Dangerous Levels of Drinking
According to figures released today by the NHS:
- 1 in 4 adults are drinking at hazardous levels,
- 1 in 10 men are on the verge of alcoholism,
- 1 in 6 women drink at levels sufficient to damage their liver or lead to depression,
- 1 in 10 men and 1 in 25 women are approaching alcohol dependence (admittedly rather vague terminology).
We have to ask ourselves why people in the UK seem to be developing more problems with alcohol, and what can be done about it. The cost to the health service alone is staggering – presently some £2.7 billion. That’s before we even consider the personal and social costs involved.
Hi ive been reading a lot about how people ‘want to but wont do’ on these pages im one of these people myself, im a rage drinker i get angry and just throw it down my neck, i recently had a 4 day binge that consisted of 9 bottles of wine over 25 cans of lager 2 75cl bottles of vodka. i have a daughter who is 16 months and not even the love i have for her seems to be enough does that make me a really horrible selfish person i think it does. why make it so accessable to us mere humans when the cost of the priory for a short stay is thousands of pounds surely the way to combat alcahol is to make it only acceptable to buy in small amounts and staff in shops should be given more power to stop people continuously abusing this drug which i may add is more powerful to stop than smack, no methadone cure for us though??
true mate 100% right its as if they are giving it away.Good comment ryan.
Just been looking through all these posts and realised i have major issues with alcohol, good to find a place like this, even if just to vent!!!!
I suffer really badly wit anxiety and have been using alcol to help this, tho do realis its prob the cause!!!!!!
i have the same problem using alcohol to get rid of the anxiety for a few hours but i no its making it so much worse
Hi Everyone
Finally plucked up the courage to make contact. I know I have a problem. Have been drinking everyday for over 10 years (maybe longer) apart from my 2 pregnancies when I stopped altogther. I drink a bottle of wine a day, sometimes less/ sometime more. I dont have hangovers, hold down a professional job and run my house and family perfectly well. So am I an alcoholic/ alcohol dependent?? I have stopped for severla days at a time and never get any symptoms apart from that I cant get to sleep. Please can someone help me and I need someone to say YEAH you have a serious problem her. Pleasehelp. I am too ashamed to speak to my family or doctor. I also hide evidence. i never ever drink in the day only in the evening. After a bottle of wine i dont even feel drunk. Please someone tell me what I can do. Thanks
Hi,
I have just read your post and if I did not know better I would have thought I wrote it! I am the same, a bottle of wine a night, maybe I will throw away the last dregs then stupidly feel proud of myself. Like you, I also work full time, run a house and bring up my beautiful daughter. I never open the wine until she is fast asleep and also do not tell family or friends. I now know this is a way of me keeping going / stress relief / an excuse to keep going i.e. 2 hours ironing is a lot less painful with a glass of wine. But after this length of time I know this is a real problem, I am so scared my daughter will lose me one day through drinking, the money I spend on wine each week could pay for a lovely day out at the weekend and I know it is making me more depressed by the day with guilt, especially as I can not completely enjoy myself during the day without the knowledge there is a bottle of wine in the fridge for the evening. Which again, is hard to keep buying without anyone noticing. It is a real problem, and I am going to do everything I can to stop and be ‘normal’. But the voice in my head seems to be stronger than my will power. I am drink free today for the first in a very long time but I am worried what tomorrow brings, a stressful day and I am back to square one! (or even a good day warrants wine to ‘celebrate’)
Sorry for the waffle but wanted to let you know you are not alone and I wish you all the best of luck as we can’t carry on like this, and know we will be happier when we stop! If we can, any suggestions on how would be gratefully recieved…..
Hi SB (and others)
I had to comment. This could have been me who wrote this (and the replies) too. Tell me is it a 40 something woman trait?
Its wine for me too – a bottle or so a night. I never have a night wine free. It’s been like this for a year or two now. I have tried to stop a couple of times. Managed for 2 weeks then slipped back after one glass, I lost my resolve and back to a bottle a night.
