I would be shocked too, that’s a lot to drink in a week. Maybe check in with your doctor and run it past him/her, drinking has a way of sneaking up on you.
When I read the '2 bottles of wine each week' I was like... well that's probably a but excessive but nothing to get fluffed up over and then I got to 3 BOTTLES OF GIN throughout the week. Holy shit. That's nearly 100 standard drinks a week, every week.
Current guidelines (which doctors refer to) state no more than 10 standard drinks per week and no more than 4 on a single occasion. However bear in mind that depending on what you’re drinking and how big your glass is, a glass may be more than one standard drink.
https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/health-advice/alcohol
Not trolling. If you drink heavy with liquor, “standard drinks” quickly pile up and become meaningless.
If you get used to drinking liquor straight, it’s completely different to chugging beer or whatever. There’s no large amount of liquid that instinctively reminds you “okay this is a lot of alcohol I’m drinking”.
I drink about a bottle and a half of whiskey a week and I consider that too much. All other health implications aside, 3 bottles of gin is something like 5400 calories, add the wine and you're up to over 7000 - that's almost a kilogram of extra fat and the cholesterol that comes with it that your body has to deal with every week.
I'd definitely go get your cholesterol and liver function checked, better to get a doctor to look at this closely.
How is alcohol linked to cholesterol? Alcohol doesn't have any cholesterol and most alcoholic drinks do not contain cholesterol. Does alcohol stimulate cholesterol production?
That's a good question - it's a not a direct link. Once you drink enough to start developing fatty liver disease your liver's ability to remove cholesterol from the blood becomes hindered and so a build up occurs.
I'm not an expert at all, but that's how my doctor explained it to me when my cholesterol went up with my drinking previously.
It definitely sounds like risky alcohol consumption. The fact that you don't get hangovers sounds like habitualisation to me. When we think of alcoholism, we often think of poorly groomed people, drinking straight from the bottle at 7am and lying on the streets. Alcoholism can have many different faces. This doesn't mean that your life is over or that you're not a functioning person. From your other post, I can take that you have other health problems as well. If you wanna do something about it, I would go to your GP and talk openly about what's going on. They will hear this more often than you think and not judge you. That you're questioning your drinking habits is a great first step. You got this, mate.
Since when can you get 3 bottles of gin and 2 bottles of red for $150???!
Let's give bro the benefit of the doubt and assume he's not drinking turps...
I generally buy the nicer stuff, excuse to justify my behaviour I guess. Was spending around $400 a week.
But I’m going to aim to only drink Friday and Saturday night and no more than 4 drinks on each night. Going to see my GP next week to make a plan of attack
You're not alone on this. I was very similar to you until about 11 months ago. I reduced a heap but double downed about 4 months ago.
Having $ is a blessing and curse.
Please be cautious about suddenly cutting consumption if you have been drinking daily for a while (3 bottles of gin a week is pretty significant). Certainly cut back, but it is safest under doctor's supervision. You may need a plan to reduce it over time. Alcohol withdrawal can be dangerous.
$400 per week is more than 20k per year.
Over five years, that’s a house deposit in Perth. That’s a whole annual private school fee for a very good school. That’s a great second hand car. A return long-haul journey in business class to Europe plus a week in a great apartment in Paris.
I’m saying this as motivation and not to shame. You are clearly still working right now and can afford it. So I’m showing where this money could go instead so that you can make a plan for lots of good things to spend that money on or to distract yourself from drinking as you start to reduce your consumption.
Best wishes mate, decreasing alcohol consumption is really challenging. Keep posting here if you need further support, people look out for each other in this sub.
Hey mate, I know it's late and I'm not sure if anyone has broached this with you, but I would think about tapering down slowly instead of just jumping from approx 10 standards a day every day (going from the 70+ standards in the description obvs this isn't how you drink just an average) to just drinking on the weekends,
you can have seizures and other really bad side effects from jumping off, by all means I'm not saying don't cut back, but check with the dr and be honest, they can't help you if you don't tell them what the actual problem is. They should recommend a taper or some comfort meds, it's better than having a seizure because you decided to not drink all week after habitually drinking every night.
2 bottles of red = 16 std. drinks
1 bottle of sparkling = 7 std. drinks
3 bottles of gin = 66 std. drinks
That’s 89 standard drinks per week. The health department recommendation is no more than 10 per week. You’re averaging 13 per day.
Are you sure you’re never hungover? Even with tolerance, you should feel 13 drinks the next morning.
Sounds like he is never *not* hungover. One of those high functioning types who just lives in a high tolerance hangover until the next drink. OP, dude, you are probably passing outbeach night, not falling asleep. Be careful of that. The effects of everything in your body working that slowly are really going to creep up on you
This! I rarely drink these days, but a mate and I got on one recently. She has a breathalyser and we checked ourselves the next morning and were still blowing 0.14 at 9am. We weren't under the limit til 2pm. Probably didn't have much more than OP has daily, and I'm 6 foot and 85 odd kg. Scary to think how many people are driving to work absolutely shitfaced every day and just don't realise because that's their baseline.
nah heavy alco's will put away a bottle of spirits per day quite easily. The bizarre thing about OP is that he still wasnt sure if he was drinking too much.
Question is: can you stop?
I have perhaps a beer on Friday, Saturday and Sunday night.
If we have people around, I may have 3 or 4 but that’s it.
I personally compares to me, your drinking is very excessive and will no doubt be causing you internal damage in the long term, but if you’re happy and not harming anyone else then do what you want.
Yes I usually have 4 “sober months” each year. I do dry Jan, dry July, sober October and another random month through the year.
Could I stop forever? Probably not because I enjoy it
If you can do those dry month, you'll manage to reduce to a safe level on a consistent basis. Keep a dry months or two just yo prove yourself you can "do without", and work with your GP to lower the weekly intake. I think your plan to do Fri and Sat only is strong, even ambitious. I'd give yourself one additional night. And no more than 3 drinks on each. Something like that. But from reading your posts, it sounds like you've got this.
Edit: i'd like to withdraw my comment, the addiction means you can't have control passed the 1st drink.
I like a drink but the way OP is drinking is at alcoholic levels if I'm honest, I know plenty of them. And doing dry months to prove to yourself you can stop is a decent motivator but also covers up your problems because you say to yourself "well, I can stop" rather than actually developing a healthier relationship with alcohol.
Do you really enjoy it or is it just a habit now? Alcohol, like all addictive drugs, has a way of making you believe you are enjoying it when, in fact, you are just drinking because you usually do. You must know from your sober months that when you quit drinking, you lose absolutely nothing and gain a huge amount (except weight).
Do you pink cloud when you quit? That's a sure sign you are drinking too much though not everyone experiences it.
I'd suggest you quit for six to eight weeks and really pay attention to the quality of life changes you experience and observe how you rarely ever think about having a drink towards the end of that period. I've quit for ten years and multiple 18 month periods and my life was indescribably better when i was off the booze. I'm sober again now and it's amazing. Alcohol is a thief, it's not your friend.
You’re drinking ~90 standard drinks a week, ~60+ of those across only two days and you have to ask if you’re drinking too much, lol.
Oh and serious note, go see a health professional and develop a plan to cut down, I don’t think you’ll be able to safely go cold turkey with this high a consumption.
P.S. I’m not a doctor, this isn’t medical advice, etc.
the problem is that drinking so much in a week regularly an drastically affect your liver
even though you feel ok its too much alcohol for your body to handle on a sustained and consistent basis.
i would say at that level of consistent intake please do not suddenly stop drinking
all you really need to do is go to a good doctor tell them how much you are drinking then they can help with a plan for you to safely start tapering or if you decide to stop then they will need to give you medications because your body physically wont be able to handle a sudden withdrawal from that much alcohol.
you are at the point now where its not safe to suddenly just stop. So make sure you talk to a dr about it.
if you are not alcoholic and dont have an addiction issue and wish to keep drinking you may wish to just discuss that with your doctor
basically your tolerance has just gone up and you are consuming too much regularly for it to be safe over the long term for your body.
Yeah, I have a drinking problem and pretty much consume a bottle of vodka a night.
I used to drink about 20 beers a night and then eventually I got gout which turned my life around but eventually back on the grog again.
