Falling asleep when drinking

eirebhoy

My personal "problem" is as follows. When I go for a night out I would drink about 2 pints and feel a bit more confident and stuff (as you do). I would not get any drunker until about my 8th pint. When I do drink my 8th pint, most of the time I would fall asleep which is really frustrating.

The most likely thing to do is drink 7 pints but its hard to stop drinking while the rest of my mates are drinking and anyway, I might aswell be drinking water if I'm not getting any drunker until the 8th. Most people would get drunker every drink but that doesn't happen to me, it all just builds up and comes on me at once.

Any idea's on a way of solving this bearing in mind that I am not drinking extremely fast. Would drinking a pint of water between drinks solve this?

Cheers.

Sarky

The simplest thing to do is to drink less. Crazy, no?

Try eating.

And yes, drink water.

Paddy20

Afaik. Falling asleep after 8 pints is your subconscious protecting you from killing yourself through 'Alcohol poisoning' !.

Maybe you should listen to your body's defence mechanism, which is trying to tell you that you are consuming a dangerously high amount of alcohol in one session ?..

Cut down now, while you still can. Otherwise you may become hopelessly addicted to what is a killer drug.

Moderation in all things

P. :ninja:

Emboss

pint of milk before ye go out

do you drink pints 2-8 quickly?

maybe slow down a bit?

take speed?

therecklessone

Something similar happens to me eirebhoy, without the sleeping. I get to pint 8/9 and suddenly I can't string a sentence together. Its not gradual, I'm all sober and making sense then WHAM I sound like a washing machine.

My solution is to start the night drinking bottles rather than pints. Drink at the same pace as your companions, i.e. one bottle for every pint (roughly), and you'll be fine. By the end of the night when they're all elephants, you'll still be in full control and raring to go. I did it at my Christmas party and I had a great time. Got tipsy but not dribbling drunk. Finished the night on scotch and strawberry margheritas...:cool:

Capt'n Midnight

Originally posted by Paddy20
Afaik. Falling asleep after 8 pints is your subconscious protecting you from killing yourself through 'Alcohol poisoning' !.

IIRC one of the effects is to stop your heart through reflex action or something, what's the chances of someone not disturbing you for three minutes especially if you have a history of sleeping ?

Drinking water should help - less dehydration means should not have as much of a hangover the next day too. But why bother drinking after the third pint if you don't feel the effect - might as well just empty your wallet at the bar..

The abillity to process the equilivant of higher blood levels alcohol is genetic rather than macho. And of course bigger people have more blood and bigger livers.

Reyman

Anyone drinking 8 or 9 pints regularly is definitely heading for "John of Gods"

That's if the local Regional Hospital/ Morgue doesn't get them first! The Liver doesn't forgive or forget -- ask anyone in the Medical business

Victor

You have to be really careful. What happens if you drink your eight pints and walk outside and fall asleep in front of traffic. Happened a guy I knew from work (age 19) and he's now a "fatal road traffic accident statistic".

eirebhoy

Originally posted by Victor
You have to be really careful. What happens if you drink your eight pints and walk outside and fall asleep in front of traffic. Happened a guy I knew from work (age 19) and he's now a "fatal road traffic accident statistic".

This falling asleep thing is actually in the family. My brother was found asleep a few minutes away from the house on Saturday morning. He was found by one of my mates and so he was very lucky. He was laughing about it yesterday and it didn't seem to bother him, he's off to Australia for a year in 2 weeks with his gf so she won't let him get too drunk.

I'm gonna relax on the drink myself, drink 5/6 pints max for the time being, see how things go. I would usually get a blackout/fall asleep once a week and as you all say it definitely can't be good for me. Although, I say this now but when next weekend comes I can't see myself stopping at 6 but I'll try my very best.

Beruthiel

Originally posted by eirebhoy
I'm gonna relax on the drink myself, drink 5/6 pints max for the time being, see how things go. I would usually get a blackout/fall asleep once a week and as you all say it definitely can't be good for me. Although, I say this now but when next weekend comes I can't see myself stopping at 6 but I'll try my very best.

it's all a matter of habit
skip a round or two with your mates, especially at the start of a night when your brain is still working, just stop yourself from drinking too fast, if you smoke, stop yourself from smoking so many as this tends to make you drink more. The odd pint of water in between your drinks will slow you down, you already know that you have to take care of yourself while out drinking, falling asleep is just way too dangerous and you've gotten away lucky so far....

