Alcohol. A sensible discussion.

cloud493

Less than 5.

Its good to see most people see to go on the safe side of drinking.

rainbow kirby

Between 16-20

I really hate being hungover, but I enjoy a good beer or a nice wine. Rarely have more than 3 pints if I'm out these days, and I prefer when we go somewhere with good beer choices rather than forcing down crap.

anncoates

Between 21-30

Hard to say. Some weeks none. Most I'd have in a average drinking week is probably about 20 units.

brummytom

Over 100

I worked it out recently, it varied from 80-100 units a week. Aside from the actual harm of drink, that's a huge amount of money I don't have to be spending.

Going to try and cut down in the run-up to Christmas.

super_furry

Honestly I don't know. Half the problem is this unit system - make one unit a pint and I could tell you.

KERSPLAT!

Between 6-10

super_furry wrote: »

Honestly I don't know. Half the problem is this unit system - make one unit a pint and I could tell you.

Or use the simple calculator in the OP.

bnt

Between 6-10

Your size and the ABV of the beer are also factors. I'm a big guy, four pints of e.g. Becks 4% over several hours, once a month, wass not a problem - and it's been years since I drank even that much (with colleagues after work).

Four pints of the kind of beer I now prefer could lay me out, since it tends to be much stronger and doesn't usually come in pints anyway. I still remember the business trip to France during which I discovered Affligem Blond, wondering why the glass was so small before I learned it was 6.80% ABV. The stuff is so nice I can't think "session" at all.

The way I see it, drinking is a means to an end - enjoyment of company - not an end in itself. If you're drinking to get drunk, with no expectation of a positive result from it, you have a problem.

fussyonion

There was a time last year when I felt I was drinking too much.

I'd have an alcoholic drink nearly ever night and started to look forward to the evenings when I could have a drink.
I wouldn't drink loads, but it was getting to the stage where I felt I really had to have one.

Now I have a bottle of wine on a Friday and a few beers on Saturday night and I enjoy my drink a lot more now. I also drink slowly so a bottle of wine would last me about five hours.

I rarely go out but heading out tonight for a change where I'll have about five pints.

I no longer feel the NEED to have a drink but when I do have one, I enjoy it and saving it for the weekend means I'm having an alcohol-free week, which is good.

moxin

Between 41-50

Macavity. wrote: »

Anyway, so my doctor warned me about my alcohol intake recently. Basically, I've drank more than 65 units per week over the last few months or so which is apparently too high. Recommended maximum is 20 units or so, which seems very low to me.

Curious, what triggered that advice from the doc? Did you feel unwell from alcohol intake or was it just a random question from the doc as part of a checkup?

I'm averaging about 30 units a week, drink 2 nights at the weekend. Used to be higher at 50 but i've cut down in the last few months. Next step is to just drink one night a week and thats me satisfied, failed last night because of Halloween and now its Saturday

When drinking at home, I do drink water between a couple of pints each consecutive time. There was one time I drank 3 litres of water with my 3.5L of beer, couldn't believe it myself until I counted it all up the day after

Talib Fiasco

Between 51-60

I don't know how many units I'd consume in a week. If I go out twice in a week it's two bottles of vodka plus the best part of 15-20 shots... I voted in terms of one night out a week but I really don't knnow how many units it is etc

Lia_lia

Between 6-10

I've never been big in to alcohol. I might drink 1 or 2 nights a per month. And on the rare occasion I go out for dinner I'll have a glass of wine.

There are a few alcoholics in my family and from seeing it growing up I just kinda think of it as "nah". I never really get drunk either because after a few drinks my stomach hurts...

I worked in bars as a teenager/in college, and my dad owns bar. So being around drunks all the time may have turned me off it also!

That said, I do still like some alcoholic drinks. But I don't drink them to get drunk.

El_Duderino 09

Soft Falling Rain wrote: »

I'm not ignoring that and absolutely accept there's a genuine concern. But I'm sorry, for me personally, saying 4 pints is binge drinking is ridiculous. Now if someone was slamming 6 pints 3 days a week then I'd maybe listen.

I don't think you're listening to what they are telling you at all. they are saying over 4 pints in one sitting is classified as a binge because it is likely to begin to cause serious damage to health over time. They are not asking you to have a good time on 4 pints they are simply telling you it is doing long term harm.

Yes some people drink 'slam 6 pints 3 days a week' and they are at higher risk of serious damage but that doesn't let the guy on 5 pint 3 nights a week off the hook.

Why do you think they would give you faulty information? I think you mean you don't like what they are saying rather than the information is incorrect.

If in doubt you can do an experiment to test it. Put all the scientific experiments and medical advice on one side and put your opinion on the other side. Which is worth more?

