patrick.net

If you're concerned and think that there's a problem, cut back (or stop). Everyone is different. Some people have a beer or two after work, while some people have a sixer or two after work.

In some areas of the country it's okay to hit the bar every night, while in others drinking is a horrible thing that only alcoholics do.

Everyone is different.

I do this as well... except, my frequency is about a 20oz every other work night or so, and a 40oz on weekends. I consider this normal.

But to me, to have a beer is a form of relaxing. Your comment about weekends sound like you need alcohol in your system to fuel yourself. If this is so, you may have a problem. But hey, at least it's beer and not hard liquor - how bad can the problem be? Just don't drive drunk (even buzzed).

When I was 23, I hit about 50 beers a week. Now that I'm approaching 30, I haven't had 50 beers in the past 3 years.

I usually push the envelope until I wake up feeling like my head was used for a Drummers Mallet on my Kidneys.
Then I start making a conscious effort to not drink so frequently.
I get about a three month run of drinking sparingly.

I don't think drinking is much of a problem as forgetting a night of indulgence can really beat the hell out of you. Yesterday I didn't even drink as much as I have past weekends and didn't feel like this. I think it builds up in a reserve somewhere, to aggregate with and add to the Toll of future hangovers.

To echo other comments here, if you feel you are having negative consequences from your consumption of alcohol, then you may have a problem and will need support. AA meetings are good places to start. They're free. They don't require a donation as the hat is passed around. They're anonymous. They let you come inebriated so long as you aren't causing problems in the meeting. Also they allow you to sit and observe if you don't feel like you have anything to contribute in terms of sharing. You can listen to the people in the meeting and their stories and compare them to your own to see if there is any resonance to your situation.

Also, psychotherapy can help if you feel you can afford the hourly fee or if your insurance covers it.

Another source of help is to check out rehabilitation centers. It doesn't cost anything to ask questions. You don't have to be admitted to get referrals to other support if you don't feel you have a big enough issue to enter rehab. Rehabilitation Centers usually have a big list of referrals for people seeking help.

Also you can call the following hotlines for free crisis support and referrals:

The Alcohol & Drug Addiction Resource Center 1 800 390 4056

Boys Town National Hotline 800-448-3000

National Drug Information Treatment and Referral Hotline: 800-662-HELP (4357)
Information, support, treatment options and referrals to local rehab centers for any drug or alcohol problem. Operates 24 hours, seven days a week.

National Cocaine Hotline: 800-COCAINE (262-2463)
Information, crisis intervention, and referrals to local rehab centers for all types of drug dependency. Operates 24 hours, seven days a week.

Al-ateen: 800-352-9996

Alcohol Abuse and Crisis Intervention: 800-234-0246

Alcohol and Drug Abuse Helpline and Treatment: 800-234-0420

Alcohol Hotline Support & Information: 800-331-2900

Honestly, only you can know if you have a problem with your alcohol consumption. Generally if you suspect that you have problems with your alcohol consumption, you should seek some sort of support to discern if you really have a problem and what, if anything, you should do about it.

Also, it's important to remember that Alcoholism is a protected disability and that if you find you suffer from Alcoholism you should remember that you have rights associated with that particular disability.

Some folks are social drinkers. Sometimes they become so social that they can barely walk.
Personally, I used to be a daily drinker but that lead to problems so I switched to nights.
I used to down 3 to 6 beers during happy hour in the lounges, trying to unwind.
Now I rarely drink. If I pull a back muscle, I might guzzle a six pack that night to ease the pain.
I still occasionally have a mixed drink in the bar after dinner but that's about it.
Drinking started as fun, then it evolved into a crutch to deal with stress. Eventually I gave it up, along with smoking. I got tired of seeing life through the stale and smoky haze of beer fumes, cotton mouth and hacking phlegm.

My rule is kind of simple, really.

Normal drinking is when you drank it and you feel alright about it.
When it drank you and you knew it, that's excessive drinking.
When you don't know it or you can't feel a thing, that's crazy drinking.
You thought you drank it alright but got pulled over by the guy in uniform, then you're an idiot.

Here's another thing.
Drinking couple cans of beer twice a week is ok. Drinking a can of beer everyday is not, because you're not giving your liver little time to recover from the alchol. Give that poor thing 2~3 days before you abuse it again.

When you feel something is not right, it probabaly is not right. It maybe is the right time for you to stop doing it. Because you knew it, and you're not ignoring it. Once you start ignoring it, then you're in trouble.

I don't think it's serious problem though, you gotta figure out what made you drink with such pattern. It maybe is something about your job, personal life, anger against someone etc rather than your love of beer. Whatever that is, you gotta take care of it first. Sometimes, you can't do a shit about it even if you knew what it is. Then, try not to rely on booze, start do something else like physical activity, meditation, getting a hobby etc.

seaside says

Here’s another thing.
Drinking couple cans of beer twice a week is ok. Drinking a can of beer everyday is not, because you’re not giving your liver little time to recover from the alchol. Give that poor thing 2~3 days before you abuse it again.

Your liver doesn't need time to "recover" between beers. It does have trouble when you drown it in beer, tho.

Vain says

But hey, at least it’s beer and not hard liquor - how bad can the problem be?

The alcohol in beer is the same alcohol in hard liquor. Perhaps not the same amount of alcohol as in a mixed drink, but the alcohol content of beer varies from state to state. Utah has a whopping 3.2% beer, so our drunks drink a hell of a lot more calories to feed their habit.