Borzoi

I know someone in a very similar sitaution - but he's diabetic, which is what the sleeping is attributed to as his system shut down to process the booze. But he'll wake up in 10-20 mins and be ok.

Bearing in mind that diabetes is supposed to be one of the fasest growing medical conditions perhaps you should check it out.

Oh, and ignore Reyman and his scaremongering ways.

Reyman

9 pints of light beer (Guinness/Heineken 4.3%alc. ) has the same amount of alcohol as 2/3 a bottle of Whiskey.

A bottle of Whiskey can kill you!

You have to make that choice.

KlodaX

a bottle of wiskey can kill you????

what if you space it over 24 hours? ... whats the time frame on drinking the bottle?

Beruthiel

here's an article on alcohol poisoning:

http://members.aol.com/intoxikon/alcohol.poisoning.html

Victor

Originally posted by Borzoi
But he'll wake up in 10-20 mins and be ok.

... but missing a mobile and a wallet....

Borzoi

Originally posted by Victor
... but missing a mobile and a wallet....

It has been known to happen alright:D

Victor

Originally posted by Victor
... but missing a mobile and a wallet....

... and his "virginity".

Reyman

In an average person light beer is eliminated by the body at the rate of 1/2 pint an hour. This means you can drink at this rate indefinitely without your blood alcohol rate ever rising above a fairly low level.

If you drink at a more normal rate of one pint a half hour your blood alcohol rate will rise continuously as long as you continue drinking and for an hour or two after you stop!

Whiskey is absorbed faster than beer though I don't have exact figures on the absorption rates. An inexperienced spirits drinker may drink it far too fast and end up in trouble. That's why most alcohol poisoning results from spirit drinking and beer is relatively safer because of its sheer volume.


A fairly reasonable drinking regime would be a regular max of 3 pints of beer for guys and two pints of beer for girls. After that you may be in trouble depending on your body weight, muscle/fat ratios and other factors.
Anyway console yourself if you've problems keeping to this--- We're all weak now and then!

Borzoi

Originally posted by Victor
... and his "virginity".

Well to the best of my knowledge, he's never been out with you

seamus

Originally posted by Reyman
In an average person light beer is eliminated by the body at the rate of 1/2 pint an hour. This means you can drink at this rate indefinitely without your blood alcohol rate ever rising above a fairly low level.

What's 'light' beer? No, seriously, like Coors light?

It's all well and good to say "A bottle of whiskey can kill you", or "8 or 9 pints?, Jesus you're lucky to be alive", but what you're doing is taking it out of context.
A bottle of whiskey over a 1 or two hour period can definitely kill you, but over 6 hours, obviously depending on the person, and numerous other factors ranging from what they ate today, to how much sleep they totalled over the last 5 days, it may not even be enough to knock you out.

Again, you say a regular max of 3 pints for guys, but what's regular? Twice a week? 4 times a week?

Not getting at you, but I personally have had upwards of 15 pints over a 10 hour period, and still been standing solidly at the end. By the very same token, I've had 6 pints in 3 hours and been completely smashed. Just an illustration of how it's difficult to say "x pints will **** up your liver for all eternity", "Drinking that will kill you".

Most of what constitutes sensible drinking has to be discovered by the person themselves, as it applies to their own body. That's not to say that some general rules of common sense shouldn't be adhered, just that it's impossible to put a number figure to what you should and shouldn't be drinking.

Falling asleep is a bad sign. It may be best to get up and move around after, say every two pints. Sitting down while you drink, and not changing position, can give a false sense of soberness, and also makes you tired, which doesn't help the falling asleep bit.

SheroN

Can people please back up any medical claims with links etc (i.e Reyman).

Reyman

As i mentioned already 'light beer' referred to the normal ones like Guinness /Heineken approx. 4.3% alcohol. Some of the bottled beers are much higher in alcohol with many above 5% -- so more potent.

There are medical guidelines about how much you should drink and these are well known.

