I can't handle alcohol, why?

General health and lifestyle
1

im 18, I've always liked a drink, or 2, or 3. I've had a few bad experiences with Alcohol before I was legal to drink it. Since turning 18 I go out 2-3 times a week, not long before Christmas I collapsed in a club and was hospitalised through alcohol excess, I had alchol poisoning quite badly. A few days later I was drinking again, just over a month prior to this I collapsed in a different club and agan was rushed to hospital via ambulance. The next day I was drinking.

Now, I can't seem to drink as much as I use to, last night I was carried out of a club by 4 security gaurds after not being able to walk and passing out, thing is, I only remember drinking about 4 drinks, the first time I was hospitalised my readings were greater than the point I should have died, I was very very lucky, so I didnt drink as much last night, yet last night I passed out, again. It's effecting my Social life, in loosing friends and respect, also I have been barred from 2 clubs, I'm getting a bad name. Am I just 18 and young? Or can my body not handle alcohol anymore? I really need answers, people are worried and I want to know why my body just gives up after the consumption of alcohol. Thank you!

2

Hi, it's a nightmare when you can't monitor your own intake, I'm the same( or was) I'd go to the pub, have a few pints, then not remember anything, later on I'd find out I drank 12 pints with vodkas etc..... Maybe that's what's happening with you? 

3

Maybe! The doctor told me I have damaged my liver through binge drinking, so I am drinking enough haha, I'll try keep a watch on my numbers next time! Thank you

4

lailalisaa You are 18. Please deal with this now. You will see stories in this forum of people who have seen their lives wrecked, their relationships destroyed, lost friends, jobs, homes, had their health badly affected and much more.

You clearly have Alcohol Use Disorder. It is not your fault, it is a medical condition and those who suffer from it are unable to control their drinking because their body gets a far greater reward from alcohol than other people's. There IS treatment available and the best method around is The Sinclair Method.

Please do some reading about The Sinclair Method and there are also plenty of people here who can advise you.

You are young enough to get this problem resolved before you lose too much or cause too much damage to your health, but you MUST start NOW.

5

I have googled it and I am reading up about it! Thank you for your time and comment!

6

You may have temporarily damaged your liver, but at 18, if you give it a rest for a bit you'll be fine 😃 Mine recovered after many years on the lash.....

7

Good move, lailalisaa! Paul's spot on about it, you're not wired up like other people, their brains have a limiting mechanism, but your's doesn't. Find out why that is asap and make a move to handle it. It's great that you're looking to do something about it so early on! BTW, when did you start drinking? Does this run in your family at all?

8

Last night I had a shot in my local pub at 10 then got to the club for about 11 at night, it hit me and I got bad about 1:30 in the morning, I want it sorted as I've had a lot of people telling me to sort it out. My college have also refured me to safe-guarding, due to alcohol abuse, yes my dad is a heavy drinker, not addicted just likes a drink! My grandad has liver cirrhoses due to years and years of drinking, one more drink and he will die.

9

Just as a rough guide, I know of a couple of meds that likely will help you out, Campral, Naltrexone, Nalmefene (Selincro). The latter two aim at control whereas with Campral, you'd be looking to stop entirely. Which one is the best for you (if any of them) is between you and your physician. At least you can get some info on them in the meantime and learn why your brain is different about how it handles the drink. How many years have you been drinking? 

10

What do they do? The first time I ever had alcohol I was 14, I was falling over everywhere, me breathing goes very fast (wich plays with my heart, in hospital I was wired up to a machine that monitors my heart rate, it got to a concerningly low rate, then shot back up again) my body shakes and I was violently sick. When I was 16 I had trouble in school, 17 I started drinking a lot, since being 18 there hasn't been a week without a drink, weather that be a pint or a double vodka.

11

Yeah, that sounds like others that I've heard of before, so you're not alone in that. Really, congratulations on getting wise to it now. Some don't figure it out for decades, you've got a huge advantage in learning about it and starting to get it under control now. There are a couple of books I'd recommend, one is The Cure for Alcoholism by Dr. Eskapa, the other is A Prescription for Alcohlics by Linda Burlison. I think the latter is $3 US on Amazon. The first one is about The Sinclair Method and you can get some info about that right here on Patient:

https://patient.info/health/sinclair-method-for-alcohol-use-disorder

If you'd like more info on that, head over to the CThreeFoundation website and click on the link for the Options Save Lives forum. Post a message there and someone will get you a free PDF copy of Dr. Eskapa's book. 

As to what the meds do, most of the info on Naltrexone/Nalmefene is in Dr. Eskapa's book. Linda's book covers a broader array of meds. 

Stick with us and let us know how you're getting along, don't want to see you get tripped up in this process. 

12

To follow on from ADEfree on this post, if you PM me your email address Lailalisaa, I will email you a copy of The Cure For Alcoholism.

