When getting sick from binge drinking and smoking, how long does it last and what are the effects?
For someone who has been social binge drinking and smoking cigarettes every friday and saturday night (5 drinks or more per Fri/Sat night) for about 4 years, what can be the effects?
I was living this lifestyle and i have been feeling unwell for nearly 3 months. I have been going through feelings of lightheadedness, dullness, drowsiness, lowsyness, fatigue, muscle weakness & anxiety. I feel as if im high & "not part of this world"…
First thing i got was an ear infection, followed by chronic gastritis/stomach ulcers, then my right vestibular nerve was found to be weak.
I have seen a few doctors and specialists and they have informed me that most things are all normal. All blood tests showed normal results. The only thing abnormal was my liver ALT *83 and ferritin *395 which is slowly decreasing.
I have stopped alcohol & cigarettes completely ever since i was unwell. Is it possible to be having some withdrawal symptoms even if i wasn't addicted to drinking or smoking?
I've seen a Neurologist and an ENT surgeon who say everything is fine.
I guess what i'd like to find out if the way i was living my life before has caused me to feel ill?
If anyone has gone through this, how long did these feelings last?
I keep thinking that something else triggered this like a virus or something, but my lifestyle before makes me think that these are the consequences of my actions.
By the way, i was only a social smoker not an everyday smoker.
If you were indulging in this behavior only on the week-ends, it had to be really intense.
It does sound like something else may be going on with your body. Having problems with your liver is a definite red flag. It cleans your blood, filters every thing in your body and booze is a big bad bully when it concerns your liver. If you got to the barfing and black-out stage of drinking you do have problems.
Binge drinking and smoking can damage your immune system, thus making your more susceptible to illness.
How has work been going lately? Pressure and stress at work can also have these effects. Could work be causing the week-end binges to try and relax, get away from work, have "fun"? Work stress can definitely cause fatigue because cortisol (a hormone) can reek havoc on your body.
And yes, if you have been doing this for the last four years, you are dealing with withdrawal from no longer having it in your system AND psychological withdrawal from not having something to do with your hands while with friends and being in a "party" environment.
Drinking plenty of water and eating fresh fruits and vegetables and taking a good multivitamin can help. Follow any doctors directions you may have been given. Take care and get plenty of rest. Try to get into a regular exercise program. Hope this helps.
Sure, I know plenty of people who've done exactly the same thing. They're still alive and kicking because they are now taking good care of their bodies. That's all you need to do buddy. You're just run down and tired and obviously not nourishing your body properly. When you get stuck in one of those partying/bingeing modes you tend to not eat or sleep properly and just focus on partying and drinking/smoking. Well now that you've cleaned up your act you also need to remember to feed and nourish your body, that's why you keep coming down with all sorts of ailments.
First up - are you drinking plenty of fresh clean vital water?? You need to at least be drinking 8 - 10 glasses of water per day. If you're drinking coffee/tea/soft drinks/sodas you need to replace coffees and teas with x 2 the amount of water just to get back to ground zero !! As far as sodas and soft drinks go for each can you drink you have to replace 8 - 12 glasses of water that the sodas cause your body to lose, very dehydrating !! You would be totally amazed at the different mind set you will have just by being properly hydrated !!
It also sounds like you have a Vitamin B12 deficiency. Symptoms of deficiency in this vitamin are irritability inability to concentrate, moodiness, dizziness, depression, chest pains, heart palpitations, head and hand sweats, headaches, migraines, fatigue and exhaustion, oily skin and impaired balance !! Sound familiar??
Well, have you been under added stress lately? Most likely by the sounds of it. In stressfull situations we need to increase our intake of the B vitamins complex.
Wow, you poor guy, how have you managed for the last 3 months and feeling so ill?? All you need to do is to go the chemist and ask the pharmacist to advise you on which brand of the multi B complex of vitamins (ie: containing all the B vitamins) would be a good quality brand to buy. Avoid synthetic vitamins as they are really hard to digest. If you take this excellent advice, which is the best you will get!! No, seriously I definitely know what I'm talking about here. You will get relief from most of your symptoms within 24 hours !! Your body is obviously dehydrated - lightheadness, drowsiness and screaming out for water and food - fatigue, sore and tired muscles, stress, etc.etc.etc.
You also need to increase your intake of foods rich in this vitamin ie: yeast, liver, eggs, milk, cheese and fish, kidney and pork.
Recommended daily intake for adults is 2mcg. For B12 to be properly assimilated through the stomach it is necessary to be combined with calcium during absorption to adequately benefit the body.
In the human diet B12 is supplied primarily by animal products, since plant products usually don't contain it.
