Thiq!
 

I just read about this!!

I finally understand this "disease concept" of alcohol use.

The deal is: THIQ is a chemical that ends up in the brains of heroin users as a result of using heroin.

THIQ also, believe it or not, gets produced in the brains of alcholics. It is NOT produced by non-addicted (social) drinkers.

Non-addicted people break alcohol down into water, carbon dioxide, and sugar. The alcohol leaves the body for good, once it's digested.

Alcoholics, however, get THIQ build-up in their brains. That's why, even if they abstain from alcohol for decades, just one drink can start the downward spiral just where they left off.

SO THERE IS MEDICAL EVIDENCE THAT THEY ARE DIFFERENT FROM THE REST OF US! THEY REALLY DO HAVE A MEDICAL PROBLEM!!!!!

Why isn't there more information about THIQ in the alanon literature????????? It should be on the front page in all the books! Is there a post on this website that I missed?

If only I'd known about THIQ years ago.... I would have handled things SO DIFFERENTLY!

From what I've heard
 

an alcoholic's body chemistry is different than a non-alcoholic. Ex-A learned about this in rehab. Alcoholics metabolize pain killers and anesthesia differently. This made sense to me, because ex-A could take Percocet after surgery and it wouldn't affect him in the least. Most people get pretty knocked out by Percocet. Ex-A was also told that he should always inform an anesthesiologist that he is an alcoholic, because alcoholics need to be anesthetized differently due to their body chemistry.
And that's all I know about that.
Peace,
Gabe

You mean all those times my mom called my dad "thick-headed" she was right except for the spelling?

Hmmm.... I suppose it's not splashed on the first page of alanon literature because our program is about us... not the alcoholic. But I know what you mean. I ran off to read about THIQ after you posted. I'd never heard of it. I found an article by some guy who's been researching it at Harvard. His theory about why some doctors are still non-comittal about alcoholism as disease? That those doctors like to drink. :lol:

http://neuro-www.mgh.harvard.edu/for...coholalcoholis

That's a link to the article... for the curious.

The best
 

book for info on alcoholism I know...

"Under The Influence" by Dr. James Milam.

There is also a newer one..."Beyond The Influence" by his
co-author K. Ketcham.

Amazon carries both.

Smoke,
Thanks for the link. I love the bit about doctors conferences always being full of booze and food.... we sure can be irrational human beings sometimes. You'd think doctors would be the healthiest people on earth, but I guess that's not the case. Kind of like how plumbers never have time to work on their own houses, hairdressers their own hair, etc.:shades:

Gabe,
That is REALLY interesting to hear that anesthesiologists are wary about alcohol use, or a least the one that your husband ran into. I bet he/she never learned that in the textbooks, but picked it up from experience.....

Carol,
I've heard that book mentioned several times, but I put off buying it. I'll look into getting a copy....

My father (28 yrs sober) likes to say that if he ever had anesthesia he wouldn't make it past the next Budwiser sign. AA humor at it's worst.

I will say tho...he had rotator cuff surgery and took pain meds after...he is fine. 78 yrs old and still golfing!

JT

Eyes Open
Somehow I have a feeling this is merely a theory.
Mainly because it hasnt seemed to make headlines.

However, not being a doctor I just plain never heard of
it !
What I would like to know though is what do they say is
wrong with us recovering alanons who spent so much
time trying to save these thiq-headed people ??!!
Hugs
liddy

Does it really matter if it's medical or psychological? They're still a major pain in the azz either way. :rolleyes: :p

liddy:

I guess the reason I spent 15 years with my thiq-headed individual, is that he was so completely, totaly, convincing that what was going on was perfectly fine.

He had ME convinced for years that everyone and everything else was the problem, not him, despite mounting evidence to the contrary.

I finally realized that he was able to be so convincing because he truly believed some of the nonsense that was comming out of his mouth.

If there is some "bad wiring" in the neurotransmitters of these people, some kind of medical explaination, then it makes it easier for me to stop trying to make sense of the nonsense.

Especially when I see him being soooooooo charming around other people ......... that's pretty hard to take.

My husband has also been informed about THIQ in intensive outpatient therapy. He was told that this is the reason that no matter how long it has been since the last relapse, the A picks up where he left off. It explains the progressiveness of the disease. It is strange though that you don't hear more about THIQ by the medical field. It seems to be limited to those working in the rehab business. If it is true, wouldn't it be nice if somewhere research was being done to find a way to fight this? Anyone hear of any research in this area?

Jo

Jojo:

There have been days when the mean streak in me wanted to get some antabuse and slip it in my husband's food.

Yeah, it would be nice to some how come up with a better treatment other than just waiting for "hitting bottom" to happen.

Well some only rock bottom can help. Right now my husband is in rehab hes been there two weeks and is doing good he has two more weeks to go. And as the rest i just heard about T.H.I.Q. when i went to family day. I just hope this works for him hes been drinking 30 years or so now and says hes tired of it.

Hello dove and welcome to SR. It might be good for you to start a new thread to introduce yourself. Most of the posters on this old thread aren't around here anymore, but there are plenty of others who will stop by to say hello and share their own experience strength and hope.

Hugs
Cats

I have not heard of this - but it makes total sense.

My RAH could drink more than I have ever seen a person drink in my life, and the next day not be a bit hung over, not have a headache, not even be tired. Just ready to drink more. Is that normal? Or is it part of this THIQ stuff?