And just to clarify:

Acamprosate is licensed on the NHS to help reduce cravings in those that have already stopped drinking.

Naltrexone is very similar in that the NHS has it licensed to also manage cravings in those that are already abstinent, BUT these are prescribing instructions initially introduced back in the mid 1990's and it has now been clinically proven that it gives far, far better results when used as per The Sinclair Method.

Nalmefene is licensed on the NHS for use by those who are currently drinking and unable to reduce their drinking on their own (prescribing is as per The Sinclair Method, but just not referred to by that name).

The Sinclair Method is a way to completely extinguish all cravings and to stop the compulsion to continue once you start.  However, it is NOT a magic method and requires some input from yourself.  Like any form of recovery available, it takes a real commitment on your part.  Taking a tablet and then ignoring the signals in your brain and overdrinking in a club anyway, would mean that it would not work well for you.

The method can also be used to reduce your drinking down to zero, if you wish - it is not just a method to control your drinking.  Once full extinction of the cravings had happened over some months (ie the treatment is complete) then the decision as to how you wish to proceed from there is up to you.  If you decide that alcohol doesn't mean anything anymore then you will not be pulled towards drinking.  If you decide you wish to drink socially, then you can as long as you always take the medication an hour before that drink.

ALSO, and this is very important, it is quite difficult to get these medications on the NHS because they generally require an alcohol specialists intervention to initiate the prescription.  This is sadly quite a barrier to any alcohol treatment, but especially these type of anti-craving medications.  It is highly unlikely that your doctor will prescribe unless he or she has experience of addiction issues.

The other book that ADEfree suggests is a good, factual book BUT it is written mostly with America in mind and there health system is completely different to ours.  ADEfree is also in America and therefore not quite fully informed about how our system works in terms of what doctors will prescribe, our referal to specialists system etc...

If you need further information on The Sinclair Method please contact me at the C Three Europe website, or PM me on here.

The method works as long as you work with it!  And it is certainly worth considering and looking into further if you wish to do so.  It is also worth the initial frustrations of getting hold of the medication to begin with, so don't let that put you off if you believe this is a good option for you.

Joanna 

13

Hi Lailalisaa

I will repeat the other messages and suggest that you take a break and deal with this before it gets even more out of hand. Your body cannot accept much alchohol it seems and with several blackouts and hospital visisit this is serious. I do with you best of luck! Robin

14

Hi kiddo

You got some really good advice.

And think to yourself...WHY do I want to keep doing something that ends me in the hospital and can potentially KILL me?  To impress my friends?  Be stronger than that....this is your LIFE we are talking about. 

How about being the role model and the driver for your friends to drink?  And you can still have fun...eating....dancing...laughing.  Doesn't sound like you are doing much of THOSE things if you are always passing out!

15

Its your genes some people can drink alcohol more than others, u are born that way so do not blame yourself, dear

16

Tonight I did to the driving! And no not to impress, the first time I went to hospital I woke up by myself. I had no one

17

You did the driving drunk?  Not judging if you did because I shamefully have driven drunk many times in my life for one reason or another.

But if you did do the driving durnk ...it is even worse for you because of the way you react to alcohol.  I was in treatment with a 20 year old girl who killed two sisters after she hit their car drunk driving.  She was in a blackout and could't recall the incident.  So therfore, she had NO remorse...

How could she have remorse about something she couldn't remember and something she didn't believe she could have done?  She got ten years in prison for vehicular homicide. .

 

18

No no! I dropped 4 of the lads off outside the pub as they were drinking and I drove home and didn't go out, that's awful, 10 years. That's insane especially if she dosent know why! 😩

19

what and insance situation to kill your own sisters...worst story every and does show all the dangers of driking...spread the word to stop drinking or at least drink in moderation and NEVER drink and drive. Robin

20

Hi young lady....well done on the honesty of your posts.....I feel for you and anyone with a drink problem. ....I was a very, very, VERY BAD ALCOHOLIC for ten years. ..I drank nearly 24 hrs a day. I never ate for weeks on end...I weighed 5st 10 lbs and was only two weeks away from death....that was the fourth! !!! And final!!!!

Time that I was sectioned forcibly. ....but it saved.....and changed my life....

It sounds to me that you may have lost your tolerance to alcohol. ...it is good in the way that it cuts your alcohol intake....but not so good in the way that you are blacking out.....ANYTHING COULD HAPPEN TO YOU....

YOU COULD INHALE YOUR VOMIT.....BE ROBBED....BE ATTACKED....GET KNOCKED OVER..., AND MANY OTHER SCENARIO 'S....

PAUL is amazing with his advice,,he is a specialist alcohol worker.....please try your very best lovely lady.....you can and will do it....big hugs to always....dee xxxx