How does alcohol affect you?

[yellowflowers]

There is a new study saying people with adhd are more vulnerable to "alcohol impairment of inhibitory control"

http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/pha/17/2/113/

I'm not addressing addiction here but more about whether ppl on here find alcohol affect them differently than NT people? For some reason I have never liked alcohol - no idea why because it would seem like its should be extremely attractive to me - like help me relax or slew down. I guess maybe it makes me even more disorientated and less focused and less in control ... I don't know.

Sometimes it surprises me that I don't want it lots or how I'm not addicted to it - to escape like I try use other things - but the feeling is very unpleasant for me - my body becomes even more clumsy, my mind is still going on and on but making even LESS sense - in fact I often think outloud, as in say my random through s out loud, I tend to forget myself very easily (as in do something like whistle loudly in a library) and alcohol makes this worse and I talk pretty openly to myself "where was I going?" "what was I supposed to do next?" "how can people eat blue cheese?"

In some ways I guess I can sat in one place for longer without wanting to kill someone out of boredom ... But it doesn't really ease the restlessness much - I still just want to do something, leave where I am, go somewhere else...

Its strange, I've always wandered why people are attracted to certain chemicals and not others - for me messing with food (bulimia) seemed to 'work' - maybe a big part of it is just what's available

[Twiggy]

I like the effects of alcohol, although I don't drink much. I feel comfortable when I do.

I feel drained the next day if I have more than 1 beer.

[plank80]

Alcohol makes me really hyper I try not to drink these days because of the stupid things I do. I cant be sure what mood its gonna put me into either sometimes I fly off the handle over small things. When I drink I end up covered in bruises the next day. Even after a couple of pints Im running round talking to everyone in the bar even if they dont wanna listen.

I dont understand people that drink in the house or watching a movie I just want to get up and go do something. I dont find drink relaxing at all.

[doiadhd]

Thee,opposite of what it does to most. Will reverse my feelings emotions and thoughts.

[phantasm]

I get super amped when i drink as well. I prefer to drink a glass of wine while I'm cooking dinner, it helps me get more inspired to cook.

I also love to drink a beer when I clean the house. I spent many a Friday nights just deep cleaning my house and listening to the radio really loud. having a cleaning party.

That and I can talk for hours on end.

But if I have more than 2 drinks, I literally feel like i can count the braincells in my head the next morning. Total moron.

[sarahsweets]

Alcohol seems to speed me up. Its ridiculous how fast I can talk when drinking. I am not supposed to drink due to a pre-cancerous condition but....you know how it goes.

[keliza]

When I drink it looks like a bell curve with a very sudden, steep drop from the highest point to the lowest. When I'm tipsy-towards-drunk I am your standard "happy drunk." The more I drink, the more giggly and affectionate I become. I'm very easy going and laid back, and just want everyone to have fun and love each other.

Once I hit straight-up intoxicated, I turn into the adventurous, "Most Likely to End Up in the Emergency Room" drunk. Basically all of the impulses of ADHD-C without any of the rational, sober brain cells to reign them in. I start to climb things, build fires, lose my shoes, etc. I want to go wandering and find things to do, and keeping me contained becomes very difficult. I have a scar from one of those nights actually, which if nothing else is a funny story to tell.

If you can stop me at adventure woman drunk, then it's a good night. But my problem, and the reason I no longer drink, is that I don't stop. My logic becomes, "If one beer makes me feel good, and two beers makes me feel great, then six beers is going to be OUTSTANDING." I am a small woman, I might weigh all of 110 lbs soaking wet. Six beers might not be much to you, but it hits me like a freight train.

Very abruptly I fall off the top of the bell curve and go from happy, adventurous, possibly-in-a-tree drunk to a depressed, anxious drunk, probably crying and/or having a panic attack in the corner of an empty room. I usually don't remember things at this point, but sometimes I do, and I've remembered enough of these nights to know that I don't need to have any more of them. I don't control myself very well when I drink, and I come from a very long line of alcoholics, so I've decided that I am going to put an end to it before it becomes a problem.

[CheekyMonkey]

I am impulsive, but that isn't my most "severe" ADHD trait. Alcohol makes me a bit more cheerful, but even as a teenager I made considerate choice, etc.

[myst1c1]

I can't drink, because it makes me feel better, thoughts not as fast, more relaxed.

Problem is I would become addicted to that feeling I reckon, so I don't drink.

[flycatcher]

It makes me able to concentrate on stuff like never before. However, not being able to find your brain afterwards isn't that fun, so I hardly drink anymore.

[dragokatzov]

I actually get really friendly and I open up a lot more when I am drink.

[Conman]

i weigh little so i get drunk easily. but for me i say stupider things sometimes but i see the room spinning around me.

[fracturedstory]

I get addicted to things easily; alcohol, food, alcoholic food. I keep that in mind when I drink because I soon lose control and it's not good for my health. Talking seizures here.

I think if we have ADHD we naturally have poor impulse control and our behaviour might be similar to that of someone who is drunk. Sometimes I think going to a LSD high is my natural state when experiencing heavy sensory bombardment, like going for a walk down the street. That's not an ADHD thing though. I don't think. And when people are stoned I just think they're acting like me when I'm not on medication.

So if we're like that naturally alcohol and drugs will just make our symptoms even worse.

[yellowflowers]

Oh my f---- I just wrote a big reply post and deleted the hole thing, I pressed undo 20 times and its made no difference

right well, I'll has to go away now cause have lost me very little patience to concentrate enough to post but I'll come back sorry

[doiadhd]

Originally Posted by dragokatzov

I actually get really friendly and I open up a lot more when I am drink.

i get over friendly,i've noticed and been told. Been drinking heavy last three weeks,to stop me thinking,take my mind off problems,just threw up,feel sick everytime i think of my ex. The beer seems to put a hault to that,although know its short term fix. Worried bout my health. And people are getting annoyed with me. Know they don't like the change in me,as in going from 0-60 in 3 pints. Couldn't even look after my son today,as threw up,cos of her and her twisted game,thats ruined my life my head and my body. Need more drink. On anti puke pills,didn't work for me today. Very worried about this situation. Being sick everyday for weeks. Will this ever end.