Alcohol Alcohol Megathread

[negrogesic]

Well for me it would be 7 beers at 5%, which is 124.25ml of ethanol, which would be like 310ml of vodka.

Dang thats more than I thought when i add it up that way. Its what I try to limit myself to every night. Also take ~4g of phenibut every night at around 8pm.

Never really drink during the day, its a gross and dirty sort of dissociative feeling.

 

[izo]

Never really drink during the day, its a gross ans dirty sort of dissociative feeling.

i usually drink alone, never liked the dissociative state when beeing around people lately, i dont socialise that well when on alcohol.

 

[jasperkent]

For most of my adult life? However much was available. I only stopped drinking when I:

1. Passed out
2. Ran out
3. Got arrested

I used to require a couple shots of vodka just to get out of bed. I had alcohol in me and on me at ALL times.

For the last 3 or 4 years? It's weird. Apparently I'm an anomaly: the alcoholic who can practice controlled drinking. I never drink in the morning. I never drink at work. I rarely drink distilled liquor. In the evenings I have either 48 oz. of 8.1% ABV lager or 24 oz. of 14.5% ABV cabernet. Always with a few puffs of weed.

I realize that these amounts are still considered heavy drinking, but they are nothing compared to what I used to drink.

 

[jasperkent]

i usually drink alone

99% of my drinking is alone.
But I used to say "I only drink if I'm by myself or with somebody."
Or "I only drink on days that end in Y."
Or "I drink, therefore I am."

 

[TheFrogEffect]

I drank every day for about 5 years straight. I generally stuck to a 6 pack of beer on weeknights, but weekends I was all about doing shots of tequila along with my beer. Well, come to last April and I decided to quit drinking for good. I noticed that the only withdrawals I had were mental, just cravings and a lot of thoughts about getting a drink. I was expecting to have physical effects from quitting as I had been a daily drinker for so long, but did not experience any at all.

So my question, how much alcohol consumption does it really take to cause physical withdrawals when quitting? I'm sure the answer varies from person to person, but I wonder if there's any good guesses out there.

 

[Xorkoth]

For most people, withdrawals only happen from alcohol if you spend a period of time drinking all day long, every day. If you keep it to night time, it seems to be very hard to develop full blown withdrawals. I am the same way, I have drank every night or nearly every night, heavily, for years at a time, and never had withdrawals. My friend did it for 12 years, very rarely skipping a night, and decided to stop for a week because he assumed he'd have withdrawals, and he said he actually felt better. I believe it's because alcohol has such a short half life, if you keep it to night time only, you're actually spending half or more of your time without alcohol in your system, so it gives your body a chance to avoid bull-blown physical dependence.

However, once you start drinking when you wake up, you're asking to develop withdrawals. And due to the kindling effect, once you've had withdrawals before, you can develop them much more easily in the future. If you've ever withdrawn, you're likely to become dependent again even if you only drink at night, if you do it nightly.

I have also read of people who get withdrawals from the sort of usage you're talking about after a while. I suspect there is also a genetic component to susceptibility to alcohol dependence.

 

[TheFrogEffect]

For most people, withdrawals only happen from alcohol if you spend a period of time drinking all day long, every day. If you keep it to night time, it seems to be very hard to develop full blown withdrawals. I am the same way, I have drank every night or nearly every night, heavily, for years at a time, and never had withdrawals. My friend did it for 12 years, very rarely skipping a night, and decided to stop for a week because he assumed he'd have withdrawals, and he said he actually felt better. I believe it's because alcohol has such a short half life, if you keep it to night time only, you're actually spending half or more of your time without alcohol in your system, so it gives your body a chance to avoid bull-blown physical dependence.

However, once you start drinking when you wake up, you're asking to develop withdrawals. And due to the kindling effect, once you've had withdrawals before, you can develop them much more easily in the future. If you've ever withdrawn, you're likely to become dependent again even if you only drink at night, if you do it nightly.

I have also read of people who get withdrawals from the sort of usage you're talking about after a while. I suspect there is also a genetic component to susceptibility to alcohol dependence.

That makes sense to me. While I'd consider myself an alcoholic, I was never the type to wake up and start drinking my day away. I would go to work, do all my errands, do my housework, and then crack into the beer. Sometimes I'd have a beer while doing housework, but most of the time it was too much of a hassle to keep track of where I kept setting my damn drink haha.

