Am I an alcoholic?

[peacelovetrust1987]

I'm 21 years old, and I've been a binge drinker since I was 13 or 14.  When I first started drinking, I would usually do it alone with booze I got from my sister.  I would drink until I threw up, then go to bed.  As highschool progressed, my friends and I would drink during the day to evade our strict parents.  I always felt sort of admired when people would compliment my ability to hold my liquor (I was a very tiny girl).  In college, I quit completely for about 3 months because I started chilling with people who didn't drink.  Then I started again, and though I don't drink every day (more like 2-3 times a week), when I do, I completely black out.  The next day, my friends have to inform me of what I did the night before.  I always wake up in a panic thinking I said something rude to someone, or did something my husband wouldn't appreciate.  I usually spend the next couple days telling myself that I'm not going to drink anymore.  Almost all my friendships revolve around alcohol.  When I feel uncomfortable in a social situation, I drink.  I'm not really sure what to do at this point.  I've tried hypnotism and some herbal stuff, but that didn't seem to help me get control over things.  I'm not sure if I can live my life without alcohol.  With my drinking patterns, do you think I could maybe just learn to moderate my drinking?  I kind of think that the reason I drink the way I do is that I never learned to drink like a normal drinker because I started so young.  What should I do??

[theeagle]

You shoud look at a drink just like you were being offerred a glass or bottle of cyanide.

Several parts of your story indicate that you have a problem. Usually everything but impossible to drink responsibly after that type of thing for a long, long, time. If ever.

Good news is that you will be able to quit when you wish to badly enough. Might even want to look into antabuse for a few months...............best of luck to you..........

[10356]

hello and welcome to the forum.. now that you have drank till you black out on most occasions.. there is no going back to normal drinking.. addiction is not always something you have to take every day.. it is a number of things.. use it to deal emotionally socially to have fun.. but the fun ends when you can not remember.. not only is this dangerous for yourself as in setting yourself up to be taken advantage of or getting into a physical altercation for offending someone as any sense of what you are doing is skewered by the alcohol... you are screwing with your liver.. All your friends drink.. time to make new friends.. Herbal meds will not stop alcohol.. only you can do this.. I do not mean to sound harsh.. you are young and in ten years all the youth and vitality will be gone as you will be a raging alcoholic and will be lucky if you can even keep drunk friends.. check out AA post here get yourself serious as alcohol is a serious drug.. Make a commitment to quit.. You and your Husband deserve so much more... I wish you well.. lesa

[boogieman]

hi there. you are in trouble. you have many classic signs of an alcoholic, and as mentioned above, you will probably have most of the rest in short order. i would highly recommend checking out aa, and you will likely need to make other changes as well. you have opened a door that you will never be able to close. there is no return to moderate drinking, and how often you drink is not as relevant as what happens when you do. this is dangerous territory---give yourself a break before it gets worse---because it will. take care,  gm

[ibizan]

u've gotten some greyt advice here..i'd only repeat it and i agree with all who've commented.......i'd suggest a good substance abuse counselor giving u a thorough evaluation and Campral or Naltrexone over Antabuse...have seen better results with the 2 over the Antabuse.u mite wanna give AA a listen too....try several meetings and go listen and really listen as to what u have in common with  the folks there..not how u r too young or different than them!