Member Comments are provided by individuals and reflect their personal opinions only. Under NO circumstances should you act on any advice or opinion posted in this forum.  ALWAYS check with your personal physician before taking any action regarding your health! MedHelp International and our partners, sponsors and affiliates have no obligation to monitor any comments posted on this site, or the content and/or accuracy of such exchanges. MedHelp International does not endorse the views of any user.

Addiction: Substance Abuse Community

This community is a place to share information and support with others who are trying to stop using drugs, prescription drugs, alcohol, tobacco or other addictive substances. Discuss with others, the symptoms of addiction, addiction recovery, ways to quit like tapering and cold turkey, and withdrawal symptoms. If you are interested in general "chat", please visit our Addiction Social Community.
Post a Question Back to Forum
 | 
MedHelp Member's Question

Blood alcohol level

by worm, Jul 17, 2002 12:00AM
My sister had a BAL of .44 when she killed herself a month ago?

From what I have read a person with a .44 is usually in a coma

or dead!   Is it possible for a person to function with a .44?

How much or how many drinks does one have to injest to get a .44?

Thank you for you time

Worm.
Member Comments (12)

by OxyDout, Jul 17, 2002 12:00AM
To: worm
first off, god bless you, it must be tough, I'm very sorry to hear about your sister.  I don't know to much about blood alcohol levels, however, I do remember hearing that anything over .4 would mean your incoherent.......... so I highly doubt anyone would be able to function at .44 blood alcohol level.  About how much you would need to consume, I believe it varys.  If I'm correct, I think .44 blood alcohol level is standard, people may have higher tolerances and might take more to get there, but I believe .44 or any level would be standard, although I really don't know.  Someone here should know.  Good luck, and keep your head up.



GWH

by GOD, Jul 17, 2002 12:00AM
To: !
I'm very sorry about your sister's death, and I hope your are finding some peace.



To answer your question about blood alcohol levels, there can be a variety of reason's people can get such a high reading, the most common is Alcoholism, and TOLERANCE. Yes, a normal person would be in a coma or dead if they had progressed to a .44 BAC reading in the course of an evening. However, someone who drinks daily or most of the days of a week can build up an EXTREME tolerance to alcohol. Before I got sober, I would usually drink 1-1.75 liters of vodka per night, and my BAC was usually around .35 by the end of the evening... Keep in mind that I was still "Functional" at that HIGH reading. If I would drink a few more, that's when the blackouts would hit, and I'd probably be at your sister's BAC level.



Once again, I'm sorry for your loss, but maybe reading about her death can convince somebody reading this to STOP! I thank God that I stopped, because when you're drinking a lot, only 3 things can happen to you:



1. Die.

2. Go to jail.

3. Quit while you still have time.



I hope this helped you

by alexandra_r, Jul 17, 2002 12:00AM
To: question for mrmichael/comment to worm
Worm,  I hate to break the thread with a question that doesn't pertain to what you posted, so forgive me, please.  My heart goes out to you.  My husband died of an OD in '91--it took a year of hell before I got clean after nearly ending my life.  I finally made peace with my husband's death and I hope that you can do the same with your sister.  Peace



Michael--

I have a couple of questions for you.

1) Is your back pain alleviated by the pain med you take or do you still suffer regardless?



2) Do you think you will be on pain meds for the rest of your life?  Has anyone given you any other alternatives?



Bless you--I'm so sorry to hear of all you have endured.  You must be very strong and your experiences give others a lot of help.



p.s. the doctors both said that a laminectomy wouldn't work in my case because my vertebrae are in such bad shape in my lower spine.  I actually have 2 herniated discs (the other doesn't bother me much--just a pinch from time to time) and they said that a laminectomy would work with that one, but not the other

by mrmichael67, Jul 17, 2002 12:00AM
To: Alexandra
I had two also....L4-L5...L5-S1.  I am sure if your bones are all messed up then that is a different story.  Besides, I am sure they know what they are talking about.  I do need to tell you this though, get an opinion from a surgeon that is in a major hospital.  Preferrably, he or she would be in a teaching hospital or university.  I know in New Jersey and New York, the better ones are in like Robert Wood Johnson and others which are medical schools.  When it comes to your back, you don't want to mess around.  One bad surgery and your life could be shot for good.....like mine.  My second surgeon actually did all he could for me.  I got the pedicle screws with the rods and he stabilized my back that way.  He even told me that he might not be able to do much for the pain, but my back would be structurally stable.  After the first surgery, my back was floating.  The second surgeon took a flexion and extension x-ray and it showed the vertabrae pulling away from the cages.  If I tried to run, I could only go about 1 or 2 steps before pain just shot through me.  The medication does help a great deal.  I am prescribed ms contin 60mg three tabs three times a day (9 pills 540mg).  For breakthrough I am prescribed msir 30mg two times a day as needed.  My pain doctor, which is a great guy, told me to take what I needed for breakthrough, just keep him informed if I take more than three times a day.  He listens to me.  They are out there, just hard to find.  He actually worked with different meds and titrated my dose properly to get me comfortable.  I still have pain, but near as much.  The day of my re-fill, if I am out of meds, my pain gets unbearable.  I do manage to get to the last day, thank god.  I have had epidurals, epidural injections to melt scar tissue with no success, physical therapy, acupuncture, and all of the non-narcotic meds you could think of with no success.  I have also been told that no one will touch my back again in the way of surgery.  I am comfortable with the idea of being on meds the rest of my life, if need be.  My life is better on them, not worse.  I have tried to lower my dose to where I am still not in withdrawal but the pain comes back with a vengeance.  I tried that because some people are in the position where the meds actually add to the pain....not me.  Like I said, my life is better on them.  There is a benefit for me to be on them.  I can do things with my daughter instead of lying in bed in pain or in such a crab that I don't want to deal with anybody.  I don't go around high on my meds.  I take 540mg a day plus breakthrough, but feel just like some people who take 10mg of percocet a day.  But, narcotic pain medication therapy is a very individual thing.  It is not the same for everybody.  And, one last thing;  For me, the ms contin works better than anything else I have tried in the way of pain meds.  Oxycontin works alright, but if I was dosed twice a day, I felt like I was going into withdrawal by the time my next dose came around.  The ms contin seeems to deaden the pain a lot more, though.  I have been on the Duragesic patch at 125ug/hr.  I had to wear a 100 and a 25.  No withdrawal, but not enough pain control.  I went 16 hours one time between doses on the ms contin and did not feel any withdrawal symptoms.  It just works and holds me better.  Any other questions and I will be glad to answer them.