TheBeardedLady

I drank and went out a huge amount in my teens and 20s and I've no doubt I did damage to myself in that time but that hasn't been sustainable in my 30s and I'm happy enough with that although I really had a lot of fun back then.

In the last year or two, I've cut down hugely. I don't go out every weekend anymore mainly because I was getting very bad hangovers and feeling very down the following day and I also didn't particularly like myself drunk anymore (to that extent). I didn't drink weekdays at all but drank a lot on that night I went out.

Now I'd have a glass of wine every evening of the week (smallish glass - nothing like you'd get in Ireland) and a few more one night of the weekend, so I'd have a bottle and a half a week, I suppose.

I'm actually going to knock the evening wine on the head as it's a bad habit I've got into since not going on mad ones at weekends but I finish work late every evening and I enjoyed going into a bar on the way home from work, getting a nice glass of wine (and wine here is soooo good) and winding down after a day of teaching and just having that time to myself. It'll be hard to not have that to look forward to as it'll be home, dinner and straight to bed. I suppose there's a dependency there tbh.

Saying that, I went out last night for Halloween and had a few drinks. Ordered a rum and coke and felt myself getting a bit too plastered for my liking so I left it and continued to dance and didn't drink for the rest of the night. That wouldn't have happened in the past.

Once I knock those mid week glasses of wine on the head, I'll be grand, I think.

El_Duderino 09

Between 41-50

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

I don't think you're listening to what they are telling you at all. they are saying over 4 pints in one sitting is classified as a binge because it is likely to begin to cause serious damage to health over time. They are not asking you to have a good time on 4 pints they are simply telling you it is doing long term harm.

Yes some people drink 'slam 6 pints 3 days a week' and they are at higher risk of serious damage but that doesn't let the guy on 5 pint 3 nights a week off the hook.

Why do you think they would give you faulty information? I think you mean you don't like what they are saying rather than the information is incorrect.

If in doubt you can do an experiment to test it. Put all the scientific experiments and medical advice on one side and put your opinion on the other side. Which is worth more?

4 pints is not a binge, if I go out and drink 10 pints, a few whiskeys and a few jäger bombs then I say I was on a binge.

El_Duderino 09

Lacey Cuddly Landlady wrote: »

4 pints is not a binge, if I go out and drink 10 pints, a few whiskeys and a few jäger bombs then I say I was on a binge.

LOL Take it up with the medical community. Tell them their fancy sciency business is wrong. You probably know a lad who drank a barrel of rum one time and sure he's grand. Science disproved.

I'm not saying I stick to 4 pints or anything like it. But please don't pretend the science is wrong because you don't want to accept it.

Soft Falling Rain

Between 41-50

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

I don't think you're listening to what they are telling you at all. they are saying over 4 pints in one sitting is classified as a binge because it is likely to begin to cause serious damage to health over time. They are not asking you to have a good time on 4 pints they are simply telling you it is doing long term harm.

Yes some people drink 'slam 6 pints 3 days a week' and they are at higher risk of serious damage but that doesn't let the guy on 5 pint 3 nights a week off the hook.

Why do you think they would give you faulty information? I think you mean you don't like what they are saying rather than the information is incorrect.

If in doubt you can do an experiment to test it. Put all the scientific experiments and medical advice on one side and put your opinion on the other side. Which is worth more?

I don't think they're giving faulty info intentionally, but I do think that some are being lazy in what they blame alcohol on. Just using myself as an example I was ill in early 2012 and was told straightaway that alcohol was at fault. Fine says I, and I gave it up for 3 months.

Guess what? No change after 3 months. He eventually realised that it was completely unrelated to alcohol.

They seem to assume that if a 20 something has minor health difficulties it's due to alcohol, which is a dangerous attitude to have when you're too lazy to properly diagnose someone.

miggins

Less than 5.

Off the drink since 2011 due to drinking so much in the previous 15 years I physically couldn't stomach it any more even the thoughts of it makes me sick nowadays. Life for me now is so much better without it

Sand

Between 41-50

I'd drink every week, but I almost never drink more than 4-6 pints on a night out. If I drink any more than that, I'm at least mildly hungover the next morning and I really hate that. I also don't like drinking to the point where you lose your common sense.

The doctors are probably right that drinking 4 pints on a night out is binge drinking from medical point of view - but feck it, everything is bad for you and none of us are going to live forever.

looking_around

Less than 5.

Lacey Cuddly Landlady wrote: »

4 pints is not a binge, if I go out and drink 10 pints, a few whiskeys and a few jäger bombs then I say I was on a binge.

