Alcohol Use After Quitting MDMA Long Term

Hello all

I haven't indulged in the last 5 years. I was an ex-heavy user, still have many problems such as disturbed sleep,memory problems, mild OCD,mild HPPD,concentration & focusing difficulties,learning probs & anxiety.
It's never been unbearable, but makes life a struggle.
The worse thing is not being able to concentrate and my now impaired learning ability. (never had these problems beforehand)

Now i drink once a week, which many doctors would call 'binge' drinking - say between 9 - 12 units in one session on a Friday night. About 5 - 6 pints.
Have a week or even a month off occasionally but pretty regular.


I was thinking of quitting alcohol or cutting down a lot, either drinking the governments recommended 3-4 units a week or just bingeing every couple of months.
Has anyone in a similar situation to me benefited from total abstinence in alcohol, like the negative symptoms of mdma use going away?

My possibly theory is:

Binge drinking (9-12 units a week) is either preventing me making a full or near recovery or is partly responsible for my problems in the first place.

I never considered moderate alcohol use causing cognitive impairment but since my brain is pretty fragile after abusing who knows!

I enjoy drinking but having my brain back would be well worth the sacrifice!

Thanks

JJ1976 said:

I enjoy drinking but having my brain back would be well worth the sacrifice!

Thanks

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I think you have just answered your own question. Replacing one substance for another is a common mistake that people make (myself included). If you can’t use the other substance responsibly then your only moving the area at risk to a different part of your body.

Give yourself a break for a few months, this may also help with your stuttering that you mentioned in an earlier post.

Have a look at some of the health supplements like Piracetam etc - also for when your drinking may I suggest taking Bcomplex vitamins / VitC and also Milk thistle as these will combact some of the negative effects of the alcohol.

Thanks for the reply.
I think i've been kidding myself all these years that my 5 pints a week is harmless but maybe i'm mistaken.

I considered Piracetam but don't really want another drug to reverse the long term side effects of another drug. I heard lots of good things about it but feel it may cause it's own problems.
Do you think this might be true?
Doing my recovery the natural way is bloody slow i admit (maybe with the alcohol out of the way it will be a bit faster!)

In all honesty 5 pints a week is nothing really - when you think its fewer units than having a glass of wine with your evening meal (which if it’s red is actually supposed to be good for you).

I’m all for giving the body a helping hand - I feel that if I used substances to damage it I’m sure as hell going to use another substance to put it back together again. I haven’t heard of any problem with people using Piracetam and the vitamins I suggested to you are all recommended for people who drink.

As far as I know the recomended numbers is not to exceed 3-4 units a day, not per week. So your actually drinking very little. It is probably worse if you binge drink, as in drink all your alcohol in one session, it would be better to space it out over the week.
When you say you were a heavy user of MDMA , how much were you using ?

Around 5 - 10 tabs every week for about 2 years 2001 - 2003. Lessened my usage to about once every few months for another 2 years after that.
Pretty crazy!