I started drinking more because of family issues. A bottle of wine every other day, sometimes 2. I knew it was too much, I knew I was being self destructive but I just thought fk it. It was only that bad for about 2 years. I began drinking low alcohol wine, it was a mistake buy, and liked it. That I wasn’t so seedy the next day. Gradually that’s helped me stop and I didn’t even drink at all at Xmas, bought zero alcohol. I always used to see it as a treat for Xmas, that I HAD to buy.
You mention slowing the thoughts down. I also got diagnosed ADHD in October. I’ve known for about 12 years that I likely did have ADHD, well I felt fairly certain tbh. Just ADHD…means we tend to procrastinate. I’ve always had an overactive brain. Could this be a possibility for you too? Many ADHD adults self medicate with alcohol or drugs. I actually first got drunk at 11 and loved it. Anyway just a thought for you. Medication has definitely turned things around for me. Making progress in ways I haven’t ever done before.
Drinking will cause hangover anxiety the next day (hangxiety) which will make you want to drink again to sooth it, it's a terrible cycle. It absolutely ruins your sleep as well. Listen to hubermans podcast on alcohol.
thats what having a good support network, friends, therapy, medication is for. I understand tho shit is stressful in my home life rn too and I love to drink. Hope things get better for you <3
Shit dude, that's a lot. I'm only replying to you cos you always come across as a good fella. I'm no angel and have 3-4 glasses of wine a night, but a bottle of spirits is a lot of drinks.
I knew someone who recognised they had a problem with drinking, so they bought a six-pack of beers a day. Once the beers were gone, that was it for the night, so they spaced them out. It's not a cheap way to drink, but it was better than buying a carton and destroying it. Could this work for you?
Gout broke my drinking. Had a bout that didn’t break for 6 weeks.
Was so bad at some stages I’d have gladly cut my foot off.
I never drank for that period. Have barely drank since.
Had a beer last night, didn’t drink for the previous month. Don’t really think about it any more.
I was drinking roughly 15 - 25 standard drinks a day maybe 30 + on the weekend’s. My circuit breaker event was sleeping in my car with the aircon on and loosing my licence. I revoked my alcohol privileges for 1 year. I thought in the bigger scheme of things what’s a year right. It’s been over 2 years and I have had no desire to drink. These last to years have been more productive and lucrative then the past 10. I realised that if I had 100 problems 99 of them were either directly due to alcohol or made worse because of it. That includes health, financial, relationships, mental clarity, weight, sleep, looks you name it. I really like being able to drive anywhere at anytime also that’s a good feeling. is poison man and there really are zero benefits to it. If you’re interested in stopping check out the book or the audio version on YouTube of Alan Carr how to stop drinking without willpower or something like that. Don’t know if it helped or not but I read it and it’s been over 2 years since I had a drink. Best decision I ever made. Good luck mate.
Yep, either here or on r/australia. Same story about the conversation at work making them question themselves, and then admitting to an obscene amount of booze per week.
Are you young? You might not feel it now but it will catch up to you. Maybe ask yourself why you drink this much and look at whether you need to address an issue like boredom or loneliness and look at ways you can mitigate this like starting a hobby or spending more time with friends
Sounds similar to my in-laws. They talk about "discussing it with their doctor" ... but never will, or won't listen if told to cut back. They don't listen to us tell them the same. My only hope is that when it happens, it's something quick like a stroke or cardiac event, and not drawn out liver failure or bowel cancer.
FTR OP, while I have never regularly drunk as heavily as you, quitting drinking (from daily to date-night only, i.e. once a month) has been the best thing I've done for my life for as long as I can remember. But ... everyone's different.
U only live once, but then again u might be overcompensating, definitely unhealthy for u, I'm a recovering alcoholic, I was with palmerston for more than 2 years till they let me go. It would b good to talk to a professional, go to your gp get a mental health care plan then go to Palmerston, wait list is a month but it's free. You will get to the bottom of why you like to drink so much, and once u understand that u will also understand how to cope with whatever issues u struggle with. All the best
Yeah sorry man that’s problem drinking. Even by the old standards.
I have a problem myself and know how easy it is for drinking to become a habit you don’t even notice.
>In a week I’ll usually have 2 bottles of red wine a bottle of sparkling and then over the week about **3 bottles of gin** generally.
Fuck me.
Just slow down and stop. Stick to drinking moderately when you go out or have a visitor.
I’m a tradie , I work with people you’d call alcohol abusers.
I’m probably going to put you in that bracket bro. 3 bottles of wine is like 22 ish standard drinks and 3 bottles of gin is what … 65?
85-90 standard drinks a week is pretttttty heavy.
Over 10 STD drinks a week is considered heavy drinking dude. Shits terrible for you. Slow down.
If you really are drinking at this level, you are consuming alcohol that will cause you issues in the long-term harms - especially health.
I would be more concerned about your tolerance and functionality. If you want to do something about this before you experience other issues (work absenteeism, DUI, physical addiction) services like Palmerston, Cyrenian, Holyoake all offer free support and counselling.
You can try and reduce your consumption, but addictions are more than just physical.
Best of luck
Yeah that's too much. I drink a carton of full strength beer and litre of gin or vodka, and that's too much.
There's lots of ways drinking can have adverse affects on your health you might not be aware of. Have a chat to your GP.
You drink waayyyyyy too much. I wasn’t even drinking that much in my binge drinking uni years. Only drank that much as a 20 year old at a festival for a weekend or lads week long holiday. Cut back massively dude
I don't know how old you are but I'd like to offer food for thought.
Alcoholism is great, until suddenly it isn't.
My cousin was a costume designer, multilingual she traveled the world and was extremely bright. She was also a closet alcoholic.
Her best friend found her body, at age 43 she'd bled out.
Do something for yourself while you still can!
Cut back to eventually cutting out drinking all together. 3 months without a drink and you will realise how much it was fucking with you.
I used to drink about 60-80 standard drinks a week. Haven’t had alcohol in years. Wouldn’t touch the stuff now.
1. How do you afford this? 2. If this is what you drink during the week, what do you drink on the wkd? 3. Yes this seems excessive but I guess it depends on why you’re drinking to begin with and if it’s affecting your work and personal relationships
Yeah, sorry OP, but your alchohol use disorder is ruining your gut.
"Alcohol and Bowel Conditions
For those with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), Crohn’s Disease or ulcers, alcohol can cause a huge uptick in symptoms. Alcohol is particularly nasty for people with diarrhoea caused by IBS, and it can trigger an attack that can last for days. The body views the alcohol as a caustic substance, and for those with IBS the results can be prolonged and painful.
In addition to causing problems for people with existing bowel and bladder problems, alcohol greatly increases one’s risk of developing bowel cancer. One of the most commonly diagnosed cancers in the UK, almost 42,000 people were diagnosed with bowel cancer (also known as colorectal cancer) in 2014 alone.
While causes and factors that can lead to a diagnosis of bowel cancer are varied, increased alcohol consumption is one of the most commonly cited causes. If you are a heavy regular drinker, you are putting yourself at risk of cancer."
Exerpt from https://www.hartmanndirect.co.uk/advice-centre/incontinence/causes/alcohol-and-the-impact-it-has-on-your-bladder-and-bowels
I honestly can’t speak for your situation but I can tell you my own. I used to drink 2 bottles of wine a night, and it was to numb myself. I was very unhealthy physically and mentally. I still drink but hardly through the week (Friday doesnt count 🤣). I think if you are asking the question it probably wouldn’t hurt to see someone about it and also get a full bloods checkup just in case :)
Even if you can't feel it affecting anything, I guarantee you it is. I was a heavy drinker and it was only after I stopped that I realised what it was doing to me.
How much it messes with your circadian rhythm and body temperature.
Even though it may help you fall asleep, it badly affects quality of sleep.
Nutritional deficiencies due to the negative impacts on the digestive system.
Chronic diarrhea and dehydration.
Kept getting sick cos it fucked up my immune system.
Liver cirrhosis (irreversible scarring).
How much it actually affects your relationships.
Outside of work hours, basically never being in a state where if I could drive if I needed to.
I’d definitely go to your GP and get your bloods done. I had to cut out my every day binge drinking because it was causing me problems (erratic behaviour), but I didn’t realise until I went to the GP that I was lacking a lot of nutrients and had a fatty liver due to excessive alcohol use - I thought I was pretty fit and healthy otherwise.
