How much alcohol does it take to affect you?

[Tiberius]

While I like to keep fit, I also discovered a taste for whisky, be it the fruity whiskey or the malty scotchs.

 

I have maybe a glas once or twice a month, a bottle of jameson I got lasted me over a year. Other than that I dont really drink on a regular basis except for the occasional beer or glass of wine.

 

Sooo how much alcohol does it take to affect you in any way?

[milkmaterial]

used to drink a lot back in college, i even won 2nd place in a budweiser drinkig contest. 9 bottles consecutively.. took me that much to get really drunk.

 

now, just 2 margaritas get me tipsy. at 2 more and i might pass out on the floor.

[Taramere]

I've had 7 units this week....5 of them last night. That's unusual for me, and the headache I've had for most of today has reminded me of why I normally stop at two glasses (or have none at all if I'm driving). Although it didn't develop into a full blown migraine, for a good bit of the day I felt as though I could like to drill a hole in my own skull and enjoy the sensation of a great big build-up of steam rushing out.

 

Usually I stick with champagne (or cheap cava will do - as long as it's fizz). Surprisingly, as it's reputed to be a trigger, I've never had a migraine from it whereas dry white wine is like a big red flag with "I will destroy your head later on" written on it. I never drink beer, and generally only have spirits if they're part of a cocktail.

[Feelin Frisky]

I feel two drinks. I've changed to just using it "medicinally" these days where I'll just take a shot or two near bed time if I'm having difficulty sleeping of some top shelf booze--usually high end Scotch or cognac. No beer, wine or mixed drinks. I used to not be able to keep it around the house because I'd use it up but now a bottle can last a month.

[denise_xo]

I hardly ever drink anymore, just very occasionally some champagne or cava, so I feel some effect after a glass.

[carhill]

For me, it's situational. I can pour a double martini on an empty stomach and get blitzed with one drink. OTOH, like yesterday when we were roofing like madmen, beer (and water for hydration) was the energy push for the second half of a 12 hour day. When I'm sweating and active and eating, I can plow through a six pack and not feel a thing. That same beer, drunk at the same pace, if sedentary, would leave me mind-numbed.

 

What surprises me, knowing a number of alcoholics, is how similar volumes (or even lesser) can push them over the edge into clear drunken behavior. Perhaps that's a function of the constant levels of alcohol in their system and all it takes is just one drink over that limit to make them 'drunk'.

 

Anyway, back when one could blow a .15 BAC in Cali, two drinks (in an hour) was a normal go/no go on driving and most people seemed to have no issues with sobriety checkpoints. I never got tested but felt uncomfortable driving after more than one drink, simply due to changes in judgment. Nowadays, if I'm the DD, I don't touch alcohol, simply because the penalties are too high, regardless of impairment or not. I remember, when the laws changed to .08 BAC, fewer people would drink at my parties because they had to drive so far to get home. Too risky.

 

I'd say, personally, one drink (bottle of beer, glass of wine, shot of vodka, etc) can 'affect' me, but there's a good distance between that feeling and becoming impaired. To wit, my best friend and I polished off a half a case and were working 10-15 feet up in the air yesterday and both of us avoided impacts with the ground and injury from power tools and the roof passed the rain test this morning . It's situational.

[Ross MwcFan]

1 can of beer that's at least 4% is enough to make me feel slightly different.

[Lauriebell82]

I've had 7 units this week....5 of them last night. That's unusual for me, and the headache I've had for most of today has reminded me of why I normally stop at two glasses (or have none at all if I'm driving). Although it didn't develop into a full blown migraine, for a good bit of the day I felt as though I could like to drill a hole in my own skull and enjoy the sensation of a great big build-up of steam rushing out.

 

Just out of sheer curiousity, what is a unit?

 

I am a complete light weight and have no tolerance whatsover. After 1-2 drinks I'm a gonner. Saves money at the bar though!

[cerridwen]

1 glass of wine makes my cheeks flush.

 

2 mixed drinks make it impossible for me to stop smiling.

 

4 beers have me slapping people on the back a lot.

[Art_Critic]

If I smell the cork I get a head rush

After almost 24 years of sobriety I lost my tolerance... go figure... progressive

 

Back in the day it was 2-3 shots before I was slightly impaired...

[Lauriebell82]

If I smell the cork I get a head rush

After almost 24 years of sobriety I lost my tolerance... go figure... progressive

 

 

That's what we drug and alcohol counselors like to here!!! Congrats!

[Cerpin_Taxt]

It all depends on your metabolism, how much you have eaten, alcohol content, the position of the stars, etc.

 

For me, if I am eating a lot of food no amount of beer can get me drunk but whiskey might. Empty stomach, maybe a couple of beers. I'm talking good beer too, not that Bud/Miller/Coors crap.

 

Yesterday I drank about eight 5.5% porters over a twelve hour period and felt almost nothing. Tonight, four have me buzzed.

 

No Jameson would ever last that long around me.

[Taramere]

Just out of sheer curiousity, what is a unit?

 

I am a complete light weight and have no tolerance whatsover. After 1-2 drinks I'm a gonner. Saves money at the bar though!

 

A unit is a pub measure. It's more difficult to measure the units with wine. I had a Kir Royale which I think was probably 2 units. Two small glasses of wine and an amaretto after dinner which I think would be 1 unit. After that amount of alcohol I was one unit away from feeling drunk as opposed to a bit woozy.

[tigressA]

I don't drink beer, wine or straight liquor. One mixed drink on an empty stomach is more than enough to make me tipsy. If I've eaten, it's 2-3. My absolute limit is 4.

[eerie_reverie]

2 and I feel light and loose.

[Dust]

I never really feel drunk. It’s only when I go back and remember the events of the night that I realize how different drinking makes me.

 

I’m the kind of person who acts like an ass or starts falling asleep when I drink. I tend to feel really cool when I drink too.

 

I usually don’t drink though and always try to cut myself off at 2 drinks max. I start to worry about myself when I go over that.

 

One of my most epic failures was when I tried to drink my way around the world at Disney. Lets just say I didn’t make it around the world. I did throw up a lot though.

[Star Gazer]

It really depends on what I'm drinking and eating. Tonight, I had two (pretty weak) margaritas and two glasses of champagne - as well as a VERY large dinner - and I barely feel tipsy.

 

Two glasses of wine on an empty stomach (like happy hour after work), and I'm DONE.

[mark982]

been sober for almost 7 years. but when i was at my best (drinking wise) it was nothing for me to suck down a fifth of 100 proof peppermint, and the beers were just chasers. needless to say i've got a very high tolerance for booze.