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Yeah, that's too much, OP. Current guidelines of good health, are no more than 21 drinks/week for men, and 14/week for women. Some medical sources lower it even further, to 14/7, respectively. Some statistics say binging is even worse for health, and that the drinks should be consumed if at all, spread out no greater than 2 drinks/day.
You need to quit cold turkey for a week, see what happens (check out a list of detox symptoms online, but don't go crazy over-obsessing thinking that you qualify), and if you can handle it. There are online anonymous message boards and resources for folks who have decided that what they need is to cut back; and for those who have decided, that what they need to do, is to go cold turkey. Reading them will strengthen your resolve. Good luck.
(oh, and first reaction, probably should be to remove all alcohol from the house and refrain from buying any more. No matter how expensive or plentiful your home bar might currently be; it's supposed to be painful pouring it away. The hurt strengthens your resolve not to indulge. Having it around, you'll feel like it's calling you from the cupboard. If you get desperate, make yourself go out to a bar and pay bar prices, so the sting is greater.)
My beloved sister, may she rest, told me once that alcohol was like a monster and it would call to her from the liquor store. She knew it was a monster, but it's voice was sweet and convincing. She would get rid of it all, but the next day the monster would call her name again as she passed the store. The monster one day took her life, and we lost her forever to advanced liver disease. She died at home all alone with a bottle. I keep her picture where I will see it everyday to remind me not to listen to the monster's lies.
Learn from others' mistakes, so you won't have to make the same mistake.
Strangely enough I don't have an addictive or obsessive personality, or at least I don't believe I do. I can't recall ever really being addicted to anything or anyone. If I did, they were usually short term and then I got bored of it and moved on. Hopefully I'll move on from this soon...
I hope you can. Remember that alcoholism is a progressive disease. I watched a friend disappear into a bottle and it only started with a bottle of wine a night. I walked away from the friendship a couple of years before she died. It was just too painful to watch and I couldn't stand the dysfunction another minute. She was only a couple of days past her 59th birthday when she died but she looked like she was in her 70's the last time I saw her. You may be able to stop any time you want, but realize that your body may already be suffering irreversible damage from your heavy drinking. Please go see a doctor for a check up.
I absolutely love drinking but when I do, I can't stop. Last week I was drinking from Tuesday-Friday with about 20 drinks from those days. I took Saturday night off and finished the rest of the bottle of wine I had on Sunday. So last week, I had about 23 drinks. It was the holidays so that's not a regular thing for me. On average I have about 4-5 drinks every time I go out. And I go out about once a week or every other week. I usually stick to liquor but lately I have been drinking everything.
I have found comfort in alcohol when I go out and when I stay at home alone on a weekend night. I have finished a bottle of wine alone before and I liked it. Aside from drinking, the rest of my habits are pretty healthy. I work out 5 days a week and eat a lot of protein, veggies, and fruit. I drink more than I eat sweets or junk. I started smoking about once a week or every other week but I don't really care for it. I could give it up and wouldn't blink an eye.
I have been trying to stop drinking alcohol completely but it pains me to even think about it. I see pictures of people in their 80s and they still look 50 and they credit that to not drinking or smoking and eating well and being balanced. I wish I had the discipline to do it but I simply love drinking. I really don't care for any other drug. I would even give up coffee before I give up drinking.
But I really think I should give up drinking for my health. I have even wanted to stop going out just so I won't drink anymore. Does this sound like I have a problem? I never get violent or hurt anybody. Sometimes when I get anxiety around a group of people that make me feel nervous, I tend to go overboard and get a really bad hangover the next day. I think I'm seeing the effects on my face. I look like crap today from last week.
Has anybody here who absolutely love drinking been able to give it up not because they were an alcoholic but they simply just wanted to do it? Did you have to substitute alcohol for anything?
Speaking as someone who has an old, very good friend who is now dying from liver cancer, I would say stop if you can. He was never a "sloppy drunk" or anything just one of those guys who came home from work and polished off a six-pack or 2. He's needed a new liver for several years, but unfortunately now he is not healthy enough for a transplant. He has so much edema and extra fluids in his system (because his liver isn't working) that his wife has to take him back to the hospital every couple of weeks to have it drained out of him. Of course a lot of it simply leaks out through his legs, so whatever surface he sits on feels like someone sat on it in a soaking wet bathing suit.
He is 54 and we are hoping he makes it to the new year.
I absolutely love drinking but when I do, I can't stop. Last week I was drinking from Tuesday-Friday with about 20 drinks from those days. I took Saturday night off and finished the rest of the bottle of wine I had on Sunday. So last week, I had about 23 drinks. It was the holidays so that's not a regular thing for me. On average I have about 4-5 drinks every time I go out. And I go out about once a week or every other week. I usually stick to liquor but lately I have been drinking everything.
I have found comfort in alcohol when I go out and when I stay at home alone on a weekend night. I have finished a bottle of wine alone before and I liked it. Aside from drinking, the rest of my habits are pretty healthy. I work out 5 days a week and eat a lot of protein, veggies, and fruit. I drink more than I eat sweets or junk. I started smoking about once a week or every other week but I don't really care for it. I could give it up and wouldn't blink an eye.
I have been trying to stop drinking alcohol completely but it pains me to even think about it. I see pictures of people in their 80s and they still look 50 and they credit that to not drinking or smoking and eating well and being balanced. I wish I had the discipline to do it but I simply love drinking. I really don't care for any other drug. I would even give up coffee before I give up drinking.
