<p>How many drinks/what sort of drinks do you have to have before you risk alcohol poisoning/brain damage? How many times a week/month/year?</p>
<p>I don’t plan on getting super drunk any time soon, but it’s distressing to me that I don’t know this. Where can I find this stuff out? The websites I’ve read are very confusing about it.</p>
<p>Has anyone noticed the screen name of the OP who claims he/she did not actually start the thread?</p>
<p>The fact is, individuals post on these boards all the time who have issues much more serious than ‘should I attend Harvard or Yale.’ The assumption is that people are asking for ‘opinions’ when of course sometimes people are asking for ‘help.’ Sometimes concerned observers have the connections to be able to do something, sometimes they don’t. Not everyone knows when it is more appropriate to tell the person to get help than it is to try to provide advice. I remember, for example, a thread last year when people were thinking they could diagnose a person’s mother as ‘borderline’ based on what was posted. Individuals with Asperger syndrome who post are dis-serviced by anyone who is really not an expert trying to provide ‘advice’…so are a lot of the people who are not here for opinions, but are here for help…</p>
<p>Who knows which version of himself this boy portrayed on these threads, which version he portrayed to his parents, his friends, his frat brothers. I often wonder about college-aged kids who seem to have so much time to post here, to engage adults with whom they have no real connection in discussion. It takes time away from something, doesn’t it? Might it take time away from talking with friends who are concerned about you? Was everyone else in his life worried about this boy’s drinking, and he was using CC to fine tune his arguments? I think he knew he was fooling himself, and trying to see if he could also fool others…We all know oppositional kids who lose interest as soon as others stop confronting them. He did not come to the boards to have his opinion revised…</p>
<p>Who knows. It is a tragedy and a chance to reflect both.</p>
<p>Please note:
While the original couple of posts on this topic linked to an obituary and also to a news article, I have chosen to take the links out. I realize that since the topic STARTED with those links, subsequent posters continued to use this young man’s first name in their posts. I think we can discuss this and similar tragedies without the names of the student other than the posting name he used on CC. I am deeply saddened by the loss of a fellow poster at such a young age. I hope his life will be celebrated. If there are lessons to be learned, then something positive can come from such tragedy. </p>
<p>I am unclear now at the cause and thought I had read the cause but now do not recall where I read it and so let’s remember that the cause may be under investigation. In any case, even without the cause, it is a loss of a student’s life on a college campus. A relative was quoted in one article about attendance at a party. No matter the cause, views on the topic of partying were shared on CC before and now and in any case, those issues are ones that are important whether they played a factor in the cause of death or not. Unless published, we should not assume anything, though the discussion or warnings are worthwhile too. </p>
<p>Please either refer to the issues or the poster’s posting name but not any real names for privacy. Thank you Maineparent for pointing that out. </p>
<p>Once again, thoughts and prayers to the family from everyone at CC. He will be missed by those he touched.</p>
<p>If y’all will let me play older sister to Chrissy…
There are charts which estimate how much alcohol you can have for a corresponding BAC and the effect that BAC will have on you; however, those are slightly problematic because of the time factor.</p>
<p>Most important thing to realize, as a woman, is that biology is not in your favour. A guy of your age, height, and weight will process alcohol faster than you will. When people say “one drink an hour” for metabolism, they’re talking about your average man. Calculate 3/4 of a drink per hour for a woman. The more you drink, the more this slows down - vicious cycle. </p>
<p>Each time you get drunk, you kill 2000 brain cells. (Ack!). The sooner you start drinking, the more likely it is that you’ll become an alcoholic. Teenage brains are still developing - the more we learn about neurobiology, the more it seems as if teenage brains are particularly vulnuerable. I’m not a neuroscientist nor a psychologist, but I do not think that one drunken incident will harm your brain irreparably.</p>
<p>How much alcohol is too much? Cannot answer that one - “drunk” is a vague term. I think appropriate drinking is defined through the negative: it’s too much when you aren’t in control of yourself or the situation; when you cannot care for yourself; when you wake up in the morning and it hits home that alcohol is a poison; when you’re finding it hard to do fairly easy things; when you’re drinking quickly, for its own sake, and not for the sake of enjoying the taste or the companionship.</p>