B12 vitamins will alleviate any chest pains or heart palpitations you may be having?? it will also increase your energy levels, maintain a healthy nervous system, relieve moodiness and irritability, ease depression, fatigue and exhaustion and improve concentration, memory and balance.
Therefore, you're surely deficient in B2 (Riboflavin) as well. Do you also have sore lips, mouth and tongue, cracked and splitting skin around your fingernails and grainy and sandy feeling eyes? If so, this is also a vitamin B deficiency, vitamin B2 (Riboflavin). This vitamin will be included in the Multi B complex supplement that you buy. There's nothing mysterious about multi B complex tablets either, just in case you were wondering. They're simply vitamins, and no they've not got chemicals/toxins or anything addictive in them just life enhancing vitamins. Well, in your case mate, life saving vitamins !! I'm truly so glad that you decided to come on line and ask us if anyone could help you. There really are so many wackos out there, you just got lucky though cos I'm a mother of 3 with a workaholic husband and I'm very experienced in most areas of health and nutrition. Plus I'm in the process of studying to be a naturopath, lucky you…. hehehe…… :0)
Sorry, I digress, just trying to reassure you. It appears that no Doctor has so far been able to help you so far, believe me I've had my fair share of quacks too !!
The recommended daily intake for B2 is 1.2 - 1.7mg.
Foods rich in B2 are milk, liver, kidney, cheese, leafy, green vegies, fish, eggs, yoghurt and beans.
If you are a vegetarian and have excluded eggs and dairy products from your diet, then you need B12 supplementation. Heavy protein consumers also need extra amounts of this vitamin. B12 and B2 work synergistically with all the other B vitamins, hence my advice to get yourself a B complex vitamin supplement.
Please treat your body nicely, you're the only one who has to live there, at least make it comfortable !! Try focusing on fresh fruits and vegies, wholegrain breads and cereals, seeds and nuts, cut back on dairy, eat lean meats and fish and poultry and eliminate SUGAR because it has no nutritional purpose and will only hinder your recovery anyway.
Good Luck, please let me know how you go………… :0)
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P.S. Any damage you may have caused to your lungs, kidneys, vital organs is obviously minimal otherwise the specialists you have seen would certainly have told you about it. Also, whether you think you were addicted to alcohol and cigarettes or not isn't the issue. Wot is the issue is that you will also have been detoxing the past three months and so all those yummy little chemicals/toxins that were in your system have all been racing out together !! Dont fret, things will start to get better from now on in. So long as you take ALL my advice …………….. :0)
PEACE & LIGHT
References :
Naturopath in Training
not to scare you but:
How old are you and have you been tested for **hepatitis c**??? If not, then it might be a good idea to get checked out *especaily * if you had any type of operation or blood transfusion before 1992, or if you ever tried any inervenious drugs ie: needle injected.
Hep C is only transferable through blood, but I do know someone who did not have any of the formentined risky behaviors and still got it somehow. Note that it is also possible to have it without knowing it for many years. It mainly affects the liver - people who are hep c positive are not allowed to drink for this reason. Hevey drinking can acelerate damage I imagine (relivence to your abnormal liver test results?? I am not sure here) Try and see webmd.com for a better overview and perhapes talk to your doctor about getting tested (its not a cheap test though, just fyi)
You might also want to check for aids and cancer, but thats just a way out there guess. Good luck…
addon:
I see now you were tested for hep c virus etc… it just sounds like Hep C to me… but I am no doctor…
just. make sure you get second opinions on everything you check and that your doctors take you seriously.
References :
webmd.com - look for hep C
Once your body becomes used to a habit, its hard for the body to adjust to change. you might feel ill, because your body thinks that it is lacking something. Try to ignore the ill feelings and find something to do that will interest you and take your mind away from the ill feeling.
References :
If you were indulging in this behavior only on the week-ends, it had to be really intense.
It does sound like something else may be going on with your body. Having problems with your liver is a definite red flag. It cleans your blood, filters every thing in your body and booze is a big bad bully when it concerns your liver. If you got to the barfing and black-out stage of drinking you do have problems.
Binge drinking and smoking can damage your immune system, thus making your more susceptible to illness.
How has work been going lately? Pressure and stress at work can also have these effects. Could work be causing the week-end binges to try and relax, get away from work, have "fun"? Work stress can definitely cause fatigue because cortisol (a hormone) can reek havoc on your body.
And yes, if you have been doing this for the last four years, you are dealing with withdrawal from no longer having it in your system AND psychological withdrawal from not having something to do with your hands while with friends and being in a "party" environment.
Drinking plenty of water and eating fresh fruits and vegetables and taking a good multivitamin can help. Follow any doctors directions you may have been given. Take care and get plenty of rest. Try to get into a regular exercise program. Hope this helps.
References :