Calling all Binge Drinkers

[Sunbeam]

I read a post last night from someone like me, but now I can't remember where so I'm starting this thread. I'm interested in connecting with those who often drink moderately (1-2 drinks), but periodically end up binging. Before coming here I was into a pretty regular habit of weekly binges. I have not gone off on a binge since January, but I am still looking to connect and find more strategies. I still feel like I could go off sometime. I have learned so much here and changed many bad patterns, but I still don't trust myself. Hello, anyone out there?

[CS04]

Calling all Binge Drinkers

I could binge in 15 minutes. I was doing well AF. Hope you're still out there Sunbeam.

[vlad]

Calling all Binge Drinkers

Hi, I'm one - I drink moderately, 1-2 drinks on a week day (I buy in only what I intend to drink that evening) - but have a tendency to binge especially if someone buys me a crate of beer or a bottle of vodka. Just drink it until its gone. I try to have no more than 4 drinks in one session on a weekend day.

[boozehag]

Calling all Binge Drinkers

Me too - I would binge on wine and cigs ever 3/4 days - and I would keep going for 12 hours then crash. Recover (after 3 days or so) and repeat.... The days in between would be hungover, depressed, then hyper, then drinking etc. I have it under control now for almost 3 months but looking back I notice a few things. If I ate I would not binge drink and could just have a couple and stop - this would usually be by accident. If I got the drink into me first I wouldnt eat. If I drank and smoked on an empty stomach that would kick it off - rocket fuel to the brain. If I didnt smoke I wouldnt binge but I would always smoke so that only happened rarely. If I ran out of cigs I would stop drinking straight away and go to bed. Dont know what it all means yet but in my case getting rid of the cigs has really helped as there is very little desire for drink by itself.
BH (no more)

[vlad]

Calling all Binge Drinkers

Sorry I never have just 1 drink on a weekday, it's always at least 2. I lied.

[Sunbeam]

Calling all Binge Drinkers

CS04, I'm sorry I couldn't help you last night. I posted just before going to bed. I hope you're doing OK.

Yeah, lying (lieing?) is easier than the cold truth, even here where we share this problem. I went AF on the first try in Feb and March, had a couple of glasses of wine in April. Now I'm up to a rate of probably 4 glasses per week. I don't drink most days. My binges were mostly on Sunday afternoons. There is usually wine in the house, but my husband keeps it locked up (we both want it that way). He left town on a Sunday am, and I asked him to leave out a bottle because a friend of mine was maybe stopping by. I opened the bottle when I got home from church, and had consumed 3/4 of it by the time by the time she arrived. I just wish I could figure out why I am compelled this way. I also have had thoughts with increasing frequency of going to the store to buy a bottle of whatever. Many days I have no cravings, but some days they are really strong. So thank you for listening and all of your posts. I keep coming here and trying to figure this out. I don't feel I'm a heavy drinker, I just want this to be under control.

[Waves 2]

Calling all Binge Drinkers

I can go months moderating and then suddenly for no apparent reason all goes to pot! And it's back to starting again

[endgame]

Calling all Binge Drinkers

How do you define a binge? Is it 10+ drinks? Or 8+ drinks? What about 5 or 6?
For me, I hardly ever found myself with any big regrets when I stopped at 6. The problem, of course, is once you get there it usually leads to more. But, on the other hand, 1 or 2 drinks just seems like hardly drinking at all. For me that level of drinking is just a tease. I guess the question is, where do you draw the line and what can you realistically stick to?:huh:

[Sunbeam]

Calling all Binge Drinkers

I guess it is all relative. I want to always control my drinking, every time (Who doesn't?). Relative to my new habits, 3/4 of a bottle of wine is a binge. I can't drink daily - I know that will lead to trouble for me. I would like to stick with 3-4 glasses per week. I know that is more moderate than most, but I am a small woman, and I don't think that any alcohol at all is healthy for me. So that is where I want to draw the line, but I am looking for more ideas to help me stick to that. I am just as worried about the increased thoughts about buying more alcohol as I am about the occasion when I drank more than I wanted. Maybe I will always be like Waves 2 describes, and will go off on a periodic binge, but I hope not. Just coming here and "talking" with others certainly helps.

