Apologies for being unkind. Im not one to sugar coat things though.
The OP has been to a qualified doctor and doesnt sound impressed with their answers either.

Use of the collective noun would have made your point more clear MM. :)

MysteryMan, we have no problem with you not sugar coating things. Being unkind is a completely different story.

This is a newcomers forum and the last thing we want is for people to leave as soon as they arrive.

Remember we have an Ignore Function if reading posts upsets you.

Let's move on and try to support HigherDrunk. :)

Hi and welcome Higher Drunk :)

I can only share my experience. I drank hard for 20 years, ending up an all day everyday drunk.
I suffered several mini strokes trying to quit cold turkey.

Even with all of that I got back to ‘normal’ - not immediately, but eventually, so I hope that gives you some hope :)

I felt better at about 3 months. Not being a 20 year drinker I would expect you’ll feel better sooner than that :)

The other thing is I was full of anxiety. I felt for sure I was going to die or stroke out again. I could not believe that I could walk away from the amount I’d drunk relatively unscathed. It took me a while to accept that I would be OK.

I felt sure that the woolly headed forgetfulness, scrambling for words or concepts I knew I knew would be permanent but in reality it got better week by week.

I think you have every reason to trust in your doctors diagnosis - I hope the test results will support that and help ease some of your worry.

Drinking that much in a short space of time is dangerous tho, even what you’d usually drink over the last 3 years is hazardous.

It sounds to me like you’d be massively better off not drinking at all, like I am and others here are.

I wish you the best and I trust you’ll bounce back from this :)

D

This sounds like my problem to an extent... though my problem is more frequent and noticeable. Instead of just running into a jam trying to solve a complex problem, I run into 'jams' almost every time I try to form a sentence... especially in my head. (for example whilst I was typing I missed the "my" in my first sentence) As where before I would have never have had this issue to begin with. Maybe I'd have it a day or 2 after a bender but it'd usually go away after a couple of days of abstinence.

I think you mentioned before that you were able to regain your cognitive abilities after 3 months of abstinence. May I ask you how much of your 'wit' you were able regain? (Like through %) Also did you do anything besides remaining sober to combat your issue or was it not that noticeable for you to even bother?

Hi is there a way I can edit my original post? I forgot to add a crucial detail to it that might explain why I've been having the problems I've been experiencing. I spent 5 minutes looking for the edit button and can't find it anywhere.

Hi HigherDrunk and welcome to SR.

You can only edit a post for a short time after posting it (something like 10 minutes I think) then after that the edit button is no longer visible.

I was hung up for so long and still am about the potential permanent damage i've done to myself that can't be undone. I was on here and google all day every day, obessively looking up and reading the same sites and articles i've already read multiple times.

Thing is no one can tell you if what you did is permanent, not even a doctor. It's a waste of time to agonize over it. Stay away from booze and hope for the best. I hope this doesn't come across as insensitive. Good luck to you.

I actually just got the results in the mail today. In the notes the Doctor said he noticed neuroglial deficits when it came to my cognition but was unable to determine if was due to my past alcohol abuse or if it was due to my mental health. In the results I got back I tested positive for severe major depressive disorder as well as high levels of anxiety. Also my IQ dropped by 1 point from when I originally took the test 8 years ago in high school. So... don't really know what that all means to be honest. I've been suffering with depression ever since middle school so it doesn't come as a surprise to me, even while experiencing it I never really had any noticeable impairments as I do after that bender I mentioned in my original post.

Will it be okay if I post the results on this forum? (crossing out any information I'd deem to be too indefinable)

Edits can only be made by the member 15 mins after the initial post.

I could edit it in for you but if it’s a major addition it would make all the responses so far somewhat dated.

Just tell us in a new post what you forgot to add :)

I’d advise against posting results on the internet. You may one day not want that information to be public, even with identifying redactions.

None of us can interpret the results for you anyway as that would break our medical advice rule.

I think anxiety can manifest itself in many ways and I’m not surprised your results are ‘down’, if marginally.

Similarly I know my IQ is not what it was in high school.

I really would try not to worry and try and move on.
Maybe do these tests again in a few months sober and compare them then if you can’t shake this feeling?

D

Wow... the actions you took sound eerily similar to mine. Mind telling me if you remained sober? ...If so for how long? Also did you ever regain your cognition back to its previous levels or do you feel like the impairments still linger on to this day?

I forgot to mention that during my last 2 weeks of drinking I started to donate plasma. I did it a total of 5 times during the last part of December and the very beginning of January. The reason why I think this may have been an important detail I missed is because donating plasma takes nutrition out of your body so maybe that's why I developed the problems l have today? I've read somewhere that alcohol abuse + a lack of nutrition can be detrimental to your health.

Funny enough... that's what my Doctor recommended in the notes.

I think the lack of nutrition would need to be pretty marked to affect cognition HD.

although I’m just a layman, I don’t think plasma donation, even with alcohol abuse, would affect nutrition to that extent.

D

Thank you for your input! Sort of wish I would have told my doctor about this fact when I first got tested so I'd have a more professional answer...

Worth remembering to ask your usual doctor maybe...if you don’t have immediate plans to see the neuroguy again.

D

I am thinking that this might have been a bIessing in disguise dear HD.
The fear of damaging your brain made you stop drinking.
Which is very good....you now get to have your whoIe Iife and career in front of you without aIcohoI ruining that. :hug: s

I'm so glad you're here with us, HigherDrunk. SR helped me figure out so many things, & I found the courage to end 30 yrs of sabotaging myself.
How wonderful that at 25 you're taking action. You're never alone.

I have remained sober. Approx 76 days. My cognition wasn't something I was focusing on so I couldn't tell you.

I drank problematically for a lot longer than 76 days though. So I imagine things I struggle with will continue to linger for a while.

Hi HigherDrunk, welcome. I’ve been away for some time due to legal issues (those pop up if you drink too much) but felt compelled to post to you. I relate so much to your anxiety. I feel certain that things will be ok if you remain sober. I also was crazy worried and had every test under the sun- full blood gets, ECG,ECC, MRI, heart tests on a treadmill, breathing tests, full body sonogram, a sleep test where I spent the night in the hospital with things on my head and constant observation, more blood tests, a second opinion MRI, and on and on. After years of heavy drinking the ONLY thing the many doctors could agree on was that I was fine, healthy except for the drinking. They all agreed that I must stop drinking. Once I did all tests came back completely normal.