alcohol blackouts

dufresne · Silver Member Joined: 02 Dec 2002 Posts: 285

Hi all. I’m not alcoholic, but sometimes I do like to go out with my friends and have a drink or two. Anyway, the problem is that last two or three times I did so, I experienced alcohol blackouts. I remember that I was drinking beer most of the evening last time it happened. Are there some drinks that cause these blackouts??? I mean, I’ve been drinking before but never had these blackouts... Your comments??

huot · Newbie Joined: 24 Feb 2005 Posts: 20

Even though you claim that you are not an alcoholic, I have to tell you that memory loss and blackouts are an early high-risk indicator of exactly that. Periods of amnesia (blackouts) are caused when alcohol consumption levels prevent the formation of memory levels in the brain and occur after a large amount of alcohol is consumed. Blackouts are a sign of serious intoxication and probably dependence. As far as I know, it really doesn’t matter what you drink but HOW MUCH... Anyway, I would think this all over if I were you and definitely reduce drinking...

alyds85 · Newbie Joined: 20 Dec 2006 Posts: 1

I am also not an alcoholic and have experienced blackouts. It has happened 2 or 3 times over a three year period. The first time was definately from over drinking at a party as a college freshman. The second time I did not have as much to drink, and i ate, but i only blacked out for a very short period of time, but the last time, i did not have hard liquor or even a huge amount to drink. I had eaten, and i have definately drank more then what i had the day of my last black out, and i wonder why, with so little alcohol that could happen. I truely am not an alcoholic, i drink about 2-3 times a month, IF that, and its normally just a glass or two of cheap wine. So I'd like to gain an understanding as to why these blackouts occur so randomly. I'd also appreciate a real answer, not just "don't drink anymore" or "these are all warning signs to alcoholism". I understood after my first black out that I had to control my intake when I was drinking and rarely do I ever drink in excess, so why am I blacking out off of so little alcohol.

Guest · Guest

I was a heavy drinking for about 5 years, My doctor called me technically an alcoholic although there was no chemical dependance for alcohol. Anyhow in the 5th year of my drinking career I started have large gaps in my memory after excessivley drinking, infact drinking lost it's allure because I could no longer remember the fun that I was having. So I gave up drinking, not forever but now i only drink maybe once a month if that. I didn't quit because I thought I had a problem, I quit because it wasn't fun anymore and if I do it sporatically it is fun. Needless to say I no longer have black outs. I think we all have a certain suseptability to blacking out and like anything else some are more prone to it while others like myself it can take a long time for black outs to rear it's ugly head.

Guest · Guest

It doesn't seem to matter anymore how much I drink I have a tendency to blackout. Is it the over consumption of sugar in the blood, is it just that my body cannot take it anymore, is it a factor of alcoholism? I can drink wine, beer or hard liquor and it will happen. Sometimes I can drink all night and it won't happen, sometimes I can have two or three drinks and it will happen. What causes this? I am making the decision to not drink anymore due to this occuring. It has happened throughout my life and at 50 it is disturbing to me. Please help to explain this medically, I know that excessive drinking, lack of sleep and not eating can cause blackouts to happen, but when you haven't had much to drink and this occurs baffles me.

Guest · Guest

After reading a study on this I have this to add:

1. Firstly, blackouts are NOT a strong indicator at all of alcoholism or alcohol dependency. Yes, you need to modify your drinking pattern but this does not mean you have long term problems.

2. Studies suggest that blackout occurrence is not directly related to how much is drunk, but instead how rapidly your blood alcohol level rises. So, perhaps you drank those few drinks faster on these nights which you experienced blackouts?

PsyChris · Posted: 03/06/08 - 20:20 Post subject:

"A man ran down a hotel hallway and through a glass window, falling 16 stories. Fortunately he lived to recognize he was in an alcohol blackout. Another drove for miles, reached home and went to bed, unaware the headless body of his lifelong friend sat next to him. When a woman learned she had scratched, bruised and repeatedly bit her best friend during an unremembered quarrel, she asked, “Who is this monster living inside me?”

Kevin Price drove the wrong way on the Garden State Parkway which led to the death of five people in a head-on collision. Michael Newbury awoke with a bloody hammer in his hand, the mutilated body of his girlfriend nearby. Paul Cox allegedly entered a Larchmont, NY, home where he formerly lived and stabbed a sleeping couple to death.

Hundreds more could be cited, and none remembers doing any of their actions—nor did they intend to or want to. They couldn’t stop themselves because they were in an alcohol blackout, one of the more common effects of dinking, suffered by millions on any given day. Some people blackout everytime they drink, others on a couple glasses of wine.

People in a blackout do not forget what happened. They will never remember, because alcohol blacked their ability to form memory. Without memory ormation they lose self-awareness and self-control. They are zombies.

Yet their pre-blackout memory remains intact, enabling them to walk, talk, drive, travel, quarrel, get into fights, wield a knife or hammer—and never know it. There are reports of an airline pilot flying passengers cross-country and a physician performing surgery while blacked out.

Blackouts devastate individuals and families, and the price tag is enormous. Yet the police and courts, doctors and hospitals, know little or nothing about them. Blackouts have fallen through the cracks of medicine. The research most often cited is 35 years out of date and does not reflect current neuroscience. Such neglect and misrepresentation can no longer be tolerated."

Guest · Guest

I have to agree with previous remarks - tis not necessarily what u drink but how fast u drink it. Gulpers tend to fair badly. This is good news for me, have often been told i drink liquor like it is lemonade - hence no memory of most evenings. The moral of the story - bloody slow down! I shall try it this weekend. Who knows, I may have a story to tell next one!

agoktas1 · Newbie Joined: 24 Mar 2008 Posts: 1

Hi,

I also get blackouts each time I drink even though it's only two or three drinks (Beers) and feel like I have a serious condition going on. I drink regularly but have only begun to have blackouts the last 6 months or so. After the first time I had one, I didn't drink for a month. Then I had 3 beers and blacked out again. I didn't drink for 2.5 months and again blacked out. I really am getting worried and would appreciate information that anybody may have regarding this.

Thanks.

PsyChris · Posted: 03/24/08 - 04:23 Post subject:

That doesn't really meet the standard criteria for "blacking out." At least not chemically.

I think your Anxiety over blacking out is causing memory loss vs too much alcohol.

alcohol blackouts

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