[dove]

Calling all Binge Drinkers

i have a problem with binge drinking and really want to get it under control too
those who have controled it for a while, what have been your strategies

thought of this stuff reading the above posts
in the u.s. binge drinking is defined as (no...i don't know who came up with this definition) 5 or more drinks in a sitting for a man and 4 or more in a sitting for a woman (a 'sitting' is, like, one evening - not one bar and go on to the next bar for another 'sitting':H)

according to recent health publications i have read, over one drink a night increases your health risks.....however, those who have ONLY ONE drink a night reap more health benefit than those who don't have any

for me, binging means when i wake up feeling shitty the next morning with or without blacking out the night before

dove

[Sunbeam]

Calling all Binge Drinkers

What I love about MWO is that it offers the opportunity to find your own path, develop your own strategies and definitions. Sometimes I have seen and experienced misunderstandings here because one person may try to set a standard for another, or a person feels they are being judged by someone who sets a different standard.

So here are my own standards and definitions, which I do not wish to impost on anyone else:

A binge is an episode of consuming more alcohol than intended, after a period of controlled moderate drinking.

For me, moderate drinking is usually just one glass, two max, no more than 4 glasses per week.

Regular alcohol consumption is not good for my health. I have my own set of health issues, and any amount of alcohol can contribute to my poorer health. The sources which promote one glass per day of wine are usually referring to heart health, and ignore other health problems. Even on that point, I have read conflicting information.

FYI, my history before MWO included what most would call real binges: over a bottle of wine, memory losses, falling asleep drunk on the sofa until all hours, feeling shitty at work all day the next day. My fear is that I could slide back there. I started this conversation to avoid that.

[vera-b]

Calling all Binge Drinkers

Hello all,

I really like Dove's definition of a binge -- waking up the next morning knowing you screwed up ("feeling shitty" were her words I believe). I have been moderating for a year now after my Dr. put me on campral. It was not enough to keep the demons at bay after the first couple of months. I guess celebrating with wine is not exactly the best tactic for an alcohol abuser! Anyway, there are times when it seems like my mind starts "drinking" long before I do. This is one of the things that attracted me to this site -- Roberta's story that while at her friend's her mind was running with thoughts like "why are these people drinking so slow" and "trying to sip a weak whiskey" and hoping to get in another drink under the guise of a nightcap.

I think many of us have minds that start drinking before we do - like Sunbeam who's head is imagining going to the liquor store. Have any of you listened to the hynotherapy cd's sold on this site? I'm waiting for my order and was hoping that if I listened to them, it would curb those days when my brain is particularly thirsty. Any thoughts on the cd's as binge control??? Thanks--

[vera-b]

Calling all Binge Drinkers

Hello Sunbeam,

We must have been typing at the same time! Always comforting to know that there are others out there struggling to keep control. I was hoping that the cd's would help - any experience with them?

[jessie]

Calling all Binge Drinkers

I would also like to know whether the cd's work. I have gone on a 4 day binge - I am really very upset with myself and again it started with only one glass of wine Tuesday evening and then the bottle was inviting me the next morning and so forth. So I'm pretty desperate again.
If the cd's help then I'll try them.

[Sunbeam]

Calling all Binge Drinkers

Hi all,
I have not been using meds and supplements recommended here, have been quite successful without them, and on most days I don't need them. My thought is that they would be less helpful for the binges. I would love hearing from this binge group regarding the use of meds and supplements.

I like the analogy that a binge may begin way before you start drinking - that's the way it seems to happen for me. That Sunday I consumed most of the bottle of wine, I knew I was going to do that, even before going to church. Thanks for the suggesting the CD's - maybe that's the tool I need. Right now I am imagining myself listening to the CD's in church, LOL! I guess it would interfere with my singing in the choir....

So I too would like to hear from binge drinkers who feel that the CD's have helped them. Thanks so much for all of your thoughts.