Oddly enough, I've just realized that I've not really gotten major withdrawals from anything I'd done. I used to slam H, for about 2.5 years or so, and when I came off that I didn't have most of the physical withdrawal symptoms that everyone else seems to experience besides nauseau and, rarely, vomitting, and some mild restless legs. This last stint I did with H I smoked it and still didn't develop withdrawals besides restless legs.

I never considered genetics to be a factor, but I would suspect that you're onto something there.

 

[Xorkoth]

Wow, lucky about the heroin. Wish I could get away with it that easy!

 

[jasperkent]

For most people, withdrawals only happen from alcohol if you spend a period of time drinking all day long, every day.
.....once you start drinking when you wake up, you're asking to develop withdrawals.

This is absolutely true. I went through decades of alcoholic misery, including actual dt's on several occasions.

I believe it all started in my college years when I would have some "hair of the dog" to get over a hangover...and I was getting drunk every night.This morning "eye opener" became a habit and soon I was drinking all day, every day.

It got to the point where I was rarely actually drunk, but always buzzed just enough to stop the tremors. I was literally drinking at all times-- would even wake up several times a night and take a shot or two of liquor. I had to have a couple shots before I even got out of bed or I would be shaking so badly I couldn't take a shower or get dressed. Horrible way to exist. Alcoholism caused me more pain and more problems than all other drugs combined, and I've used&abused a lot of different drugs-- including meth, opioids, and IV cocaine.

These days I have 3 or 4 beers every evening (along with some weed) and that's that. I don't get drunk, I never drink in the morning, and I just don't crave it like I used to. AA would claim that what I'm doing is impossible--- but I'm going on 4 years of this routine with no problems whatsoever.

*edit* PS-- I still dabble in all my old favorites: meth, opioids, coke...but I never shoot up anything any more and I NEVER use benzodiazepines. Benzos (especially mixed with alcohol), for me, are Satan incarnate.

 

[Snafu in the Void]

So my question, how much alcohol consumption does it really take to cause physical withdrawals when quitting? I'm sure the answer varies from person to person, but I wonder if there's any good guesses out there.

Different for every person including genetically. Genetics determine a lot of things with alcohol.

I come from a long line of alcoholics. I drank 18 beers every day for nearly 10 years and quit cold turkey with no major physical withdrawal. (it should be noted I've gone through all sorts of withdrawals from heroin to benzos, but the actual physical dependence I had to 18/beers day was nothing compared to other drugs)

For example the withdrawal I had from 18 beers/day was minor - compared to something like heroin withdrawal. If someone has never experienced heroin withdrawal and then go through minor alcohol withdrawal they may think it's the worst thing in the world.

but everyone is different, highly subjective and highly genetic variances when it comes to alcohol effects and dependence

the #1 key to avoid alcohol dependence = do not drink or have it in your system for at least 12-16 hours each day, avoids major dependence (AKA DON'T DAY DRINK)

 

[TheFrogEffect]

This is absolutely true. I went through decades of alcoholic misery, including actual dt's on several occasions.

I believe it all started in my college years when I would have some "hair of the dog" to get over a hangover...and I was getting drunk every night.This morning "eye opener" became a habit and soon I was drinking all day, every day.

It got to the point where I was rarely actually drunk, but always buzzed just enough to stop the tremors. I was literally drinking at all times-- would even wake up several times a night and take a shot or two of liquor. I had to have a couple shots before I even got out of bed or I would be shaking so badly I couldn't take a shower or get dressed. Horrible way to exist. Alcoholism caused me more pain and more problems than all other drugs combined, and I've used&abused a lot of different drugs-- including meth, opioids, and IV cocaine.

These days I have 3 or 4 beers every evening (along with some weed) and that's that. I don't get drunk, I never drink in the morning, and I just don't crave it like I used to. AA would claim that what I'm doing is impossible--- but I'm going on 4 years of this routine with no problems whatsoever.

*edit* PS-- I still dabble in all my old favorites: meth, opioids, coke...but I never shoot up anything any more and I NEVER use benzodiazepines. Benzos (especially mixed with alcohol), for me, are Satan incarnate.

That sounds like it was horrible to deal with. When I was a teen my drinking was a lot more out of control, that's the old days when I WOULD day drink just because I had access to beer and said fuck it. After hitting 21 I cooled it down a lot and just stuck to the night drinks with the rare boozy brunch thrown in there every once in a blue moon.