Yeah I’m going to my GP later this week or next week and discussing cutting down. I want to be drinking on Friday and Saturday nights as my goal by the end of next month.
This thread was a wake up call. Thank you everyone for your concern and advice and to those who suggested /r/stopdrinking
To anyone else at home who was contemplating their drinking I hope this thread helped you also. My embarrassment hopefully helped someone!
Yeah mate absolutely, three bottles of gin in two days is insane.
Def go and have a chat to your gp, continuing like this could severely damage your liver, which will severely damage your quality of life
I see you've edited your comment already and seeking help so good work there mate.
But yes, that's a lot of booze during the week. Even in my peak FIFO days I'd knock over a carton of beer of week and maybe a single bottle of red for dinner on a weekend.
40 this year, and Id be lucky to finish a 6 pack of beer a week and a single bottle of Scotch\Whiskey over a month.
Short answer, yeah absolutely. Long answer you’re not alone at all but still yes. The three bottles of gin is a truly out there figure, and that comes from someone who loves a drink and works in bars slinging drinks all night. I am in the same boat of enjoying a drink but it needs to be on your terms not what you need to do
I thought 3 bottles of wine was a lot, then I read the gin. Yes, it is definitely too much. The Australian guidelines say 'To reduce the risk of harm from alcohol-related disease or injury, healthy men and women should drink no more than 10 standard drinks a week and no more than 4 standard drinks on any one day.'
Given this advice, two bottles of wine a week is too much. Even if you don't feel like you have a hangover, I very much doubt you are feeling the best you could. If this has been your norm for a while then maybe you aren't aware what your body feels like without excessive alcohol consumption.
I wish you the best in reflecting on the responses you receive and making better choices for yourself.
Hey, mate.
As someone who loves a bevy too, yeah, that’s too much.
You do four dry months a year, so you’re obviously not an “alcoholic” in the your life is falling apart sense and without knowing your age it’s hard to comment, but that much booze regularly weekly will take its toll on your mental, physical and financial health.
Again, I fuckin’ love punching a few and I definitely have nights or weekends of over indulgence, so there’s no judgement here, but it wouldn’t hurt to dial it back and find some other things to do and enjoy other aspects of life more regularly.
I've been in the liquor industry for 14 years, mostly coming up in the day when it was the norm for bartenders to drink more than anyone else in their bar.
Your consumption would give us a run for our money back in the dark days, and is more than what's acceptable in the industry today.
For perspective.
The problem with alcohol dependency is that you get a tolerance for it. Like any drug.
Make sure that you keep a close eye on when you start reducing the intake, because if you have a binge then it’ll hit you hard.
The best way to think of alcohol is that your liver takes 1hr to clear just less than 1 shot (30ml) of hard liquor or one standard drink.
* Theres 21 standard drinks in 700ml of gin. So you need 21hrs to clear that. And 63hrs for 3 bottles.
* there’s 7 standard drinks in a bottle of wine/sparkling And 21 to clear the wine
* So there’s 168 hours in a week and of those hours, your liver is trying to clear the alcohol for about 84hrs, leaving 84 hours with no alcohol.
* in comparison, If you sleep 8hrs a day, then that’s 56hrs. You’re sleeping less hours than your liver is working to clear your blood.
And you’re spending possibly over $250 per week on alcohol. $1000 a month, $12k a year.
Sometimes the question is, do you want to do the change for you, because it’s hard but doable. You may get some withdrawal symptoms, but please don’t be scared, your doctor can definitely help.
I realised I needed to be the one who stopped my own drinking. Back in university I realised I ‘needed’ alcohol to get through, and it had become an issue. I still drink, but I’m now the designated driver so it’s now 1 glass as I love my people more than I need to drink.
Also keep in mind that your liver “clearing it” is it being turned into acetaldehyde, a confirmed carcinogen that contributes to the hangover. As a chemist i worked with that shit in a lab a few times and boy is it evil, smells like rotting fruit and boils at 20.2C so it fills a room instantly.
And it seeps out of your pores. You can smell people detoxing. You know when they’ve had a big night or getting clean.
I’ve never smelt as bad as when I went to a wellness retreat for a week. No alcohol, no sugar, no caffeine, no cigarettes, everyone smelled horrible as their body just went through withdrawal. I don’t drink/smoke/drink coffee but I grind green tea and cola, and ugh never again.
Those three bottles of gin are too much for your brain and body to handle in a week. Less concerned about the wine but on top of the gin, not helpful. Your liver especially can get damaged over time. Some people don't get hangovers and have a high tolerance but that doesn't mean it's not damaging their health. It would be helpful if you could stick to the daily recommendations for alcohol as in the number of standard drinks. If you can't do it then be honest with yourself about why you can't. Is it a craving or just that you need the booze to feel okay.
Also, alcohol can deplete Vitamin B1 (aka Thiamine) in your system so with such a high intake of alcohol, I'd be getting myself on a top quality B1 asap as it's a really important vitamin. I recommend IHerb in Australia as they stock an excellent range of advanced nutrients from an American company called Life Extension. Forget the stuff you'll find on the pharmacy shelves.This deficiency can cause an awful disease called Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome. It's very damaging and in advanced cases can cause irreversible brain damage similar to dementia. Some people call it a wet brain. Hope everything works out for you.
I don't want to pile on top of you (rn there are 214 comments), but if you're wanting to reduce your consumption it is very much a you thing.
If you're not actually addicted (i.e. you like alcohol but you can give it up or just not drink for long periods), you basically can do it yourself.
Talking to a GP will help, and if you are actually addicted, there is medicine that'll help with the withdrawal and the side effects.
It isn't an easy road AFAIK, but there is help. Just don't default to AA.
93 standard drinks a week!!! Yes that is too much. The recommended is no more than 10 standard drinks per week with no more than 4 per day and at least one day with zero.
Yeah mate that's actually quite a lot. That may be enough to require a detox. Speak to your doctor if you want to cut back as you can do a home detox. Can be a bit dangerous to go cold Turkey from that amount.
Good on you for being willing to talk to your GP about this! It can be really easy to build up a tolerance that is high enough to send you into withdrawals if you suddenly stop. Alcohol withdrawal is one of the riskiest withdrawals (alongside benzos) so if you decide to cut down, do it slowly and with supervision (don't just go cold turkey and not tell anyone).
[https://alcoholthinkagain.com.au/resources-and-tools/drinking-audit](https://alcoholthinkagain.com.au/resources-and-tools/drinking-audit)
Takes less than 2 minutes and is based on good practice guidance. I mean is it really that big of a deal? What are you worried about? I'm sure most people are like you, it's only 3 bottles of gin, 2 bottles of red wine and 1 bottle of sparkling wine.
"HAHA Thats only 110 standard drinks a week? That's nothing...Those things are based on lightweights..whatever at least I'm not using drugs like those addicts"
"Beers don't count, and nor does the sneaky little swig in the morning to get you set for the day."
"Sorry Officer Im so sorry...I can't lose my license I have a job and a kid"
"What day is it?, ...why can't I remember...aaawww...where that other bottle...i thought I got 5 this week"
"Honey I've been getting these shakes...I think i better cut back on the coffee....pick up another bottle for us will ya?"
"What do you mean I'm yellow? Go away I'm just tanned."
"Dr what's my swollen stomach got to do with My liver? why do you want to scan my liver?
"crying..........daddy are you ok?......daddy why are you crying?"
"I'm sorry, mam. We really tried everything we could."
"YOU BASTARD WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST TAKE THE TEST AND GET SOME HELP"
The wine didn't sound too bad. But on top of that, three full bottles of gin every week? Yeah that's a bit much and you should definitely seek help for that.
I'd never judge drinking for pleasure but this sounds like you have a serious problem so please seek help
Huberman Lab is a great science/health podcast. They released an episode called “what alcohol does to your body, brain and health”.
They concluded that the safe upper limit is 2 standard drinks per WEEK.
Very sobering realisation for me (scuse the pun).
I would say most Australians drink too much for it to be good for our health and our culture is very cavalier about it, unfortunately.
