I drank 6 beers last night.
 

The most ive had in around a year and i felt good while drinking them and i just woke up after 9 hours of sleep and feel good with barely a hangover or headache

Im going to take it slow since im not out of the woods yet but i feel as though i need to push myself to get back to normal its been 14 months and i refuse to miss out on another summer.

Knowing my luck in 3 days it will hit me and ill be feeling crappy.

Well that is good news if there are no ill effects and you feel fine, you must be getting there. You should maybe stay at the 6 beer level if your ok with it, but not go past it. I cannot drink that much because of the medication I am on, but hopefully later this year ill be able to have beers too.

Not condoning the alcohol intake but good job Claritan for trying to push the boundary and get out and have some fun. Six may be too many my friend but if you are having no ill effects then great. I am glad that you were able to have some fun. That is very important. Just be careful.
Brain :hug:

so the day is basically over where im at in Boston. during the course of the day i felt good but did at times have a minor hangover/headache but it went away and was really no different from what it was like after drinking beers before i had the concussion so thats good. i consider it a success and it boosted my confidence knowing im not totally done. 6 will be my limit for now because i did get pretty buzzed since my tolerance is so down and i dont want to set myself back

if i had tried this 8 months ago i would have been bed ridden all day or maybe worse. im almost there i hope!

Thats great news. 6 beers is good. I have been able to drink alcohol for a while, but I am cutting back now as I am on mediaction, which is working great by the way!. So i will be sticking to 3- 5 beers for now. Its god to see improvement!!!!!!

Why does anybody need to drink 6 beers, much less to enjoy summer?

Let me guess?
 

You are under the age of 25? Lol! I remember when I used to drink 6 beers in a night. I haven't in years. I did have two margaritas tonight though. Do be careful though! A lot of people get head injuries from being drunk and falling down. I did once in college. I knocked my head on a metal trash can. You really can't afford to get that drunk any more, and frankly, why would you want to? That's getting so drunk that it isn't fun anymore. You just have to learn where to draw the line. For me, I learned I couldn't drink hard liquor, except margaritas, and I could only drink two of those. As for beer, six beers was about my max when I was younger, but now, it's about four. So my unsolicited advice is learn your limits and have the will power to not exceed them. If you can't do that, then you shouldn't drink at all.

I never gave up alcohol comPletely. Before New Years, I didn't drink more than one Guinness in a night, but after that, I would occasionally have two or even three drinks. It's never effected me in any way. But everyone is different. Just pay close attention to how it affects you!

I haven't had a drink since the injury, even though I miss it. I was never a big drinker at all...but a nice glass of wine, a margerita, a cold (gluten free for me) beer. Sigh.
Maybe this gives me hope I can have a WEE sip or two some time in the future. Don't need it, as Mark points out, but would like it. I Have some non alcoh wine...not bad. I think it is too much to ask to find non alcoh gluten free beer! :(

I don't want to sound preachy but alcohol use is generally considered counter to TBI recovery. From the following link:

http://www.msktc.org/tbi/factsheets/...c-Brain-Injury

• Alcohol slows down or stops brain injury recovery.
• Not drinking is one way to give the brain the best chance to heal.

http://www.tbicommunity.org/resource...Spring2008.pdf

For consideration. In the interest of full disclosure, let me also state that I am a well qualified member of the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous, and have not had a drink of alcohol for a number of years either before or after my TBI.

I used to drink lots in college and then on weekends post college. Since my accident, I have tried several times to drink but stopped after 2 drinks since I didnt feel good. It was more than just having a low tolerance.

It's frustrating because my wife says its all mental at this point and if I wanted to I could(she is desperate to say i am back to 100%). I know this isn't the case and while I'm thankful for the recovery I've made so far, some things will never be the same.

It's cubs opening day and everyone is out partying having a good time. Yeah it's all mostly an illusion, but it would be nice to go back to those care free days.

I am better off in the long run for not being able to drink. Perhaps my accident was a blessing in disguise and I would've ended up an alcoholic like my old man. Just gotta go with the flow.

I really thought I'd be ok with not drinking alcohol post TBI, but I underestimated its social pull.

This past weekend my husband and I finally got together with a group of friends, at one of their homes, for an appetizer potluck. Of course, alcohol was present but this group of friends was more supportive than I thought.

