Strange new effects from alcohol.

[eurolite]

Hello, I have been a very heavy drinker since my young teenager days. I have always suffered from the average hangover just like pretty much everyone else I guess.

I have a pretty large tolerance to alcohol from the years of abuse. For a very long time I had no problems drinking a 26oz / 75cl / 750ml bottle of liquor or a case of beer in a night (24 x 355ml) , and wake up with the normal hangover still able to force myself to go to class or work.

However these past few months every time I drink about 6 beer or more I wake up have a mild headache, that turns into an insane headache eventually causing me to vomit until I dry heave sometimes so hard I vomit out blood.. Then a few hours later I go back to normal. This has happened every time I've had 6 or more beer for about 3-4 months now.

I usually drink a ton of water before I go to bed and try to drink more in the morning but I am usually unable to keep anything down the morning after.

It has gotten to the point where I am just about ready to give up drinking. It is not worth it anymore.

Anyways, does anyone have any idea why I was fine for so many years now all the sudden I get hangovers from hell? I read somewhere that it could have something to do with my blood sugar / possibly diabetes?

 

[Lyrica's Reality]

Could be liver problems. Have you had a liver function test recently? As your liver function decreases your ability to clear the alcohol and its metabolites is reduced so you get worst hangovers. I'd get checked out either way mate, sounds pretty serious, especially the heaving blood.

 

[helium-4]

Sounds like a question for a doctor not people on a web forum.

 

[eurolite]

Could be liver problems. Have you had a liver function test recently? As your liver function decreases your ability to clear the alcohol and its metabolites is reduced so you get worst hangovers. I'd get checked out either way mate, sounds pretty serious, especially the heaving blood.

The blood only comes when I dry heave a lot so I think it is just from the agitation. I am going to get my liver checked now that you mention that. I have previously done a cycle of steroids years ago (I quit drinking for a year when I did that for obvious reasons). My liver could very well be in bad shape I am a little concerned now that you mention that.

edit: Cloudy I plan to ask a doctor I have an appointment Monday for a bunch of things, I just wanted some feedback from some others first. I always like a second opinion professional or not.

 

[daddysgone]

Hello, I have been a very heavy drinker since my young teenager days. I have always suffered from the average hangover just like pretty much everyone else I guess.

I have a pretty large tolerance to alcohol from the years of abuse. For a very long time I had no problems drinking a 26oz / 75cl / 750ml bottle of liquor or a case of beer in a night (24 x 355ml) , and wake up with the normal hangover still able to force myself to go to class or work.

However these past few months every time I drink about 6 beer or more I wake up have a mild headache, that turns into an insane headache eventually causing me to vomit until I dry heave sometimes so hard I vomit out blood.. Then a few hours later I go back to normal. This has happened every time I've had 6 or more beer for about 3-4 months now.

I usually drink a ton of water before I go to bed and try to drink more in the morning but I am usually unable to keep anything down the morning after.

It has gotten to the point where I am just about ready to give up drinking. It is not worth it anymore.

Anyways, does anyone have any idea why I was fine for so many years now all the sudden I get hangovers from hell? I read somewhere that it could have something to do with my blood sugar / possibly diabetes?

Oh boy....
Listen carefully because this is important ok?
From what you described, it is almost certain that your liver is very sick.
Ill get back to that in a second, but to quickly answer your question:
The reason you were able to drink for many years without having the sympomts you are having now, is that your body was able to handle all of the abuse from alcohol for awhile. You are now having these symptoms because you have reached the point where you have done enough damage that your body is beginning to show serious signs of illness and damage.

You have been putting your liver through hell day after day for all of these years with your heavy drinking. Your liver is crucial in detoxifying your body, and it usually does a damn good job of it. But after years of overwhelming it with alcohol, its going to start to fail. The headaches you are getting are quite possibly the result of a buildup of toxins in your blood due to your liver's inability to detoxify your system fast enough.


Have you had your liver function tested by a doctor recently. A simple blood test can give you a good idea of how your liver is functioning. I don't want to scare you, but based on how much alcohol you consume, and based on the symptoms you listed, it really sounds like your liver is unhealthy. Understand that a liver is ESSENTIAL... its not like an appendix. If your liver dies, you die.

So first off, you need to go to a doctor, tell him about your drinking and tell him your symptoms. He will perform a liver function test and probably some other tests, and then we will have a better idea of exactly whats going on with you. But again let me say, it seems almost certain that your liver is starting to give out on you.

Now moving on....you HAVE to quit the drinking. Even if by some miracle your liver is ok right now and the symptoms you are having are due to something else, rest assured that if you continue drinking, your liver WILL shut down on you. You simply cannot drink anywhere near as heavily as you do and not have serious health consequences.

Quitting drinking with a habit as big as yours is a serious matter. You realistically can't go cold turkey because this could easily cause seizures and other serious problems.
I think you really need to check into some sort of medically supervised detox. Some people can quit drinking at home, but given the size of your habit, I just dont think it would be safe to detox outside of a medical setting.