Glad to hear you have a routine that's working for you, though. And as for AA, yeah... it'd be impossible to them because they believe they're powerless to their addictions. I never understood that approach. My thought is that I am the only one who can possibly ever exert power over my addictions, there is no external support.

Like now, I still smoke meth, but I don't do it like I did when I first used. I sleep, I eat, I hydrate, I take minimal doses just to get me spun and, most of the time, I don't redose very often during the day. Complete opposite of how I used to use, where I'd be up for three or four days, in psychosis, losing my shit, burning all my bridges, smoking fat bags in just a few short hours, and so on. This controlled usage should also be impossible by AA/NA standards but I make it work. I also only use once every 3 or 4 weeks nowadays.

I'm more of a SMART Recovery guy when I'm on the road to recovery.

 

[TheFrogEffect]

Wow, lucky about the heroin. Wish I could get away with it that easy!

A lot of people can't believe it. But the only way for me to show someone is to start doing heroin again and then stop. And although I have an irresponsibly romantic outlook on my relationship with heroin, it is an old flame that I will NEVER rekindle.

 

[jasperkent]

....although I have an irresponsibly romantic outlook on my relationship with heroin, it is an old flame that I will NEVER rekindle.

So y'all are just occasional fuck buddies now?

I can dig it. Me too with my old dysfunctional relationships.

 

[TheFrogEffect]

So y'all are just occasional fuck buddies now?

I can dig it. Me too with my old dysfunctional relationships.

Haha, not anymore. Meth is the occasional fuck buddy these days. Months ago I went to pick up H from the only steady source I've had in the last year and found out said source OD'd and kicked the bucket. Couldn't get the specifics but pretty sure fentanyl was involved.

Because of fent, I won't risk touching the stuff again. Especially now where my drug use is so sporadic and inconsistent, I have virtually no time to build up tolerance to H so it would always do the trick for me in small doses. Without tolerance, I imagine fent would just put me in the dirt and that's that.

 

[jasperkent]

Like now, I still smoke meth, but I don't do it like I did when I first used.

Same here. As of today, I've managed to make a gram last an entire week. And I'll wait a month or two before I get any more.

For most of my life I would latch on to one drug or another and immediately jump into full-blown addiction. Being strung out is no fun at all and it defeats the purpose of using drugs-- to feel good.

Nowadays I drink a few beers and smoke a little weed every night, but I don't get wasted. And I rotate my other drugs of choice: meth, opioids, coke, mushrooms.

I am using kratom nearly every day and it concerns me, but I'm keeping the dosage pretty low. I'd like to hear from anyone who has experience in long-term kratom use/abuse/addiction. I only discovered it a couple years ago so I'm not very kratom-savvy.

 

[Xorkoth]

I have spent ,any years of my life addicted to kratom. Low dosages do not produce strong withdrawals but definitely avoid increasing your dosage, and avoid dosing multiple times in a day, too. Heavy kratom addiction produces strong withdrawals that suck about the same as any other opioid withdrawal. Myself and many others find the restlessness to be worse with kratom than other opioids but the other symptoms to be less severe. Some people seem to not be bothered by restlessness with opioid withdrawal so much (I have ever encountered multiple people on here saying all they can do is sleep during opiate withdrawal! Lucky fucking bastards, I would give my right testicle to be able to sleep AT ALL during opiate withdrawal, it's the worst part by far), and those people may find kratom to be easy to get off of. Personally I find it just as much a trap as every other opiate. Be careful.

 

[jasperkent]

Be careful.

Thanks. I will. I've noticed that kratom, like other addictive drugs, is sneaky. I've caught myself taking "just a little more" and taking it "just a little more often." That kind of behavior can be hazardous, as I've found out the hard way with other drugs.

 

[xaddictx]

Question: should I wait until I start to withdraw from kratom before I dose black seed oil or take it beforehand? I heard black seed oil is good for opioid\ kratom withdrawal. Any suggestions?

 

[Xorkoth]

You can take it whenever but you'll not notice much probably unless you're withdrawing. I have read that black seed oil can potentiate kratom but haven't tried it, personally.

 

[TheUltimateFixx]

Every single time I drink a lot of alcohol very quickly, like at the start of a drinking session, I sneeze my head off for about 2 minutes. After the sneezing attack is finished I don't do it again.