By my recollection --- 20 units (1 unit =1/2 pint beer) max for guys and 14 units for gals per week. Although I could be corrected on this.


In using the 3 pints max figure I assumed that most people go out say 3-4 times a week and this figure would keep them somewhere around the 20 units mark.

Not to digress, my main point is that anyone consuming 8-9 pints of beer regularly is heading for real trouble. In my neck of the woods we'd say he's

"As thick as two short planks"

SheroN

Are you a pioneer Reyman?

Reyman

Just giving you the facts! We're free agents after that!

I can't say i'm a fan of Diageo and their Vintner friends though -- they don't give a lot back considering how they do from us!

Have a look at the Australian Recs. on alcohol consumption --- a little more severe than I've mentioned. Remember 10grms of alcohol is approx. 1/2 pint of light beer

http://www.adf.org.au/drugstore/pdf/Alcohol_Fact_Sheet.pdf

Sangre

Well, afaik, the drinking limit is one unit, which is the amout of alcohol that takes an hour to be processed by the liver and one unit doesnt equal a pint?

Anyway, what kind of alco goes out drinking 3-4 times a week? Seriously.

Eirebhoy, sometimes I can get extremely tired from drinking but I'd never fall asleep unless I was at someone's house, I can stop myself konking out even if I dont want to.
This only happens when Im tired that day from a early start, long day, late night the night before, whatever. It only really happens when I go out when Im tired because I have to (birthday etc.,)

Not getting drunk from pints 3-8? YOU LIE!

eirebhoy

Originally posted by Sangre
Not getting drunk from pints 3-8? YOU LIE!

I'm certainly not lying but I'm probably fooling myself into thinking I amn't getting drunk. I could get from my 3rd to 7th pint with little affect. I could have a normal conversation and the only noticable affect is I talk more than when I am sober (but I would talk more on my 3rd so from 3-7 I don't feel a lot different). When I hit my 8/9th I am gone and can't remember a thing, I would usually fall asleep.

BTW - I don't drink 8 pints every time I go drinking and I go drinking twice a week.

eirebhoy

Originally posted by Sangre
Not getting drunk from pints 3-8? YOU LIE!

I am certainly not lying but I may be fooling myself into thinking I'm not getting drunk. From my 3-7th pint I can hold a perfect converation, walk normally, still feel a little shy etc. but when I hit the 8th I'm gone. Put it this way, my mates wouldn't notice if I had 3 pints or 7 pints but they would certainly notice after that.

BTW - I don't binge drink every time I go out and I go out about twice a week.

Paddy20

eirebhoy,

It might not be a bad idea to discuss this "Falling asleep" after drinking issue, that happens to you and your brother ?... with your GP.

Have you ever considered this option. If not I believe you should have this "Problem" professionally examined as this type of falling asleep is not considered normal and could be an indication of other underlying health problems.

At least your GP will be able to give you the harsh true facts in relation too alcohol abuse, etc - and the amount/consumption of alcohol that might be safe for you personally.

If visiting your own Doctor is not an attractive prospect to you. Then have a look at the website; www.irishhealth.com
It covers just about everything, its free , and it has an ask the Doctor section.

Good luck.

P. :ninja:

Ronaldo7

Just dont drink so much. Drink slower. I dont understand why people are so concerned of what other people think of them i fthey drink less. I mean, whos the smarter one who isnt broke and still on a buzz without getting totally thrashed at the end of the night?

Just chill...

j0e9o

interesting reading from u man with the facts very appircated (spelling?) I must try the half pint every hour see if it keeps my sober

dr_manhattan

Have you tried not drinking, and getting the self confidence from elsewhere?

i know it sounds very killjoy, but I gave up the booze for 2.5 years because I was worried about it (it kinda killed my Da, ahem), and once I wasn't drinking anymore, I realised that a lot of the self confidence issues that I was drinking to get over were in fact caused by the drink: it's easy to underestimate the long term pickling effect of booze.

Paddy20 is 100% right: alcohol is a dangerous, dangerous drug, and only in Ireland is it consumed with such lack of self regard (ahem, ok sorry - also in russia, poland, reservations, and most ghettoes... hmmm... places where the collective self image is low...hmmmm.... a picture is building up)

Anyways, the break from booze took about 3 months to set in, at which point it was surreal: things were very different. I'm back drinking now, but it works very, very differently for me I've got to say.