Incidently, I have some serious health problems (not alcohol related) and have to take lots of medication so I have blood tests every month but my poor health and major surgery coming up is still not enough to deter me from drinking. But this morning, I’ve had an eye test as I’ve been having some vision problems and I have cataract on one eye! It’s probably something to do with my disease. Optician thinks its long term steroid use a few years back that have caused it. However, I now fear it’s the alcohol as I know it can cause eye problems.
I’m going to have to go and see my doctor next week and tell her I have a drink problem. I am so unhappy not being able to control this. I have to stop before it’s too late. But I know by tonight, for all my bold words, I’ll be reaching for that glass of wine at 5.30pm.
Best wishes to everyone. We must want to change or we wouldn’t have found this site, and each other.
x
Hi I have done exactley the same for well over 10 years, France di it for me loved Red wine hated my marriage and hid behind the wine. every day. I even got up to 3 bottles a night without feeling bad the next day. I realsie quickly that it was a good thing and stopped that. I still like a drink now but am stopping. I will die if I don’t. I don’t think you can cut down. I have ended the marriage a year ago and am starting to feel better so now is the time to quite the drink.
If you hide the fact you drink, like me you know it’s wrong and hurting you. Trust me you feel better for not doing it. good luck with quitting. Your worth the effort!
SB – My situation is very similar to yours. I can easily drink a bottle of wine in the evening (sometimes a bottle and a half). I have 2 kids, a job and also take care of my home. I go to work every day. I do get hangovers and feel crappy and depressed sometimes the next day and I tell myself I need to quit drinking but sometimes I’m not sure I really want to. I love wine. I don’t drink other alcohol but I love wine. I’m also hiding evidence from my husband and this is starting to scare me….and I keep asking myself, how did I get to this point. I think the best way to describe it is that we are alcohol dependent but if we don’t get a grip we will become alcoholics. I wish I could tell you what to do but I don’t know what to do myself.
Hi maria,do you no what,just going on this web site and reading all these comments makes it a very positive move to realise that we do have a problem.I am excactly the same as you and jj.I love wine too,and will easily drink at least a bottle a night.I am getting to the stage where i feel so groggy in the mornings and find it sooo hard to get up i am really fed up with it.I have tried to give up before,and did and felt so much better,After about a week of not drinking you feel so much better and actually sleep much better.I think the first few nights are the hardest,because you are so used to the alcohol knocking you out,so when you dont drink you cant get to sleep for ages,and i have actually had hallucinations,its horrid.What i found a bit easier,was to read.it makes you tired and you also find that you think about the great story you were reading and it just takes that edge off a bit.The good thing is that it doesnt last that long.I am going to try to pack up from tonight.I will let you no how i get on.
Samantha:
Please let me know how you are doing…it’s so encouraging to know that others are in the same boat that I’m in….I am sick of being sick of myself! I really feel like I’m ready to turn a corner because I’m at a point that I’m miserable if I do drink and I’m miserable if I don’t.
I’m also wondering how Samantha’s done.
It’s true when you stop you can’t sleep for a week or so but you do feel so much better. The trouble is I find I become all virtuous after a week or two and then slip into having a glass ‘every now and then.’ Before you know it, I’ve failed again.
I think you hit the nail on the head, maybe we just don’t want to….not enough to stop. But you are right, if it carries on it will end in tears…. I am starting anxiety tablets tomorrow, was perscribed them last week but thought I would be fine without them. Thought it was nonsense and I can cope perfectly well but I only got through a day without wine so am starting tomorrow. I am not replacing one drug for another (well maybe I am) but will see how it goes……..
I too love wine and drink a bottle a night sometimes more… I am trying to wean back. I decided that I would have 4 glasses for a week and then 3 if I can stick to 3 I would be happy. I know I will not quit right now so cutting back is going to have to be key for me. I never drank much when my kids were young only on weekends etc.. Then as they became older it was an every night thing. I really want to scale back and get to feeling normal again… I do not want this to get to a place where I can’t turn it around…
Dee, this is exactly where I’m at now.
