Experimented with Alcohol yesterday

[Kalinychta]

I guess I was ambiguous there. My wife liked wine coolers, but the only drinks of hers left were 4 unopened 375 ml bottles of Sangria. After consulting the above mentioned tables, I drank one 375 ml bottle as quick as I could get it down. I knew I wouldn't like the taste, so I was essentially taking it like medicine.

So you drank just one bottle total? What’s the alcohol percentage in each?

 

[Jumpinbare]

13.9%. For my body weight, the chart indicated 375 ml at 13.9% would result in 0.06% blood alcohol

 

[Kalinychta]

13.9%. For my body weight, the chart indicated 375 ml at 13.9% would result in 0.06% blood alcoholView attachment 121243

Well, I’m glad you got that out of your system, both literally and figuratively. Alcohol actually makes anxiety worse in the long run.

 

[grommet]

So the retired nerd decided to experiment with alcohol yesterday. As a Lieutenant in the Air Force, I decided to see what people saw in drinking. So I tasted 4 different brands of beer over a couple of days. Hated them all. Had already tasted red wine at an ROTC dining in, and a guy at a party slipped vodka into my orange juice and couldn't believe I could taste the vodka when I spit it back into the glass. Apparently one of my oversensitivities is to the taste of alcohol. I find it very bitter in any drinks I have tasted. And I literally mean tasted, because each of them were so bad tasting to me I did not try a second sip. Obviously, I have never been even close to drunk or even buzzed.

My late wife used to enjoy wine coolers and occasionally a red wine when relaxing at home. I never shared it because of the above. Yesterday, I found one of her unopened bottles and decided to force enough down to try to get "mellow". I still didn't want to get drunk. I have enough health issues and my dyspraxia is bad enough I don't need further impairment from being drunk.

So I looked up blood alcohol tables for my weight, the wine strength, and what was considered drunk. In Florida, 0.1% blood alcohol is legally drunk. So I calculated for a level of .06%. As expected, it was nasty, but I got it down. According to the chart I was using, it would take about 48 minutes to reach .06, then it should taper down over 4 hours.
(Everyone does this analysis before drinking, right ? ). So I kept myself busy for a while rather than just waiting around so I would notice if anything noteworthy happened.

As time went on, I started feeling a little sluggish, and I noticed I was having more than normal difficulty focusing. At around 50 minutes, I began feeling a fullness in my ears, similar to the change in air pressure going up in a plane. I did not feel more cheerful, silly, or festive. I noticed no improvement at all. I just felt - off.

I went to bed at my normal time, and layed there not the least bit drowsy. I got bored laying there awake and posted here several times, and surfed the net in general several times during the night. Morning came around and still not drowsy. At 7:30 I was too hungry to keep laying there, so got up and had breakfast. I figured I would crash during the day and nap as needed. Still going. Have not slept now in over 36 hours, and while fatigued, have not experienced any drowsiness since Thursday night. (Maybe a novel treatment for my narcolepsy? - except I'd actually like sleeping at night.)

I think I can say I have given the alcohol experience a fair trial. It is not compatible with me, apparently. I'm not bothered by that since I hate the taste anyway. Hopefully, I will sleep tonight.

Thank you very much for this post. I thought it was very interesting but also I felt good not being one of the only adults who did not have experience with alcohol. I did not have my first drink until I was 50 and I only did it because I thought it was something and adult did.

I have not liked the effect. It gives me a headache and some nausea. I do not feel good. A couple of times it did seem to calm me down and I was grateful for that and wondered if I had found a cure for when I would come home overwhelmed with anxiety from being out. It did not seem to always work though. Also because it made me feel sick it was not something I wanted to keep doing.

I was so excited at the idea of alcohol being helpful because it was something I could get myself in any amount and not need to go through the terribly difficult process of getting help from a doctor. But for me alcohol has been a failed experiment.

I tried again recently having exactly one ounce of whiskey. I bought shot glass and measure in several ways to find where to mark it for one ounce. This last time it only made me feel sick as usual and I thought it made it harder to sleep.

All of this has left me wondering if alcohol makes everyone feel sick and that is part of the experience but other people do not mind, or if it just makes me feel that way. It is so popular and I cannot understand how. I have thought about it a lot and I cannot figure it out. I have been left to conclude that it must feel very good for most people, just not me.

I really was hoping it would be something that would help.

 

[Dadamen]

I also don't feel better, but only drowsy after drinking small amout. (a beer or a sip of liquor) so I gave up alcohol completely.

 

[Au Naturel]

Thank you very much for this post. I thought it was very interesting but also I felt good not being one of the only adults who did not have experience with alcohol. I did not have my first drink until I was 50 and I only did it because I thought it was something and adult did.

I have not liked the effect. It gives me a headache and some nausea. I do not feel good. A couple of times it did seem to calm me down and I was grateful for that and wondered if I had found a cure for when I would come home overwhelmed with anxiety from being out. It did not seem to always work though. Also because it made me feel sick it was not something I wanted to keep doing.

I was so excited at the idea of alcohol being helpful because it was something I could get myself in any amount and not need to go through the terribly difficult process of getting help from a doctor. But for me alcohol has been a failed experiment.

I tried again recently having exactly one ounce of whiskey. I bought shot glass and measure in several ways to find where to mark it for one ounce. This last time it only made me feel sick as usual and I thought it made it harder to sleep.

All of this has left me wondering if alcohol makes everyone feel sick and that is part of the experience but other people do not mind, or if it just makes me feel that way. It is so popular and I cannot understand how. I have thought about it a lot and I cannot figure it out. I have been left to conclude that it must feel very good for most people, just not me.

I really was hoping it would be something that would help.

Everyone is different.

I go through stages. One drink relaxes me, two blows away most of my inhibitions, and three makes me sick unto death. But then, I've been drinking moderately for decades. A glass of wine at bedtime is perfect to relax me and stop my mind from working overtime. A newcomer hasn't developed the ability to metabolize it as fast and a lower amount of alcohol will have a far greater effect. It also makes a big difference if you eat before or after a meal, how tired you are already, and if you sip it slowly rather than taking a shot all at once.

Not saying that alcohol is good for you. I was probably 50 before I developed a taste for it.

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

The only alcohol I'm staying away from is sugar alcohol. Latest trend for food additive to keep border line diabetics.
happy seems to be turning up everywhere. I'll stick to sucralose at least it's inert.

 

[Jumpinbare]

You tried alcohol, hated it, and it messed with your sleep even at a low dose. Sounds like it's not for you! Good on you for researching and being cautious. Explore other relaxation methods and talk to a doctor about your narcolepsy.

My neurologist is intimately aware of my narcolepsy. I'm his "weird patient" (his words).