I have been a fairly heavy binge drinker for the past five or so years...

Surely cutting out alcohol was some effort?
Even just a little bit.

What this guy says about regaining mental clarity he hadn't had since being a kid is exactly how I felt - You feel so much more alert after giving up drinking.

Also whats interesting is that stopping alchohol dramatically decreased my "mood swings" (after the initial cravings go away).

8-15 a night most nights isn't a massive amount, but it will probably eventually cause problems if you keep at it

shrinkage of the brain and a reduction of hippocampal neurogenesis is noted in heavy drinkers

irreversible damage is a big possibility if you repeatedly go through withdrawal. the damage done there is likely greater than the drinking itself, so just make sure you taper or get a script for valium if you don't mind having alcoholism on your medical records

I meant that I didn't need to put effort into losing weight, but it was worded ambiguously.

Quitting drinking did require some willpower.

You probably have mild brain damage. It would be hard to quantify, though.

>A herd of buffalo can move only as fast as the slowest buffalo. When the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first. This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members.
>In much the same way, the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells. Excessive intake of alcohol, we all know, kills brain cells, but naturally it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first. In this way regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine. That's why you always feel smarter after a few beers.
You should be OK, user.

One of the classic signs of alcoholism is making up complete bullshit to justify your addiction.

not the poster but it's an old joke. a dumb one.

You're inspiring me to quit as well, thanks user

Seasoned alcoholics seem to have pretty rotten short term memory from experience. They can remember what they wore in 1970, but not that they've asked the same question three or four times in an hour.

Whether or not it's irreversible I have no idea because their livers give up before their grip on the bottle.

>and take a shitton of vitamin C with it.

I know you're trying to help and a few days ago I would have given similar advice, but this is the ultimate example of why non-doctors shouldn't be giving medical advice.

dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/398167/VitaminCunknown.txt

tl;don'twanttoread: "High" doses of vitamin C can fuck you up, as in cause death.

How are you supposed to quit. I've tried so many times and maybe gone 2 days at most.

I'm the dude you were quoting.

I don't feel like downloading that file, but I guess I should have been a little more specific than 'shitton'.

What I should have said was, start by taking the daily recommended dose, and keep increasing a little every day until you have loose shits. That means you've hit your limit. Then back off and lower the dosage until your shits are back to where they should be.

That being said, I've never heard of anyone dying from Vitamin C, but I'd imagine you would have to take a retarded amount of it for that to happen (but what do I know... I'm a physicist, not a doctor, Jim)

The real ticket for quitting the sauce is the B-Complex, anyway. The vitamin C is just taken to help your body absorb the B vitamins.

This is a decent breakdown on the way I was able to quit: doctoryourself.com/alcohol_protocol.html

Do your research before you start. Make a plan, set a day that will be your final drinking day. It's going to be harder for some people to quit than others; just figure out something that works for you.

Example: Lots of people can't have booze in their house when they are trying to quit, but I felt an incredible amount of anxiety when I didn't have a bottle of whiskey on the shelf in my place. Mostly because I was terrified of delerium tremens, and wanted to have some booze on-hand in case they did start happening so I didn't have a seizure and fucking die. So, while I was quitting drinking, I essentially was never more than 20 feet from a bottle of whiskey. Most would recommend against this, but it's what worked for me.

I should also note that every single forum I went onto to discuss that Alcohol Protocol laughed in my face and told me I was too far gone and would have to go into a detox center, or that quitting is impossible without a support group. I tried to explain that the research seemed sound (especially the stuff involving niacin) and I thought that support groups were a crock of shit, but literally not one person was supportive of my decision to quit drinking through vitamins, willpower, and occasional self-monitoring of my blood pressure (buy a blood pressure monitor! It might save your life!)

But fuck what everyone says. Quitting is doable. Be smart about it and DO YOUR RESEARCH. You can, once again, literally fucking die if you don't stay on top of monitoring your vitals. If you don't feel comfortable doing that, go to a detox center.

I can help answer questions if anyone has any.

np bruh, it's pretty dope. I am actually at the point where I can have one or two beers in an evening and call it quits, even though everyone said that was impossible and 'once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic'. People are retarded, you're capable of doing whatever you want.

LSD cures even serious alcoholism if you can get a hold of it so they say. I did a lot for a summer, was never an alcoholic but can see how that could work. Alcoholism is probably the worst addiction to deal with in other people since some turn into absolute aholes, some don't remember anything after drinking, some wipe other people out with their cars...horrible shit.