Anyway, I hope you are hearing all of this man. I dont mean to scare you, but your post came off pretty casual considering how serious your situation seems to be.
It really really really sounds like you are at a crucial cross-roads right now. While you likely have already done some serious damage to your liver and possibly other organs, you very likely still have the chance to stop any further damage, and go on to live a long life. But make no mistake, you need to act NOW and address these issues. Every symptom you listed strongly suggests that your liver is not doing well and cannot take any more abuse.

So go to a doc, get checked out, see whats up with your liver.
Then, go to a medically supervised detox.
After that, you need to figure out a way to stay off alcohol. Whether its a 12 step, half-way house, group therapy....whatever. But you need to quit and stay off alcohol otherwise you will die. Its that simple-DG

 

[eurolite]

Oh boy....
Listen carefully because this is important ok?
From what you described, it is almost certain that your liver is very sick.
Ill get back to that in a second, but to quickly answer your question:
The reason you were able to drink for many years without having the sympomts you are having now, is that your body was able to handle all of the abuse from alcohol for awhile. You are now having these symptoms because you have reached the point where you have done enough damage that your body is beginning to show serious signs of illness and damage.

You have been putting your liver through hell day after day for all of these years with your heavy drinking. Your liver is crucial in detoxifying your body, and it usually does a damn good job of it. But after years of overwhelming it with alcohol, its going to start to fail. The headaches you are getting are quite possibly the result of a buildup of toxins in your blood due to your liver's inability to detoxify your system fast enough.


Have you had your liver function tested by a doctor recently. A simple blood test can give you a good idea of how your liver is functioning. I don't want to scare you, but based on how much alcohol you consume, and based on the symptoms you listed, it really sounds like your liver is unhealthy. Understand that a liver is ESSENTIAL... its not like an appendix. If your liver dies, you die.

So first off, you need to go to a doctor, tell him about your drinking and tell him your symptoms. He will perform a liver function test and probably some other tests, and then we will have a better idea of exactly whats going on with you. But again let me say, it seems almost certain that your liver is starting to give out on you.

Now moving on....you HAVE to quit the drinking. Even if by some miracle your liver is ok right now and the symptoms you are having are due to something else, rest assured that if you continue drinking, your liver WILL shut down on you. You simply cannot drink anywhere near as heavily as you do and not have serious health consequences.

Quitting drinking with a habit as big as yours is a serious matter. You realistically can't go cold turkey because this could easily cause seizures and other serious problems.
I think you really need to check into some sort of medically supervised detox. Some people can quit drinking at home, but given the size of your habit, I just dont think it would be safe to detox outside of a medical setting.


Anyway, I hope you are hearing all of this man. I dont mean to scare you, but your post came off pretty casual considering how serious your situation seems to be.
It really really really sounds like you are at a crucial cross-roads right now. While you likely have already done some serious damage to your liver and possibly other organs, you very likely still have the chance to stop any further damage, and go on to live a long life. But make no mistake, you need to act NOW and address these issues. Every symptom you listed strongly suggests that your liver is not doing well and cannot take any more abuse.

So go to a doc, get checked out, see whats up with your liver.
Then, go to a medically supervised detox.
After that, you need to figure out a way to stay off alcohol. Whether its a 12 step, half-way house, group therapy....whatever. But you need to quit and stay off alcohol otherwise you will die. Its that simple-DG

You misunderstood my post a little I said I can drink that amount in a night, I never would drink that much daily. Only on the weekends and not every weekend, I do not drink alone. I drink with friends at a party, etc. In my city almost everyone gets shitfaced every weekend. It is a small mining community with not much else to do.

I appreciate the concern I would be concerned too if I thought someone was drinking that much daily . However I am not.

I still do plan to talk to my doctor Monday and getting a liver enzyme test. (I had one a few years ago and was fine, but it has been awhile).

 

[daddysgone]

You misunderstood my post a little I said I can drink that amount in a night, I never would drink that much daily. Only on the weekends and not every weekend, I do not drink alone. I drink with friends at a party, etc. In my city almost everyone gets shitfaced every weekend. It is a small mining community with not much else to do.

I appreciate the concern I would be concerned too if I thought someone was drinking that much daily . However I am not.

I still do plan to talk to my doctor Monday and getting a liver enzyme test. (I had one a few years ago and was fine, but it has been awhile).

Oh I see, I assumed that you were drinking this much daily. Ok, that makes me feel better that you do not do this daily.

Still, the symptoms you are having are NOT normal, and are suggestive of a liver issue. Im glad u are getting your liver function checked out.
Also, be sure to be completely honest with your doc about how much you drink, what other drugs you do, and what symptoms u are having.
I know sometimes it can be embarrassing to tell a doctor about things like drugs and alcohol, but he cant help u unless he has all the info. He won't judge you, he just needs to know exactly what your habits are.

BTW, the blood in your vomit is very possibly due to a tear in your esophagus. When u are puking, is it a very forceful and "violent" type of throwing up? If so, then its very likely the source of the blood is the esophagus. Regardless of the reason, blood in the vomit should be taken seriously so be sure to tell your doc about that too.-DG

 

[eurolite]

Oh I see, I assumed that you were drinking this much daily. Ok, that makes me feel better that you do not do this daily.

