Posted by chemist on May 1, 2005, at 3:45:31
In reply to chemist: alcohol? how much?, posted by AMD on April 30, 2005, at 18:34:26
amd, my chum...the first thing you need to do is consult professor larry hoover in re: toxicity, vitamins, and minerals. any questions about just about anything else are likely to be answered in full from him as well.
i spent my college nights with a beer tap attached to my lip, and became much more of an ``adult'' by switching to wine later. like you, i minded my p's and q's in terms of vitamins, exercise, and so forth. then, anxiety, panic, mood disorder, depresson, insomnia, and who knows what else came on board.
there is a point to all this, bear with me. i addressed the psych issues with medication, as therapy was harder on the walet than a meds check (and i had insurance). meds like xanax - 0.5 mg p.r.n. insomnia h.s., e.g. - often fell into my bordeaux glass. for about a year.
there is no alcohol or drug abuse in my family, and i do not care much for booze or cigs. i eventually noticed that although there was no intervention looming, the psychoactive meds - and smidgeon of therapy - were only going to help if i abstained from other substances (alcohol being the only one).
surprisingly, i am opinionated about this matter (you know me, even-keeled), and have seen - and am continuing to see - friends go by the wayside thanks to alcohol abuse. the fact that clinics are still well-funded in the quest for the mechanism by which alcohol damages every single organ in one's body suggests to me that tax dollars spent on deploying Roundup-laden aircraft to eradicate coca plants in colombia might be better spent on ethanol-related chases.
if you are young, genetically well-endowed, and are being truthful in reporting your intake, i suspect that your trousers might mysteriously shrink at a slightly faster rate than that were a few months ago. i doubt that brain damage that results in impairment that can be distinguished from, say, that which is caused by inhaling exhaust fumes from automobiles or by ingesting toxins in foods/beverages that have been ill-prepared will result.
my friends who are working on hardening their livers while subsidizing Dewar's are not only losing on the physiological front: relationships, jobs, and tangible items are going away, too.
in summary: the more you worry, the more you set back any gains made by the medication/therapy meant to address your other maladies. the more you try to integrate alcohol (here is an industry that should be bashed instead of big pharmas: alcohol is bad for people. that's a fact. drugs can and do help people, and do cause harm to others. also a fact. but my prescription xanax must be taken away from prying eyes, and every social occasion is not deemed complete without a few goverment-regulated and taxed belts) with a successful treatment of a condition that is better suited to meds/therapy, the worse off you become.
again, get with larry: he'll set you straight. i say choose one tack or the other: booze and smokes or meds/therapy/exercise/compliance/alternative. take it easy and let us know...all the best as usual, c
> chemist,
>
> I keep reading about the potential for dementia, permanent brain damage, liver damage, etc., all caused by "excessive" alcohol use, vitamin B deficiency, etc.
>
> I take a daily vitamin B supplement (and have for a year), eat a healthy dose of carbs and meat daily, and drink, say, two or three times a week, usually 4-5 drinks over the course of a couple of hours. Too fast, in other words.
>
> However, is this enough to put me at risk for the permanent mental syndromes associated with long-term alcohol consumption? I actually was sober for about a year and a half before I moved back to the city, and now I've been drinking again -- since I returned about 2 1/2 months ago. Again, only in the evenings, two or three times a week, but a few times to excess, and almost always more than what is "recommended."
>
> I'm going to quit again as I feel kind of sh*tty from this (thank god I can quit alcohol cold turkey without problems), but I'm wondering if I'm already at risk. Am I? Or is this overblown? Is there a chance I have vitamin deficiencies brought on my the alcohol, even if I have a more-or-less healthy diet? (Well, I could eat more vegetables, but I disgress.)
>
> Anything I should do to reverse any damage done? Or is this overblown? I don't want to wake up a vegetable one morning. But I'm not sure: is the alcohol bad, or is it the affect it has on other things -- like your diet, etc. -- that really causes the problem?
>
> Then again, I can tell my memory has been slightly impaired, particularly the days after drinking, and now I'm worried this won't rectify itself.
>
> Information would be very useful!
>
> TIA,
>
> amd
poster:chemist
thread:492031
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/subs/20050323/msgs/492199.html