by tex3, Jul 18, 2002 12:00AM
To: Worm
I'm sorry about your loss. From my experience in law enforcement, anyone with that high of a level would be incoherent if even conscious. The highest I ever saw was a .60, and that person drank himself to death, literally. I saw some .3s in DWI fatalities. But as was pointed out, your blood level may be very high but you might not feel the effects as much if your tolerance is also high. Still, it would definitely effect you.

Please take care and know that we are here, if you need to talk at all.

tracy

by GOD, Jul 18, 2002 12:00AM
To: mrmichael67
Hello, mrmichael67...



Just wanted to ask a couple questions about your pain-management regimine as it relates to MS Contin in particular....



I have a relative who is in a similar position as you in that she is suffering the Effects of a "Botched" back surgery. For pain, she's now prescribed MS-Contin 2 X 30Mgs 3 times daily with MSir 15 Mgs 1 X or "As needed" per day.



Since on this particular dosing schedule, she seems VERY lethargic, and I'm wondering if it is the Morphine dose causing her fatigue. I might also mention that she's taking Klonopin 3 times per day (prescribed by her Psychologist) for Anxiety (I'm assuming). She's ALSO on very High dose of Neurontin 2,700 Mgs spread out in the day....



Am I wrong to assume that her level of morphine intake is the main culprit for her fatigue? OR, do you think that the Klonopin is more likely to be causing it? I would think that the human body could adjust to just about any level of Morphine, or for that matter, ANY Hydro or Oxy-codone if taken for a prolonged period. I think I'd mentioned before that at one point that She'd been on Oxycontin 80Mgs 2X per day, and had seemed MUCH more active in her day to day demeanor.



Thanks for any thoughts you may offer!



Hope you're doing O.K.,

Jess

by OxyDout, Jul 18, 2002 12:00AM
To: Everyone/Question
Worm, I wish I had more of an answer, but as I said in an earlier post, I don't know too much but it looks like you got a good response from everyone else.  I do have to say though, its only been a month? I hope your doing well, and remember talking to others does wonders.  I know when I lost one of my good friends on 9-11 last year, I went on a binge with drugs, I had the "who cares" attitude and didn't leave my bed for 5 days.  The more I talked, the more I cried the better I felt. keep your head up.



quick question, how long can the half life of methadone last given this information: I took it for 4 days, 5mg the first day,7.5 the next 2 days, then 5 the fourth day....... If anyone could answer that I would greatly appreciate it.



Worm, I'm serious about talking to people, I don't know anything about you, but I'm willing to listen and help as much as possible. I hope you have a better day today.



GWH

by OxyDout, Jul 18, 2002 12:00AM
I have to say, if anyone is going through withdrawal, or is thinking about detox, I would suggest the Methadose 10mg pills. HOWEVER YOU NEED TO BE VERY RESPONSIBLE, we all know that methadone can be deadily as far as addiction can go.  As I posted in my question I had a 4 day meth program, I had 5mg the first day, 7.5 the next 2 days and 5 the 4th day. I never took 7.5 all at once, it was 5mg in the late morning, then 2.5 around 8pm......... and that was it.  It worked wonders but you HAVE TO WANT TO BE SOBER, AND YOU HAVE TO HAVE GREAT WILL POWER. and if anyone is out there and can answer my question in the above post, I would greatly appreciate it.



GWH

by mrmichael67, Jul 18, 2002 12:00AM
To: jesse
The klonopin and neurontin certainly are helping her feel lethargic.  I am on a pretty good dose of morphine a day and I feel absulutely no lethargy at all.  You are right, the body will eventually get used to any dose.  But, some people do react to certain drugs differently.  Morphine does make some people really tired and it also gives a lot of people stomach upset.  How long has your relative been on morphine?  If it has been awhile, then I would suggest going back to the oxycontin.  Why was it changed in the first place?



GWH, methadone has a half life of 15 to 25 hours.  It will hold a person for 24 to 36 hours, but that is not its half life.  The half life will increase upon repeated use.  For the little amount of time you used it, I would stick with the 15 to 25 hours.  Upon repeated use, half lives of up to 150 hours have been reported.  Methadone accumulates in the body, that is why the number goes up.

by The_prence, Aug 21, 2002 12:00AM
What is the highest Blood