Swampfox1963

It is amazing how alcohol intake will enhance the physical attraction to a
member of the opposite sex. The club scene is where this is type of attraction is most prominent. I'm sure everyone knows the coyote joke but
I think it stems from an alcohol blackout on behalf of one or both parties.

pluginjug

I sobered up before I got into email and well before texting ... which is good because I was bad enough running my mouth when in a blackout.

A 2 day blackout got me into AA and I've been sober since. I actually couldn't remember anything for 2 whole days and nights ... it was one heck of a bender. That scared me big time ... right into AA and I sobered up. After that 2 day bender, I had trouble breathing and was in a world of pain.

I've had a girlfriend break up with me as a result of a blackout. At first I didn't think anything of blacking out. I figured everybody blacked out. Then I realized most people don't black out and that it's totally nuts to be blacking out a few times every week.

Swampfox1963

Another thing to remember is you are legally responsible for your behavior when in a black out. Just because you can't remember hitting
that car and fighting the police the next morning does not mean anything
other that you are still criminally and civilly liable.

LDT

I found the blackouts during my (one) relapse to be so frightening because it took 'comparatively' little alcohol to cause them. After just 3 glasses of wine one night I couldn't remember anything the next day..... And I wasn't even hungover. That is what made me a believer in the Kindling Effect.

Happy to be finally free of that fear.

Tammy47

The blackouts I've recently experienced made me face up to my alcoh problem. I wonder after about 5 years of excessive drinking that they only began 1 year ago?? Yes, good point made - that they probably are a good thing if makes us face the truth, and give up booze. I feel so ashamed of my behaviour (the texts, phone calls etc) uck. But I'm going to focus on the fact that was not the real me, because its not - sober.

Swampfox1963

Yeah Tammy that is why I am trying to stay sober...plus avoiding liver and
law problems. The beast came calling earlier tonight .... I got 3 joint replacements and need a total shoulder replacement. All this rain and moisture in Georgia has my arthritis flaring up. What hurts worse is drinking that liter and waking up the next morning feeling crappy and my stomach feeling like someone knifed it. I'm only 7-8 days from my last drink so the beast lurks close. I'm over it now...for tonight.

tammy711

LDT: You had blackouts immediately during a relapse even though you didn't drink that much? That is scary! I was curious about the kindling effect, so I Googled it.

Here is what I found: Let me google that for you



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Raksha

I also have them blackouts.... and actually I should be far more scared thatn I am, but the main thing i feel is embarrassment....
I am quite fmailiar with all those feelings about not knowing what u have told to people, or knowing how I got to bed, or home, or or or.... :P

julez

I had blackouts often, I would say about 80% of the time. Tammy711, I too would wake up and tiptoe around my husband to see if I was in trouble.The blackouts didn't really scare me, more so embarrassed me. What really scared me was how angry I would get over minor things. That was never ever how I would act, drinking or not, and after the second or third time it happened, I was done. Nothing was worth fighting my husband over to that extent.

wiscsober

Black outs are very serious. Some people posted they can't find info.

"Doctors always try to scare you and make black outs sound so serious and fatal, but then they couldn't back the warnings up with hard data. Just what a beast needs to keep feeding! :- )

This phenomenon has been studied for over a century
Look here for all of the info. you will ever need:

What Happened? Alcohol, Memory Blackouts, and the Brain

Blackouts are very dangerous and the myth is that the person has control of their faculties...their actions and thoughts are greatly affected

GregMan

Routine blackouts are certainly a clear signal that biologically and neurologically your drinking has reached a critical point. You can also bet that at black out point you are doing damage to your brain. I used to wake up from them and delete my call and text log off my phone without looking at it, too afraid to know what had transpired. They began occuring quite early in my life (late teens) and I didn't take them very seriously, I refered to being blacked out as being "on autopilot". I eventually had a terrifying experience where I was blacked out for almost a week straight. After suffering DTs for a good week after, shards of memories began showing up in my nightmares. I still shutter at the thought of those events... The only comfort to be found is knowing it won't happen again today. Good topic!

Kimmers

Off of Web MD

A blackout is a phenomenon caused by the intake of an alcoholic beverage or other substance in which long term memory creation is impaired or there is a complete inability to recall the past. Blackouts are frequently described as having effects similar to that of anterograde amnesia, in which the subject cannot recall any events after the event that caused amnesia. 'Blacking out' is not to be confused with the mutually exclusive act of 'passing out', which means loss of consciousness. Research on alcohol blackouts was begun by E. M. Jellinek in the 1940s. Using data from a survey of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) members, he came to believe that blackouts would be a good determinant of alcoholism. However, there are conflicting views as to whether this is true.[1] The negative psychological effects of an alcohol-related blackout are often worsened by those who suffer from anxiety disorders