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    #1

    No euphoria whatsoever from alcohol these days, no matter how much.

    I'm just asking a question of those who, like me, have been very heavy drinkers for many years on a daily/nightly basis.

    Alcohol, no matter what the amount consumed, no longer produces any real high, euphoria, mood lift, or escape from depression. A typical amount for me is ~600 mL of spirits per night every night, sometimes up to the full 700 mL (or the equivalent in beer or wine). I have had many breaks from it, up to 19 months with no alcohol at all, and even after being stupid enough to go back to it, the original high that 3-4 beers once produced (20-25 years ago) no longer exists at any level. All it has done over the past 5 years or more is produce a sickly, non-euphoric, hazy delirium. I am glad, since now it's far easier to get off it and I am hoping this time I stay off it permanently, but other long-term heavy drinkers still seem to get a buzz from alcohol and appear happy while drinking heavily.

    I am just curious to know if any/many others here have had the same thing happen to them, and if anyone has ever heard a medical/scientific explanation as to why this happens. Do the opioid receptors "burn out" or desensitize so much that the old endorphin rush is no longer possible?? Any other ideas? A large amount of alcohol will still put me to sleep and make me feel bad the next day, so it is not having no effects whatsoever, it's just that the only effects are emotionally either neutral or negative.

    Edit : I know tolerance is why I ended up going from 3-4 beers up to the equivalent of 12-14, but the high itself just totally went down to zero!!
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    #2
    No euphoria whatsoever from alcohol these days, no matter how much.

    its no longer a stranger to your blood

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      #3
      No euphoria whatsoever from alcohol these days, no matter how much.

      Yes Greg, this happened to me as well. I was basically drinking to get to normal. I couldn't get a buzz, which made me drink more to try to get back to that euphoric feeling. Basically I ruined drinking for myself, because in the end all it did was make me functional until I took it over the limit, then it made me sloppy. I haven't had a drink in close to 2 years, and I don't plan on seeing if it still affects me that way.

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        #4
        No euphoria whatsoever from alcohol these days, no matter how much.

        Me too, basically 500ml + nightly for 23 years just to sleep, no high just fuzzy and irritable, and that is what is meant by drinking to stay normal.

        So glad to have quit and won't be going back to check either!

        KY

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          #5
          No euphoria whatsoever from alcohol these days, no matter how much.

          Hi Greg, the sicientfic reason for what you describe is that your body/mind has build the tolerance to ethyl, you just need to consume certain amount of it in order to just to feel normal...the good buzz-euphoria are long gone.

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            #6
            No euphoria whatsoever from alcohol these days, no matter how much.

            Thanks for the replies. This experience is definitely taking the appeal out of drinking for me, and I hope it helps me keep away from it this time. To anyone who has stopped, definitely don't bother going back to it, as there is nothing to go back to really.

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              #7
              No euphoria whatsoever from alcohol these days, no matter how much.

              Greg;1377494 wrote: Thanks for the replies. This experience is definitely taking the appeal out of drinking for me, and I hope it helps me keep away from it this time. To anyone who has stopped, definitely don't bother going back to it, as there is nothing to go back to really.
              This thread has helped me it has reinforced my strength and thioughts , I will never go back to alcoHell .
              Sober since 13th January 2012

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                #8
                No euphoria whatsoever from alcohol these days, no matter how much.

                Hi Greg,

                Yes, I got to the point where I was just feeding my addiction, no "fun" there at all. It was grim. I don't know the physical reasons behind it but isn't that how all addictions end up unless you die first?
                sigpic
                AF since December 22nd 2008
                Real change is difficult, and slow, and messy - Oliver Burkeman

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                  #9
                  No euphoria whatsoever from alcohol these days, no matter how much.

                  Marshy;1378049 wrote: Hi Greg,

                  Yes, I got to the point where I was just feeding my addiction, no "fun" there at all. It was grim. I don't know the physical reasons behind it but isn't that how all addictions end up unless you die first?
                  Hi Marshy,

                  That is exactly what I have been doing, and I have been cycling on and off alcohol for reasons that are beyond me, except of course for the addiction itself. I originally drank as a temporary night escape from depression and of course for the buzz, but alcohol has long ceased to "work" that way.

                  From what I have read, it changes some of the brain's chemistry over time, so once sober again the brain is "unbalanced" until it slowly adjusts back to normal. In the meantime, the person can feel psychologically unstable and may crave alcohol due to this. Those who think Campral helps claim it works by (at least partly) restoring the brain's chemistry towards normal. Of course, a lot/most of it is due to the pure habit of drinking over and over again for years, underlying issues, and a life that has become dull and empty because of all the time spent drinking instead of getting other things into a person's life.

                  I originally started this thread because one of my close friends has been drinking very heavily, almost every day, for the past 10 years, and drank at lower daily levels for 2 years before that. He now has binges that go beyond the levels I reached. I am baffled that he still says alcohol is wonderful, fun, and the only way he feels he can live his life. He talks about it like I once did...like a best friend or lover that still provides good feelings.

                  Then again, I started drinking abnormally 24 years ago, and was a nightly drinker apart from various breaks from it. Perhaps it is the length of time that daily drinking goes on for that determines the removal of the original euphoria and buzz.

                  Anyway, as I said, I just hope I have had enough this time!!

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                    #10
                    No euphoria whatsoever from alcohol these days, no matter how much.

                    Guilty

                    I too seemed to be drinking every night because I just felt like I had to. There was even nights I didnt want to drink, but yet found myself in line at the liquor store. So it sounds like you are experiencing the same thing that others are......you are not alone

                    EDIT: I sooooo remember the 3/4 beers a night days, funny how it crept up to at least 10 a night without much trouble
                    Living on Planet Sober since 05/02/11




                    DAREDEVIL COOKIE MONSTER

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                      #11
                      No euphoria whatsoever from alcohol these days, no matter how much.

                      Greg;1378343 wrote: I am baffled that he still says alcohol is wonderful, fun, and the only way he feels he can live his life. He talks about it like I once did...like a best friend or lover that still provides good feelings.
                      Well, bear in mind that he isn't necessarily being honest with himself or you. I defended my drinking too.

                      Anyway, I hope you've had enough too. Best wishes.
                      sigpic
                      AF since December 22nd 2008
                      Real change is difficult, and slow, and messy - Oliver Burkeman

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                        #12
                        No euphoria whatsoever from alcohol these days, no matter how much.

                        i'm sick of the stuff. nothing good ever comes of it. good on ya mate.
                        'fucked if i'm bowling in these conditions'. (bill lawry)

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