Am I an addict?

[JamesKlein]

I am currently 28 years old.  When I was younger 18-21 I used to smoke a lot of pot and drink a lot, to the point where my friends later told me they were planning an intervention.  Then it slowly tapered off to where I didn't drink or smoke pot at all.  Then when I was 23-24 I was in an environment where alcohol was free and readily available to me.  I ended up drinking heavily every day.  I knew I should stop or slow down, but I couldn't force myself to do it.  Then I got out of that environment, for the last 3-4 years I have gone through stretches where I drink a lot and start to feel dependent on drinking, and stretches where I don't drink at all.  For example over the last 4 months I have really only been drinking about one night a week, and for the last two weeks I haven't drank at all because I'm trying to loose some weight.  When I do drink though I drink a lot. Like 10-15 drinks over an evening, I'm a big guy but thats still a lot.  As I said I haven't had a drink for 2 weeks, and I don't currently have any craving for alcohol, but occasionally over the last 3 years I've gone through 1 week to 1 month stretches where I drink heavily every night (6-12 drinks).

Does addiction come and go like this?  Or is this something else?

[rod44]

You are very welcome,
It would be wise to have a chat with your doctor about your concerns around your alcohol use and past history of pot use anyway.

There are two types of AA meetings, open & closed
Open Meetings
Open meetings are for anyone who is interested in AA, people who are interested in learning more about the AA recovery programs.
The designation of a meeting as "open" does not change the meetings primary purpose witch is taken from tradition 5
The Primary Purpose from Tradition 5 of the 12 steps and traditions of alcoholics Anonymous states: Each group has but one primary purpose -- to carry its message to the alcoholic who still suffers.

Closed Meetings
Alcoholics Anonymous,  meetings are generally closed meetings unless otherwise stated. Closed meetings are limited to members and prospective members only.
It is up to you to determine if you qualified for membership. Do this based on the following criteria from Tradition 3 of the 12 steps and traditions of alcoholics Anonymous
Tradition 3: The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking.

Best of luck.
rod44

[ibizan]

oh yes James....addiction comes and goes like this/n'that!its not whether u drink every day or nite....its how much ya do when ya do and do u lose control of the amount and ur behavior?sounds like YES!

[JamesKlein]

Thanks for the insight,
I had a full blood work up done recently the doctor didn't mention anything about my liver, only thing that was too high was my cholesterol.  AA might be a good idea, if for no other reason then to get some perspective.
Thanks Again

[rod44]

Time to get honest jamesKlein.....
The only one who can answer the question you ask is yourself….

Ok so things got to the stage where your friends were planning an intervention, they obviously felt you had a problem, the decision they made is one they did not make very lightly and you need to think about that. Honestly think about it.

When you were 23-24 you could not “force yourself to” stop. If you need to stop but cant for whatever reason then this is something to worry about.
Honestly think about it.

It would be wise to get your liver function checked, this will give you an idea if there are medical issues around your drinking.

What about  AA, the only requirement for membership of AA is a “desire to stop drinking”(from the AA preamble) so if you want to do something about your drinking witch you yourself are concerned about then come along to a meeting, have a chat, listen to others and try to identify with them, get an insight into how others are effected by there drinking and see if they are experiencing similar problems as you are experiencing.

Once an addict always an addict.
Good luck,
rod44