TIQ aka THIQ
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TIQ aka THIQ
I have been reading about TIQ/THIQ and I found it quite helpful so thought I'd share. It's nicely summarised by the following section from this link Alcohol | RecoverMe.CA There are also some good threads on here on the subject (these tend to refer to THIQ rather than TIQ if you want to search for them)
When alcohol is metabolized (broken down) in the liver, it is broken down first to acetaldehyde. Alcoholics will store up to 50 percent more acetaldehyde than non-alcoholics, which the liver struggles to eliminate in the form of acetic acid (vinegar). The excess acetaldehyde hitches a ride on red blood cells and mixes with neurotransmitters in the brain forming a new substance called tetrahydroisoquinoline or TIQ. TIQ’s are well received in the brain’s pleasure centers once slight chemical adaptations are made. TIQ’s are similar to opiates producing similar drug seeking behaviour. This will result in the brain shutting down production of its own endorphins (opiates) leaving the alcoholic chemically depressed when using is stopped.
This subject has made me think that while I like the thought of having a glass of wine on a summer's day as much as anyone, that part of me is still there, this build up of TIQ in over my year's of drinking means that that glass of wine would immediately re-activate my TIQ and produce immense cravings. I would then have to go through all the withdrawal symptoms again and yet another Day 1, which may not be the following day of course but could be years later. So I need to remember that I have a choice to make if ever I think about picking up: is the pleasure of that one glass of wine worth more to me than having to start the battle of the bottle all over again?
When alcohol is metabolized (broken down) in the liver, it is broken down first to acetaldehyde. Alcoholics will store up to 50 percent more acetaldehyde than non-alcoholics, which the liver struggles to eliminate in the form of acetic acid (vinegar). The excess acetaldehyde hitches a ride on red blood cells and mixes with neurotransmitters in the brain forming a new substance called tetrahydroisoquinoline or TIQ. TIQ’s are well received in the brain’s pleasure centers once slight chemical adaptations are made. TIQ’s are similar to opiates producing similar drug seeking behaviour. This will result in the brain shutting down production of its own endorphins (opiates) leaving the alcoholic chemically depressed when using is stopped.
This subject has made me think that while I like the thought of having a glass of wine on a summer's day as much as anyone, that part of me is still there, this build up of TIQ in over my year's of drinking means that that glass of wine would immediately re-activate my TIQ and produce immense cravings. I would then have to go through all the withdrawal symptoms again and yet another Day 1, which may not be the following day of course but could be years later. So I need to remember that I have a choice to make if ever I think about picking up: is the pleasure of that one glass of wine worth more to me than having to start the battle of the bottle all over again?
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Join Date: Aug 2014
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And also consider this
Tolerance and kindling - Why alcoholics can't drink normally again
Recently I have read some comments here from new members that want to quit drinking for a couple of months/years and then try to drink responsibly again.
Well, I have to disappoint you (but believe me this is a blessing in disguise), that's not possible for 99% of us.
The cause is the progressive nature of the disease alcoholism and the mechanisms of tolerance and kindling.
Every withdrawal is worse than the previous one and each time you drink you will need more alcohol for the same effect. There is no way to reverse it, not a couple of months or years.
I wish I had understood this earlier, instead of binge drinking the last decade away. Over the years I forced myself into thinking that my alcohol consumption was a matter of strong will, persistence or control. I had to "master" the art of moderation and become a happy 1-2 drinks person.
But my body had already changed. Due to the effect of tolerance there was no happiness after 1-2 drinks, my nervous system screamed for more. And after that first drink, I was already powerless over alcohol and would drink more, more... till black-out. Good morning shakes, anxiety, thirst and welcome to the effect of kindling. The hangovers became acute withdrawals.
Actually it's quite silly. Someone with diabetes doesn't have an issue of "strong will" with sugar, neither someone with peanut allergy. So why do we keep fooling ourselves that our alcohol consumption is a matter of mind?
Accept that you can't ever drink again and it will be a lot easier.
(Geralt, SR)
Tolerance and kindling - Why alcoholics can't drink normally again
Recently I have read some comments here from new members that want to quit drinking for a couple of months/years and then try to drink responsibly again.
Well, I have to disappoint you (but believe me this is a blessing in disguise), that's not possible for 99% of us.
The cause is the progressive nature of the disease alcoholism and the mechanisms of tolerance and kindling.
Every withdrawal is worse than the previous one and each time you drink you will need more alcohol for the same effect. There is no way to reverse it, not a couple of months or years.
I wish I had understood this earlier, instead of binge drinking the last decade away. Over the years I forced myself into thinking that my alcohol consumption was a matter of strong will, persistence or control. I had to "master" the art of moderation and become a happy 1-2 drinks person.
But my body had already changed. Due to the effect of tolerance there was no happiness after 1-2 drinks, my nervous system screamed for more. And after that first drink, I was already powerless over alcohol and would drink more, more... till black-out. Good morning shakes, anxiety, thirst and welcome to the effect of kindling. The hangovers became acute withdrawals.
Actually it's quite silly. Someone with diabetes doesn't have an issue of "strong will" with sugar, neither someone with peanut allergy. So why do we keep fooling ourselves that our alcohol consumption is a matter of mind?
