I dont know. im 18 and i've been drinking since i was 14. I used to have 1 beer or bicardi breezer a night but now i go to bed drunk everynight. I normally have 4-5 pints a night.
Im not dependent on it i dont think but at night i feel...i dont know but i get a funny feeling in my stomach that goes away when i have a drink.
It's not an option to not drink, its there, my dad has 2 crates of it all the time. I try not to drink but it doesnt work and i cant tell dad about it because he hates my guts, this'll just give him another reason to hate me!
I think you have to see that you are, and what your doing isnt healthy an that you have a problem with alcohol. The first thing to do is to understand you have a problem, and want to do something about it.
You do have an option not to drink at night, but youhave a problem that you need to get help with, how do you feel about going to the docs? or AA?
"Its not how long a star shines, what is remembered is the brightness of the light"
At the moment my self esteem and problems are so bad that i cant step outside the house. I cant even go to my corner shops which are like...3 minutes away. Im trying to get a job i love that will pursuade me out the house and make me more confident.
I had counselling booked for the last month but i havn't even been able to attend that.
It does sound to me like you are drinking to relieve bad feelings... which can very quickly lead to dependence, however you want to define dependence or addiction or whatever. The fact that you're getting drunk every night and cannot just take or leave a drink if it's there would indicate that drinking could be becoming a problem for you, and these things are usually progressive (from personal experience), you'll build up a tolerance so that you need to drink more to get the same effect. How would you feel about calling an alcohol-related helpline to have a chat with someone, just to see if they can advise you? Or even emailing. At least then you are more in control of the situation. I've been there so I know what it's like, feel free to PM me if you want to talk to me about anything :)
what alcohol help group can i email? i havn't even looked at alcohol help because i never thought i had a problem.
My drinkings only got bad in the last few months when i moved back to my parents house. thanks for your help.
It's v hard to admit to yourself that you have a problem, but the fact that you posted here shows that you must have some level of awareness or concern about your drinking...? Obviously I can only speculate. There are websites for AA you might want to have a look at: www.alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk/
or:
Drinkline
National helpline providing counselling, support, advice and information. Calls are charged at local rates.
Tel: 0345 320202
There will also be local alcohol counselling services where you live, which you can search for on the web or in the yellow pages. Even if you aren't ready to admit that you have a problem, when you are ready there is a LOT of help available out there, and also obviously support here on RYL! My opinion is that these things need to be addressed sooner rather than later, as it's very easy to gradually slide further into outright addiction without realising it. I really wish you all the best and hope you can at least think about reaching out about this a little further, it was a good first step to post on here x
How long have you been going to bed drunk every night? To really tell, try as hard as you can to go one night without drinking one drink and if you feel physically sick, then you will have to go to a rehab to get better to make sure you make it through a detox, OK. Alcohol withdrawl can be fatal, so be carefull and if you think it feels like physical withdrawl, please get medical help with it.
Yep... if you are physically dependent on alcohol the withdrawal can be horrendous and in the worst case fatal, you would have to be admitted for a detox for this. Trouble is beds for this on the NHS are often not immediately available unless you are at death's door - I consider myself very lucky that I was admitted and treated before this was the case. There are other options though, such as home detoxes where you are visited daily by a nurse, have your vital signs monitored, are given medication and can call anytime you start to weaken. The above applies more so if you've been drinking very heavily over a long period of time, months or even years. By heavily I would call that something like a bottle of vodka or 2 bottles of wine a day, give or take but equivalent to many times your recommended weekly units. Can you give a rough estimate of how many units you are currently drinking per week, and how long this has been happening...?
I did'tn know what all the units was so i went on www.drinkaware.com which is telling me my daily units it 11.2 which mean my weekly units is about 78 units.
I've been drinking like this for the last 2-3 months.
I am a recovering alcoholic and there is a saying in AA which helps to determine if alcohol has become a problem for you.
If alcohol feels like the problem then it probably is not a problem.
If alcohol is the solution then it probably is a problem.
From what I read it sounds like you are not happy about the amount you are drinking and 78 units a week is still within the level of drinking without going over 24 in 24 hours. Then you quickly run into problems. You are way over the weekly guideline. I used to drink about 20 units in a day so I would sober up 'just' before I had another drink. One thing they always said in rehab is are you fixing feelings by drinking? You can only deal with the emotional turmoil if you put down the drink. The first port of call was my GP who refered me to the alcohol services. You might want to phone them if you are having problems leaving the house. You have already been given the helpline numbers and email. One thing you could think about reading is the AA Big Book. This has stories of people with alcohol problems and when I read it I thought that is exactly me or I really relate to that. That can help to see if you have a problem with alcohol. If you have been drinking like this for 2/3 months then you could be on a slippery slope leading to dependence. I have been sober for 13 months and my life is so much better without it. I don't often think about it these days, and I used to think about it every 15-30 mins where my next drink would be coming from. I have a terrible stomach ulcer from the drink that can be very painful. I am much happier without the alcohol and make sure you remember that when things get hard. There is an AA saying that "it gets easier"
Good luck and tell me how you get on!
Well first of all, you say 'not drinking is not an option' this, of course, is nonsense, it's always an option. You are the one grabbing another bottle, no outside power controls this. Secondly: I don't know whether you're an alcoholic, I hate labeling like that, it's for cans of soup but the fact you're talking about it indicates you suspect there's a problem. Thirdly: I made a post with links for substance abuse for a different board, I dragged it up again:
I just collected some info. Feel free to make this one sticky, mods or admins.
Now this might surprise you but yes I did read The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, I read the 3rd edition: http://www.recovery.org/aa/bigbook/ww/index.html I do plan on reading the 4th edition as soon as I can print it off: http://www.aa.org/bigbookonline/ I gotta know what I'm against to understand why I'm so much against it.
Anyway personally I don't care for AA/NA at all but I do know it helps lotsa ppl. I know about addiction and its troubles, so feel free to PM me any time.
but the fact you're talking about it indicates you suspect there's a problem. Thirdly: I made a post with links for substance abuse for a different board, I dragged it up again:
