Cheers everyone! Just enjoying a glass of Sauvignon Blanc! Fell off the wagon haven't I!? I decided that what the fuck am I worried about, I only live once and its not as if I am drinking 2 bottles of gin a night. So, bottoms up!

flick - re your DH having sore kidneys, I had a serious kidney infection and kidney stones and my Doctor put it down to my drinking a couple of glasses of wine and then the next day going out training (running), doing 10 mile runs with no water. My kidneys were dehydrated. Get him to drink PLENTY of water.

dh and i were going through a particularly stressful patch at the start of the year and drinking a bottle of wine each a night, every night.

it got way too much and we now don't drink till thursday night, and then only thursday friday and saturday.

our main rule at the weekends is not to have a drink till the boys are in bed, so if we are out for lunch with friends we don't have a glass of wine with lunch.

i do feel much better for drinking a lot less now.

dh is also having sore kidneys when he wakes up in the mornings after having had a drink so we may totally abstain to get him a bit healthier...

It just didn't occur to me that it was.

I'd be lying if I said I was going to change it, I'm not, I enjoy it and I still believe I'm being responsible with alcohol.
Maybe I'm kidding myself.

a binge for a woman is 7 or more units in one go. a bottle of wine can contain 9 units so yes drinking a bottle of wine is a binge

I really drink almost nothing. We have opened bottles of wine in the house for weeks and end up throwing them aweay as they go off. I jst never really fancy it or think about drinking really.

Then again I don't exercise and I eat crap (don't smoke though)

Is a bottle to yourself a binge?

I didn't think it was, or at least it didn't occur to me it was.

If I have this I start at 5ish, have a glass, potter around making dinner with another, have a third whilst doing after dinner tidying/dishes/DD in bed etc, and the last when I've sat down again, and that will easily spread between 5 and 11pm.

I don't feel drunk, never more than a bit merry but is that too much?

If I wake up at 2am feeling thirsty then I know it's too much!

DH and I usually share a bottle of wine on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, so that's 1.5 bottles each a week. However, it starts to slide if we have had a bad week and start with a gin & tonic at 7pm, then finish with a whisky! At the moment I am actively trying to drink a little less.

i have a glass of wine or a beer every day. i keep meaning to take a day off but then i get through the odyssey of wiping at about 7.30 and need a sodding sedative small moment of not feeling like a drudge...

None! Unless it is Christmas and I might be tempted by a half price bottle of baileys.

I cut down a lot after the summer, then had a month or so where I couldn't drink at all and now have resolved to only drink when I have a night out etc. DP and I off to Edinburgh for a romantic weekend so will indulge and enjoy.

I found my wine consumption just crept up and up over time, it's very easy for that to happen I think. It's not the getting drunk I like it's just the taste of wine. I'm not one for spirits etc just a nice cold dry white wine.