And yes, one of the reasons I started drinking again was because I could feel myself turning into an extreme anti drinker, and I think a happy medium is the best idea. I did need to lighten up a bit, but that involved having a drink, not getting ****faced, ya know? It was more about attitude than chemicals.

Anyways, as regards other solutions to falling asleep on booze: if *any* other comparable drug was being discussed here (e.g. heroin, another drug which kills users at a ferocious rate) any other solution than "stop taking it" would seem crazy. But for some reason, in this country, booze is a given.

As for being the same from pints 3-7... yeah well isn't it a factor of drink that it impairs your judgement? If 3-7 pints is fine, then drink 5 pints. 8 pints is enough to get most people pissed stupid, what is so good about being ratarsed?

I'd also like to say that it's a shame that there has to be advertising campaigns that say "don't drink too much or you'll become a smelly boring idiot" - isn't that bloody obvious?

Good luck: and feel lucky you're not a girl, for whom falling asleep when drunk can be a dangerous thing...

Victor

Originally posted by Sangre
Anyway, what kind of alco goes out drinking 3-4 times a week? Seriously.

Lots of people do. Part of the problem in Ireland is we drink relatively rarely (i.e. we rarely drink during the week), but drink to excess when we do.

It is much better to have 2 pints 7 times a week, than 7 pints twice a week.

Caesar_Bojangle

I've temporarily given up alcohol in order to reach the pinnacle of fitness for football. I've been out a handful of times with my mates whilst remaining sober which made me realise how crap the whole drinking scene is without drink.

Reyman

Victor's right ! You're better to get out four or five times a week and drink a couple of pints socially. And wake up in the morning in good shape!

Instead of 8 pint bingeing and doing your body in!

seamus

Originally posted by Reyman
Victor's right ! You're better to get out four or five times a week and drink a couple of pints socially. And wake up in the morning in good shape!

Instead of 8 pint bingeing and doing your body in!

I still feel shit in the morning after 2/3 pints (not hungover, but tired and groggy), so I prefer not to drink during the week at all, rather at the weekends when I can sleep in and get a big breakfast

That's my excuse anyhow.

Reyman

That tiredness is not the alcohol it's lack of sleep!

Your sleep pattern is divided into stages SWS (slow wave sleep) and REM (rapid eye movement). When you take alcohol the REM sleep is particulary affected.

What you find is you can get to sleep much quicker than usual. You then wake up in the middle of the night and either can't get back to sleep or your sleep is disturbed for the rest of the night.
The result is you feel pretty whacked in the morning.

At the weekend you solve this by having a lie in for a couple of hours and feel fine when you get up.

Ring your Boss on the weekday mornings and tell him (her) you need more REM, tell him(her) you'll be in at noon!

seamus

Ah, but it's lack of sleep caused *by* the alcohol....

Ah yes, if only my boss would allow me to come in at noon every day......

SheroN

but they say guiness is good for you?

Victor

Originally posted by SheroN
but they say guiness is good for you?

"They" don't say it anymore. It was only better insofar as it wasn't as bad as drinking whiskey all night.

Reyman

Oh Guinness were right -- they were well ahead of their time!

Quote:

"Studies show that regular mild-to-moderate alcohol consumption lowers the risk of heart attacks. Men who are daily drinkers have heart attacks only 61% as often as men who do not drink. Diabetics-male and female-receive even more benefits, being 42% to 48% less likely to suffer heart attacks as non-drinkers.

Compared to non-drinkers, studies also show that moderate drinkers are about one-third as likely to have diabetes or osteoporosis. They're also 41% less likely to have heart failure, 51% less likely to have an ischemic stroke (blockage of an artery supplying blood to the brain), and 71% less likely to get vascular dementia.

Beneficial biochemical changes occur from moderate alcohol consumption, including increases in HDL cholesterol, the "good" cholesterol. Other benefits include blood thinning and reductions in insulin levels and resistance"

Please note this applies to "mild / moderate drinking only" ---- heavy drinking is very very bad news

hedgetrimmer

Maybe you should think about taking this little test

http://www.alcoholics-anonymous.org/default/en_about_aa.cfm?pageid=4

SheroN

I answered 4 questions yes, according to that test I need to go get help.