Still, the symptoms you are having are NOT normal, and are suggestive of a liver issue. Im glad u are getting your liver function checked out.
Also, be sure to be completely honest with your doc about how much you drink, what other drugs you do, and what symptoms u are having.
I know sometimes it can be embarrassing to tell a doctor about things like drugs and alcohol, but he cant help u unless he has all the info. He won't judge you, he just needs to know exactly what your habits are.

BTW, the blood in your vomit is very possibly due to a tear in your esophagus. When u are puking, is it a very forceful and "violent" type of throwing up? If so, then its very likely the source of the blood is the esophagus. Regardless of the reason, blood in the vomit should be taken seriously so be sure to tell your doc about that too.-DG

Ill NSFW this because people with a weak stomach might not want to read this:

NSFW:

Yeah, it is projectile / very violent. So violent I usually end up getting chunks of vomit stuck in my nose almost every time I vomit some comes through my nose. I think it may just have something to do with the strange angle I have to align myself to vomit in the toilet in my washroom. Also this usually adds to my headache (creates a ton of pressure on my sinuses) I usually go in a hot shower to clear the chunks.

Also I forgot to mention that if I sit in a hot shower it completely gets rid of my hangover effects for the duration of that shower and 5-10 minutes after I get out. (It gets rid of my headache completely and even the nausea)

Also the headaches I get almost seem like a sinus headache. When I am in the shower if I run hot water on my face and blow my nose it feels great (Even before what I mentioned in the NSFW section happens)

Also almost instantly after I vomit I feel almost 100%.

This is exact the chain of events I undergo when this happens:

I wake up feel not too bad but a slight headache

I drink a tiny bit of water at a time not too much or I can't hold it down and I end up getting sick for longer

slowly my headache goes from normal to a product of the devil

I start to get nauseous

I hop in the shower cranked to as hot as it can go and feel great for 5-10 minutes after I get out

I run to the can and completely empty everything in my stomach

I feel almost 100% better after being sick aside from being a little dehydrated which I have to slowly drink water throughout the rest of the day or end up getting sick again.

 

[onmyway]

get your pancreas checked too.

 

[nuke]

--> Healthy Living

 

[dragonslayer428]

Not to scare you, but Daddysgone is correct. It could very possibly be a liver problem Or, it could be internal bleeding whether it's your esophagus or your intestines.

I'm not going to go over all the toxic properties of alcohol to the body. I'm sure you either already know all this, or can look it up on the net. However, throwing up blood is a sign that your drinking is causing your body harm.

On an up side, I had liver problems when I was a heavy drinker. I got an elevated liver enzyme count come up on a routine physical and it scared the shit out of me! The good news is, the liver is the most resilient organ in the body. Eventually, after I stopped drinking and got an ultra sound on my liver etc, my enzymes came down.

A doctor once told me a story of a woman that had to have a large portion of her liver removed (I think due to a tumor or something) and eventually, that portion of the liver ACTUALLY GREW BACK! I found that pretty amazing (I assume he wasn't bullshitting me).

So, stop drinking, go get checked out and in the meantime, don't spend every waking hour worrying about it, like I did at the time of my incident. Stress can also take it's toll on the body.

Hang in there!

 

[eurolite]

Not to scare you, but Daddysgone is correct. It could very possibly be a liver problem Or, it could be internal bleeding whether it's your esophagus or your intestines.

I'm not going to go over all the toxic properties of alcohol to the body. I'm sure you either already know all this, or can look it up on the net. However, throwing up blood is a sign that your drinking is causing your body harm.

On an up side, I had liver problems when I was a heavy drinker. I got an elevated liver enzyme count come up on a routine physical and it scared the shit out of me! The good news is, the liver is the most resilient organ in the body. Eventually, after I stopped drinking and got an ultra sound on my liver etc, my enzymes came down.

A doctor once told me a story of a woman that had to have a large portion of her liver removed (I think due to a tumor or something) and eventually, that portion of the liver ACTUALLY GREW BACK! I found that pretty amazing (I assume he wasn't bullshitting me).

So, stop drinking, go get checked out and in the meantime, don't spend every waking hour worrying about it, like I did at the time of my incident. Stress can also take it's toll on the body.

Hang in there!

Internal bleeding is excreted through urine or feces, if you ever pee blood chances are you're in trouble can be internal bleeding or it can be a urinary tract infection which is not so bad if you ever crap blood go to the hospital something is seriously wrong and you will probably die shortly if you don't.


Vomiting blood is fairly serious but not too bad, it is usually the result of an ulcer or something that wont kill you overnight. (Regardless I know you should still go to the hospital) however I know the blood in my vomit was just from the violent dry heaving which is not life threatening..

regardless thanks for the concern and I do intend to see the doctor Monday nothing is threatening enough to have to go to emerge tonight I fear that it is liver damage but at my young age I pray it is not I will let you guys know how it turns out.

 

[dragonslayer428]

Ok...keep us posted.