JimmyJam

When the alcoholic gets a lot of alcohol in their brain tissue following heavy drinking, something different occurs. A small part of the acetaldehyde goes to the brain, where it interacts with a substance called dopamine to form THIQ. Once the THIQ is formed, it does not go away, even if the alcoholic stops drinking. It is there for life. How does the alcoholic recover from this chemical imbalance? They have to stop drinking. It’s alcohol that triggers off the compulsion. Don’t take the first drink and you are free from the bondage of alcohol. If it was as simple as not taking the first drink, everyone would be sober. There is a lot of work involved in keeping the alcoholic away from that first drink.

The THIQ that has attached itself to the Dopamine Neurotransmitter becomes dormant when drinking alcohol ceases. However, it does not go away but, like a dormant volcano, lies there waiting for something to trigger it off and cause the compulsive drinking to start again. AA has a saying: ‘One drink is too many and a hundred is not enough.’ The wisdom of this saying cannot be denied. Trying to control your drinking after a few drinks is like trying to control diarrhea!

You can't stop physiology. Just saying........... Jimmy

desertsong

Thank you for that, it makes total sense. I always said that it wasn't the 3rd, or 5th, or 10th drink that got me drunk ... it was the first. Taking the first drink was like releasing the brake on a runaway train. After the first drink, it was game on and there was no telling how bad it would end up.

Thanks for sharing!

Jim1958

Me too. One beer and I was off to the races. I knew this, so I would buy a case. That way I would not drive off to get more like I would if I just had 6 or 12. I was scared of a DUI, so I avoided driving once I cracked number one. At least now I know I can't have the first one. At times the AV says stop by the liquor store, but I send him away. I am always glad I did not drink. No head splitting hangovers!

esinger

Um this was research from the 70's-80's. Lots of misinformation and myths flying around out there about this. The conclusions are pretty much up in the air and heavily debated. Very popular in some circles though. Not so much in others.
I guess if it keeps you from drinking poison it's a great theory.

SickOfIt79

Note to self: some things are better to say to myself and not out loud.

uncorked

SickOfIt, I don't mind that esinger disputed the research. It wasn't said in a nasty tone. I am always interested in the latest scientific research when it comes to alcohol. I don't know about the theory in question, but I think respectful disagreements are fine.

Kaneda8888

The addicted brain - Harvard Health

fripfrop

Thanks for this. I also read somewhere that alcoholics livers have trouble getting rid of the acetaldehyde, so it builds up in the body and the brain, and hangs around for longer than in normal drinkers. This would explain how that compulsive "more more more" feeling comes over when drinking has started.
I think with research, of any kind, you can only accept what you feel to be true yourself, through experience. And there has to be some reason, in my opinion, some physiological reason, why some people have trouble stopping at a few, and others have no problem, and never have had

shortstop81

I think the important thing is, is that many people can identify with the experience of one drink sending them off into a drunken spiral. I *know* I'm an alcoholic because watching someone slowly sip their ONE drink and then setting it down, half-finished, and walking away from it DRIVES ME BATTY. It drives me crazy because it's so foreign to me - I would've downed that drink and finished about 3 more in that time period.

All the more reason to avoid that first one.

LadyBlue0527

Lots of theories on why we are the way we are.

Here's an interesting situation.

My parents rarely drank, and I mean rarely. I don't think I ever remember my mother drinking at all and my father might have one or two beers on a hot summer day if he was working on the camp. Maybe a few at a wedding. It was also just that, a few.

My brother and I were adopted at birth. We have come to know who our biological families are. My bio mom was a raging alcoholic. His entire family is also. My brother has severe health issues, he just had a trans ischemic attack this past Tuesday and he will continue to drink until, well, I'm not typing the words. I can't do it.

When I was 12 years old (and I was a naive 12) my parents had a bottle of Boone's Farm wine under the cabinet (I can see you cringing). One afternoon I decided I wanted a taste of it. I opened it up and took a few quick drinks and put it back. I walked over to the kitchen table and sat down. Suddenly, I didn't know why but I knew I wanted more. My mother was in the living room. I went back to the cabinet and uncapped it and took two more drinks. Then stood there and thought I needed another quick one. I put it back. The feeling grew when I went over to sit down. I needed to drink more of that wine. I did it one more time. Suffice it to say I stopped because I realized someone was going to know that the bottle had less in it. Not before I had drank a good half of the bottle. All of a sudden my heart started pounding really fast. I didn't feel good and I felt dizzy. I went and layed down on my bed and got scared. I went back to the kitchen and called my best friend and said (I'm sure in a slurred voice) "What's wrong with meeeeeeeee?". She asked me what I had been drinking and yes, this is just how naive I was, I asked her how she knew. She laughed and asked how much and I told her and she told me I was drunk.

I had absolutely no idea that the outcome of me drinking that wine was going to result in me being intoxicated. All that I knew was I liked the taste and my brain was telling me that I needed to have more. I might have had cute little sips of alcohol before in my life but I wasn't going after the feeling because I had never been there.

I knew I didn't like this feeling, that was for sure. However, after that first time it was all over. Plus, when my friend told the kids at school about it everyone laughed and I gained popularity. Imagine that.

So even as a child when I had no idea that if I drank alcohol what it would do my brain already had the "more, more, more" present.

Wierd. There has to be genetic factors involved.

waywardson8260

I've found out the hard way that one drink ha hurt me plenty. Great thread. Thanks!

Soberwolf

or as I like to say sometimes '1 drink is too many a 1000 is never enough'