Am I an Alcoholic

[Moog]

I'm concerned about my alcohol consumption. last Thursday I went out and drank the following.... 3 pints of budvar, 6 bottles of Becks, 3 Gin and tonics [two doubles], 3 Vodka and lemonades, 2 Vodka martinis, 2 glasses of champagne, 3 c0ck sucking cowboys [butterscotch schnapps and Baileys] 2 double vodkas and red bull and a bottle of San Miguel, not to mention some class A action... should I be concerned? [maybe this should be in F&D?]

[Scarlett]

I wouldn't say you are an alcoholic but you are certainly a binge drinker. This is very common. An alcoholic is someone who experiences physical withdrawl symptoms if they don't have alcohol every day, I would say. You can probably go without a drink all week, and then binge at the weekend. Either way, it's not particularly healthy to put your poor liver through having to process so much alcohol on one go.Try and cut down. Just drink, say, once or twice a week, and try not to have more than 3 or 4 units in one go. You will find that the less you drink, the quicker you get drunk anyway!

[Moog]

That's what concerns me... the fact that I consumed that much alcohol, remember what I drank and was in work on time the next day more or less as normal. This was an anormal "binge", but I'm concerned that I'm consuming so much on a day to day basis that the above bing had little effect on me.

[archbishop]

I would say that 34 units in one session is slightly over the top and I'm surprised you remember what you drank.I would have to agree with Scarlett and put it down to inge drinking.As for being an alcoholic,probably not.

[archbishop]

What's an inge drinker?

[Yinzer]

You are an alcoholic (A) if you are having negative consequences from your drinking (psychal, mental, spiritual, family/friends/work etc) and (B) if you ever feel like you can't control yourself. Like you just can't say no. Do you think about drinking a lot when you aren't? Do you feel like you need to be drunk to have fun or feel "right"? Have you a pattern of putting alcohol first, at the expense of other priorities in your life? Remember that there can be different degrees of severity, but chances are that if you have to ask, then you already sense the answer. Ever heard of Alcoholics Anonymous? Perhaps you should go to a meeting (they're open to most anyone, even if you're not quite sure if you really need to be there) and see what the others have to share about their experiences and if you see any parallels, and they have a little pamphlet called "am I an alcoholic" (as well as some other neat little pamphlets) that might help you out. Well now that I've taken up so much space, I'll end with saying that only you can determine if you are and how you feel about it. BTW, That's a lot of f-ing alcohol you had on Thursday!

[daddyg]

I wouldn't worry too much about it. I work offshore and that sort of drinking isn't that uncommon amongst us. When I first started I used to carry on like that Thursday, Friday and Saturday plus drinking every day which may or may not have led to binges. The only time I started to worry slightly was when I found myself in the juicer a couple of times in the morning. When I realised it was getting a bit much I just wound it in a bit. Then my missus had our daughter and I just sort of stopped behaving like that. I still go out on the sauce but just not so often. I think alot of people go through the boozing phase while they're young and single and have a few quid in their pockets. I was certainly like that for about 10 years and alot of the younger lads coming through behind me are still like that. Just enjoy it just now as long as you're not desperate for a drink first thing in the morning or drinking brasso. Plus if you're worried enough about it to be posting you must have realised that it's time to take it a bit easier. What I'd be more worried about is the drugs-they're more likely to get you in bother either with the polis or the dunt from your job.

[cheyenne]

whats amazing me is how you remembered exactly what you consumed.

[OBonio]

I'm interested as to what the class A action entailed. From experience, amphetamines really dull the effects of alcohol so you would be able to drink a lot more.

[Scarlett]

The next step for you I think is cutting down. Allow yourself 21 units a week, and try and spread it across the week. Try and have one or two days where you don't drink at all. And maybe find some activity to pour yourslef into, rather than just heading to the pub. There's so much in life to experience, and you can feel amazingly spiritually fulfilled by travelling, walking, meeting new people, even doing stuff like extreme sports!! Look for more inventive ways to get your kicks and you will probably forget about alcohol!

[BUNNY]

Maybe I'm ill informed but I have to disagree with Scarlett's advice that an alcoholic experiences physical withdrawls if they don't get a drink every day. In earlier stages of the disease many alcoholics go for several weeks or months without drinking in an effort to try to gain some control on their drinking.Alcoholism isn't just about the amount you drink, plenty of people can go on an odd binge without being alcoholics.Its about your attitude to drinking too.There are simple quizes on the internet to assertain if you have a problem.You answer 20 questions and the results should give you some idea on whether you have a problem or whether you've just overdone it for a night!

[Shellywba]

I wouldn't have thought you are an alcoholic...They don't just drink loads at one time, they drink loads every day and night.

[jills]

I agree with what the others have said really. It's really down to your dependancy on alcohol, if you have one. Do you have to have a drink almost daily? How do you feel if you don't have a drink? Can you go out and not drink? is your daily intake more than a few units? Alcoholism can be down to your attitude to drink and it's 'hold' over you, as much as the actual quantities you consume.

[dadasupreme]

One time drinking binge... no problem if liver and kidneys are healthy. on the other hand, if after all that, you can still remember what you drank down to the last shot, i think your body is used to alcohol. In that case... CUT DOWN MAN! HOWEVER, i think you should be concerned about what all that alcohol might MAKE YOU DO.loads of mistakes happen due to alcohol. Loads of babies happen due to it too.