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

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?

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 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.