Bottle of wine a night.. every night?
Discussion
For years now I have been a wine drinker. I used to work nights and found the only way i could get off to sleep after a grouling night shift was to have a couple of glasses of the red stuff...
After a while 2 glasses lead to a bottle, and a genuine love for wine. I now no longer work nights and havnt done for about 6 years, but i still consume a bottle of wine each evening. I dont drink to get drunk, every glass is enjoyed, 1st glass normaly starts at 7pm when I am in the office sorting paperwork, then the second whilst cooking dinner, so I am now over half way through the bottle. The last glass is enjoyed after dinner.
So from 7 til about 11pm...
My girlfriend says i need to cap it and have done so, am now only 1 glass a night but feel that one of my daily enjoyments and wind down is gone.
Obviously i know that health risks are high on the list of reasons to cut down but am generally healthy... Gym, running etc....
Does anyone else drink this much or am I bordering alchaholism?????
After a while 2 glasses lead to a bottle, and a genuine love for wine. I now no longer work nights and havnt done for about 6 years, but i still consume a bottle of wine each evening. I dont drink to get drunk, every glass is enjoyed, 1st glass normaly starts at 7pm when I am in the office sorting paperwork, then the second whilst cooking dinner, so I am now over half way through the bottle. The last glass is enjoyed after dinner.
So from 7 til about 11pm...
My girlfriend says i need to cap it and have done so, am now only 1 glass a night but feel that one of my daily enjoyments and wind down is gone.
Obviously i know that health risks are high on the list of reasons to cut down but am generally healthy... Gym, running etc....
Does anyone else drink this much or am I bordering alchaholism?????
Not me, but the Mrs was in the same position as you.
Came home from work, "... just the 1", then that lead to 2 and then before long to a bottle before going to bed.
I would not say that 1 bottle over the time that you are drinking it is borderline alkie stage, however, if you don't have it do you really miss not having a bottle and start having DT's? if not, you are in the clear
Came home from work, "... just the 1", then that lead to 2 and then before long to a bottle before going to bed.
I would not say that 1 bottle over the time that you are drinking it is borderline alkie stage, however, if you don't have it do you really miss not having a bottle and start having DT's? if not, you are in the clear
If you need a bottle a night, then you have a problem. Maybe not alcoholism, as there are far worse stories out there (check the alcohol thread in Health Matters). I used to have a beer on the way home* after work from London to Bournemouth to relax. By the time I left my job, I was up to 5 cans, and a bottle of wine when I got home. Booze creeps up on you if you aren't very very careful.
- (It's a bugger trying to open a 6 pack on the M3)
As others have alluded to, the 'perfectly safe' vs 'alcoholic' distinction is not helpful.
A bottle of wine a night, every night is enough to give you a nasty, knackered liver, where the healthy tissue gradually gets replaced with lumpy scar tissue which blocks normal blood flow through it. Then it stops functioning properly and all sorts of horrible crap can happen. This occurs regardless of whether you are drinking Special Brew on a park bench or successfully working a career in a happy marriage.
Thing is, you won't necessarily feel any discomfort or illness whilst all the damage happens. This is why, with the availability of cheaper alcohol, and a continuation of the 'work hard -drink hard culture' we're seeing more and more middle-aged, middle class people coming into the NHS with fecked livers. Unlike smoking and lungs, the damage won't 'heal'.
As I understand it, its important to give your liver a rest, i.e. have at least 2-3 days in the week with no booze at all and don't massively binge on the days you do have a drink.
-Now all I have to do is follow my own advice.
A bottle of wine a night, every night is enough to give you a nasty, knackered liver, where the healthy tissue gradually gets replaced with lumpy scar tissue which blocks normal blood flow through it. Then it stops functioning properly and all sorts of horrible crap can happen. This occurs regardless of whether you are drinking Special Brew on a park bench or successfully working a career in a happy marriage.
Thing is, you won't necessarily feel any discomfort or illness whilst all the damage happens. This is why, with the availability of cheaper alcohol, and a continuation of the 'work hard -drink hard culture' we're seeing more and more middle-aged, middle class people coming into the NHS with fecked livers. Unlike smoking and lungs, the damage won't 'heal'.
As I understand it, its important to give your liver a rest, i.e. have at least 2-3 days in the week with no booze at all and don't massively binge on the days you do have a drink.
-Now all I have to do is follow my own advice.
redleader1 said:
For years now I have been a wine drinker. I used to work nights and found the only way i could get off to sleep after a grouling night shift was to have a couple of glasses of the red stuff...
After a while 2 glasses lead to a bottle, and a genuine love for wine. I now no longer work nights and havnt done for about 6 years, but i still consume a bottle of wine each evening. I dont drink to get drunk, every glass is enjoyed, 1st glass normaly starts at 7pm when I am in the office sorting paperwork, then the second whilst cooking dinner, so I am now over half way through the bottle. The last glass is enjoyed after dinner.
So from 7 til about 11pm...