But I really think I should give up drinking for my health. I have even wanted to stop going out just so I won't drink anymore. Does this sound like I have a problem? I never get violent or hurt anybody. Sometimes when I get anxiety around a group of people that make me feel nervous, I tend to go overboard and get a really bad hangover the next day. I think I'm seeing the effects on my face. I look like crap today from last week.
Has anybody here who absolutely love drinking been able to give it up not because they were an alcoholic but they simply just wanted to do it? Did you have to substitute alcohol for anything?
You are an alcoholic. Go to AA, try to stop drinking altogether.
Yeah, that's too much, OP. Current guidelines of good health, are no more than 21 drinks/week for men, and 14/week for women. Some medical sources lower it even further, to 14/7, respectively. Some statistics say binging is even worse for health, and that the drinks should be consumed if at all, spread out no greater than 2 drinks/day.
You need to quit cold turkey for a week, see what happens (check out a list of detox symptoms online, but don't go crazy over-obsessing thinking that you qualify), and if you can handle it. There are online anonymous message boards and resources for folks who have decided that what they need is to cut back; and for those who have decided, that what they need to do, is to go cold turkey. Reading them will strengthen your resolve. Good luck.
(oh, and first reaction, probably should be to remove all alcohol from the house and refrain from buying any more. No matter how expensive or plentiful your home bar might currently be; it's supposed to be painful pouring it away. The hurt strengthens your resolve not to indulge. Having it around, you'll feel like it's calling you from the cupboard. If you get desperate, make yourself go out to a bar and pay bar prices, so the sting is greater.)
21 drinks/week for men, and 14/week for women, will still damage a person's health. That amount is still a LOT of alcohol. This person recognizes the problem - the solution, at least for now, is to just STOP DRINKING!
Has anybody here who absolutely love drinking been able to give it up not because they were an alcoholic but they simply just wanted to do it? Did you have to substitute alcohol for anything?
I used to get ***** faced every week when I was drinking. I didn't NEED that beer, but it sure tasted good, so did 3 pitchers. I'd been doing that for some months (I was working swing shift, would close the bar NIGHTLY) Then one day I walked in, saw 3 friends already 3 sheets to the wind and thought "Do I look THAT stupid when drunk?" Bartender asked me for my order
"7 up" I replied.
Now? I just bought a 6 pack 2 days ago, I'll wipe it out in 4 more days then go sober for a month or so...No problems here.
Three weeks ago I mixed cider, Tequila, and Whiskey shots. By the time we got to the club I couldn't even recognize people's faces. I couldn't find my friends after I went to the bathroom. It was scary. Good thing one of them found me and told me where everybody else was. When I was younger I told myself I would never do drugs because I would hate to lose control over my own body. I guess I never saw alcohol as a drug.
I'm going to have to give kava a shot (no pun intended). I'm going to try and pace myself and limit to 2 drinks so I don't have to go cold turkey. I do love a nice scotch. I never chug those because they're classy drinks. Maybe I'll just get nice scotch when I go out so I can savor a fancy drink..
My grandfather used to have a glass of brandy with every meal (lunch and dinner). He was also a chain smoker. He lived to be 79 but he didn't look too great and wasn't the nicest person.
People can say, "Oh, give up drinking, it's bad for you."
Or say, "Join a community of fellow alcoholics."
But then what comes next? What after. Where's the 'why' if the alcoholic's tolerance is such that they can still drive to and from places. There has to be a good reason:
"Your liver is going to to shrivel up"
"You're going to get in a really bad auto accident and not remember a damn thing."
If the alcoholic can't visualize in their own head this ever happening,
they'll continue with the bad behavior, and just self-moderate to account for these unknowns
GKelly what is your reason to quit alcohol
Don't just say whatever cliche thing that appeals to everyone watching the thread
Be genuine with your answer, using your own point-of-view
Do you think you have the power to rise above all the stupid BS in your life
Or is the only way is to tolerate the BS by drowning it all out
It is pretty stupid, when you stand back and look at it
Like a mashed-together pile of randomness
What's the damned point
But maybe you know what it means if you have a good hard look at it
Think on it, meditate, understand; understand your place and role in it; feel you have the power to heal and change others and improve the world in some small way
Yeah, that's too much, OP. Current guidelines of good health, are no more than 21 drinks/week for men, and 14/week for women. Some medical sources lower it even further, to 14/7, respectively. Some statistics say binging is even worse for health, and that the drinks should be consumed if at all, spread out no greater than 2 drinks/day.
The 2 drinks per day referred to, by the way, are "standard drinks" which means:
12 oz of 5% beer
5 oz of 12% wine
1 shot of 80 proof liquor
A "standard drink" contains the amount of alcohol the average body can metabolize in an hour.
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I hope you can. Remember that alcoholism is a progressive disease. I watched a friend disappear into a bottle and it only started with a bottle of wine a night. I walked away from the friendship a couple of years before she died. It was just too painful to watch and I couldn't stand the dysfunction another minute. She was only a couple of days past her 59th birthday when she died but she looked like she was in her 70's the last time I saw her. You may be able to stop any time you want, but realize that your body may already be suffering irreversible damage from your heavy drinking. Please go see a doctor for a check up.
