Ask HN: How's your drinking problem?

This is inspired by the recent "How's your eyesight?" post where a commenter posted sarcastically that a better question would have been "How's your drinking problem?".

Now while the title may have been a little hyperbolic, I do think it's important for us to discuss the drinking culture we're always around.

How does drinking fit into your life? How has your body or your mind responded to increases or decreases in the frequency of drinking? Have you tried being aware of any of these things and if so what did you learn?

Gave it up five years ago - feel much better and my sleep is markedly improved.

One immediate question is when and what constitutes a drinking problem? When is it too much. There are some medical classifications stating that one glass of wine per day constitutes alcoholism. Is that true, or does it make any sense?

I gave it up about 5 years ago. I say that, not to say that "I never drink" but I don't get drunk. Last night I had maybe 4oz of some wine after dinner, after not having drank any alcohol for about two months. It's not a regular part of my life anymore, it's very rare, and I don't drink to get drunk. So I don't have a problem with it.

What I dislike are the ads for alcohol. Nearly all of them start with the premise that you can't be cool unless you drink alcohol, or that because you drink you'll have lots of hot women nearby. Aside from the ads, its 'oh we have a lawyer show, lets make sure we have scene of them drinking scotch after a rough case' or a family show 'oh the dad came home lets show him going to his fridge and grabbing a beer' or a cop show 'he just shot someone, lets do a bar scene where he gets smashed'.

Ha, that was me that asked the snarky "Drinking Problem" question.

Honestly, I feel great if I don't drink. I sleep better, wake up early, exercise and feel energized and focused in the morning and throughout the day.

If I have a couple drinks at night (couple glasses of wine or 2-3 gin-and-tonics), I sleep with more restlessness, sometimes sleep late, and feel a slight difference in the morning (less focus and energy).

If I go bonkers and drink a bottle of red wine or 5+ cocktails...then I usually wake up later, usually sleep shitty, wake up with a foggy mind and sensitive stomach. Writing and debugging code in this state is a bitch.

I wear a fitbit that monitors my heart rate and measures restlessness during the night. I definitely notice increased restlessness AND about 10-15 beats per minute higher heart rate during the night after even just a few drinks.

So then after a day or two and at night, I think "hmmm a drink sounds nice"...