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yet another unexplained huge improvement

knackers323

Senior Member
Messages
1,625
anyone experienced this or have any idea what is going on?

about 2 months or so ago, fed up with feeling terrible and decided to have a drink. I hadn't drank in years as it always knocked me around badly afterwards.

I drank a fair bit and expected to feel much worse for the next week or so.

well woke up the next day and apart from feeling the usual shittyness that drinking gives the next day I felt more energy, lite instead of that heavy drained feeling. felt pretty much normal.

the other thing is, I had a very sore right eye and it was more bloodshot than usual. I am guessing there were damaged blood vessels in it or something.

now at no other time have I ever had these two effects from drinking before

both the eye and the good feeling subsided over the next 2 few days

I since tried drinking smaller amounts but it didn't have the same effects

this past weekend I tried drinking a lot again and it worked again, my eye is still very painful

I'm guessing it increases blood flow but should that alone have such dramatic effects?

could it be effecting the vagus nerve?

and why didn't it have these effects previously?

I actually felt that much better from the first time I thought it might have been something to do with the quinine in the tonic water. drank only beer this time, so that's not it.

anyone else experienced this?
 

Gijs

Senior Member
Messages
690
I couldn't drink alcohol for many years either. Now when i drink i can feel better the next day. It is very strange. I have no idea why.
 

GhostGum

Senior Member
Messages
316
Location
Vic, AU
I find alcohol can really 'loosen me up', get improved circulation but the sides still tend to be too problematic for me, get headaches way too quickly and easily.

I wonder whether it can have a positive impact on POTS symptoms?

Interesting how it specifically impact your eye, relieving pressure?

Did some research into trying to find alternatives to alcohol, while gaining the same effects of it but did not come up with much although I noticed someone mentioning in one discussion that low dose naltrexone was an option, and of course this has been used with some success for some with ME. Have you tried it?
 

JES

Senior Member
Messages
1,320
I get a transient improvement in some of my symptoms when I drink, circulation etc, but the effect definitely doesn't last for the day after. The day after I feel worse and get even more hangover type side effects than what a normal person would.
 

gregh286

Senior Member
Messages
976
Location
Londonderry, Northern Ireland.
Blood flow improvement and small vessel dilation.
Drink red wine with food.....incredible effect especially a carb heavy meal as insulin release also vasdilatory.
If you drink too much in empty stomach or too fast you get adrenaline surge and it will crash you.
Drink slowly over longer period and works a treat. Drinking with food will buffer the stulimulatory effect of alcohol.
 

gregh286

Senior Member
Messages
976
Location
Londonderry, Northern Ireland.
anyone experienced this or have any idea what is going on?

about 2 months or so ago, fed up with feeling terrible and decided to have a drink. I hadn't drank in years as it always knocked me around badly afterwards.

I drank a fair bit and expected to feel much worse for the next week or so.

well woke up the next day and apart from feeling the usual shittyness that drinking gives the next day I felt more energy, lite instead of that heavy drained feeling. felt pretty much normal.

the other thing is, I had a very sore right eye and it was more bloodshot than usual. I am guessing there were damaged blood vessels in it or something.

now at no other time have I ever had these two effects from drinking before

both the eye and the good feeling subsided over the next 2 few days

I since tried drinking smaller amounts but it didn't have the same effects

this past weekend I tried drinking a lot again and it worked again, my eye is still very painful

I'm guessing it increases blood flow but should that alone have such dramatic effects?

could it be effecting the vagus nerve?

and why didn't it have these effects previously?

I actually felt that much better from the first time I thought it might have been something to do with the quinine in the tonic water. drank only beer this time, so that's not it.

anyone else experienced this?

Of.course you should expect it to be dramatic....it is then allowing your system to CLEAR lactic acid from your cells. Of course it will build again in a few days as vessels return to normal mode.
The alcohol is doing the role that NO should be doing.
All coming back to adrenal state in my opinion. I ALWAYS crash after adrenaline surge. Even a nightmare is enough to trigger it.
The burning question is why that is case..
 
Last edited:

panckage

Senior Member
Messages
777
Location
Vancouver, BC
There is another thread about this on here somewhere. Alcohol works on the GABA receptors. Stimulating this seems to be helpful for some people including myself. Although I stick to phenibut to get my GABA which is kind of like alcohol when you take away all the negatives (except for the tolerance part!) so it's perfectly fine to take during the day as long as you realize you are going to be less inhibited than normal and account for that :rofl:
 

TiredSam

The wise nematode hibernates
Messages
2,677
Location
Germany
There's a guy at my self-help group who drank 5 bottles of beer after a long period of abstinence, and felt "cured" for 2 weeks afterwards. I haven't seen him since then (a few months ago), I'd like to ask him which beer it was and if he's still cured.

I've been drinking a glass of red wine every evening for the last few weeks and feeling better for it. It certainly isn't doing me any harm. Just one glass, 0,25 l.
 

gregh286

Senior Member
Messages
976
Location
Londonderry, Northern Ireland.
There's a guy at my self-help group who drank 5 bottles of beer after a long period of abstinence, and felt "cured" for 2 weeks afterwards. I haven't seen him since then (a few months ago), I'd like to ask him which beer it was and if he's still cured.

