Alcohol Abuse possible Brain Damage

[Andy Anonymous]

I have recently realized I was a problem drinker, and I immediately quit drinking.  I am 21 and started drinking when I was 16 1/2 so I have not even been drinking five years, however I showed several symptoms of alcoholism.  I have occasionally drank excessive amounts and blacked out, but last year it seemed that almost every time I got drunk I would end up blacking out.  Eventually I started blacking out easier and easier.  But all the while I was very driven, healthy and intelligent in other areas.  I got my school paid for with academic scholarships, always been in great shape, and have a 3.85 GPA in a challenging engineering program.  However, after the last my last black out, on my birthday in early August, I was shaky, confused, anxious, had no appetite, and could not sleep for a couple of days.  This is what it took for me to realize that i had a problem, so I abruptly quit drinking, smoking weed(which I only occasionally did, with some of my friends who do it quite often), and cigarettes.  I continued exercising regularly, started eating healthier, and added more cardio to my workouts.  Now, about a month and a half since I've been drunk, about a month since I've had a drank, my grades are slipping, despite spending most free time in the library studying or sitting at a table and trying to study.  Many of these things used to seem easy to me and if I got bad grades it was because I neglected to put enough time into studying.  And my relationships with friends and family seem to be slipping too, I was always well liked by almost everyone, I got along with people from all different races, cultures, and cliques.  Now I seem to have a little bit of social anxiety and see people's insecurities instead of their personalities.  I wonder why if alcohol was my problem now that i quit; my life seems to be harder.  Studying what used to be easy now is hard.  Socializing with people I'm close to seems awkward and forced, and as force others I am not near as outgoing as I once was.  But in the past when I drank things seemed normal, and its not that I drank all the time either, I would often go several weeks or a month without drinking or anything and this never bothered me. But when I did I often drank too much, especially this past year.  I always looked at alcohol and drugs as simply a way to have fun, I never felt like I relied on them in one way or the other, though I did realize that they gave me more confidence.   I'm not sure what the problem is but I think there is one, maybe I did do some damage to my brain which explains why studying, social interactions are harder now and why my memory seems poor; also this may be why I started blacking out with less alcohol.  My family and friends are hesitant to believe that I have a problem and think that I possibly just scared myself by all the research I have done online and sometimes I am tempted to believe simply because I used have the utmost confidence that I could do anything I put my mind to and now i feel like it will be hard for me to complete school with out losing my scholarships, when all I do is try to be productive and study.  Oh and I should include that I did attend an AA meeting, but did not feel very connected there either, the people seemed weak, at times dishonest, and I just don’t like the idea of going through life dependent on a self help group.  I have read most of the big book, though, and agree with a lot of what it says and have made some personal changes that go along with its message but I still do not feel complete.    

[Andy Anonymous]

I went to a doctor, for help and guidance back in august and I am now taking a multi vitamin along with a Vitamin B complex daily.  She did some blood tests to make sure my liver and everything was alright and everything came up alright.  However, that numbess in the extremities part interests me, because starting sometime this past summer I started to notice I would wake up probaly 3 to 5 times a night with numbness in my arms, as if they had fallen asleep.  My doctor asked if this seemed related to my sleeping position, and I suppose sometimes it did.  But why did it start all of a sudden, and happen so frequently. And many times it is in each arm, i don't know how I cut off circulation from both of them simultaneuously.  But thanks for the post, I hope with time I get my mental sharpness and confidence back.  

[FLaddict]

Abusing alcohol even for a short time can do some damage to the brain and the rest of the body.. including the nervous system. It can cause short term memory loss, fatigue, weakness, and paralysis of the eye muscles. It can also cause liver disorders, ulcers, inflamation of the stomach lining, high blood pressure, blood sugar problems, reduced amount of testosterone production, numbess of the extremities ect.. It causes a metobolic change to every cell in the body. And depletes our bodies of extremely important nutrients and vitamins.. Time will help heal all of this especially if you stop drinking for good. Also making sure your vitamin deficiencies that were caused by your drinking get corrected.. I am sure alot of the mental stuff and struggling with school is due to this.

[Andy Anonymous]

after my birthday blackout, where I made a real fool of myself at some local bars, and I felt the symptoms of alcohol withdrawal I never drank hard again and that was since august 7th, however I did smoke bud a couple times from during the middle of august and played a game of beer pong or two on august 17th, not because these things appealed to me but because thats what I used to enjoy doing and thats what my friends expected of me... i quit from then until yesterday when I went on a float trip with my brother, I didnt drink the first night and felt awkward and lousy the whole time then yesterday on the float trip I drank just two beers but I felt the old affect and loosened up and had a little more fun.  But today I felt sum guilt about going back to alcohol after all the trouble it had given me and after swearing it off.  I controlled it easily though without an urge to get any more buzzed or try to get drunk, but the fact that I welcomed that little buzz so much and it made me feel better made me feel that I really might rely on alcohol...    

[slideshow]

I've had a few blackouts myself in the old days, and won't bore you with the stories, but suffice it to day, after some time, it's likely that your brain will recovery, UNLESS you keep smashing it with Blackout Drunks........

And yes your life seems harder if you're quit (have you quit, I'm not sure from your post), because a good drunk once in a while, does manage to make you forget your problems (and everything else)...Best thing IMO is to stay sober, and keep trying to do constructive things.   I used to think until fairly recently that I could only play guitar if I'm drinking a few glasses of wine.  Not true.  I've been trying to play sober lately and dog-gone it, it seems that I'm not too bad sober....Certainly I used to think I sounded better after the 3rd or 4th glass of Cabernet, better than 3-4 Kamakazies, but still a little drunk.  Well I sound just as bad, whoops I mean good, sober.........

[Andy Anonymous]

your post did help, i guess i should just stay sober, be positive, and continue to run around trying to be productive until things settle down.  I hope time is all i need, thanks again.

[JACEM5]

I was an alcoholic for a few years and drank to escape some things I didn't want to face.I drank as much as I could as fast as I could,I was the first one at the liquor store at 8am and made sure to buy enough for when I'd periodically wake up through the night.When I stopped it took me a few months to get back in the swing of things and function without the alcohol.You put your body and brain through a lot,and both were dependent on alcohol,now they have to adapt to life without it and it's an adjustment.Some one once told me "you didn't become an alcoholic overnight so don't expect to un become one overnight"I think your just recovering and it's will just take a little time.I hope this helps.