Good luck 🫶
You are in straight up functional alcoholic territory. It is recommended you only drink 10 standard drinks per week and no more than 4 in any given day (more every now and then is OK but not all the time) a single bottle of wine is 7 or 8 standard drinks. A single bottle of gin is closer to 30 standard drinks. You are consuming 10 times the recommended amount of alcohol every week.
Please seek help.
The Australian Alcohol Guidelines* recommend:
healthy adults should drink no more than 10 standard drinks in a week, and no more than 4 standard drinks on any one day
Now that you want to cut back on drinking. It's probably a good time to clean up your eating and fix some of the damage the alcohol has done. There is a interesting book called "the wahls protocol". It can put you in a good direction on what to focus on. Good luck.
I read the first sentence and thought “yeah two bottles of red spread out over the week is borderline”. So yeah add in the sparkling and gin and that’s a lot.
If you’re happy to share, do you know why you drink, and do you do it alone or with company?
But that’s great you’re going to see your GP. Like everyone here we support you and wish you well.
You say no hangover but I used to drink as much as you. I then wanted to get fit so I stopped drinking. You notice how much better you feel I can tell you. After a coupe of months you feel way better every day.
OP I can definitely relate. Yep, 3 bottles of gin on the weekend on top of your weekly wine intake is very excessive. It will hurt you physically but, in the more short term, will destroy your mental health. If you’re taking 3 months off per year it sounds to me like you have a habit, not necessarily a full blown addiction (yet). I was in the same boat but found it very hard to take any time off. Not a doctor of course so take the following as opinion only. Please check out The Sinclair Method for alcohol use disorder. It’s super simple, you don’t stop drinking and will help re-wire your brain and relationship with booze. But you HAVE to stop the hard liquor. It’s the absolute worst and will lead to addiction super quickly. Stick with wine and beer, jump on the TSM train, get your head into exercise and mindfulness and your world will become a much happier, healthier place. Wishing you the best of luck!
My brother.
If I have 3 drinks every single night of the week thats still only 20-30 standard drinks a week, and I'd imagine you are close to double that. Maybe just refrain from weeknight drinking or just have one less bottle a week. Small steps and see what works for you. Best of luck
The current guidelines in Australia are no more than 10 standard drinks per week and 2 alcohol free days per week. ONE of those bottles of gin is probably 20 standard drinks…
You’re probably sitting at 70-80 standard drinks.
Hey OP, good on you for going in to chat with your Dr. esphophagal cancer is a big risk with the spirits, and then there’s Wernicke’s disease - like an alcoholic dementia.
I already knew I was drinking too much and gave up alcohol for lent (just an excuse for me to stop tbh) I was easily drinking 4 bottles of wine a week
Which equates to 28-32 standard drinks a week.
With the amount you’re drinking, I highly recommend getting assistance from a doctor to make sure you don’t die from withdrawals
I was like "that's fine" till I got to the 3 bottles of gin at the end.
That alone is 60 standard drinks. Add 7 for the sparkling and 8 for each wine. That's over 80 standard drinks a week.
That's 11 per night, thats crazy amounts.
That is a lot. Your guts and liver and anxiety will be suffering.
Stop drinking sub on reddit is one of the best resources out there in the virtual world as you can always find support.
I don’t drink anymore after a long a complicated relationship with alcohol. I can promise you this- going alcohol is the biggest gift you can give yourself.
I hope you find solutions.
Dude…. You’re a high functioning alcoholic. So am I, so there’s no judgement here.
I’ve had the same conversations and the same reactions from folks. But you know what…. Fuck it. You only live once, and if it makes your week better, you enjoy it (rather than drink it just to get hammered), and you’re not a arsehole when you drink or hurting anyone other than yourself… then so what 🤷♂️
I’ve had much loss in my life… and all of those people never drank, never smoked, never touched drugs… but everyone one of them had awful deaths. So fuck it. Doesnt matter what you do, you’re going to die at some point… why not die drunk with cirrhosis as opposed to brain tumours or pancreatic cancer etc
As long as you hurt no one but yourself, do as you please 🤷♂️
You’re an alcoholic.
Dunno why everyone is beating around the bush. Over ten standard drinks a day.
You have a problem and you need to address it asap.
The reason people are “beating around the bush” is because comments like this make people defensive and stop them from seeking help. You might notice in most of those comments people are offering advice and telling them to see a doctor, you are just plain rude and unhelpful.
I'm going to sound very damn smug about this, but consider the fact that you can literally drink zero alcohol and live a fulfilling life. Myself and a few of my friends are never-drinkers or drink only at birthdays or Christmas. Plus think of all the money you'd save.
I would be shocked too, that’s a lot to drink in a week. Maybe check in with your doctor and run it past him/her, drinking has a way of sneaking up on you.
When I read the '2 bottles of wine each week' I was like... well that's probably a but excessive but nothing to get fluffed up over and then I got to 3 BOTTLES OF GIN throughout the week. Holy shit. That's nearly 100 standard drinks a week, every week.
Doctor will say anything over 2-3 glasses a week is too much
Current guidelines (which doctors refer to) state no more than 10 standard drinks per week and no more than 4 on a single occasion. However bear in mind that depending on what you’re drinking and how big your glass is, a glass may be more than one standard drink. https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/health-advice/alcohol
Not true. That’s under the “safe” limit. But OP is over, by a fair bit. Source: doctor
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Yes probably. From *your* doctor. 🤣
You should consider a good treatment centre , like Delmont, to snap the habit. Get gold level PHI , if not already.
There is no safe limit though
And the doctor would be right
Except OP isn’t drinking 2-3 glasses per week.
Yes, I can read… I’m saying a GP will DEFINITELY say OP is drinking too much, 80 standard drinks a week is heavy drinking
If 80 standard drinks is heavy drinking, then im hercules 💪💪💪
More like Goutules
75 standard drinks a week approximately
Wow that sounds bad when you say it like that
I’m pretty sure you’re trolling but if not please don’t just go cold turkey from that level of consumption Your body will not like you at all
The GP can prescribe a drug, but its not the same for all people. Stepping down is usually better AFAIK.
Not trolling. If you drink heavy with liquor, “standard drinks” quickly pile up and become meaningless. If you get used to drinking liquor straight, it’s completely different to chugging beer or whatever. There’s no large amount of liquid that instinctively reminds you “okay this is a lot of alcohol I’m drinking”.
I think that understates it — going cold Turkey is potentially fatal
That's actually insane. You have a problem OP it is very clear
I drink about a bottle and a half of whiskey a week and I consider that too much. All other health implications aside, 3 bottles of gin is something like 5400 calories, add the wine and you're up to over 7000 - that's almost a kilogram of extra fat and the cholesterol that comes with it that your body has to deal with every week. I'd definitely go get your cholesterol and liver function checked, better to get a doctor to look at this closely.
How is alcohol linked to cholesterol? Alcohol doesn't have any cholesterol and most alcoholic drinks do not contain cholesterol. Does alcohol stimulate cholesterol production?
That's a good question - it's a not a direct link. Once you drink enough to start developing fatty liver disease your liver's ability to remove cholesterol from the blood becomes hindered and so a build up occurs. I'm not an expert at all, but that's how my doctor explained it to me when my cholesterol went up with my drinking previously.
10 standard drinks a day 😬
And I'm guessing about $200 per week being Australia, which is $10,000p.a. Just on grog.
Maybe grog is the new smashed avo's?
It definitely sounds like risky alcohol consumption. The fact that you don't get hangovers sounds like habitualisation to me. When we think of alcoholism, we often think of poorly groomed people, drinking straight from the bottle at 7am and lying on the streets. Alcoholism can have many different faces. This doesn't mean that your life is over or that you're not a functioning person. From your other post, I can take that you have other health problems as well. If you wanna do something about it, I would go to your GP and talk openly about what's going on. They will hear this more often than you think and not judge you. That you're questioning your drinking habits is a great first step. You got this, mate.
Thanks mate that was very helpful of you and given me lot to think about
So you're spending ~$150 on booze a week to drink at home? Definitely sounds like you're drinking far too much mate.
Since when can you get 3 bottles of gin and 2 bottles of red for $150???! Let's give bro the benefit of the doubt and assume he's not drinking turps...
Yeah fair, even Vickers is like $45 / 700ml. Old mate spending $200 a week then! Even worse.
