster, they both work in different ways, but they do have an additive effect. So you shouldn't mix them.

NurseyJo · 18/02/2007 18:23

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Heathcliffscathy · 18/02/2007 18:26

well.....pot and kettle here.

but i think if this is a phase (like you know, not two years every night) then as long as you CAN stop it's ok....I know that for practically the whole of last year I drank most nights, and often half a bottle.

was teetotal for whole of january.

now am losing weight and honestly don't feel like drinking every night. but i am happier and when i look back, for many reasons i wasn't last year.

i guess what i'm trying to say is...when you have young children...whatever gets you through...but be aware that it can't stay like that for too long...

lulumama · 18/02/2007 18:26

alcohol is a depressant, and if you are already depressed,drinking will excacerbate this

DimpledThighs · 18/02/2007 18:31

okay bizzybuzzybee - I can related to this but I am not an alcoholic - infact I have not drunk for ages, apart from the odd glass of wine.

One stage when we moved here my alchol intake increased without me really paying attention until I was drinking about four or five bottles a week. I then got so I would be worried if I got to 6pm and didn't have wine in the house.

That was when i thought things were getting a bit much and I cut back and became concious of it. Now I barely drink and feel much better for it.

If you can relate to this then take heart that you can gain control and cut back yourself. If things have gone further than that you may need to seek more involved help - but if it is simliar to me then I recommend cutting back and being more aware.

Heathcliffscathy · 18/02/2007 18:32

oh christ, just re-read thread title...had misread it as half a bottle....i think a whole bottle every night is an awful lot.

and lulu is right (but don't you find that when you're down, you do all the things that keep you down iyswim).

fortyplus · 18/02/2007 19:00

Try cutting it out during the week and just having it at weekends - no more than 3 glasses.
A bottle a night is way too much - if you're not an alcoholic you soon will be, and you will wreck your liver.

moondog · 18/02/2007 19:05

I have gone thorugh phases of putting away a bottle a night (Christmas and holidays for example)

However no way could I continue functioning or feeling good if I did it always.

As a regular thing, it's not good.

As an occasional binge,althoguh not ideal,doubt it is that harmful.

lulumama · 18/02/2007 19:05

definitely sophable...for me , when i was really depressed, i could not stop eating junk....

mummytosteven · 18/02/2007 21:35

agree with Lulu. sounds like you need to focus on alternative coping strategies/different habits so you don't automatically reach for the wine. I would also speak to your gp about it if you intend to go completely cold turkey cutting down, as sometimes it can be safer to cut down even booze gradually.

Booboobedoo · 18/02/2007 22:19

Lulumama: I think that's probably the most common 'form' of alcoholism IYSWIM, but it sneaks up on people in different ways.

BBB: hope you find a way to cut down. I wouldn't worry too much about alcoholism though. One of the big signs is denial, and the fact that you're bringing it up at all is a good sign.

expatinscotland · 18/02/2007 22:23

If you are taking ADs, you shouldn't be consuming that much alcohol.

2nervesleft · 18/02/2007 22:34

Martianbishop A woman should drink no more then 14 units of alcohol per week for a healthy lifestyle. Any higher and she is increasing the rate at which her liver has to work to process the alcohol and is at risk of hepatic illness. A man should drink no more than 21 units a week for a healthy lifestyle.

Bizzy - if you are concerned then you do have a problem with alcohol. That does not mean you are an alcoholic as that is only a term used by one type of substance misuse approach. There are other approaches that don't involve total abstinence and /or religion. The important thing is if you want to change then do it, even if it is very slowly (having one day alcohol free a week). Don't worry about labels they don't help.

Stiller · 18/02/2007 22:40

It doesn't necessarily mean you're an alcholic. As far as I understand it, you're an alcoholic if you're dependant on alcohol, and it's not determined by how much you drink. My dad and sister are both alcoholics but have completely different drinking habits. My dad has to get slightly drunk every evening and has regualr binges. My sister (she's just gone through detox and is in rehab now) binge drinks all the time - breakfast is a can of extra strong lager.

I drink more than my dad does but much less than my sister did. I'm not an alcoholic because I don't have to drink, and although I miss it when I go without I don't feel deprived. I'm always careful to stay within my comfort zone with alcohol because of my family history and reguarly give a miss for months on end because I'm paranoid that the need will creep up on me and I'll become dependant.

I do think that a bottle of wine every night is too much. I'm no expert but I think you're increasing your chances of becoming dependant and risking your health in the long term.

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