Vol 2.35 Did you find that drinking the same amount of alcohol has less effect than it used to or did you have to drink more alcohol to get intoxicated?
Q 1 - Answering the NIAAA Alcohol Use Disorder questionnaire.
ICYMI: February
Vol 2.30 Sh*t That Feels Good - The list we all love.
Vol 2.31 B.P.E. - A devastating loss that brought the biggest lesson on how to love { + love links}.
Vol 2.32 POV: My partner took a break from drinking - And a friendly reminder to be careful what you wish for.
Vol 2.33 The Sober Joe - 375+ days and counting.
Years ago, six to be exact, I decided to thoroughly answer each of the 11 NIAAA questions on my IG account. The questionnaire from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism is terribly titled Alcohol Symptom Checklist, which I find incredibly obscure. The NIAAA prompts these questions as a great place for you and your provider (assuming your Medical Doctor or Therapist) to understand how your alcohol use might be affecting your health.
As someone who has never identified as being physically addicted to alcohol, I remember finding these questions eye-opening to how easy it is to qualify as someone with an Alcohol Use Disorder on paper. I still do. Individuals and their habits are so vast and varied that I can’t imagine we could ever have one test that would truly indicate someone with AUD. However, as an RN, I encourage the use of anything that will help people talk to their provider about their alcohol intake.
I originally wanted to share the answers I first posted on IG. However, I was unable to find them. I don’t think we could archive posts back then, so more than likely, I deleted the entire Q&A. So instead, I will be answering them again here, this time from the perspective of a woman who has been alcohol-free for 8.5 years. My drinking history will always remain the same, but my perspective around my drinking and who I was back then has changed some. I am excited to explore it again.
Did you find that drinking the same amount of alcohol has less effect than it used to or did you have to drink more alcohol to get intoxicated?
No. When considering tolerance and my drinking, I would say that sometimes two drinks were enough, and other times, I had more. Let’s be honest, I rarely drank two drinks. I wouldn’t say my tolerance grew over my drinking years; I would say that my ability to drink a lot and for a long time was always something I could do easily. I could always keep up, and many times would surpass all my friends, guys and gals. It is in my nature to move and consume quickly - drinking, eating, walking, living, basically anything and everything. I was never one to nurse a drink, and as my husband lovingly reports, “She is built for speed.” For example, when we first started dating, we noticed how fast the other ate. Having both been raised by struggling single mothers, we assumed it was because growing up poor, you never knew when the next trip to the grocery store would happen. My opinion on this has changed now. I think my speed/consumption was (is) more of a side effect of a jacked-up nervous system.
So back to the question of tolerance. No, my tolerance never increased. If anything, it decreased. I remember having multiple conversations with people about how I can’t drink like I used to. Two drinks, and I felt it the next day. My hangovers became legendary. Sometimes lasting for days on end before I felt like myself again. The self that wanted to drink again. Where when I was younger and fresh on the bar scene, I could party all night, most nights, and still get to class the next day or whatever else I had on the agenda.
I started drinking as a teenager and didn’t quit until I was 39 years old. I don’t think my tolerance started to decrease until my early 30s. Right out of the gate, I could drink with the best of them, as they say. And I continued doing so for most of my drinking career.
Consider other versions of this question:
Over your drinking history, have you found that you need to drink more in order to achieve what you perceive as having had a good time?
Over your drinking history, did you need to drink more or use drugs to maintain the desired level of intoxication?
Questions for you:
Having a tolerance that increases vs decreases, is that better or worse?
What are your thoughts?
Staying on the tolerance topic, did your drinking ability increase or decrease?
I want to revist all of these questions over the next couple of weeks. I honestly don’t know how I feel about them or any of the other so-called qualifying questionnaires, but I want to answer them from where I am now and maybe even come up with some better questions. If you want to answer the NIAAA questionnaire along with me, I suggest grabbing a journal or a trusted friend, or you can do so here.