I’m ‘down’ to 4 glasses a night this week. And will try to reduce so I don’t feel the buzzing when I try to sleep and banging headaches that will come if I just pull the drink.
I also keep telling myself that I’ll stop once I have my surgery date (I’ll need to get myself strong physically and mentally.)
But do you know something, I’ve realised after reading your comment (recognising my own responses are much along your lines,) that all I’m doing is putting it off; procrastinating, avoiding it, delaying…
The bottom line is I have to stop, at least for 3 or 6 months, and that’s the thing I just don’t think I can do. Of course, that just makes me spiral and feel more unhappy.
Best wishes to you with trying to cut down.
Dee – The same thing happened to me….I didn’t drink much when the kids were younger but after a divorce and they grew up, I started drinking more…not sure why. You know…drinking isn’t as much fun when you realize you have a problem. It becomes kind of scarry. How do you stop the cravings? I read that it’s a craving for the sugar, so I’m doing some research on how to curb sugar cravings. I’ll post what I find out.
Maggie – Still hoping to see an update from Samantha. How has cutting down worked for you? I find that I have a hard time with it because ususally one or two is all it takes and then there goes the bottle. Maggie – I know what it feels like to feel hopeless. Sometimes, I just get so angry. The anger makes me more committed to trying to give up the wine. Why should I let a substance control my life? I’m giving it too much power….I’ll be praying for all of us that we can make the changes that we desire to make.
Hi all,
I too have a problem. Sometimes I start in the morning and finish 1.5 liter by night. I’ve been out of work for a year. At age 44 I think i’m also starting menapause. I ‘m depressed and taking paxil and adivan (not good to mix w/wine). I really want to quit. Today I only had (4) glasses. I get “the weirds” when I don’t drink. I am really glad this website is here as I am in bad need of support. How did this happen to us when so many others can drink moderately? I need to quit because I have a fatty liver. Do you really start to feel better after awile? I can handle a little insomnia. Do you loose “the weirds” after a week or so? I wish I could just sit on my hands that reach for the bottle.
I stumbled upon this website by accident, but I’m so glad I did. I can’t believe there are so many people out there with the same story as me. I’m in my late thirties, a working mum with a very supportive husband, but I just can’t stop my every day drinking habit. I go through at lease one bottle of wine a day, sometimes more. I find that if I don’t have a bottle of wine waiting for me in the fridge, I have to stop on the way home from work otherwise I get really anxious and feel really panicky if I don’t have any in the house. I have tried just having one or two glasses but that never works – as soon as I have the first glass, I get such a feeling of relaxation wash over me, I can’t wait to have another, then another until the bottle’s gone. I really want to get this under control, I think the only way for me is to stop altogether or at least try to keep it to weekends as it’s having a real effect on my ability to get through the week. I wake up in the mornings feeling so guilty and can’t even remember some of the conversations I’ve had with my husband the night before! (He works long hours and I’ve usually done most of a bottle by the time he gets home). He doesn’t preach at me and says it’s my choice but I really want to have control of my life again. It’s really given me a boost today to know I’m not alone with this and it isn’t just me, so starting from today – here goes!! Good luck to you all.
Hi guys,
This is amazing to read all your stories I am 44 have 1 daughter who is ten and a another who just turned 1. I did stop through my pregnancies and breastfeeding but now that I have stopped I am back to drinking a bottle a day or more but as I work from home in the evenings sometimes I will have a glass with lunch then one more in the afternoon and I have a couple while I work and then when I have finished I want another bottle sometimes there might be another one in the fridge but I usually only have 1 more glass and then feel really guilty. Like some of you I cannot wait to have a glass and feel better. I have tried to cut back and yes I can do it for a couple of days and then I just get back into bad habits again. So I think I will have to stop altogether but I am so scared at the thought of never having a wine again. Good luck to you all with your quests.xx
Been interesting reading the above and can relate to a lot which has been said – surely there must be a way to just reduce and just enjoy the occasional glass of wine – why must we finish the bottle??
