This popped into my head because I’m a recovering addict/alcoholic and my friend was asking about what it looked like. I told them that in terms of sheer amount, 18 shots over the course of two hours would barely give me a buzz, hence drinking a handle of gin per day.
If I took that many shots in that short a time span now, I would certainly die without medical intervention. Why is this? Do we produce more enzymes or something? And if so, isn’t the chemical cause of alcoholism damaged enzymes anyway?
In: Chemistry
Congrats on your recovery, first off.
This happens because your body adapts to its new normal fairly slowly. Producing more of whatever enzyme metabolizes ethanol costs more calories, so your body won’t do it naturally unless you spend a significant amount of time processing ethanol.
Similarly, once you stopped and stayed stopped for a long enough time, your body toned back down and didn’t waste that enzyme as it was no longer dealing with that volume of ethanol. And since it can’t ramp up that fast, trying to get back to where you were would likely result in alcohol poisoning.
Addicts will build a tolerance to a substance over time. If they quit for a while, they lose that tolerance. If the addict falls off the bandwagon, they often will immediately take the substance at the same rate they were when they had a long built up tolerance, not knowing that they don’t need as much to get high as they used to before they quit. This will then cause people to overdose, or drink too much.
My sister passed from a heroin overdose on her 90 day sober mark. She thought she could handle the dosage she was on prior to recovery.
Our bodies have a baseline, or a normal amount, of dopamine that regulates through our brains to help us process our emotional states and keep our motor functions running smoothly. When someone uses a substance that increases that dopamine at a much higher and quicker rate, the body makes that the new baseline and demands the supply from the addict. If they quit using for a good amount of time, even as little as a few weeks, the body realizes that it is no longer meeting the new baseline and has to start functioning on a lower level of dopamine. The resistance isn’t as strong after building up and getting used to the new normal amount. This is also why withdrawal and cravings are so intense. Your body literally doesn’t know how to operate on less than the new baseline you’ve created.
I don’t know if this is helpful. Ever since she passed, I’ve worked in substance abuse and I’m getting my masters to focus on it in more depth. But you should be extremely proud of yourself for choosing recovery. It’s not easy, but it’s worth it.
Always here if you need a friend! Good luck to you. 💗
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