I've been drinking a glass of red wine every evening for the last few weeks and feeling better for it. It certainly isn't doing me any harm. Just one glass, 0,25 l.

One in morning....mid afternoon and night best. Keeps vessels open all day instead of a window.
Topped up with NO2 black, high value carbs and amitripline at night keeps CFS at bay.
 

Marky90

Science breeds knowledge, opinion breeds ignorance
Messages
1,253
I feel almost normal after a six-pack of beer, well - as normal as one can be on that amount.
 

Hip

Senior Member
Messages
17,824
I feel almost normal after a six-pack of beer, well - as normal as one can be on that amount.

The following thread might interest you: it is about an ME/CFS patient who substantially improved drinking non-alcoholic beer:

My story and progress with cfs recovery and treatments used

My theory was that the alpha & beta acids from hops and the polyphenols from grain found in the non-alcoholic beer may have provided the benefit.
 
Messages
35
Location
Tucson, AZ
I'm also in the slim minority that finds alcohol helpful in moderation. The type of drink could make a difference - ie the nutrients in beer, tannins and resveratrol in wine, chemicals in dark spirits resulting from barrel aging that aren't present in clear spirits, etc. I don't find the type of drink important, myself.

Some other possible reasons for our doing better with alcohol could be alcohol's pretty well known endocrine effects, such as stimulating cortisol release and modulating blood glucose.

One thing i've noticed for a long time is feeling better after ceasing protracted binge drinking. As this article suggests, it could be because such drinking shifts the immune system to anti-inflammatory cytokine release (this is admittedly a sledgehammer approach to that end).

http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/binge-drinking-effects-your-immune-system-immediately

I've also found help in getting more refreshing sleep from alcohol, counter to conventional wisdom. This review could help explain why. In insomniacs, alcohol increases slow wave sleep and does not seem to disturb sleep architecture in the second half of the night as it does in healthy controls:

http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/arh25-2/101-109.htm

The definition of "insomniac" is vague, but keep in mind unrefreshing sleep is considered a form of insomnia.
 

geraldt52

Senior Member
Messages
602
...I've also found help in getting more refreshing sleep from alcohol, counter to conventional wisdom. This review could help explain why. In insomniacs, alcohol increases slow wave sleep and does not seem to disturb sleep architecture in the second half of the night as it does in healthy controls:

http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/arh25-2/101-109.htm

Thanks a lot, Dichotohmy, for posting this. I've also had very good luck using alcohol, in moderation, for sleep...for more than 5 years now. I generally take a shot of vodka in the middle of the night if I haven't been able to get to sleep by then. It is usually good for 3-4 hours of sleep, but that is a hell of a lot better than no sleep. I've never had to increase the "dose". Every doctor seems to think this is impossible, just another of the imaginings of someone with CFS, but this study clearly shows otherwise.
 

knackers323

Senior Member
Messages
1,625
One in morning....mid afternoon and night best. Keeps vessels open all day instead of a window.
Topped up with NO2 black, high value carbs and amitripline at night keeps CFS at bay.

I tried the NO2 but it didn't do anything, so I'm thinking it may be having some immune system effect also. don't understand why it didn't before though
 
Messages
35
Location
Tucson, AZ
Are people feeling better while drinking or the next day or two?

For me, it's primarily the next day or days that I benefit. I suspect this has to do with alcohol's complex endocrine effects and improved sleep after moderate drinking. I bet alcohol's immune-system modulation also is at play. This isn't for the faint of heart at all, and not recommended, but I've noticed up to 10 days of improved functioning after ceasing from several days of heavy binge drinking. That improvement following acute drinking comes at the expense of worsened depersonalization/derealization and several days of physical and mental anxiety, which I never otherwise experience.

In the end, it's easier and sustainable to just stick to moderate daily drinking for me - about 3-9oz of 80-proof spirits a day is tolerable for me while heavier amounts I am physically no longer tolerant of.

Baclofen and other gabaergics just don't work like this for me.

Thanks a lot, Dichotohmy, for posting this. I've also had very good luck using alcohol, in moderation, for sleep...for more than 5 years now. I generally take a shot of vodka in the middle of the night if I haven't been able to get to sleep by then. It is usually good for 3-4 hours of sleep, but that is a hell of a lot better than no sleep. I've never had to increase the "dose". Every doctor seems to think this is impossible, just another of the imaginings of someone with CFS, but this study clearly shows otherwise.

I have also had luck with taking just a few drags from a bottle (hey its dark) in the uncommon event its the middle of the night and I'm having trouble getting back to sleep. Alcohol hits much harder for me when there's increased sleep pressure such as awakening from a few hours of sleep, or getting very little sleep tge night prior
 

Bdeep86

Senior Member
Messages
278
I am hoping to have something written and out by August, acute alcohol intake and subsequent symptom relief has been a major biomarker for my research. It took me several years to piece together what is actually occurring.