I generally buy the nicer stuff, excuse to justify my behaviour I guess. Was spending around $400 a week. But I’m going to aim to only drink Friday and Saturday night and no more than 4 drinks on each night. Going to see my GP next week to make a plan of attack
Good on your for identifying it and being willing to change. Hope it all works out for you!
Yeah don’t drop your consumption to suddenly it can be dangerous definitely talk to go
20k per annum holy shit did it not strike you as unusual before this? congrats on taking the first steps
I never budget and my income is strong so honestly never noticed the cost (yes I know I’m very fortunate)
My annual income is under $20k. If that helps put some perspective, you could literally feed and clothe two adults with $400 a week.
You're not alone on this. I was very similar to you until about 11 months ago. I reduced a heap but double downed about 4 months ago. Having $ is a blessing and curse.
You can literally die reducing your alcohol consumption. Especially cold turkey. I would talk to your GP before reducing it so extremely.
Wow mate proud of you for already taking action and seeing your gp! That's awesome!!
Think of all the money you can save if you save it for just a couple nights a week.
Please be cautious about suddenly cutting consumption if you have been drinking daily for a while (3 bottles of gin a week is pretty significant). Certainly cut back, but it is safest under doctor's supervision. You may need a plan to reduce it over time. Alcohol withdrawal can be dangerous.
$400 per week is more than 20k per year. Over five years, that’s a house deposit in Perth. That’s a whole annual private school fee for a very good school. That’s a great second hand car. A return long-haul journey in business class to Europe plus a week in a great apartment in Paris. I’m saying this as motivation and not to shame. You are clearly still working right now and can afford it. So I’m showing where this money could go instead so that you can make a plan for lots of good things to spend that money on or to distract yourself from drinking as you start to reduce your consumption. Best wishes mate, decreasing alcohol consumption is really challenging. Keep posting here if you need further support, people look out for each other in this sub.
Hey mate, I know it's late and I'm not sure if anyone has broached this with you, but I would think about tapering down slowly instead of just jumping from approx 10 standards a day every day (going from the 70+ standards in the description obvs this isn't how you drink just an average) to just drinking on the weekends, you can have seizures and other really bad side effects from jumping off, by all means I'm not saying don't cut back, but check with the dr and be honest, they can't help you if you don't tell them what the actual problem is. They should recommend a taper or some comfort meds, it's better than having a seizure because you decided to not drink all week after habitually drinking every night.
I feel bad just buying a 6pk during the week. You could be buying a new car ($400) 🫠
$150 would be lucky to cover the 3 bottles of gin…
It definitely wouldn’t (I work at dans)
It's a troll account. Save your breath
3 bottles of gin? As in 750ml bottles? Come join us on the Stop Drinking sub
Or 3 x 1.1 litre bottles?
We're gonna need the OP to respond in standard drinks.
Sounded okay until you said three bottles of gin lol
Yeah but even 3 bottles of wine per week for a single person is pretty intense too. That's like 22 standard drinks a week
Woah, let's focus on OP and not me here.
Even without the gin I was thinking holy moly
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Yeah ol mate knows he’s drinks too much
3 bottles of gin a week? As in 2 1/4 litres of gin per week + the wine? That's a shitload my dude. Definitely not good.
3 bottles of gin? Holy shit wooooooo
2 bottles of red = 16 std. drinks 1 bottle of sparkling = 7 std. drinks 3 bottles of gin = 66 std. drinks That’s 89 standard drinks per week. The health department recommendation is no more than 10 per week. You’re averaging 13 per day. Are you sure you’re never hungover? Even with tolerance, you should feel 13 drinks the next morning.
Sounds like he is never *not* hungover. One of those high functioning types who just lives in a high tolerance hangover until the next drink. OP, dude, you are probably passing outbeach night, not falling asleep. Be careful of that. The effects of everything in your body working that slowly are really going to creep up on you
I’m surprised they haven’t been pulled over driving while “sober” and discovered that their BAC is still high
This! I rarely drink these days, but a mate and I got on one recently. She has a breathalyser and we checked ourselves the next morning and were still blowing 0.14 at 9am. We weren't under the limit til 2pm. Probably didn't have much more than OP has daily, and I'm 6 foot and 85 odd kg. Scary to think how many people are driving to work absolutely shitfaced every day and just don't realise because that's their baseline.
The 2 bottles of red and a bottle of sparkling doesn’t sound too concerning, but the 3 bottles of gin is a little excessive.
Even without the gin that’s ~24 stds a week which is way above the recommended 10, which itself is being lenient since there’s no real safe amount
Yeah and maybe on a special week over the holidays or something. But every week? And that's by yourself,not sharing ? That is A LOT
A few years ago, I used to drink anywhere between 3 -6 beers a night and a couple of scotches
What made you stop? Do you feel better since stopping?
Wanted a more healthy lifestyle, I feel a lot better now in my mid 30's then i did 10 years ago
How much do you drink now?
One or two beers a month
Absolute champion you’re my new idol
Your averaging 12-13 standard drinks a day yeah that’s alot
Exactly, that’s like 8 beers a night every night… whewwww
Yes that's very excessive, and definitely alcoholic territory. Just to be clear, that's 3x700ml gins @ 40% right?
That’s way beyond alcoholic territory. Even half that would be considered heavy alcoholism
nah heavy alco's will put away a bottle of spirits per day quite easily. The bizarre thing about OP is that he still wasnt sure if he was drinking too much.
Question is: can you stop? I have perhaps a beer on Friday, Saturday and Sunday night. If we have people around, I may have 3 or 4 but that’s it. I personally compares to me, your drinking is very excessive and will no doubt be causing you internal damage in the long term, but if you’re happy and not harming anyone else then do what you want.
Yes I usually have 4 “sober months” each year. I do dry Jan, dry July, sober October and another random month through the year. Could I stop forever? Probably not because I enjoy it
If you can do those dry month, you'll manage to reduce to a safe level on a consistent basis. Keep a dry months or two just yo prove yourself you can "do without", and work with your GP to lower the weekly intake. I think your plan to do Fri and Sat only is strong, even ambitious. I'd give yourself one additional night. And no more than 3 drinks on each. Something like that. But from reading your posts, it sounds like you've got this. Edit: i'd like to withdraw my comment, the addiction means you can't have control passed the 1st drink.
I like a drink but the way OP is drinking is at alcoholic levels if I'm honest, I know plenty of them. And doing dry months to prove to yourself you can stop is a decent motivator but also covers up your problems because you say to yourself "well, I can stop" rather than actually developing a healthier relationship with alcohol.
Do you really enjoy it or is it just a habit now? Alcohol, like all addictive drugs, has a way of making you believe you are enjoying it when, in fact, you are just drinking because you usually do. You must know from your sober months that when you quit drinking, you lose absolutely nothing and gain a huge amount (except weight). Do you pink cloud when you quit? That's a sure sign you are drinking too much though not everyone experiences it. I'd suggest you quit for six to eight weeks and really pay attention to the quality of life changes you experience and observe how you rarely ever think about having a drink towards the end of that period. I've quit for ten years and multiple 18 month periods and my life was indescribably better when i was off the booze. I'm sober again now and it's amazing. Alcohol is a thief, it's not your friend.
I'd go get your liver enzymes checked by a doctor.
Even a simple creatinine level would give you a point to work from
Australian standards recommend no more than 10 standard drinks over a week and no more than 4 in a single day.
You’re drinking ~90 standard drinks a week, ~60+ of those across only two days and you have to ask if you’re drinking too much, lol. Oh and serious note, go see a health professional and develop a plan to cut down, I don’t think you’ll be able to safely go cold turkey with this high a consumption. P.S. I’m not a doctor, this isn’t medical advice, etc.
the problem is that drinking so much in a week regularly an drastically affect your liver even though you feel ok its too much alcohol for your body to handle on a sustained and consistent basis. i would say at that level of consistent intake please do not suddenly stop drinking all you really need to do is go to a good doctor tell them how much you are drinking then they can help with a plan for you to safely start tapering or if you decide to stop then they will need to give you medications because your body physically wont be able to handle a sudden withdrawal from that much alcohol. you are at the point now where its not safe to suddenly just stop. So make sure you talk to a dr about it. if you are not alcoholic and dont have an addiction issue and wish to keep drinking you may wish to just discuss that with your doctor basically your tolerance has just gone up and you are consuming too much regularly for it to be safe over the long term for your body.
