Binge Drinking

the playing mantis

are u a binge drinker?

i am

upperoilcan

+1 :oops:

BillyMansell

I only drink twice a year, January to June and July to December.

the playing mantis

if i'm drinking, i'm drinking properly, i don't like alcohol much at all. i don't drink with meals or in the evenings unless its an occasion that dictates it.

but the way i drink, a lot, infrequently (if im out with m8s or on a work shindig) is frowned upon.

RideOnTime

No opposite.
I like to drink regularly but not in huge quantities.
Always have a drink when there's a 'day' in the day - like Tuesday and Thursday.

Pross

I'm never really sure to be honest. On average I probably drink about once a month (I'll regularly go a couple of months without alcohol) but when I do go out I drink a lot probably 7 or 8 pints on a long evening out or a couple of bottles of wine at a dinner. I assume that is classed as binge drinking but when you hear people talking about it it sounds like they are referring to that sort of quantity but on a regular basis.

tlw1

Yep - no occasional drinking, go large or go home.

Can't see the point in sitting in front of the tv nursing one can of beer

Doctor House

Yes. And I like to mix my drinks when on a binge. But such occasions are rare these days. I find the hangovers are almost unbearable. Sometimes tears trickle out of my left eye most of the day. I think the pounding headache just forces the liquid out.

daviesee

Given the latest guidelines, I not only binge drink but drink to excess.

ie 4 pints is officially binge drinking.

How else would I get through the day?

In the words of Frank Sinatra (or maybe Dean Martin), when a tee totaller wakes up, thats as good as it gets all day.

finchy

Because alcohol makes me snore (even more than usual), and because our son sleeps in bed with us, I haven't touched booze for over a year. I used to do it occasionally, but in the end I just got bored.

seanoconn

My father in law binge drinks every day. 40+ pints a week..... Or is that alcoholism

BelgianBeerGeek

I prefer the term "Heavy Episodic Drinking"

I always thought binging was drinking to get drunk? If so, I never have. I may have nipped out for a couple of pints and come home three days later, but the intention was never to get pi$$ed.

Everything in moderation eh?

cornerblock

seanoconn wrote:

My father in law binge drinks every day. 40+ pints a week..... Or is that alcoholism

Probably to relieve the stress of worrying about his daughter. hic

seanoconn

Cornerblock wrote:

seanoconn wrote:

My father in law binge drinks every day. 40+ pints a week..... Or is that alcoholism

Probably to relieve the stress of worrying about his daughter. hic

Too right. But he doesn't drink before 6pm on weekdays, so he's not an alky apparently.

cornerblock

seanoconn wrote:

Cornerblock wrote:

seanoconn wrote:

My father in law binge drinks every day. 40+ pints a week..... Or is that alcoholism

Probably to relieve the stress of worrying about his daughter. hic

Too right. But he doesn't drink before 6pm on weekdays, so he's not an alky apparently.

I knew somebody like that, would never touch a drop before 7pm. They had a ritual, a bottle of VP sherry would be put on the table every night and as soon the clock struck 7, pop. And it would be finished every night! You'll not be too surprised to know that they're no longer here. Sad, lovely bloke too.

secretsam

It's an odd thing

I used to go out once, twice a week a really go for it - get properly smashed. No ambulance rides, A&E, police, none of that. Not ever.

But then I just...stopped.

Now I drink very infrequently - apart from a night out with mates every 2-3 months when I get properly bladdered

arran77

seanoconn wrote:

My father in law binge drinks every day. 40+ pints a week..... Or is that alcoholism

I bet he was teetotal before he became the Father in Law

RideOnTime

In totality this is not a reflection of alcohol consumption in Britain.
Far too little.
Occassional drinkers.
Occassional bingers.
Not typical drinkers I think on a bike forum.
Even though this is a cake stop.

ballysmate

Will admit to enjoy opening a bottle of red most evenings.

seanoconn

arran77 wrote:

seanoconn wrote:

My father in law binge drinks every day. 40+ pints a week..... Or is that alcoholism

I bet he was teetotal before he became the Father in Law

Charming! He smokes too. 56 and going downhill fast, high blood pressure and the arteries in his legs are blocked. His family needs him but you can nag him to your blue in the face, nothing works. Terrible thing addiction.

ballysmate

seanoconn wrote:

arran77 wrote:

seanoconn wrote:

My father in law binge drinks every day. 40+ pints a week..... Or is that alcoholism

I bet he was teetotal before he became the Father in Law

Charming! He smokes too. 56 and going downhill fast, high blood pressure and the arteries in his legs are blocked. His family needs him but you can nag him to your blue in the face, nothing works. Terrible thing addiction.

My father in law was very similar, although in his early 70s. He had drunk heavily all his working life and had started smoking as a kid. He stopped smoking within 2 weeks using a drug called Champix(?). There are potential side effects, but he had none. He went from 60 a day to nil. Legs still fecked though as he refuses to have the op.

capt_slog

Binge drinker?

Nope.

I got drunk once at about the age of 21, and said "Never doing that again", and never have. I've been 'mildly tipsy' few times and enjoy the a glass of wine or two at the weekend, but that's it.


Side note about stopping smoking. A colleague at work stopped through hypnosis, he had one session following the initial consultation. Not cheap (£200 i think) but then neither are cigs.

seanoconn

Ballysmate wrote:

seanoconn wrote:

arran77 wrote:

seanoconn wrote:

My father in law binge drinks every day. 40+ pints a week..... Or is that alcoholism

I bet he was teetotal before he became the Father in Law

Charming! He smokes too. 56 and going downhill fast, high blood pressure and the arteries in his legs are blocked. His family needs him but you can nag him to your blue in the face, nothing works. Terrible thing addiction.

My father in law was very similar, although in his early 70s. He had drunk heavily all his working life and had started smoking as a kid. He stopped smoking within 2 weeks using a drug called Champix(?). There are potential side effects, but he had none. He went from 60 a day to nil. Legs still fecked though as he refuses to have the op.

I'll mention it to him but I'm not sure how much he wants to give up. He's an intelligent guy, his dad died at 46 from the same thing, so he knows the score. Can't understand his mindset though.

arran77

seanoconn wrote:

arran77 wrote:

seanoconn wrote:

My father in law binge drinks every day. 40+ pints a week..... Or is that alcoholism

I bet he was teetotal before he became the Father in Law

Charming! He smokes too. 56 and going downhill fast, high blood pressure and the arteries in his legs are blocked. His family needs him but you can nag him to your blue in the face, nothing works. Terrible thing addiction.

Seriously, yes addiction is a terrible thing you're right, it's very hard when someone you care about is so hell bent on doing that to themselves, they just don't see what others do, unfortunately that's the nature of the addiction beast :roll:

Bozman

I live in a village and there was nothing else to do but drink, so I've spent the last 28 years doing that.
The "nothing else to do" has been filled with a young family so I only go up the pub twice a week now, so I guess that I'm a binge drinker.

MattC59

So, I don't drink a great deal, but if I go to the pub on a Friday night and have 4 or 5 pints, I'm a binge drinker ?
f*ck off !
:roll:

Isn't binge drinking just what we used to call drinking ? ie working in the week therefore not drinking, and not working at the weekend, therefore going out for a few drinks.

raymondo60

After a life of continuous social drinking which meant drinking pretty much every day of my adult life... I decided to give up alcohol nearly two years ago. It was and is the best thing I've ever done, apart from buying bicycles. Booze is a personal thing; we all have a different relationship with it, a different tolerance, individual ideas about what we should/shouldn't drink etc. I would never lecture, or even advise, people on their alcohol consumption - if they asked for help I would refer them to someone experienced. There are no 'secrets' to drinking; taken in moderation, alcohol can be a fairly benign influence on one's life; abused, and it can easily destroy. Some people can enjoy alcohol and control it - others are controlled 'by' it - I found myself in the latter category and decided to do something about it. I don't miss it; I do sometimes think about the occasional glass of wine with a meal with some fondness, but those endless evenings down the pub drinking non-stop and talking drivel - well, they are happily a thing of the past. I've lost about 12 kilos in the last 20 months - purely from no beer - and my cycling and fitness has improved no end. I am 53 and fitter now than I was at 33. Hopefully, not TOO boring either!!!

Good luck all

joelsim

All or nothing.

Day on, day off. Or maybe Day on, two days off.

No point in having a glass of wine, it's either none, or a bottle +

meagain

Been there. Nearly 40 years worth. Ended up on 2 bottles of gin and/or brandy a day. Went down to where you do not want to go.

Dry now for exactly 10 years and 6 months today - I don't have to work it out, I always know. (If a recovering alcoholic tells you that they can't remember when they had their last drink then they are lying - either they've had one to which they do not wish to admit or they were simply a heavy drinker.) Not a drop. Not even food cooked or flavoured in alcohol.

And yes I still want a drink every waking moment - and I often dream of doing so. Xmas is a coming - always a bad time. The pubs are full and I'm not inside.

ballysmate

meagain wrote:

Been there. Nearly 40 years worth. Ended up on 2 bottles of gin and/or brandy a day. Went down to where you do not want to go.

Dry now for exactly 10 years and 6 months today - I don't have to work it out, I always know. (If a recovering alcoholic tells you that they can't remember when they had their last drink then they are lying - either they've had one to which they do not wish to admit or they were simply a heavy drinker.) Not a drop. Not even food cooked or flavoured in alcohol.

And yes I still want a drink every waking moment - and I often dream of doing so. Xmas is a coming - always a bad time. The pubs are full and I'm not inside.

Well done for pulling yourself back from the brink. Good luck.

Sodafarl

Ballysmate wrote:

meagain wrote:

Been there. Nearly 40 years worth. Ended up on 2 bottles of gin and/or brandy a day. Went down to where you do not want to go.

Dry now for exactly 10 years and 6 months today - I don't have to work it out, I always know. (If a recovering alcoholic tells you that they can't remember when they had their last drink then they are lying - either they've had one to which they do not wish to admit or they were simply a heavy drinker.) Not a drop. Not even food cooked or flavoured in alcohol.

And yes I still want a drink every waking moment - and I often dream of doing so. Xmas is a coming - always a bad time. The pubs are full and I'm not inside.

Well done for pulling yourself back from the brink. Good luck.

Have to agree well done a daily battle(very close relatives who have been through the same hell) which unfortunately you have to have.
Keep it up and the best of health.