3.2% beer? I'm used to drinking lager beer between 5-6% here. I like beer because I can get a good feeling from it. I hate hard liquor because I feel like I just got poisoned whenever I drink it - not a good feeling.

My new favorite description of the benefit/harm of drinking is the "J" curve. There is a provable health benefit to a small amount of alcohol each day, on the order of one beer or one glass of wine. People who drink a little each day live longer, and have lower rates of heart disease. Supposedly red wine has better effects than beer or white wine, and may reduce some cancer rates.

But beyond that small daily amount, mortality rates skyrocket. Hence the J curve, where amount of alcohol is the x-axis and mortality is the y-axis. So the trick is to stay very moderate. If you can't do that, you're better off drinking nothing. But if you can keep it minimal, it enhances enjoyment and health to have a drink with dinner.

So I say "normal" is one drink a day.

I heard something like what patrick said. But when it comes to alcohol, it is hard to take it for granted because you know, about 1/2 of all those reseaches are backed by wine industries. Even if that's true, the amount of alcohol that is ok for me may not be ok for someone else. Drinkers should know where his/her limit is at.

I can take whole 6 pack w/o much problem. Whole bottle of wine, Half bottle of vodka? Yeah. I can take it. But with half glass of whiskey on the rock, I am a goner. I have no idea why this is happening. My father can't handle alcoholic beverage of any sort at all. One sip of wine will put him into his bed in no time.

Alcohol beverage is mysterious stuff. It varies, depending on who you are, and what beverage you're drinking. With ECBB's case, he can drink as much as he can as long as he can handle the amount. But the frequency, well... I think that's what he is worrying about, and it somewhat sounded like other issue rather than alcohol itself. Zixr said what I was about to say. Try quitting it for couple days and see if you can live without the stuff.

seaside says

...
I can take whole 6 pack w/o much problem. Whole bottle of wine, Half bottle of vodka? Yeah. I can take it. But with half glass of whiskey on the rock, I am a goner. I have no idea why this is happening. My father can’t handle alcoholic beverage of any sort at all. One sip of wine will put him into his bed in no time.
Alcohol beverage is mysterious stuff. It varies, depending on ... what beverage you’re drinking.

I'll take this one, elliemae.

Alcohol is alcohol. It doesn't matter what type of drink you drink. What matters is how much total alcohol you consume over a period of time. 1 drink counts as 1 shot (1 oz) of hard liquor (80 proof or more which is 40% alcohol or more), 1 glass of wine (12 oz.) (which is usually anywhere from 9% to 15% alcohol, or 1 beer (16 oz.) (which is generally anywhere from 3% to 7% alcohol). It takes one hour for your liver to clear 1 drink on average.

If you feel you get more sloshed on a half a glass of whiskey on the rocks than on a 6 pack, there is no mystery about it.

To compare apples to apples try this using 5% alcohol by volume as an average can of beer: So you can think of a six pack this way 5% X 6 beers would equal about 30%. Whereas 1 oz of whiskey would be at least 40% alcohol. Most likely your half glass of whiskey on the rocks has at least one to two shots in it so you are consuming more alcohol by volume by drinking a regular half glass of whiskey on the rocks.

Then if you drink a bottle of wine, there are roughly 25 ounces for a 750 ml bottle of wine. On average wine tends to run 12% alcohol by volume. A glass of wine is usually counted as 12 oz. Therefore you get a little over 2 glasses of wine from a bottle. Most people get at least three but we're trying to compare apples to apples. So you can think of it this way 2.2 glasses of wine X 12% = 26.4% of alcohol by volume. That's well under the 40% of alcohol by volume in 1 drink of whiskey.

So, in one sense you are right. You are getting more effect from drinking a half glass of whiskey on the rocks than you are from the average six pack of beer because you are consuming more alcohol. It has nothing to do with the flavors, the way the alcoholic beverage is prepared, or the type of drink. It has everything to do with the fact that you are actually consuming more alcohol in that half glass of whiskey on the rocks than that 6-pack of beer.

I believe that it's a psychological effect that you feel you can handle a half bottle of 80 proof vodka where you feel you can't handle a half glass of whiskey on the rocks. The taste of vodka is usually more clear and less harsh than whiskey, so the experience may be different that way and would change your psychological experience of the drink.

So, alcohol effects are all about science. There's no mystery.

Thanks for the explanation.

One thing, you're right about phychological effect. I do admit that there's something about whiskey which I didn't say in the post. Anyway, all that drinking thing is a thing of the past for me. I stopped drinking for years and hope I don't have to drink again.

But this is a thread for ECCB and his concern about his drinking issue.

I still feel like his issue is not about the alcohol but about something that made him drink. If that's the case, he need to figure it out first. Of course, I can be completely wrong about it too.

Seaside, thanks...

I agree with you. It's never really about the alcohol for alcoholics anyway. Drinking is usually a symptom of a host of underlying issues that make up addiction.

One drink, I'm feeling good.

Two drinks, I'm drunk.

Three drinks, I'm naked - dancing on the table.

It was a lot cuter when I was in my 20's...

elliemae says

One drink, I’m feeling good.
Two drinks, I’m drunk.
Three drinks, I’m naked - dancing on the table.
It was a lot cuter when I was in my 20’s…

Hmmm, next time you're in town I want to take you out to one of the local watering holes. You sound like a cheap date. ;-)

simchaland says

Hmmm, next time you’re in town I want to take you out to one of the local watering holes. You sound like a cheap date.

Well, I prefer "inexpensive."