What if we buy bottles half the size – would we be satisfied then, when we’d finished the bottle!!?
Hi
Well – this all sounds so familiar. My problem is I drink between 5-9 units of alcohol a day – often starting in the afternoon. I hide vodka and I hide how much I drink. My husband bought a bottle of whisky – I had to buy another to top it up so that he would realise I had drunk most of it. Yesterday I drank half a bottle of wine – 3 vodkas, a whisky and a pint of beer. I was awake with sweats at 4.30am and didn’t get back to sleep. I feel rubbish this morning – tired, depressed and scared. I am not admitting to anyone I have a problem so I need to try and do this on my own. I have a good professional job – nice house, devoted husband and two lovely children – I had a good upbringing where alcohol was rare in the house. I have no idea why my relationship with alcohol is so bad. I am just greedy for it. I have a fat tummy which I am sure is because of my drinking, and I am worried about health factors. I have not heard about alcohol causing eye problems – but this year I had to get glasses. I need help – and I dont know what to do about it.
maybe you drink because you like the taste i certainly did and still do until today,or have you no confidence there are a number of reasons people drink and not all of them drink to get slaughtered,i have been drinking for 20 odd years and ive got the best eye sight ever but like i said people dont the same problemsjust cos we all drink,talk to your doctor if your worried..
Love ur comments and stories. So similar. Esp the one about needing a chilled bottle in fridge for when u get home. Ditto all of it. Have laid off for about a day and quite enjoy the pulsating head and sweats as it feels poison is coming out of me. But the nxt day I’m bk on it. Want to be like everyone else and drink in moderation. Irony is I’m a fitness fanatic so offset booze for fitness; but I’m kidding myself as my poor old liver is dying and so am I inside. X
I recognise your situation – I go running 6 hilly miles most days but people must see me and wonder why he doesn’t get much leaner. It’s because, as I say to myself, ‘I run five miles forward and then go six pints backwards’.To compensate, I now try to run further, but, unlike, say, 10 years ago, I can only mentally deal with the challenge of going out the door in the rain and running in the knowledge that I have sufficient beers in the fridge waiting to reward me when I have made it back home. And ‘sufficient’ is becoming increasingly more and expensive. A ridiculous, vicious circle of running and drinking – two things I am really good at. Sad and ironic that one activity is an accomplishment that makes a person strong and the other just undermines everything a person should be.
Hi friends….
In 2001 i was drinking 1,50 l of 10% beer during days and 1 bottle and half of wine per night… i quit on january 2002 (in a specialized hospital). I stayed sober for 2 years and 9 months. Whait as quite strange considering wht i had previously read on the subject matter , was that it took me 4 years and very progressivly to get to the quantities i m using to drink right now (not right now…ill explain) which is mrore ore les one 1,14 l bottle of wine per day or 1 bottle of 40 oz strong beer (10%) and a another half….
I quit (without helkp this time) one week ago…..and i m not ready…..i jst bought a bottle that i will open after this comment of mine…..
I know i can make it again, but its quite a difficult moment tod o it i suppose….
cheers all
btw im a painter, an artist, and id like to know if there are some artists with an alcohol problem around here …. would be interested to know there experience…
btw….. the paintings on my link are for the most made with and without alcohol, as it depends on the period, and because i always try not to drink to much before doing a painting…
I have just looked at the unit of alcohol allowed for a man and women and if im right i can and do quite often drink 8-12 cans of 5% cider and a half or a litre bottle of vodka a day without waking up with a hang over and do the same the next day,i am going to try and give up drinking after 20 odd years of doing it im surprised im still hear.not only am i going to save on my health ( if its not to late) but also my pocket….
