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Please share your experiences of alcohol with me (reason why inside)

Posted , 6 users are following.

Sockpim
Sockpim

I'm aware alcohol can be a sensitive subject, but I'm particulalry interested in those who still drink it, or who have stopped/reduced their intake and how just doing this has affected their health.

So... I've had CFS for 11 years now (I'm 29). I drank a normal amount of alcohol for my age in the years prior to getting CFS. I went to university when I was 19 and drank quite a bit more for my first year there. In my second year there at 20, I found that if I had 1 pint of cider, I'd get really ill for about a week. After this happened a few times, I just quit drinking completely for about 1 and half years. During the period of not drinking, it didn't affect my fatigue/tiredness in any way. The only benefit back then was not being bed ridden for a week from only drinking 1 pint.

At 22, I tried drinking a little bit to see if I could drink again and found that I could, but in small amounts. (Thankfully, since then and still currently, my body will tell me very quickly if I need to stop drinking before I get paralytic/sick, which is very useful). From 22 to now, I've slowly increased the amount I drink in one go from half a pint of cider to about 3 or 4 pints or the equivilent in spirits (not via shots). I don't drink every night, I'd say I drink this much about 2 times a week.

When I have a particularly bad week when I can barely function for work (like I did last week), it makes me wonder if I should reduce or try giving up alcohol again to see if it makes a difference, but I do love drinking alcohol sometimes, so I don't want to give it up completely if it does nothing to help with my CFS like it did nothing for it for 1 and a half years when I younger.

Does anyone have any positive or negative experiences or results from giving up alcohol or reducing ther intake?

0 likes, 8 replies

8 Replies

  • jillian27195
    jillian27195 Sockpim

    Posted

    I too suffer from sensitivity to small amounts of alcohol. I was diagnosed with cfs many years ago but later discovered that I had a fairly rare form of gluten intolerance that affects the brain making it sensitive to alcohol.
  • s47448
    s47448 Sockpim

    Posted

    Hi

    I have noticed that alcohol has a bad effect on me, even a small amount.  I absolutely love red wine and worked in the wine industry for a while so was very hard to avoid, but red wine happens to have the worst effect on me.

    For some reason 1 or 2 glasses of prosecco/champagne doesn't seem to affect me providing its a one off and not two nights on the trot.  I don't drink much but when I do, I go for organic/biodynamic wines or artisan/craft products if it's cider as they tend to have better ingredients and less processed. Dry cider may be better due to less sugar and stating the obvious - choose a lower alcohol content.

    As we know alcohol is a toxin and a depressent and it seems a lot of people with cfs can't handle it, same goes with caffeine, sugar and processed/crappy foods, it takes our bodies a lot of effort to counteract. 

    Best wishes

    Sophie

  • philsey
    philsey Sockpim

    Posted

    Alcohol is a strange beast. My liver has accommodated to quite a lot of the stuff, but since my CFS turned severe I can't drink gin or brandy as they do something to me in addition to getting me mildly inebriated. I find a glass of juice and lemonade has exactly the same effect as hitting the bottle.

  • constance1943
    constance1943 Sockpim

    Posted

    I am an alcoholic who stopped drinking in 1986 with Alcoholics Anonymous meetings in English in Paris.  Thus I have been clean and sober for almost 33 years.  In 1989 I contracted CFS and it has gotten  worse and worse over the years.  Had I been drinking I would have been dead or locked up with total dementia a long time before today.  I won't preach, but if you have a problem with alcohol I would suggest that you contact your nearest AA group - they'll give you the straight information.  And if you get into a bad meeting (holy rollers or otherwise, just walk out and find another one.  Also:  you will not be able to stop drinking unless YOU want it, so if this is just a passing fancy wait until you're in hospital with wet brain - then you won't be able to make any decisions.

     

  • Beverley_01
    Beverley_01 Sockpim

    Posted

    Hi sockpim,

    I think that people who have cfs/me moderately to severe or severe may experience it differently to you who I guess has it mild to moderate? (nhs classification not mine. The classification being if you can work, it's mild) thus the affect on you may not feel as bad but you have had some bad reactions? It's sounds a little like you're not wanting to be affected by it because you want to be able to have the pleasant affects of alcohol? I feel like I constantly have the unpleasant affects of alcohol without drinking! Slurry speech, falling over, banging into things and saying things that make no sense! A couple of years ago having a few drinks made me "forget" temporarily that my body had cfs/me. It was like a magic pill after 3/4 pints. But the payback was pure evil and I started to cut down the alcohol (hard when your partner has a huge drinking habit). I felt I was starting to only have a bad effect from it. I last had a drink in March. Hard to tell if it's improved things or not as I also started to take feroglobin at that time and came out of a turbulent relationship so, maybe everything together helped. Presently I'm having a pretty bad spell with cfs/me though. Riding the wave!

    Beverley

    • Sockpim
      Sockpim Beverley_01

      Posted

      Hi Beverley 01,

      Typical NHS..... mild my a**, just like they said that I may feel mild/moderate pain post surgery for an inguinal hernia and thus only gave me ibuprofen and paraceetomal (the pain was horrific - the only painkiller that touched the pain was the morphine they gave me in the hospital). That being said, my CFS/ME is not mild. I'm not trying to insinuate that anyone else is not making an effort, but I use a considerable amount of energy and effort to keep attending my job at the cost of several other aspects of my life.

      Well I do for the reason you've given, but I also don't want to do the same as before, where I gave it up for 1 and a half years again and it do nothing for my CFS/ME if you see what I mean? Your symptoms without alcohol sound similar to mine. These symptoms are amplified when I drink also - I presume that the same happens with you. I'm sorry you're having a particularly bad spell at the moment by the way.

      Thank you all for your answers. I think the consensus is that I should either stop drinking entirely or greatly reduce it.

    • Beverley_01
      Beverley_01 Sockpim

      Posted

      Hi sockpim,

      Yep, mild is kind of an insult isn't it ! My symptoms wait until the next day to knock me flat now. It used to be I could forget body and mind after a couple of drinks and then feel usual drunk. Now I still feel ill. No reprive at all.

      My last few days have been particularly bad but, hoping for some gentle rest tomorrow.

      Hope you start to get a bit more balance so you can start to do things other than just work with your energy. The cfs/me energy deficiency is not prejudiced as to when it will strick but, do too much of anything and you know it will. Hope you can get some decent rest this weekend.

      Beverley

  • shelia22921
    shelia22921 Sockpim

    Posted

    If I were you I would stop drinking altogether, My mother died at 50 years old from it, caused here many health problems, your life is worth more alcohol.
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