Sangre

I got 5

Im gutted.

But when it said would your life be better w/o alcohol I said yes due to money problems :dunno:

Villain

I got 4 as well, think there a little too strict with that poll, either that or they need people to make up the numbers in AA

dr_manhattan

funny that: in this country, I would have thought 4 would be the absolute minimum that anyone who drinks would have:

Have you ever decided to stop drinking for a week or so, but only lasted for a couple of days?
(I've never known anyone who drinks who didn't do this at some stage - everyone wakes up with a hangover and goes "never again")

Have you missed days of work or school because of drinking?
(statistically, if you haven't you're a rarity in this country - average 11 sick days a year?)

Do you ever try to get "extra" drinks at a party because you do not get enough?
(again, most drinkers have done this: grabbed extra beers from fridge, etc.)

Do you envy people who can drink without getting into trouble?
(this would include those who get too pissed and can't get laid, for example)

...and I'm thinking most drinkers have also drunk to a point where they black out, making 5. Also, like the guy who started this thread, any anxiety over volume drunk or type of drink (next time i'll stick to lager) counts as switching drink. That makes 6.

Etc., etc., etc.

I think AA have *quite* enough members in Ireland, tbh I can't believe you said that: it smacks of naivete on a grand scale. The strictness is because, as I say, ALCOHOL IS DANGEROUS. They are just trying to help people, and there are many of them, who are susceptible to alcohol. Who knows, one day you might need them.

Villain

Originally posted by dr_manhattan

I think AA have *quite* enough members in Ireland, tbh I can't believe you said that: it smacks of naivete on a grand scale. The strictness is because, as I say, ALCOHOL IS DANGEROUS. They are just trying to help people, and there are many of them, who are susceptible to alcohol. Who knows, one day you might need them.

Calm down I was joking, I doubt I will need, after working in a bar for 8 and a half years I have seen thousands of people who drink a hell of a lot more than me;)

eirebhoy

1 - Have you ever decided to stop drinking for a week or so, but only lasted for a couple of days? No

2 - Do you wish people would mind their own business about your drinking-- stop telling you what to do? No

3 - Have you ever switched from one kind of drink to another in the hope that this would keep you from getting drunk? Yes

4 - Have you had to have an eye-opener upon awakening during the past year? No

5 - Do you envy people who can drink without getting into trouble? Yes

6 - Have you had problems connected with drinking during the past year? Yes

7 - Has your drinking caused trouble at home? Yes

8 - Do you ever try to get "extra" drinks at a party because you do not get enough? Yes

9 - Do you tell yourself you can stop drinking any time you want to, even though you keep getting drunk when you don't mean to? No (I have never told myself I can stop drinking at any time because most of the time I can't

10 - Have you missed days of work or school because of drinking? Yes

11 - Do you have "blackouts"? Yes

12 - Have you ever felt that your life would be better if you did not drink? Yes

I would say more people would answer 4 yes' then those answering no leaving haf the country in AA.:D

Victor

10 - Have you missed days of work or school because of drinking?

One day, once, about 5 years ago (staying up all night gaming didn't help). Blue lable vodka is poison.

All the other questions - no.

Civilian_Target

Originally posted by KlodaX
a bottle of wiskey can kill you????

Anything can kill you if you drop it from high enough up

And re: 8 pints a night, its lucky for those who can afford it. I used to get wasted about once a month, just go to the sunion on Friday night when shots are £1.50 and throw £24 over the bar. And not remember what happened the following morning.

Civilian_Target

And also, about that alcoholics annonymous test, I haven't drunk in almost a year and I can still answer yes to 4 or 5 of those questions....

Paddy20

Civilian_Target,

Of course you can still ; Quote ;- "answer yes to 4 or 5 of those questions..."

You see there is no known cure for the disease of Alcoholism !. Once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic.

Stopping drinking simply means that individual is currently not under the influence of the drug called alcohol, for that moment of that day.

BTW, I am not suggesting that you are an alcoholic. Only individuals themselves can decide and answer that, if and when they are ready.

P. :ninja: