Does anyone know if binge drinking can be "caused" by the way you first start drinking or is it inherently in your make up. I have always binged and dont seem to have that "switch" that tells people they are getting near the point of no return. I am always past that before I realise and then cant remember the end of the evening good or bad! This site is amazing and has some wonderful people who are so helpful - Thank you all
Hi.
I had (have) a drinking problem. Just like you I don't know when to stop. I don't have the off button. When my friends say to me that they've had enough I don't understand it. I will drink until I pass out.
BUT I don't believe that we are born with it.
i was so bad with drinking a few years ago, that I had. 14 day binge. I drank 24/7 for 2 weeks. I didn't know what I was doing, where I was and when I stopped I really thought I was going to die. I came off the alcohol cold turkey. Something I now know is extremely dangerous. I couldn't walk, I couldn't talk, I was vomiting from my eyes, my ears and nose. I couldn't go to the toilet. I had to wear incontinence pants.mimfound out afterwards that I had drunk about 96 bottles of wine in those 2 weeks.
i was 45 years old then. All through my teenage years and early 20's I used to go out clubbing and pubbing with friends. I could have a few lagers, go home and never think about alcohol until the next week.
I went to AAafter my binge, and although it helped, their message was that I was and always has been an alcoholic. That I had been born that way and that I was allergic to alcohol. Sorry.... But that's not true.
which I why I stopped going.
Thank you for sharing with me. Can you deal with it now or do you still have problems? People just dont get it, if they dont have a the same problem, they think you are greedy and selfish. I have managed to cut my drinking down from 7 nights to 3 nights a week, but when I am honest I drink the same in those 3 days as I did over 7 and its about 3 times the upper limit the NHS has set for a week!!!
I kind of get it. But then I don't? Sounds mad, but then alcohol is mad.
i can go for months or weeks without a drink, and then One day, usually when I am feeling good or the weather is good, I think to myself that I can have a couple of glasses of wine in the garden. So I go to the shop and try to buy 1 bottle of wine. But then my subconscious takes over and I buy 2, As I know that one won't be enough. And thn I'll drink the 2 bottles and maybe mo,re if it can get my hands on it. It's so mad. I don't want to do it but I can't help myself. It's like I have a demon on my shoulder telling me to drink. I've sat in front of a table, looking at a bottle of wine, saying to myself "you'd don't want this, you don't need this." Etc etc etc but the demon wins. Every time.
They dont call it the "demon" drink for nothing! Would you consider the GP and getting TSM support (or similar) or are you like me reluctant to see a "counseller".
I think it's a combination of both. I don't think it's a 'disease' as AA call it but more of a predisposition to liking alcohol too much.
I think two people could start binge drinking with friends at University or colleagues in a first job. One will eventually tire of it and realise there are more important things to concentrate on in life. The one with the predisposition however will by then already be hooked. Alcohol remains too important in their life and the amount they drink slowly increases over a number of years.
I just know I'm inherently different to most of my friends. I have NEVER said no to another drink - even if I can't speak or stand up. Anyone watching me is aghast as to why I want more when I'm already a complete mess.
Whereas I am always aghast at people who nurse one drink all night!
I also know my brain is different with opiate type medication. Friends don't know what I'm talking about when I talk of the warm cozy hug I get from taking Codeine. They feel nothing but the pain relief element. I'm the same with Tramadol. Three different friends were given it in hospital and felt only pain relief. I was given it for back pain and felt completely amazing on it. Confident, sociable, positive, super happy. I've since had to give up both for obvious reasons.
My friends are all capable of a night of binge drinking but after that they feel rough and booze is forgotten about as they carry on with daily life. For me the thought of my next drink is always in my mind.
I genuinely believe my brain has something different about it in the way it reacts to alcohol and some other drugs.
I'm starting The Sinclair Method on Tuesday.
you are right, your brain is different - you are an addict- just like myself- we process alcohol and opiates diferently than others- we dont start out like that- no-one does- for one, our bodies would not be able to handle the amount of drink we consume now- when we first started to drink- addiction is a progresive disease- we need more and more of what ever substance we are addicted to, to get the desired result- we are hard wired to react this way- best of luck with the sinclair method-let us know how it works for you-
Good Luck, I really hope it works for you. Better to take a pill before a drink forever than not knowing when you might take that step into the unkown and unremembered I think. PS I voted for your response which I hope is like a "like" on facebook!
Wow. I never thought of it that way. I just assumed that I was an alcoholic and that was it! But thinking about it now, I have been in hospital a few times re appendicitis, endometriosis, fibroids etc and absolutely love the feeling I get from the drugs. I can't take morphine as I actually am allergic to it, but tramadol, cocodamol etc is amazing. It gives me that lovely warm feeling all over. A bit like that first drink?
its weird cos I have a twin sister. She doesn't abuse alcohol like me but she is addicted to pain killers. I've never thought of it as an addiction, and neither do any of my family or her friends. But I suppose it's maybe kind of the same? She takes pills every single day. Loads of them. but no one sees it as a problem as she doesn't display any signs of addiction like alcohol does?
Believe me your sister would soon realise she is addicted if she tried to stop taking them. Getting off painkillers is pretty hellish believe me.
I still miss them as it was always comforting to know that if I was feeling anxious or down I could pop a pill which would have me, most of the time, feeling chipper within forty minutes. Now I'm on antidepressants which give a much more balanced feeling all of the time. You never know, if I cut the booze right down I may be able to do without them!
Hi. I am completely the same. Drinking morning, noon and night. My behaviour is out of control and my family are fed up with it. My actions are outrageous and the next day I don't feel normal. What is wrong with me? All I think about is drink. I know I need help but I am not doing it. I upset so many people last weekend,
Making calls to them in my drunken state. I have no one left
and feel so alone. I wish I could take a tablet to stop. Any advice as each post I have read I can identify with.
So if it's a predisposition to alcohol then how can I have been ok with it until my early 40's? I was like my friends then. Have a few drinks at the weekend and then stop in the week. Never, ever thinking about the next drink. So why did it happen in my 40's?
I had a hell of a time with my divorce and abuse which led me to drink more then normal, and that's when I got addicted. But why now?
Hi Liz. I am glad you said that. I was not too bad in my
twenties but once I divorced in my early thirties it was a downward spiral. I am 46 now and seem to be getting worse. I was
abused mentally and I have thought why the delayed reaction with my drinking?
Hi, I am not quite in the same boat as you, because I dont think about it all the time, but then thats probably because I only drink at the weekends and I know its coming! You should talk to your GP because if you want to quit completely I believe that there are drugs they can prescribe which make the achohol repellent to you. Or look into TSM which involves taking a pill which reduces the "rewards" you feel from drink and therefore the need to drink so much, giving you back choices and control.
addiction is a progresive disease, you dont suddenly start drinking all day every day- your system would not take it- your tolerance gradually increase over time- it takes more and more alcohol to satisfy your cravings- your disease will demand to be fed, more and more- if left unchecked, you will eventually end up chronicaly addicted, as i was- you will have to drink every day to satisfy your cravings- i ended up drinking up to 2 bottles of whisky a day- i to only drank at weekends for years- then it became thurs night then wed then every night then every day- thats how it works- welcome to the disease of addiction- thankfully i stopped drinking in 2005-
Exactly. Why can it suddenly happen? I was diagnosed with depression in 2009, after much mental, physical and sexual abuse. It was truly awful. the worst you could imagine. i was on anti depressants for 5 years.
but last week I was diagnosed as bipolar 2. And apparently,the medication I am on is totally wrong for me. Maybe that's why I love wine??? Lol
Yep me too. In my 20s it was definitely just weekend bars and clubs. Never drank in the week at home. But, I did always carry on drinking when out without realising other people were slowing down or stopping later into the night.
Then in my 30s the wine with meals began. The drinking out in bars started getting me into embarrassing situations such as falling asleep on night buses etc. So more and more I just brought the drinking home with me and started grabbing a bottle of wine on my way home from a night out. Now I still do that and on nights in I drink two bottles. It all happened very slowly.
Oh Liz I am so sorry to hear that do you not have a Dr or counsellor you can discuss the whole picture with. They cant give you the right medical help if you cant tell them everything. Maybe you could write it all down and get the one you trust the most to read it.
Some people are born with a pre-disposition for addictions. Their opioid receptors respond differently to those of other people when certain activities (including drinking) are performed. That means that they get additional reward from alcohol (and/or other things) which makes them more likely to do this to excess.
Of course, that pre-disposition would not matter if they were never exposed to alcohol. If you never drink, you can't get addicted to alcohol. However, in a culture where the majority of people drink at some point, that risk is very high.
People who get addicted to alcohol do not necessarily drink more than other people around them initially. But, due to the additional reward they get, they are less likely to be able to stop in the same way as other people can. This is when it escalates as they build a tolerance to alcohol and then need more to fulfill their needs and four pints of beer becomes ten and then they move onto stronger stuff so that they don't need to put away as much fluid to get the same hit etc etc etc.
It IS a physical illness, not a life choice.
Ooh. I know I've spoken to you a couple of times paul and that you've actually been to my house( sorry was so p*ssed I can't remember).
I honestly don't understand the alcohol addiction though.
Isnt it a cop out to call it a disease?
believe me, I am not looking to put it down in any way. If it really is an illness and it's not my fault then bloody hell, I will embrace it.
but to be truthful, no one forces alcohol down my throat. No one makes me drink it. Surely it's my fault and my problem? I can't blame it o something or someone else can I?