Drink too much and then vomit, it’s an equation that has held true since man first learned about fermentation. The body switches over to auto mode when so much alcohol is consumed it can no longer be processed quickly enough. The stomach muscles contract violently and through the process of vomiting the alcohol and anything else in the stomach is ejected. It’s an instinctive defense mechanism whose function is to protect the body from alcohol poisoning. The young and overzealous (abusers) crowd incur this unpleasant process most often because they lack the experience and good judgement to regulate their alcohol intake; I know I did back in my younger days. At least when it was all said and done, usually it made you feel better.
You’ll notice I left out alcoholics from the “young and dumb” list on my list of people who vomit often, but it was intentional. You see even though logic would suggest that alcoholics who can not control their drinking would top the list as those most likely to be part of the vomit club it is not true. Yes alcoholics cannot control their drinking, but no self respecting alkie is going to waste a pint of cheap vodka by spewing it onto the pavement. In my case since I could not master my drinking, instead I mastered my body’s gag reflex and avoided the subsequent vomiting. Alcoholism is such a devious disease that it can conquer even the body’s natural instinct to expel alcohol that has reached a poisonous level.
Of course it is only a matter of time before the process of achieving and maintaining such a level of toxicity degrades your health. Loss of motor control, tremors, and the nausea brought on by bleeding ulcers eventually made it impossible for me to hold down anything, even alcohol (a frustration I would assume is something akin to not being able to acquire a vein to shoot up). There is a price to be paid for denying the body's desire to rid itself of poison.
Why bring up such a vile topic? I guess I wanted to illustrate how powerful the urge to drink is for the alcoholic. Take a normal person bending over the ceramic altar if they want a drink and you will be lucky to stay out of the way of the dry heave spittle as they cuss you. You will not need to ask an alcoholic the same question, because he will be over in the corner choking down the gag reflex in order to conserve his alcohol.
Just another example of how an alcoholic will put drinking above anything else, including health and even the gag reflex.
My thanks to the Partnership for a Drug Free Texas for the Drug Free Bunny
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The power of the addiction is so strong that it will lead one to literally drink themselves to death. I am not proud of this but after a 3 day binge, a tumble down the stairs (or off a balcony - not quite sure) 2 broke arms and a broke thumb later my BAC recorded at the hospital was .46 - that's not a misprint. Here are some (not) fun facts:
Effects of Alcohol Expressed in Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) levels
0.03 BAC - Slowed reaction time.
0.04 BAC - Federal prohibited limit for commercial drivers license.
0.05 BAC - Increased risk taking and American Medical Association recommended prohibited limit.
0.08 BAC - Recommended prohibited limit for criminal charges and impaired vision.
0.10 BAC - Poor large muscle control, loss of balance, and prohibited limit in most states.
0.17 BAC - National average blood alcohol level of drivers in a fatal crash.
0.19 BAC - National average for first time DUI offender and of persons who have killed police officers.
0.20 BAC - Loss of emotional control.
0.22 BAC - National average for repete DUI offenders at time of arrest.
0.30 BAC - Loss of orientation as to time and place.
0.35 BAC - Blackouts and stupor.
0.50 BAC - Published overdose level leading to death.
0.74 BAC - Highest recorded blood alcohol level by a US hospital.
I had a near death experience and didn't even think I had a drinking problem. I was drinking again before the casts were even dry. That was 20 years ago. Is there anyone on the face of this earth that could be so stupid. Not likely - they are not here anymore.
After a time, you may find that having is not so pleasing a thing, after all, as wanting. It is not logical, but it is often true - Spock
Screedler
I am going to repost this as a blog.
Sometimes we all need that kind of kick in the pants graphic description. And it does explain my alcoholic father-in-law's serious ongoing digestive problems...
"weak willed" when you understand how much suffering and pain we will endure just to continue drinking the very substance that is killing us.
I'm not sure how much you guys know about the effects of Oxycontin but your body has the same kind of reaction when too much Oxycontin is introduced into your system.
I really knew I had a problem when I would explain to people, "once you learn how to not throw-up from the nausea...it's much better".
I also mastered the art of not actually passing out even though my body was giving me all the classic signs that I was about to. tunnel vision, buzzy feeling in my head, hearing loss..but if i concentrated on it really hard, I wouldn't actually faint.
erinsav
www.whatwinnersdo.com
"I have affectively learned how to stop my body from protecting itself from an overdose". This is how many people die from alcohol poisoning. They depress their central nervous system beyong the point of breathing, much less vomitting!
This is so true it makes me sad. I don't like to drink but the people I hang with do. I can't even remember how many times I had to clean up the puke after a friend got waisted.
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Drug Treatment Centers in Los Angeles
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