The host went out of his way to have healthy alternatives food-wise for me, and also caffeine free non alcoholic beverages. When we were all round the table eating and my host was drinking white wine (oh how I have loved a glass of white wine in my healthier years) I said aloud, "I cannot believe how much I'm craving wine right now, it's all I can think about!"

This led to an entire conversation about what constitutes an alcoholic, and what is social norm, etc.

But the most important part is, I disclosed my weakness and not ONE of them enabled me. They all said, no, don't undo what progress you're making, you and your husband are doing SO fantastic not drinking and not smoking, we all wish we were more like you guys, etc.

Thank goodness for good pep talks. I had a great time, and the cravings passed, and I didn't risk my recovery. It did surprise me, I admit, just how incredibly strong the pull was, to have that glass of wine. I realized I'd need to be even more careful in social groups in the event that some friends are unsupportive. I'm blessed with some wonderful people in my life! Whew!

My wish is that all of us would have supportive encouraging friends like this, rather than people who encourage us to revert to old habits. Thanks Lightrail11 for the links. Good reminders.

I believe in boundaries and I do not judge at all. I am happy for you if it is under control by YOURSELF and no RELAPSES:cool: I can say that I stay far away from carbonated or bubbly drinks in general and liquor. I will have a glass of Red wine every blue moon though. I have no problems the next day.:yahoo:

Oh, that reminds me! Just in case I may be misinterpreted, thought I should clarify.

The reason for sharing my story on this thread was that

• I can relate
• It's not judgmental to give wise counsel instead of enabling, I loved my friends for it
• Wise counsel can be uncomfortable and still be ignored, but it doesn't make it any less wise. The truth tends to cause discomfort, because it's hard to be humble enough to accept it.

i drank 6 more last night and feel fine right now infact im working out right now.

does this mean im really close to being back to normal?

who can say?
 

I wish I knew.

It seems there are a lot of different journeys with this PCS thing, and there can be relapses too.

I, personally, would be more cautious and not try too hard too fast just to avoid a relapse.

I guess though, if you feel like you are all right, then you are. Only you can really know how you feel.

Take care
Poetrymom

I don't think tolerance for alcohol has anything to do with recovery. Your brain may be so accustomed to alcohol that it does not react to it. Or, you may have developed your own standards for the day after drinking that make those days appear normal.

The research says the injured brain does not tolerate alcohol. That same research says that the numbing effects of alcohol can cause the symptoms of concussion to be less a focus of attention. This is why the researchers consider a single serving worthwhile for those who tend to focus on their concussion symptoms.

Six beers in an evening tells me you have quite a tolerance. Here is a good article about the different types of alcohol tolerance.
http://alcoholism.about.com/cs/alerts/l/blnaa28.htm

I wonder if you suffered a concussion or whether you suffered an upper neck injury that causes symptoms that mimic a concussion . The second could have severe symptoms but not effect your brain matter.

i had an extreme tolerance to alcohol before my injury. im not trying to brag that would be dumb but i had been drinking heavy for years 3-4 times a week with the weekends drinking almost 18 beers at a time with shots of hard liquor plus some drugs.

i obviously have calmed down and barely drink anymore but im trying to at least have my summer back. i live in Boston and im young its in our culture here to drink and party its the life i love lol

and my upper neck has had some pain. i too have wondered if my upper neck is the real culprit in this whole thing. sometimes when i move my neck and crack it i feel decent. i read if you neck got messed up it can cause a lot of the symptoms ive had

overall the last few weeks i have been really feeling better to the point where i think i see a finish line. im basically throwing all my slow recovery out the window at this point and want will return to normal wether i feel like crap or not. i personally cannot deal with another bad year and compared to this time last year i feel really better

How young were you when you started drinking heavily ? How old are you now ?

I struggle to understand why you need so much alcohol to have a good time. Can you even remember your good times when you are so plastered ?

Could it be that you have conditioned yourself to only feel pleasure when you are intoxicated ? Patterning your brain's behavior to sense pleasure when alcohol is present can prevent you from experiencing pleasure when alcohol is not present. Do a bit of research into the dopamine pleasure effect. It can be a life sentence to only experiencing pleasure when alcohol or other chemicals are present.

I don't know but would expect that there are therapies to learn how to trigger the pleasure reaction without external chemistry. I use a technique to increase my pleasure and skills when snow skiing. I let out a scream. It stimulates adrenalin that increases muscle response and pleasure sensation. All, without any added chemistry.