Anyone notice alcohol effecting you more after head injury?

[keeley24]

This is one of many disagreements me and my mum have. Never been big drinker but do like a few drinks if out with anyone other than my mum. I was told after my brain injury not to drink any alcohol for first year which purely cos of risk of seizures I did stick to. After the year I did occasionally have a few drinks. I don't feel it effects me any more than it did before. My mum can usually tell if I've had much so I would say it effects me more than I notice.

[Kirk5w7]

Well Keeley I was told not to drink alcohol at all but I do occasionally and I cannot drink more than 2 units at a time because it affects me so much more than it used to.

Janetx

[Hidden]

Yes, definitely. My husband has never been a big drinker, but I certainly notice that his brain deteriorates when he drinks. If he has more than one or two glasses of wine (even with a meal) he becomes confused and spaced out.

[StrawberryCream]

Yes alcohol has a greater effect with a bi.

[deborah27]

yes it really does I'm sorry to say.

[Pat-rick1]

Not at all for me , but in saying that I'm not a big drinker I never really like the taste!!!now I could drink as mush as I like it's like water to me . So I don't drink because of the consequences simple .

[steve55]

keeley24 i get a hard time from my doc, the neurologist wasnt too imprest either.

but ive cut down my alcohol intake since my stroke although i do have a drink daily and as i pointed out to the doc i dont smoke.

if i cut out alcohol his next question would the number of times a week i have sex............and no doubt that would be too much!!!

[moo196]

Oh yes !!

I was told for one year no alcohol and thereafter I am limited to one and one only. I definitely feel the bad effects ( almost as if I had had 3 ) and don't go for any more as I do not want seizures again.

[shaunmcg]

I'm a bad boy and still drink and smoke weed! Yes it does effect me more so I do drink a lot less than I used to. Honest!

[Pat-rick1 in reply to shaunmcg]

😂

[Pat-rick1 in reply to shaunmcg]

I never smoked weed before. Now I do.

[RogerCMerriman]

I didn't drink much before, but I stopped afterwards mainly since everything was and has remained floaty in that I have a touch of vertigo and impaired balance, which rapidly declines as I tire.

Judging by how woozy I felt from once slice of Christmas cake my brain is much more sensitive to it, I wasn't that much of a cheap date, as a teen as I am now.

[Kavib]

It has effected me much more so I have now completely stopped drinking alcohol. I think when you have a slight alteration with your brain already when you have something that unbalances it further makes you feel very strange and out of control. So I would rather not have that. Also read a book that explains alcohol kills brain cells.

[DTBI]

Definitely does I'm afraid. Key thing for me us not to mix beer with wine or spirits. Choose which one your drinking and control the amount. Good luck

[GrandmaM]

My son doesn't seem to be more affected but it supposedly interferes with his medication so he seldom drinks much. Who wants to have a seizure, especially when out with friends!

[keeley24 in reply to GrandmaM]

Risk of seizures was honestly probably the only reason I didn't risk drinking before a year. I managed everything a lot sooner than anyone expected I felt back to normal probably 2 to 3 month after so everything pointed towards me being ok with alcohol sooner than a year. I knew if I had risked having any and been ok I would of kept risking more which could have led to a seizure and ruined my chance of getting back driving so I decided it wasn't worth risk. I would actually like to feel drunk faster but I don't.

[dillyd]

My husband didn't drink a lot before, but now even a small bottle of low alcohol beer affects him.

He may have the odd one on a special occasion, but usually then it's only half a shandy!,,. Cheap date

[Hidden]

The way I see it is that alcohol, however pleasant, is a poison as far as ones hard-working brain is concerned! It is a bit much to dump it with an extra job to do when it is having to work hard to balance so much. I did have a bit much to drink two Christmases ago and ended up fitting in the night when I stopped breathing and didn't wake up to reposition my oxygen cannula. My DH persuaded the paramedics that I did not need to go to hospital again! Now I have a maximum of two glasses of wine at the weekend and the occasional small Whiskey but drink plenty of water and never overdo it...

[paxo05]

Never thought I was a big drinker before, I would label myself a modest one. A whiskey at night to unwind in the bath....maybe I drank more than I thought.

As with others was advised not to drink. About two years after my bi I asked my gp and was told in my case not the wisest thing to do.

Unfortunately I thought he meant due to medication. I came up with the bright idea to be med free for a day whilst on holiday before having a drink whilst out with my family.

As Julia Roberts says in pretty woman BIG MISTAKE HUGE IN FACT. Apparently after one glass of sangria I became the life and sole of the party. Trying to dance on the table and more. Then passing out whilst being taken back to the hotel. I spent the next two days layer on the bed followed by three days trying to get mobile and pain under control.

Needless to say haven't drunk since...Oh had a home made rum truffle once and felt rather tipsy. Safer not to touch the stuff.

I know other bi survivors who drink and I have noticed how quickly they are affected by it.

We each have a choice and hopefully know our limits.

I have been asked do I miss it and the answer is no...okay when it comes to toasting in the new year maybe yes but thats it.

Pax

[magdolna]

My neurologist rehab doctor at the hospital advised to not drink for the first year. He said the effect of the alcohol will be felt even more so after SAH. One evening while having an Indian meal, I had a half of their lager which I really enjoyed with my meal. I would not of enjoyed anymore than that and I just drank a lot of water. When we left restaurant to walk home, I became aware of a sensation on the surface of my brain which I can only describe as like that sweet I had as a child called Space dust which went crackly on your tongue. After the crackly sensation I felt a horrid pain/sensation at back of my neck/base of skull. I felt 'oh shit' not again. Thankfully the sensation subsided but it did make me panic a bit. And I DO NOT want to have a seizure, so I don't drink for now except for occasional sip of my husband's beer/wine. I used to enjoy a glass of wine but now I have no real inclination to drink anymore. One soon gets used to not having a drink, and water is quite lovely to have instead and better for brain. The irony of not being able to drink nor drive makes me smile! When I next see my brain doctor after one year I will heed his advise about drinking in the future.

[keeley24]

I have gone over top drinking a few month back. I wouldn't say it was because of brain injury as I have been ok having as much to drink since then. I put it down to not taking notice how drunk I felt and not thinking of what would happen later and how I'd get home. I was going back home where I live with my mum. Normally every time I'm with her I'm normally thinking can I hide the fact I've had a few and act normal. This day it didn't cross my mind. I got nearly home and there is some woods near my house like a wood path to cross then go round a house and I was on my street. Or I would have been if I wasn't drunk. I couldn't for life of me think which way to go through the woods. By this time my mum was phoning wondering where I was as I'd said I would be home well before then so I phoned her to tell her I was nearly home just trying to find my way through the woods. She knew something was up then and looking back it was obvious I was drunk my mum noticed second I walked in and I couldn't even try to deny it. Since then every time I have drank I have kept going through in my head my way home and how I'm acting and feeling. It is so easy to just carry on drinking and get too drunk. Oh and that day I finished with my phone screen completely cracked in every place very lucky my phone still worked.

[Hidden in reply to keeley24]

Yes I have had similar experiences after going out drinking. I used to overdo it in my 20's looking back. I had a head injury, frontal lobe damage after I was hit by a car in 1996 and my head hit the pavement. That was when I was 17.