When I could no longer standup to get the cat food. And when you start to throwup when you try to abstain. Then you know its got cha. You try to stop but you’re sick for days and the only way to cure the pain is to start drinking again. Here in the states their are places that use librium or vallium or many other drugs to prevent the pukeing episodes. Then I went to a 28 day rehab but you have to keep going to meeting to keep your focus or you’ll relapse in the blink of an eye. I love wine, so the way I stay sober is to attend meetings, read blogs, and study what its done to my health. The itichy skin due to bile in the blood because the vein in the liver to transport it is too fatty. The numbness and tingling fingers due to nerve damage not due to the alcohol directly, but when your liver is given overtime jobs like clearing the blood of alcohol, it can’t do the 500 plus other jobs like actively transporting nutrients into the blood. Remember, when you blow .24, your blood is literaly 24% alcohol. It takes a while to do this, but if you start with wine in the morning then go to vodka later, it’s doable.
The thing is we think we are alright because we don’t get hangovers – this is because we are too tollerant because we drink too much! We kid ourselves that everybody does it the same way we do, and that we can give up when we feel like it.
I never wake up feeling ill – ever! I think I only had 1 hang over in my life when I was in my teens – Brandy I think.
For me it is like stopping smoking – stop altogether, jsut one-is the thin end of the wedge. Night 2 for me without – I don’t have sleep problems either when I don’t drink, so maybe it is a serious habit like smoking I need to break? Well here goes, Im not going to die for a glass of red!
I have been on this site before. It was on a morning with a thick head and nauseous feeling after an over indulgent evening of drinking Vodka which happened nearly every day. It struck home with me and thought, yes thats me after reading the questions you have to answer prior to counseling.
I answered all the questions in my fuzzy head and thought about the trigger that made me buy that damned bottle most nights and hide it from my family to sneakily slurp all evening till I nodded off in my chair. I used to think ” I hide my problem really well” but in the sober light of day they all know and just put up with it, well most of the time. I have a loving Wife and great Kids, all grown up.
I have only ever drank at home and never drink if we go out on an evening. or on vacation.
My trigger was 4 pm to 4-30 pm every day when I had the urge to buy my last legal drug as I called it.
The day I read the articles on this site it did no good but they stuck in my head and I would try to analyze what causes the trigger.
The answer is nothing apart from habit and dependancy on alcohol.
I eventually looked for good things about heavy drinking and the answer is again of course, nothing!
I then thought of the good thing about not drinking and compiled a list of these in my head and keep reminding myself of them all day long. I have to remind myself more frequently as the witching hour of 4m approaches.
I am writing this at 7-15-am with a clear head after my first week of abstinence very aware of the fact that I have done this before and fell back again.
I have promised myself that if I do I will use the counseling service offered on this site as I feel so good this morning and I know I will feel the same all day, this is what I must strive to achieve for the rest of my life.
I realize that I will always be an alcoholic but I want to be a sober one
I can relate to all the comments on here and its made me realise that i do have a problem with alcohol. I used to think that because i hold down a good job, maintain the house and bills, and drive a nice car that i didnt have a problem. I have recently been diagnosed with depression and put it down to the breakdown of my 18 year marriage two years ago and then a couple of bad relationships since. I probably started drinking a lot about 5 years ago although didnt recognise it at the time. I seem to have lost all my self esteem and vest for life now, its like i dont know who i am anymore and go through the motions of life each day without really enjoying anything. My two daughters are growing up now and out most of the time so when i come home from work i suppose im lonely and bored and although i say i maintain my home and pay the bills i do let things slip occasionally because i just dont have the motivation to do anything. I looked up the ‘what type of drinker are you’ and I seem to fit into the categories of boredom, hedonistic and the first one on the list, cant remember what that one was called. Anyway I used to drink a bottle of wine a night but have recently changed to beer because its a lower percentage. Im going to try a night without anything tonight and see how i feel tomorrow….its been really helpful reading all the comments, makes you realise your not on your own xx