Accept that you can't ever drink again and it will be a lot easier.
(Geralt, SR)
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Were made different for sure. That's why acceptance is a major key in beating alcoholism. Surrender to the fact that you can't drink anymore. For me that was the only way I could move on with life. It's such a simple, logical way of thinking. Yet alcoholics will go to there grave without ever realizing this. I don't get it? We're physically different from others. We're born this way. Alcohol is poison. Just stay away from it. It's sickening. I hate this disease like no other.
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A defective organ in the body. Sounds a bit like diabetes. I had also read that this process is behind the phenomenon of craving, the inability to control the amount we drink once we start. These effects never occur in average drinkers, according to Silkworth. We are bodily different from our fellows.
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Originally Posted by waynetheking 
Were made different for sure. That's why acceptance is a major key in beating alcoholism. Surrender to the fact that you can't drink anymore. For me that was the only way I could move on with life. It's such a simple, logical way of thinking. Yet alcoholics will go to there grave without ever realizing this. I don't get it? We're physically different from others. We're born this way. Alcohol is poison. Just stay away from it. It's sickening. I hate this disease like no other.
TIQ is interesting because once produced the body cannot get rid of it and this could explain why alcoholics experience a sense that they have crossed a line and that if they relapse even after many years they carry on from where they left off, or from an even worse state with the kindling effect.
I'm mainly interested in the science of alcoholism though in so far as it aids my acceptance. I'm not a neuroscientist but I imagine there are many alternative theories on this subject and my acceptance is not contingent on any particular one being the right. To me, this model of the role of TIQ is just more more reason to favour sobriety over moderation.
I hope in time (I'm on day 39) that I will embrace sobriety for the more positive reason that it will make my life more enjoyable. And from all the accounts here on SR it looks that that is something that will happen.
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Welcome back AlericB, I too looked into the science of our disease to help understand. Not sure it helped me to understand it more but it did help me put some science to explaining it to normies. For me it gave me factual data that I confirmed by running 30 years of trial and error experiments. Mostly error.
Once I surrendered and accepted that I was a true alcoholic, sobriety has been easy. I have memories of drinking and most of them were bad ones.
Once I surrendered and accepted that I was a true alcoholic, sobriety has been easy. I have memories of drinking and most of them were bad ones.
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Join Date: Mar 2017
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Not sure of the value of this, but the TIQ/ THIQ hypothesis is described as "discredited" by Dr. Wikipedia M.D. I looked up the papers in the references, but they are way beyond me I am afraid 
I have read a lot of contradictory material on the physiological mechanism for alcoholism over the last three months, though the general model seems consistent. The genetic part of the puzzle is absolutely real. My AV has even had the thought of "Dude! Maybe they'll be a gene therapy sometime in the future so you can go back to drinking!"
I have read a lot of contradictory material on the physiological mechanism for alcoholism over the last three months, though the general model seems consistent. The genetic part of the puzzle is absolutely real. My AV has even had the thought of "Dude! Maybe they'll be a gene therapy sometime in the future so you can go back to drinking!"
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Join Date: Feb 2016
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Yes, the TIQ/THIQ theory was misinterpreted in the early 70s and then latched upon by the addiction treatment centres, as support for the AA disease model from the 1930s.
The TIQ/THIQ theory has since been discredited, I won't add any links, because even a cursory search for medical/scientific referenced research papers with peer group references, will provide evidence for the discrediting. Unlike the OPs link, which is from an addiction treatment centre which seems not to have kept up to date.
However, I've also noticed many alcohol addiction studies state that certain people fare better in treatment centres, when they're advised their alcohol use disorder/addiction is a disease; so that's positive for the individual, if it works for them, to combat their addiction.
The TIQ/THIQ theory has since been discredited, I won't add any links, because even a cursory search for medical/scientific referenced research papers with peer group references, will provide evidence for the discrediting. Unlike the OPs link, which is from an addiction treatment centre which seems not to have kept up to date.
However, I've also noticed many alcohol addiction studies state that certain people fare better in treatment centres, when they're advised their alcohol use disorder/addiction is a disease; so that's positive for the individual, if it works for them, to combat their addiction.
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Originally Posted by Tatsy
Yes, the TIQ/THIQ theory was misinterpreted in the early 70s and then latched upon by the addiction treatment centres, as support for the AA disease model from the 1930s.
This is the only time the word disease appears in the AA program as set out in the big book. It was and is the medical community that identify alcoholism as a disease.
As it was explained to me recently by a professor of psychiatry who has spent the last thirty years researching alcoholism, "it is a brain disease, with both genetic and environemntal components" Further he drew a clear distinction between sufferers of alcohol used disorder in the mild to moderate range and the extreme types for which he feels AA still has the most succesful treatment model. i.e. conversion experience. This is from a man who set out to prove AA didn't work.
His team had an article on this site about research into the link between alcoholism and depression.
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Thank you for this post. My grandfather was an alcoholic, my mom, my sisters, my aunt. Obviously it runs in the family. We all share the same DNA. My Dad isn't an alcoholic, nor were his sisters. It's puzzling, and I'm glad I took the first step.
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