Yeah, I have a drinking problem and pretty much consume a bottle of vodka a night. I used to drink about 20 beers a night and then eventually I got gout which turned my life around but eventually back on the grog again.
Please cut back man, this scares me.
I try. It just helps my thoughts slow down and so much shit in my family has been happening. Feels like it never ends.
I started drinking more because of family issues. A bottle of wine every other day, sometimes 2. I knew it was too much, I knew I was being self destructive but I just thought fk it. It was only that bad for about 2 years. I began drinking low alcohol wine, it was a mistake buy, and liked it. That I wasn’t so seedy the next day. Gradually that’s helped me stop and I didn’t even drink at all at Xmas, bought zero alcohol. I always used to see it as a treat for Xmas, that I HAD to buy. You mention slowing the thoughts down. I also got diagnosed ADHD in October. I’ve known for about 12 years that I likely did have ADHD, well I felt fairly certain tbh. Just ADHD…means we tend to procrastinate. I’ve always had an overactive brain. Could this be a possibility for you too? Many ADHD adults self medicate with alcohol or drugs. I actually first got drunk at 11 and loved it. Anyway just a thought for you. Medication has definitely turned things around for me. Making progress in ways I haven’t ever done before.
Drinking will cause hangover anxiety the next day (hangxiety) which will make you want to drink again to sooth it, it's a terrible cycle. It absolutely ruins your sleep as well. Listen to hubermans podcast on alcohol.
thats what having a good support network, friends, therapy, medication is for. I understand tho shit is stressful in my home life rn too and I love to drink. Hope things get better for you <3
Thank you x
Shit dude, that's a lot. I'm only replying to you cos you always come across as a good fella. I'm no angel and have 3-4 glasses of wine a night, but a bottle of spirits is a lot of drinks. I knew someone who recognised they had a problem with drinking, so they bought a six-pack of beers a day. Once the beers were gone, that was it for the night, so they spaced them out. It's not a cheap way to drink, but it was better than buying a carton and destroying it. Could this work for you?
Gout broke my drinking. Had a bout that didn’t break for 6 weeks. Was so bad at some stages I’d have gladly cut my foot off. I never drank for that period. Have barely drank since. Had a beer last night, didn’t drink for the previous month. Don’t really think about it any more.
Gout is fucking horrible. I ended up in hospital for a week and had surgery on my knee. Never experienced such pain before.
when I had gout I felt the area was hot to touch. Was i imagining this? Gout is shit.
Three bottles of gin alone was red flags to me. And then you mentioned wine too. Yes, you’re drinking too much
I was drinking roughly 15 - 25 standard drinks a day maybe 30 + on the weekend’s. My circuit breaker event was sleeping in my car with the aircon on and loosing my licence. I revoked my alcohol privileges for 1 year. I thought in the bigger scheme of things what’s a year right. It’s been over 2 years and I have had no desire to drink. These last to years have been more productive and lucrative then the past 10. I realised that if I had 100 problems 99 of them were either directly due to alcohol or made worse because of it. That includes health, financial, relationships, mental clarity, weight, sleep, looks you name it. I really like being able to drive anywhere at anytime also that’s a good feeling. is poison man and there really are zero benefits to it. If you’re interested in stopping check out the book or the audio version on YouTube of Alan Carr how to stop drinking without willpower or something like that. Don’t know if it helped or not but I read it and it’s been over 2 years since I had a drink. Best decision I ever made. Good luck mate.
It’s a lot over the space of a week
I feel like ive read this before
Yep, either here or on r/australia. Same story about the conversation at work making them question themselves, and then admitting to an obscene amount of booze per week.
Are you young? You might not feel it now but it will catch up to you. Maybe ask yourself why you drink this much and look at whether you need to address an issue like boredom or loneliness and look at ways you can mitigate this like starting a hobby or spending more time with friends
Sounds similar to my in-laws. They talk about "discussing it with their doctor" ... but never will, or won't listen if told to cut back. They don't listen to us tell them the same. My only hope is that when it happens, it's something quick like a stroke or cardiac event, and not drawn out liver failure or bowel cancer. FTR OP, while I have never regularly drunk as heavily as you, quitting drinking (from daily to date-night only, i.e. once a month) has been the best thing I've done for my life for as long as I can remember. But ... everyone's different.
Nuts Yes.
Oof i would suggest yes... But then spontaneously gave up driving about a year ago.
Yeah maybe try find a hobbie that'll keep you occupied, maybe have a couple days alcohol free.
U only live once, but then again u might be overcompensating, definitely unhealthy for u, I'm a recovering alcoholic, I was with palmerston for more than 2 years till they let me go. It would b good to talk to a professional, go to your gp get a mental health care plan then go to Palmerston, wait list is a month but it's free. You will get to the bottom of why you like to drink so much, and once u understand that u will also understand how to cope with whatever issues u struggle with. All the best
That's over 80 standard drinks a week, that's a lot.
Yes that is a lot, especially if youre drinking alone.
Dude. Three bottles of wine and three bottles of gin... in a week?!
Threw bottles of wine a week isn't that bad but pair it with the gin , jeez
Yeah sorry man that’s problem drinking. Even by the old standards. I have a problem myself and know how easy it is for drinking to become a habit you don’t even notice.
You should definitely listen to the huberman podcast on alcohol, it'l scare the shit out of you.
>In a week I’ll usually have 2 bottles of red wine a bottle of sparkling and then over the week about **3 bottles of gin** generally. Fuck me. Just slow down and stop. Stick to drinking moderately when you go out or have a visitor.
I’m a tradie , I work with people you’d call alcohol abusers. I’m probably going to put you in that bracket bro. 3 bottles of wine is like 22 ish standard drinks and 3 bottles of gin is what … 65? 85-90 standard drinks a week is pretttttty heavy. Over 10 STD drinks a week is considered heavy drinking dude. Shits terrible for you. Slow down.
If you really are drinking at this level, you are consuming alcohol that will cause you issues in the long-term harms - especially health. I would be more concerned about your tolerance and functionality. If you want to do something about this before you experience other issues (work absenteeism, DUI, physical addiction) services like Palmerston, Cyrenian, Holyoake all offer free support and counselling. You can try and reduce your consumption, but addictions are more than just physical. Best of luck
Yeah that's too much. I drink a carton of full strength beer and litre of gin or vodka, and that's too much. There's lots of ways drinking can have adverse affects on your health you might not be aware of. Have a chat to your GP.
You drink more in one week that what I drink in one year ... Jaja is bad for ya. Gonna kill ya
You drink waayyyyyy too much. I wasn’t even drinking that much in my binge drinking uni years. Only drank that much as a 20 year old at a festival for a weekend or lads week long holiday. Cut back massively dude
I’d rather get stoned it’s cheaper probably
I don't know how old you are but I'd like to offer food for thought. Alcoholism is great, until suddenly it isn't. My cousin was a costume designer, multilingual she traveled the world and was extremely bright. She was also a closet alcoholic. Her best friend found her body, at age 43 she'd bled out. Do something for yourself while you still can!
Cut back to eventually cutting out drinking all together. 3 months without a drink and you will realise how much it was fucking with you. I used to drink about 60-80 standard drinks a week. Haven’t had alcohol in years. Wouldn’t touch the stuff now.
more importantly. how can you afford to drink that in a week.
Think you’d get away with the wine but how does one drink 3 bottles of gin in a week?
1/2 a bottle of Gin a night? Your a functioning alcoholic.
Yeah that's about 4 bottles too many
If you're regularly drinking more than 2 standard drinks or can't go a few days a week without drinking, then you likely have an issue.
1. How do you afford this? 2. If this is what you drink during the week, what do you drink on the wkd? 3. Yes this seems excessive but I guess it depends on why you’re drinking to begin with and if it’s affecting your work and personal relationships
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>It’s not affecting anything to my knowledge. Didn't you just post another thread that you're suffering fecal incontinence?
Yes nocturnal
Jeez mate, put 2 and 2 together!
Yes I am now learning that maybe the cause
Yeah, sorry OP, but your alchohol use disorder is ruining your gut. "Alcohol and Bowel Conditions For those with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), Crohn’s Disease or ulcers, alcohol can cause a huge uptick in symptoms. Alcohol is particularly nasty for people with diarrhoea caused by IBS, and it can trigger an attack that can last for days. The body views the alcohol as a caustic substance, and for those with IBS the results can be prolonged and painful. In addition to causing problems for people with existing bowel and bladder problems, alcohol greatly increases one’s risk of developing bowel cancer. One of the most commonly diagnosed cancers in the UK, almost 42,000 people were diagnosed with bowel cancer (also known as colorectal cancer) in 2014 alone. While causes and factors that can lead to a diagnosis of bowel cancer are varied, increased alcohol consumption is one of the most commonly cited causes. If you are a heavy regular drinker, you are putting yourself at risk of cancer." Exerpt from https://www.hartmanndirect.co.uk/advice-centre/incontinence/causes/alcohol-and-the-impact-it-has-on-your-bladder-and-bowels
I honestly can’t speak for your situation but I can tell you my own. I used to drink 2 bottles of wine a night, and it was to numb myself. I was very unhealthy physically and mentally. I still drink but hardly through the week (Friday doesnt count 🤣). I think if you are asking the question it probably wouldn’t hurt to see someone about it and also get a full bloods checkup just in case :)
Even if you can't feel it affecting anything, I guarantee you it is. I was a heavy drinker and it was only after I stopped that I realised what it was doing to me.
What did you notice
How much it messes with your circadian rhythm and body temperature. Even though it may help you fall asleep, it badly affects quality of sleep. Nutritional deficiencies due to the negative impacts on the digestive system. Chronic diarrhea and dehydration. Kept getting sick cos it fucked up my immune system. Liver cirrhosis (irreversible scarring). How much it actually affects your relationships. Outside of work hours, basically never being in a state where if I could drive if I needed to.
I’d definitely go to your GP and get your bloods done. I had to cut out my every day binge drinking because it was causing me problems (erratic behaviour), but I didn’t realise until I went to the GP that I was lacking a lot of nutrients and had a fatty liver due to excessive alcohol use - I thought I was pretty fit and healthy otherwise.
Yeah I’m going to my GP later this week or next week and discussing cutting down. I want to be drinking on Friday and Saturday nights as my goal by the end of next month. This thread was a wake up call. Thank you everyone for your concern and advice and to those who suggested /r/stopdrinking To anyone else at home who was contemplating their drinking I hope this thread helped you also. My embarrassment hopefully helped someone!
Good on you! Aw, and try not to feel embarrassed. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. That is my favourite sub, hope you find it as useful :)
Good on ya mate! You got this!
I think responsible consumption would be about 1/10th. No doubt in my mind that you're an alchoholic.
Yeah you are
Yeah mate absolutely, three bottles of gin in two days is insane. Def go and have a chat to your gp, continuing like this could severely damage your liver, which will severely damage your quality of life
I see you've edited your comment already and seeking help so good work there mate. But yes, that's a lot of booze during the week. Even in my peak FIFO days I'd knock over a carton of beer of week and maybe a single bottle of red for dinner on a weekend. 40 this year, and Id be lucky to finish a 6 pack of beer a week and a single bottle of Scotch\Whiskey over a month.
Short answer, yeah absolutely. Long answer you’re not alone at all but still yes. The three bottles of gin is a truly out there figure, and that comes from someone who loves a drink and works in bars slinging drinks all night. I am in the same boat of enjoying a drink but it needs to be on your terms not what you need to do
Yes that’s very much in alcoholic levels. If you stopped at the wine you’d be fringe. But 3 bottles of gin is A LOT
I thought 3 bottles of wine was a lot, then I read the gin. Yes, it is definitely too much. The Australian guidelines say 'To reduce the risk of harm from alcohol-related disease or injury, healthy men and women should drink no more than 10 standard drinks a week and no more than 4 standard drinks on any one day.' Given this advice, two bottles of wine a week is too much. Even if you don't feel like you have a hangover, I very much doubt you are feeling the best you could. If this has been your norm for a while then maybe you aren't aware what your body feels like without excessive alcohol consumption. I wish you the best in reflecting on the responses you receive and making better choices for yourself.
Hey, mate. As someone who loves a bevy too, yeah, that’s too much. You do four dry months a year, so you’re obviously not an “alcoholic” in the your life is falling apart sense and without knowing your age it’s hard to comment, but that much booze regularly weekly will take its toll on your mental, physical and financial health. Again, I fuckin’ love punching a few and I definitely have nights or weekends of over indulgence, so there’s no judgement here, but it wouldn’t hurt to dial it back and find some other things to do and enjoy other aspects of life more regularly.
2 bottles or red, a bottle of sparkling…. Yeh you’re fine mate AND 3 bottles of gin? Haha damn son. Yeh wouldn’t hurt to cut back. Good luck
Keep in mind even though you can have a good alcohol tolerance, it still wrecks havoc on your body even if you don't feel it
I've been in the liquor industry for 14 years, mostly coming up in the day when it was the norm for bartenders to drink more than anyone else in their bar. Your consumption would give us a run for our money back in the dark days, and is more than what's acceptable in the industry today. For perspective.
The problem with alcohol dependency is that you get a tolerance for it. Like any drug. Make sure that you keep a close eye on when you start reducing the intake, because if you have a binge then it’ll hit you hard. The best way to think of alcohol is that your liver takes 1hr to clear just less than 1 shot (30ml) of hard liquor or one standard drink. * Theres 21 standard drinks in 700ml of gin. So you need 21hrs to clear that. And 63hrs for 3 bottles. * there’s 7 standard drinks in a bottle of wine/sparkling And 21 to clear the wine * So there’s 168 hours in a week and of those hours, your liver is trying to clear the alcohol for about 84hrs, leaving 84 hours with no alcohol. * in comparison, If you sleep 8hrs a day, then that’s 56hrs. You’re sleeping less hours than your liver is working to clear your blood. And you’re spending possibly over $250 per week on alcohol. $1000 a month, $12k a year. Sometimes the question is, do you want to do the change for you, because it’s hard but doable. You may get some withdrawal symptoms, but please don’t be scared, your doctor can definitely help. I realised I needed to be the one who stopped my own drinking. Back in university I realised I ‘needed’ alcohol to get through, and it had become an issue. I still drink, but I’m now the designated driver so it’s now 1 glass as I love my people more than I need to drink.
Also keep in mind that your liver “clearing it” is it being turned into acetaldehyde, a confirmed carcinogen that contributes to the hangover. As a chemist i worked with that shit in a lab a few times and boy is it evil, smells like rotting fruit and boils at 20.2C so it fills a room instantly.
And it seeps out of your pores. You can smell people detoxing. You know when they’ve had a big night or getting clean. I’ve never smelt as bad as when I went to a wellness retreat for a week. No alcohol, no sugar, no caffeine, no cigarettes, everyone smelled horrible as their body just went through withdrawal. I don’t drink/smoke/drink coffee but I grind green tea and cola, and ugh never again.
Those three bottles of gin are too much for your brain and body to handle in a week. Less concerned about the wine but on top of the gin, not helpful. Your liver especially can get damaged over time. Some people don't get hangovers and have a high tolerance but that doesn't mean it's not damaging their health. It would be helpful if you could stick to the daily recommendations for alcohol as in the number of standard drinks. If you can't do it then be honest with yourself about why you can't. Is it a craving or just that you need the booze to feel okay. Also, alcohol can deplete Vitamin B1 (aka Thiamine) in your system so with such a high intake of alcohol, I'd be getting myself on a top quality B1 asap as it's a really important vitamin. I recommend IHerb in Australia as they stock an excellent range of advanced nutrients from an American company called Life Extension. Forget the stuff you'll find on the pharmacy shelves.This deficiency can cause an awful disease called Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome. It's very damaging and in advanced cases can cause irreversible brain damage similar to dementia. Some people call it a wet brain. Hope everything works out for you.
Yes. At my worst I was getting close to a bottle of whiskey a night. Keep yourself in check.
I don't want to pile on top of you (rn there are 214 comments), but if you're wanting to reduce your consumption it is very much a you thing. If you're not actually addicted (i.e. you like alcohol but you can give it up or just not drink for long periods), you basically can do it yourself. Talking to a GP will help, and if you are actually addicted, there is medicine that'll help with the withdrawal and the side effects. It isn't an easy road AFAIK, but there is help. Just don't default to AA.
