FOG

[labyrinth1234]

I am 25 and was a heavy drinker (and casual drug user for a summer, have been clean for about 2 years) I have been clean from alcohol now for 2 months today :). I stopped drinking because my mind had slipped into a fog and I suffered from  severe constant confusion, dizziness, depression, depersonalazation, derealization, anxiety, feeling of wack-o and memory problems. I still suffer from all of these symptoms some to a lesser degree now but not to much. Everyone keeps saying it was the booze and I am suffering from PAWS. I happen to disagree and my rehab counsler agrees with me. Mind you I do not believe the alcohol helped the problem I just have a hard time believing it is the root of the problem.

    My reasons are, A drunk or drug addict that has problems from drugs or alcohol can remendy this by drinking or druging. MY problems did not go away they were there when I was sober and other than anxiety they were there when I was drunk. Also from what I understand about alcohol withdrawal is first you go threw acute withdrawal 3-7 days then a week or so after that PAW starts. That then can last for some time. But if you use during any of these stages the problems will go away for a short time. I felt like this when I drank, After I quit,during a relaspe, after I quit again, And still do NO CHANGE. I have not felt normal now for about 5 months. I do know I still can, Sometimes (like once every 10 days or so) I get a moment of clarity that last from 10-45 min where everything is normal I can think again no dizziness ect, So I dont think I have damaged my brain from my bad habits (well maybe a little:). When these symptoms first started I found a dose of B vitamins lifted the brain fog ect. This later did not work no matter how many I took. It could have been a placebo effect for all I know.I have tried SSRI's but 3 hours after I take one it just makes all my symptom twice as worse so I have to discountinue there use. My sugar has been as low as 51 and as high as 180 but my 80 something year old doc says as long as it stablizes which it does that I am ok and is not the cause. I am at a loss. MY QUESTION is it the booze? Or something else and if so do you have any ideas?

    Thanks

[ontherecord]

The first thing I believe you have to do is get a referral to a neurologist from your primary care physician.  This is the most important recommendation that I can give you.  Your primary care physician is ill-equipped to deal with your current symptoms.  I would also hold off on taking any antidepressants until you see your neurologist.  IF your neurologist believes that at least some of the symptoms you are experiencing are psychological, he will start you on an antidepressant (maybe even BuSpar, which isn't a bad choice) and refer you to see a psychiatrist for a follow-up.  Good doctoring involves ruling out the physical causes before attributing symptoms as manifestations of psychological sequelae.  

So I would make that appointment as early as possible and take it from there.  It's good to stopped drinking when you did, since that pace was just too aggressive.  Let's hope that everything is redeemable and things work out well for you.

[labyrinth1234]

Pint or more a day on the average would be a fair assumption. I am male

[ontherecord]

Is a *fifth* a liter? Would it be fair then to say that you drank the equivalent of a pint (16 oz.) of liquor daily for that period of time? Also, are you male or female? It makes a difference because females are more susceptible to the neurological effects of alcohol.

[labyrinth1234]

I drank a 1\2 5th or more every day for 7 years. I did not start taking vitamins until about a year and a half ago.

[ontherecord]

Highly doubtful that anxiety can cause all this.  Anxiety can mimic some of the things described, but doubtful it can cause "confusion" which doesn't seem to get better.  I would get a neurological exam before I attribute all of this to generalized anxiety disorder.  Prescribing an antidepressant may help here, but to sweep it under the carpet as cursorily as done here just doesn't cut it this time.

[ontherecord]

First, in order to get a more thorough response, you need to clarify how MUCH you drank and over what length of time.  Also, how were your eating habits WHILE you were drinking, and did you take B-vitamins during that time?

As well, without this information, let me just give you some general information how alcohol could either be causing or contributing to your symptoms.  Even though you are only 25, IF you drank aggressively enough over a prolonged period of time, alcohol could cause many of the symptoms you have described.  Alcohol affects the cerebellum, the frontal lobes, which are resoonsible for executive function, can act in conjunction with any nutritional deficiencies, and cause a host of other problems.  I am 26, and USED to be a heavy drinker too, but I quit because I KNEW I was on a wrong track.  Once I took my first drink, forget it -- I wouldn't stop until I took many more, so I decided to quit and see how it goes.

Furthermore, when younger people stop drinking (people like you), many times the effects of alcohol could be reversed by abstinence and the brain can regain at least some of the function that was lost.  If you've been sober for two months, and the symptoms are persisting, then I think it would be a good idea to see a neurologist.

[Roger Gould, M.D.]

I think that what you are describing sounds much more like a generalized anxiety reaction than anything else.  You relieved some of the anxiety with booze as self medication.  YOu might ask your doctor about Buspar instead of ssri's...a trial of that will give you the answer you are seeking...