Is an Alcoholic truly allergic to Alcohol?!
Is an Alcoholic truly allergic to Alcohol?
I have heard that there is something in the brain of an alcoholic that when it chemically reacts with alcohol it like an allergic reaction and this is what causes dependancy, and makes them act out differently than "normal" drinkers.
Answers:
"I'm allergic to alcohol" is an excuse for recovering alcoholics to not drink when someone tries to push a drink on them.
No not true - n i agree with the answer above me as well.
Some ppl r prone 2 addiction more than others tho - maybe their genetic makeup or chemical balance may cause more dependency than others. But no allergic reaction quite opposite on the contrary.
No this isn't true. Alcohol effects everyone similarly. However with alcoholics they metabolize alcohol quicker because they drink in excess. Also alcohol effects short term memory. The dependency may be genetic or psychological...but once there is a dependency to it alcoholics go through severe withdrawal symptoms such as any other drug.
if they were allergic they would get sick, not drunk
I cannot answer your question for I'm not qualified to say. But I am qualified to tell you and everyone else on Yahoo answers that ONLY STATEMENTS CAN BE TRUE OR FALSE.
It's not an allergic reaction. People are more prone toward alcoholism if they A) metabolize alcohol faster; faster metabolism = more alcohol needs to be drunk to feel "buzz" and B) have differences in receptors in the brain that respond to alcohol where people who are alcoholics respond more strongly to the pleasurable, rewarding properties of alcohol. Alcohol works primarily on GABA-A receptors, but dopamine (the main "pleasure" neurotransmitter) is also involved in the rewarding, pleasurable aspects of alcohol. Genetics plays a big role in determining how those receptors are made and how those enzymes in the liver metabolize alcohol.
No, an alcoholic is NOT allergic to alcohol.
With sustained alcohol abuse the brain alters the receptor that accepts the neurotransmitter seratonin (the feel good hormone) to accept an alcohol molecule for the same effect, this altered receptor is irreversible
It is absolutely true. I am a real live alkie (Recovered) and guess what? I never drank in the morning. My wife did not leave me. I was never homeless. I was not a daily drinker. I have never beaten my wife or children. I have not done time in prison. My kids do not hate me. I was never hospitalized for alcoholism. I have never been in a treatment center. So what is the problem?
One drop of vanilla extract placed under one eyelid, (80 proof by the way) it would produce an abnormal reaction that other people do not experience.
http://gourl.org/allergy
"ALLERGY (Merriam Webster): exaggerated
or pathological immunological reaction to
substances, situations, or physical states that
are without comparable effect on the average
individual."
In my case - I experience "craving" if ANY alcohol enters my body. THIS IS ABNORMAL - 90% of the humanity walking the face of the earth DOES NOT experience this - there is not comparable effect on the average individual -- which is why it is called an allergy. This abnormal reaction is in the form of an obsessive desire for more - a craving - AFTER I have taken the first bit of alcohol into my body. In all other respects, I am quite a normal and moral family man. But one drink for me and one drink to for a non-alcoholic - and we are each having TOTALLY different experienced with the product - physically.
This alone would not be an unsolvable problem, since one would think I could simply avoid alcohol much the same way that my allergic younger sister avoids strawberries, and therefore experiences no hives.
But there is something else.
I also have experienced a too oft repeated notion that, despite an unfailing abnormal reaction, I can take small amounts of alcohol into my body, much like any normal person, and NOT experience the allergic reaction. And no amount of evidence, or experience to the contrary ever fully convinces me that I must avoid alcohol.
My sister on the other hand, has no such mental block. She simply refuses to eat strawberries. I am not a stupid person; in fact I am certifiably a genius. Yet I have never taken the rational route of simply avoiding alcohol by my sheer will. It appears I am strangely insane when it comes to alcohol. Anyone who can come up with a better description than plain insanity would be welcomed to submit it to me.
So you see, my problem as an alcoholic, while physically manifested, does not center in my body, but it centers in my mind. Not-with-standing any other form of mental aberration, we have come to refer to THIS particular kind of thinking as "The insanity of the first drink"
An allergy AND an insane obsession, the discovery of which I am grateful, is how I know I am an alcoholic.
Conceding that I was alcoholic was not automatic for me. I had to LEARN that I was.
That learning, extracted out of my lifes history a preponderance of incontrovertible evidence that I am allergic to alcohol, and even the least amount introduced into my body causes a physical reaction, which non-alcoholics may never know. It matters not whether I have experienced ANY of the life-horrors 9lossing jobs, families, DUIs ect - any fool can bring these things upon themselves by simply drinking too much. it's what happens to me mentally (obsession) PLUS the abnormal physical reaction Icraving) that defines whether or not I AM or I AM NOT alcoholic.
Many people THINK they know what alcoholism is - and they don't. What they have is OPINION about things which which they have no experience. Hopefully reading this will "learn 'em" a bit - because alcoholism is a matter of life and death for me and millions lik eme - and too important to play "guess what I think" with.
Peace,
Danny S
http://recoveredalcoholic.blogspot.com...