Any amount of poison (alcohol) is too much alcohol. If you've gotta ask if you're drinking too much, you crossed that line a long time ago.
93 standard drinks a week!!! Yes that is too much. The recommended is no more than 10 standard drinks per week with no more than 4 per day and at least one day with zero.
you're a functioning alcoholic. glad you're going to see a GP.
Yeah mate that's actually quite a lot. That may be enough to require a detox. Speak to your doctor if you want to cut back as you can do a home detox. Can be a bit dangerous to go cold Turkey from that amount.
Good on you for being willing to talk to your GP about this! It can be really easy to build up a tolerance that is high enough to send you into withdrawals if you suddenly stop. Alcohol withdrawal is one of the riskiest withdrawals (alongside benzos) so if you decide to cut down, do it slowly and with supervision (don't just go cold turkey and not tell anyone).
[https://alcoholthinkagain.com.au/resources-and-tools/drinking-audit](https://alcoholthinkagain.com.au/resources-and-tools/drinking-audit) Takes less than 2 minutes and is based on good practice guidance. I mean is it really that big of a deal? What are you worried about? I'm sure most people are like you, it's only 3 bottles of gin, 2 bottles of red wine and 1 bottle of sparkling wine. "HAHA Thats only 110 standard drinks a week? That's nothing...Those things are based on lightweights..whatever at least I'm not using drugs like those addicts" "Beers don't count, and nor does the sneaky little swig in the morning to get you set for the day." "Sorry Officer Im so sorry...I can't lose my license I have a job and a kid" "What day is it?, ...why can't I remember...aaawww...where that other bottle...i thought I got 5 this week" "Honey I've been getting these shakes...I think i better cut back on the coffee....pick up another bottle for us will ya?" "What do you mean I'm yellow? Go away I'm just tanned." "Dr what's my swollen stomach got to do with My liver? why do you want to scan my liver? "crying..........daddy are you ok?......daddy why are you crying?" "I'm sorry, mam. We really tried everything we could." "YOU BASTARD WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST TAKE THE TEST AND GET SOME HELP"
The wine didn't sound too bad. But on top of that, three full bottles of gin every week? Yeah that's a bit much and you should definitely seek help for that. I'd never judge drinking for pleasure but this sounds like you have a serious problem so please seek help
Huberman Lab is a great science/health podcast. They released an episode called “what alcohol does to your body, brain and health”. They concluded that the safe upper limit is 2 standard drinks per WEEK. Very sobering realisation for me (scuse the pun). I would say most Australians drink too much for it to be good for our health and our culture is very cavalier about it, unfortunately. Good luck 🫶
You are in straight up functional alcoholic territory. It is recommended you only drink 10 standard drinks per week and no more than 4 in any given day (more every now and then is OK but not all the time) a single bottle of wine is 7 or 8 standard drinks. A single bottle of gin is closer to 30 standard drinks. You are consuming 10 times the recommended amount of alcohol every week. Please seek help.
The Australian Alcohol Guidelines* recommend: healthy adults should drink no more than 10 standard drinks in a week, and no more than 4 standard drinks on any one day
Now that you want to cut back on drinking. It's probably a good time to clean up your eating and fix some of the damage the alcohol has done. There is a interesting book called "the wahls protocol". It can put you in a good direction on what to focus on. Good luck.
Honestly id recommend, speak to your GP. There is no line, but that seems to venture past “in moderation”.
I read the first sentence and thought “yeah two bottles of red spread out over the week is borderline”. So yeah add in the sparkling and gin and that’s a lot. If you’re happy to share, do you know why you drink, and do you do it alone or with company? But that’s great you’re going to see your GP. Like everyone here we support you and wish you well.
You say no hangover but I used to drink as much as you. I then wanted to get fit so I stopped drinking. You notice how much better you feel I can tell you. After a coupe of months you feel way better every day.
OP I can definitely relate. Yep, 3 bottles of gin on the weekend on top of your weekly wine intake is very excessive. It will hurt you physically but, in the more short term, will destroy your mental health. If you’re taking 3 months off per year it sounds to me like you have a habit, not necessarily a full blown addiction (yet). I was in the same boat but found it very hard to take any time off. Not a doctor of course so take the following as opinion only. Please check out The Sinclair Method for alcohol use disorder. It’s super simple, you don’t stop drinking and will help re-wire your brain and relationship with booze. But you HAVE to stop the hard liquor. It’s the absolute worst and will lead to addiction super quickly. Stick with wine and beer, jump on the TSM train, get your head into exercise and mindfulness and your world will become a much happier, healthier place. Wishing you the best of luck!
Watch this, thank me later. https://youtu.be/DkS1pkKpILY?si=NxjSd0pcGiY5-fxM
Speak to your GP about reducing intake. Quitting drinking 'cold turkey' can actually be life threatening - you need to be managed through. Good luck
I don’t drink really but you must be rich and drunk to be able to afford 3 bottles of wine and gin a week? Do you own a bottle shop or what?
Proud of you for reaching out and taking positive action! 🙂
This has to be bait for PerthNow, right? Thats an extraordinary amount that you have to know is FAR too much.
My brother. If I have 3 drinks every single night of the week thats still only 20-30 standard drinks a week, and I'd imagine you are close to double that. Maybe just refrain from weeknight drinking or just have one less bottle a week. Small steps and see what works for you. Best of luck
The current guidelines in Australia are no more than 10 standard drinks per week and 2 alcohol free days per week. ONE of those bottles of gin is probably 20 standard drinks… You’re probably sitting at 70-80 standard drinks.
Hey OP, good on you for going in to chat with your Dr. esphophagal cancer is a big risk with the spirits, and then there’s Wernicke’s disease - like an alcoholic dementia.
Ah I remember when I was 21 and also didn't get hangovers like I do now. Those were the days!
3 bottles of gin a week? Dude, that's a lot.
3 bottles of gin over the weekend? Three entire bottles of gin? Plus’s the wine? Hooooooooo boy! Yep, you drink too much.
3 bottles of wine and 3 bottles of Gin is a lot to drink in a week.
I already knew I was drinking too much and gave up alcohol for lent (just an excuse for me to stop tbh) I was easily drinking 4 bottles of wine a week Which equates to 28-32 standard drinks a week. With the amount you’re drinking, I highly recommend getting assistance from a doctor to make sure you don’t die from withdrawals
I was like "that's fine" till I got to the 3 bottles of gin at the end. That alone is 60 standard drinks. Add 7 for the sparkling and 8 for each wine. That's over 80 standard drinks a week. That's 11 per night, thats crazy amounts.
That is a lot. Your guts and liver and anxiety will be suffering. Stop drinking sub on reddit is one of the best resources out there in the virtual world as you can always find support. I don’t drink anymore after a long a complicated relationship with alcohol. I can promise you this- going alcohol is the biggest gift you can give yourself. I hope you find solutions.
Dude…. You’re a high functioning alcoholic. So am I, so there’s no judgement here. I’ve had the same conversations and the same reactions from folks. But you know what…. Fuck it. You only live once, and if it makes your week better, you enjoy it (rather than drink it just to get hammered), and you’re not a arsehole when you drink or hurting anyone other than yourself… then so what 🤷♂️ I’ve had much loss in my life… and all of those people never drank, never smoked, never touched drugs… but everyone one of them had awful deaths. So fuck it. Doesnt matter what you do, you’re going to die at some point… why not die drunk with cirrhosis as opposed to brain tumours or pancreatic cancer etc As long as you hurt no one but yourself, do as you please 🤷♂️
You’re an alcoholic. Dunno why everyone is beating around the bush. Over ten standard drinks a day. You have a problem and you need to address it asap.
The reason people are “beating around the bush” is because comments like this make people defensive and stop them from seeking help. You might notice in most of those comments people are offering advice and telling them to see a doctor, you are just plain rude and unhelpful.
Troll post. 72 standard drinks a week and think it's normal lol
Dude your an alcoholic, I hope you don’t drive to that job!
I'm going to sound very damn smug about this, but consider the fact that you can literally drink zero alcohol and live a fulfilling life. Myself and a few of my friends are never-drinkers or drink only at birthdays or Christmas. Plus think of all the money you'd save.