How much does a typical alcoholic drink each day?

Question

I read in a seemingly scholarly article somewhere that it's "not unusual" for alcoholics to consume as much as 200 grams of alcohol a day (20 shots!) on average. Is this true? How much does a typical alcoholic actually consume on daily or weekly basis?

Special Note: I'm not talking about people who simply abuse alcohol (drink +3 drinks a day on average), I'm talking about people who are actually dependent and have little or no control over how much they drink. And no, I'm not asking this question to screen myself for alcoholism...

Answer 1

There's no "typical" daily amount, really, especially because some alcoholics don't drink every day. Some are binge drinkers who might only drink every couple of weeks.

I can answer this from my own personal history though since I am a recovering alcoholic (9 years sober). I'm a small woman, 115 lbs and on a typical day I would have anywhere from 8 to 15 shots. On occasion I would go much higher but this was typical.

I get the sense that you are shocked at the amount an alcoholic will drink and frankly, looking back, I am too. It's amazing I am not dead after doing that for 25 years.

Answer 2

I'm 29 years old. I drink a 375 ml bottle of vodka everyday by noon. I put it in a Gatorade bottle and take it with my lunch to work. I buy another 375 ml bottle on my way home and drink it with dinner. I have been doing this for almost 18 months straight. If I drink anymore than that in a day, I wake up feeling like I got hit by a car. Otherwise, I wake up totally fine. I go to the gym and run 3 miles every other day before work..the other days, I do weight training. There is no rhyme or reason to it. I am happy, have a good life, and no-one except my wife knows that I drink like this. I don't get irrational or drunk. Just grow my sense of humor. If I wasn't to drink, I'm sure that I would get sick from withdrawels..but, Ive never been in that position. The only reason I started drinking was because I had been clean from opiates for 6 months and "needed" something. I am proud to say that I have been "clean" now for 29 months. I know I am an alcoholic. My father was. The only problem I have is that I am deathly afraid that the alcohol will kill me. Either now..or later from cancer. I do not drive..and the liquor store is only a cpl blocks. My mind has wrapped itself around this idea that the alcohol is my "medicine", and need 200 ml to "get right", or a whole 375 to feel "good". Anymore or any less and Im not "right". I hope this sheds some light for people on how alcohol can secretly be affecting those you know and work with.

Answer 3

I did evening custodial work in a school during a few summers while I was off from college. One of the older, permanment custodians was an alcoholic. I think he was 59 years old at the time, unfortunately he's probably not alive because he'd be about 83 or 84 by now, and he smoked also. One day we (me and some of the other young summer workers) went with him to the local bar during our dinner break, and he had about 5 or 6 shots of whiskey all lined up in a row, and he drank them one after the other, probably in less than a minute. We were pretty shocked. That was actually his "dinner". I don't think he ate anything. Being in college at the time, I might have drank about that much or slightly more (usually beer, sometimes mixed drinks) many times, but I'd do it over the course of a long evening and night. I'm sure this man drank plenty more before work and after he got home, but I remember him appearing pretty drunk and upsetting our boss only one time. If he didn't tell us he was an alcoholic I probably wouldn't have figured it out.

It is a shame because he was one of the nicest of the custodians that I worked with. He lived close enough to walk to work and he never got a driver's license, so he was not putting anyone in danger by driving.

Based on what I saw and how 5 or 6 shots really didn't affect him that much (and he was an average sized man and on the thin side), I don't think that 20 shots per day would be out of line for him or other serious alcoholics. I think they become more immune to the effects as they drink more and more. I never asked him or found out how much he drank per day.

Answer 4

There is no such thing as typical. However, Alcoholism is a cumulative disease. My friends father quit drinking after his health began to suffer. He quit on his own without the help of rehab or AA,,, When we talked to him later he admitted that in the last 10 years he had never consumed any liquids other than something with alcohol in it. Tequila in his coffee in the morning, Vodka in his orange juice, beer instead of water, wine with all meals, and his martinis in the evening. Now he appears to be some what of an exception. We never really realized that he was pickled all the time. Most alcoholics get to the sloppy stage and they literally drink nothing but booze or something with booze in it. so you can't tie it down to your 20 shots a day. it has a lot to do with the size of the individual and the stage of their alcoholism. But 20 shots a day seems well within range if not less than average. These are educated guesses on my part but I know two or three people that drink this hard and most of the time you don't know that they are drinking at all.

Answer 5

How Much Do Alcoholics Drink

Answer 6

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
How much does a typical alcoholic drink each day?
I read in a seemingly scholarly article somewhere that it's "not unusual" for alcoholics to consume as much as 200 grams of alcohol a day (20 shots!) on average. Is this true? How much does a typical alcoholic actually consume on daily or weekly basis?

Special Note: I'm not...

Answer 7

I am an alcoholic and so is my father(and my uncle and my late grandfather). You really cant pin a number of drinks on any of us we all have different "numbers" I've been trying to control mine and I drink 1/2 a liter everynight b4 i can go to sleep but my dad drinks beer and has one from the time he is awake till he goes to sleep and i would guess he goes thru bout a case a day (at least) we are all different cause there are ones like me I get up in the morning and dont touch any alcohol till I get home from work and am getting ready to go to bed. But others drink all day. I am dependent on it to sleep which makes me an alcoholic. But I dont drink as much as an all day drinker. hope this sheds some light

Answer 8

I am an alcoholic in semi-denial. I drink on the evenings the three days a week I do not need to be up early and will have at least 2 bottles of wine (sometimes three) or a half bottle of gin. And to make things worse, if I drink the gin early - say, finished by 9 - I will get another half bottle. However, do NOT see this as blasé, as I am constantly torn with knowing if I carry on I will not see my lovely children graduate or marry. It is a HORRIBLE disease and hate the fact it is bagged in the "no self control" camp.

Answer 9

i am not an alcoholic and my husband and i drink tequila straight when we do drink. We can do 3-4 shots at a time and finish almost one liter in a night. Truly it depends on the person drinking the alcohol. I know alcoholics (who are dependant on it) that cannot drink as much as me in one sitting. Its all physics. Im 5"4 and i weigh 160. I have a really large butt and i workout everyday for 1 hour (im not fat )

Answer 10

I usually drink between a litre and two litres of wine on a work night, if it's the weekend sometimes I drink all day which could end up being 4 litres. Or if it's an especially **** day it can go up too.