What you "say" is a binge, isn't official classification.

a binge, is when something is consumed in enough quantities to cause harm.

whether you think it causes harm or not.
___________
At OP, you should be worried of your health in the future. The damage is something that's unnoticeable until it hits you very hard and destroys your liver. It also changes the shape of your cerebellum, which causes other issues.

If you're using it deal with anxiety or depression, then it definitely is a problem and you might want to consider why you have to drink away those emotions rather than dealing with them.

__________

I have used the whole binge drinking to pass out years back, these days, I only drink for taste, about 10units a year.

El_Duderino 09

Soft Falling Rain wrote: »

I don't think they're giving faulty info intentionally, but I do think that some are being lazy in what they blame alcohol on. Just using myself as an example I was ill in early 2012 and was told straightaway that alcohol was at fault. Fine says I, and I gave it up for 3 months.

Guess what? No change after 3 months. He eventually realised that it was completely unrelated to alcohol.

They seem to assume that if a 20 something has minor health difficulties it's due to alcohol, which is a dangerous attitude to have when you're too lazy to properly diagnose someone.

LOL you win. Your anecdote is much more powerful than decades of animal and human research. Ill inform the science community to halt all research immediately and well just ask you for medical advice in future.

At what point does damage begin to occur Soft falling rain?

Soft Falling Rain

Between 41-50

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

LOL you win. Your anecdote is much more powerful than decades of animal and human research. Ill inform the science community to halt all research immediately and well just ask you for medical advice in future.

At what point does damage begin to occur Soft falling rain?

Couldn't tell you, all I know is that my habits in terms of alcohol haven't changed since 2012, and I've been healthy since.

Your sarcasm and dismissiveness is quite endearing btw.

herisson

My relationship with alcohol has decreased the past year. I wouldnt drink that much anymore. Im in my early 20s and i just dont like going out and grtting hammered. I do stupid **** when drunk. I dont like drunk me.

I wake up feeling like crap.

I dont mind one or two quiet ones. I have the rare night when i get absolutely baloobas but i always am depressed afterwards.

wandatowell

Between 6-10

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

LOL Take it up with the medical community. Tell them their fancy sciency business is wrong. You probably know a lad who drank a barrel of rum one time and sure he's grand. Science disproved.

I'm not saying I stick to 4 pints or anything like it. But please don't pretend the science is wrong because you don't want to accept it.

Four pint in one night is a binge? Seems awfully low imo.

El_Duderino 09

Soft Falling Rain wrote: »

Couldn't tell you, all I know is that my habits in terms of alcohol haven't changed since 2012, and I've been healthy since.

Your sarcasm and dismissiveness is quite endearing btw.

Oh that's disappointing. You dismissed the people who know stuff so easily and replaced with your knowledge of nothing. Why not leave the thinking to the people who actually know stuff K?

Seriously the research reveals that up to 4 pints is ok without causing harm. you don't have to stick to it. Dismissing it without a good reason might make people think they can drink way more without negative health effects.

IrishSkyBoxer

be interested to see people's opinions in this thread if the word alcohol was replaced with cocaine/ecstasy/marijuana/heroin.

alcohol is a drug, and one of the worst drugs prevalent in society today.anyone who tries to convince themselves otherwise is an absolute moron. but of course cause it's legal it must be grand, sure we all love a few pints don't we.

El_Duderino 09

wandatowell wrote: »

Four pint in one night is a binge? Seems awfully low imo.

The word "binge" has 2 uses which is not helpful.

Meaning 1 (Medical): Number of units in one sitting which is likely to cause negative health effects.

Meaning 2 (Colloquial): a session where people acknowledge they had too much to drink.

What you mean is you didn't realise how little booze it takes to cause harm.

suicide_circus

Between 16-20

Experiencing way too much fear to deal with this thread right now

smurgen

IrishSkyBoxer wrote: »

be interested to see people's opinions in this thread if the word alcohol was replaced with cocaine/ecstasy/marijuana/heroin.

alcohol is a drug, and one of the worst drugs prevalent in society today.anyone who tries to convince themselves otherwise is an absolute moron. but of course cause it's legal it must be grand, sure we all love a few pints don't we.

Alcohol by the way it works is a far more social drug than any of those others.just because you can't handle your drink don't ruin the fun for the rest of us that can.

looking_around

Less than 5.

smurgen wrote: »

Alcohol by the way it works is a far more social drug than any of those others.just because you can't handle your drink don't ruin the fun for the rest of us that can.

ecstasy is quite "social"

I don't think the poster was pointing out that it should be banned, but more the hypocrisy of people that are ok with alcohol but think the other drugs should stay illegal.

wandatowell

Between 6-10

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

What you mean is you didn't realise how little booze it takes to cause harm.

No, I know exactly what I meant to say.