OK, long story short - Alcohol and Persistent Dizziness

[Ledatru]

I am not an alcoholic, I just need help. I'm a 19 year old college student.... I don't ever drink much, I only started drinking recently, and it's only like once, maybe twice a month.

Long Story-
7 days ago, I was at a party... I had a Keystone, some rum........ then it happened:

My friend found some Everclear and Vodka.. mixed a lil Everclear in and more Vodka... granted this is all below half a cup. I drank some of it but not all of it-- I got messed UP. I knew I was messed up, but my balance was crazy.

Long story short.... I woke up the next morning, threw up... still felt drunk, as in, I still felt dizzy and tired... But the dizziness never really goes away.

Some facts....

1. I'm still 'dizzy' but it has never been so that I fall over or anything, or even trip. I can controll it
2. Realistically--- nothing is REALLY wrong with me at the moment, just the feeling that I'm "drunk" all the time. I'm still smart and otherwise 100% sober, but I still get this incredibly subtle feeling that I'm not 100%
3. What worries me more is that it's not really going away... it's been a week and I still have it. It gets better or worse depending on how much I think about it

What happened to me? I drank on basically an empty stomach--- did I get brain damage? I'm still scared to drink.

[boogieman]

hello. ya, you may have overdone it. one of the first times i got drunk was on homemade hi-test (aka moonshine) and it had a lingering effect. however i would definitely see a md just to be safe. another possibility is that there was more than liquor in what you drank. there are some real sick bastrds out there who like to enhance what other people consume with all kinds of stuff just to see what will happen. there are also sometimes impurities in liquor, especially the kind you can't buy in a store. during prohibition,  people were harmed as a result of inexperience or carelessness in the distilling process, as things like methanol were sometimes not removed. go to the doctor, and be careful. college is where many find out about alcohol poisoning first hand, and yes it can kill you. good luck, gm

[konyha]

I am not trying to encourage you, lay a guilt trip on you or scare you.

Since you are scared and have unfamiliar "subtle" sensations, you might want to drop by the university student med clinic or family doctor to confirm nothing is wrong or find out what, if anything is.
I wouldn't drink again until you do this or feel better. Don't blow this off or feel like you are overreacting :)

Having said that, a lot of people have a high school or college Everclear horror story with hangovers that last up to 4 days.  Everclear is dangerous due to it's high alchol content and illegal &/or hard to find in some states..

With the Everclear, you consumed is a minimum of 75.5% alcohol (151 proof).
In Texas (where we both reside) the one that is 95% alcohol (190 proof) is also available.
Rum and vodka typically contain 40%–60% alcohol (80–120 proof).

In short, it is not how much you drank: You *consumed more alcohol* than you think.

You are a college student and sound like a studious one.
The answers to the questions you ask encompass more information than you realize.  
In this case you want facts rather than anecdotal experience. Why not read about this yourself not only for your sake, but a friend could unknowingly do the same thing.

This url (and links on the site) provides a basic, easy to follow explanation about alcohol as it relates to hangovers, brain cells and brain damage:

http://alcoholism.about.com/od/brain/Brain_Damage_and_Alcohol_Consumption.htm

Be good to your self  & Happy Holidays
K