My girlfriend says i need to cap it and have done so, am now only 1 glass a night but feel that one of my daily enjoyments and wind down is gone.
Obviously i know that health risks are high on the list of reasons to cut down but am generally healthy... Gym, running etc....
Does anyone else drink this much or am I bordering alchaholism?????
1 bottle of wine per night = 36 units Mon-Thurs + whatever you drink over the weekend (if your habits are different). For comparison, the recommended guidelines for a man are no more than 21 units per week (and no more than 4 in any one day).After a while 2 glasses lead to a bottle, and a genuine love for wine. I now no longer work nights and havnt done for about 6 years, but i still consume a bottle of wine each evening. I dont drink to get drunk, every glass is enjoyed, 1st glass normaly starts at 7pm when I am in the office sorting paperwork, then the second whilst cooking dinner, so I am now over half way through the bottle. The last glass is enjoyed after dinner.
So from 7 til about 11pm...
My girlfriend says i need to cap it and have done so, am now only 1 glass a night but feel that one of my daily enjoyments and wind down is gone.
Obviously i know that health risks are high on the list of reasons to cut down but am generally healthy... Gym, running etc....
Does anyone else drink this much or am I bordering alchaholism?????
If you genuinely have created a love for wine, why not swap 7 bottles per week for one 'special' bottle on a Friday or Saturday.
If you feel like you have lost a sense of enjoyment and the ability to wind down by limiting yourself to one glass per night, it definitely sounds like you have a dependency.
captainzep said:
Thing is, you won't necessarily feel any discomfort or illness whilst all the damage happens. This is why, with the availability of cheaper alcohol, and a continuation of the 'work hard -drink hard culture' we're seeing more and more middle-aged, middle class people coming into the NHS with fecked livers. Unlike smoking and lungs, the damage won't 'heal'.
This may be an urban myth but I thought the opposite was true ? I thought the liver could regenerate and lung damage was permanent ?redleader1 said:
..I used to work nights and found the only way i could get off to sleep after a grouling night shift was to have a couple of glasses of the red stuff...
It was at the point I realised I couldn't get off to sleep unless I'd had a couple of drinks that I gave up casual drinking.Beardy10 said:
captainzep said:
Thing is, you won't necessarily feel any discomfort or illness whilst all the damage happens. This is why, with the availability of cheaper alcohol, and a continuation of the 'work hard -drink hard culture' we're seeing more and more middle-aged, middle class people coming into the NHS with fecked livers. Unlike smoking and lungs, the damage won't 'heal'.
This may be an urban myth but I thought the opposite was true ? I thought the liver could regenerate and lung damage was permanent ?Smoking/lungs -If you've developed COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease e.g. emphysema or chronic bronchitis) then the damage won't improve if the lungs are scarred. However for everyone else the lungs do recover to a large extent over a periods of time after smoking. Cilia (the microscopic hairs which help clean the lungs) grow back and lung Cancer risk reduces to something like normal over the next few years. That said, your lung function/capacity might not recover to 100%.
Alcohol/Liver - Damage to the liver is progressive. If you've got to the point of having a fatty liver, then this can be reversed by cutting right back the drinking. Alcoholic Hepatitis (inflammation) can happen next and this can also be largely recovered from by stopping drinking. When you get to Fibrosis and Cirrhosis, the damage is definitely done. It might not knock you over like a heart attack or lung cancer but you could be on the way to liver failure, liver cancer etc.
Edited by captainzep on Tuesday 11th January 11:52
Well that good news, Im not actually an alky... But defenate dependant...
Have done well for last 2 weeks with just 1 glass, maybe its the habbit of previously having a whole bottle each nite.
Something else someone here said about not feeling ill or any discomfort whilst the damage is being done.. Silent death!!! Not nice thought..
One night a week then from now on..
Thanks for all your input, all helps. Just the smoking to tackle next!!!
Have done well for last 2 weeks with just 1 glass, maybe its the habbit of previously having a whole bottle each nite.
Something else someone here said about not feeling ill or any discomfort whilst the damage is being done.. Silent death!!! Not nice thought..
One night a week then from now on..
Thanks for all your input, all helps. Just the smoking to tackle next!!!
When I worked away in London I had nothing to do on an evening most nights so I'd be in the hotel bar - over a period of 8 months, I "built" myself up to 2 and a half to 3 bottles a night for 4 or 5 nights each week (all on expenses) - I didn't get hangovers then and I found that I couldn't settle without at least a couple of glasses.
I realised how bad things had got when the project ended and I was back at home and was "dry" as I didn't tend to drink at home... Being dry was a bit of a shock and that highlighted clearly that I had descended in to something of a problem.
Trouble was that I did the same thing a year later when working in Croydon for 6 months - but then again, being in Croydon would do that to you
I realised how bad things had got when the project ended and I was back at home and was "dry" as I didn't tend to drink at home... Being dry was a bit of a shock and that highlighted clearly that I had descended in to something of a problem.
Trouble was that I did the same thing a year later when working in Croydon for 6 months - but then again, being in Croydon would do that to you
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