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Alcohol

samuel
0 Recommendations

2 years after I became ill, I stopped drinking alcohol, mainly cause I was using it to take an edge off the anxiety and I did not want to become dependent on it. Have any of you heard of a downside of using alcohol after suffering from encephalitis, or of any potential positive results. For example a glass of red wine a day is supposedly good for you, does it apply even more to us or does it make alcohol even more dangerous to our all ready battered minds.

Explore topics in this discussion:

Anxiety Memory Confusion Encephalitis Seizures Dieting West nile virus

16 replies

WendyStation

Hello samuel!

I have a glass of red wine with dinner occasionally (twice a week).
One "downside" to doing this, is that you must assess and consider the impact of alcohol on any medications you may be already taking.

curlycanuck

Another downside is that after E many people have migraines and alcohol especially red wine is a trigger. Also alcohol impairs judgement, speech and motor cooridination and the impairment can be heightened in brain damaged people. It can also increase the risk for seizures.

I too have a drink occasionally. Yesterday was my birthday and I had a drink then. My meds make alcohol metabalize quicker so I am a cheap drunk.

MichelleN

I had been warned by my neuro to never have any alcohol. I asked my step sister a nurse and she told me to talk to a pharmacist and then make my choice.

I haven't had any since E, but I'd like to try at some point just to see what it's like because red wine is supposed to be good for some things.

Michelle

BobTX

Hi Samuel,

Here is my experience: I have never liked feeling "out of control" so I've never been a heavy drinker but beer or wine with food was fairly common for me before E. After E I felt kinda buzzed without drinking anything so now I seldom drink anything alcoholic.

Here is a publication based on research on the topic if you are interested.

http://tbicommunity.org/training/newsletter/Spring2008.pdf

Take care

Bob

elodge

i am a recovered alcoholic, and i hadn't had a drink in nearly 5 years before i got E....so as i recover from my brain disease, i have to be extemely careful not to fall back into active alcoholism... i do this by being continually involved in AA and just not picking up the first drink... recovery from E is hard enough, i don't need to add alcohol to the problem...

IngridGuerci

I added E to active alcoholism. The first thing I did when I got out of the hospital was to have a gin & tonic and boy did it knock me for a loop. Unfortunately, I loved the loop but my alcoholism kept getting worse and it certainly slowed my recovery. I've went to rehab for a month and I've now been sober for 5-1/2 years!

Ingrid

WendyStation

High five and a hug to you Ingrid...and to others who are facing the same challenge!

Hughbetcha

Kudos to you Ingrid! I've always been sensitive to the effects of alcohol... a little goes a long way! Ergo, I've never been a big drinker.

Mark

muzzamo

I'm 26 and since E (about 16 weeks ago) I've decided to go alcohol free for a year. Basically I want to give my brain the best possible chance for recovery that I can and to not destroy a single brain cell that I could have avoided. I want to do everything "right" recovery-wise if I can and not toying with Alcohol is one part of that.

Not drinking gives me confidence in my recovery. Its an arbitrary choice but I think after a year its going to be clear if i'm going to make a 100% recovery or not so i'll reevaluate then.

Plus I put so much effort into trying to get my brain into a stable, recovered state I feel that drinking (or any other recreational drug for that matter) would take me further away from the state that I want to be, not closer.

muzzamo

.. I also find that telling people that I'm no longer drinking reinforces just how seriously ill I was in their minds: "Oh you have stopped drinking for A YEAR???" It must be bad!"

one_lil_red_hen

Muzzano, You should go for two years as that is the standard period of recovery. After that time frame, progress becomes slow but steady.

Besides, in a bar, who cares if you're having fruit juice alone, or 7-up plain. It speaks to the real kind of fun a person can have in a bar without alcohol.

Shoot some pool, talk with friends, tell jokes, play some video games, just be yourself.

Not going to a bar when you're not drinking is like not going to a resturant if you're dieting. Are you going for the drink or food, or for the enjoyment of friends and family??

Good luck with your efforts!

~hen

cbrocket

I rarely drank before E. Now I find it is something that makes me feel normal. I get less symptomatic or care less. I like two glasses of wine before bed. But, I have those worries about becoming dependent too. So I skip a day or three here and there. Or I put limits on like buy one bottle a week. And I don't drink before 9:30pm. I hope its okay. justify it because it seems better than anxiety meds and sleeping pills. I have perscriptions for both but take neither.
The thing is my anxiety is much more under control now than it was. Im really conflicted about the alcohol

rocket

geez

I have found that alcohol just adds to the the fact that i cant keep my coordination and control of my mind, i try to stay away from it but i do get upset because i can't enjoy a good glass of wine, along with my last blood test showed liver problems so now i definetly can not drink now

Deb500

I had Limbic E two years ago resulting in short term memory loss, then nearly resolved and now I wonder if it's getting a little worse again. Six months after my illness I went to a wine tasting. I got drunk really fast. Two days later I had some confusion which my Neurologist didn't think correlated to the alcohol, he thought it would have occured right away. Subsequent rare single drinks seemed to affect me with slower thinking. Anybody else experience similar symptoms? I sure would love an occasional drink.

MichelleN

I had my first drink in something like 5 years last night. My friend said it wasn't much because I didn't drink it very fast and it was one of the sample bottles of Baileys. I got even more tired than usual, but I also had a busy day so I may not know until I try it again. I don't know if I will, but between that and my coffee I got a full night sleep so I might even though it might affect my meds because everything effects meds.

Michelle

wasadoc

After West Nile Virus encephalitis in 2003, I totally stopped drinking for two years on the advice of my neurologist. I started drinking wine with dinner about four days a week about a year ago. I never have more than two glasses and usually just one. With that amount, I realize that I have been feeling progressively more tired, achy, and fuzzy over the last year. I think I'll completely stop again and see how it goes for a few months. Thanks for the wake up call.

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