<p>I highly suggest the AriesAthena method: for each “drink” (12 oz of beer = 5.5 oz of wine = 1.5 oz of hard liquor), you should consume, independently, 8 oz of water. Now, be very aware of the numbers I put up there - your body will process one drink in about 75 minutes. Be very aware of how much alcohol you are consuming. If you’ve eaten, it can sometimes take a long time to feel the effects. I suggest the water thing for two very practical reasons:
<p>Best advice I can give you: don’t drink until you’re legal; don’t drink without friends who care about your well-being; don’t drink too much, in case you need to care for your friends; don’t drink at large parties; do learn the difference between drinking socially in an adult manner and drinking socially in a college manner.</p>
<p>What is scary is that this student seemed to know the risks, but ignored them, because the consquences just aren’t real.</p>
<p>Its that dare devil, young adult brain thinking they can handle anything and that their bodies can too</p>
<p>Do colleges have anything during orientation that addresses this issue in any serious way? You know, with other students leading the discussions, say a maditory meeting by floor, or frats</p>
<p>Many kids would just not take it seriouslly, but maybe, if this kids friends had known what to do, a kind of first aid, with a person who drank that much, maybe a life could have been saved, it could have taken just one person to realize that this was that serious, and to sit get help</p>
<p>CGM: my alma mater didn’t have that type of orientation. I do wish that they would; I also wish that they would continue it every year (who remembers what happened three years ago, if you’re with kids who don’t drink heavily until 21? What if you first need to know that stuff, for whatever reason, a year or two after orientation?). </p>
<p>I really do think that kids absolutely have to know the symptoms of alcohol poisoning and that “sleeping it off” can be deadly. I once stayed up with a friend for seven hours, keeping her awake and taking care of her - never left her for three of them for even a second, because she was throwing up so frequently. I was stone-cold sober - had been cooking dinner when her friends carried her in - could not imagine that situation if had not been so alert. Sad thing was that I didn’t know until later that she was dangerously drunk; she was very cold and clammy - kept saying how cold she was. Someone told me later that it’s a symptom of her body shutting down from the alcohol. None of us knew for certain if she needed medical attention. Lesson learned the lucky way.</p>
<p>nobody often knows for certain if you need medical attention, that is for a professional to decide, whether you have strep throat or toxic shock or you don’t know what you have, if you don’t need help they will send you home. better to have the help and not need it than…</p>
<p>Too too sad. lucifer’s posts should be picked up by a journalist for an article aimed at a wider audience.</p>
<p>When did his posts turn so manic? I vaguely remember him from last year, but does anyone remember when he started posting extreme and aggressive booze adverts? I don’t visit the kid boards as a rule. Is there a link between his start-up at Cornell and the posts? </p>
<p>We have discussed various problems kids have when they make poor adjustments at college. Clearly, this poor child was utterly lost. So much bravado presented with so much polish and seeming strength of conviction. What a sham. What a shame. The Cornell staff must be gutted. </p>
<p>Kudos to the parents and kids who tried to sit him down for a cyber chat, quiltguru for one, riley and xiggi (?) among others.</p>
<p>Cheers, you can search for his screenname on this board and then review all of his posts. He was a very active poster, so you would have to dig through a lot to find evidence of a change – I honestly don’t remember him from that far back, so I couldn’t say. He just seems to have consistently wanted to downplay any concerns about drinking. So – while we don’t know for sure that his death was due to alcohol poisoning or other substance abuse, it certainly seems likely – and it also seems that this kid was in denial about the risks he was taking.</p>
<p>Cheers, you asked an interesting question, so I went ahead and traced back some of Lucifer’s posts. I’ve got some quotes, but before I post them I do want to note that the vast majority of his posts on the board are contributions to the array of topics covered here - academic choices, political issues, etc. I don’t want my posts to unfairly portray this kid as someone who was obsessed with drinking or partying – that really was only a very small part of his participation here. But I was looking to see whether there was an evolution of attitudes toward drinking, and here is what I found:</p>
<p>Before he starts college:</p>
<p>06-02-2005, College Life: Drinking in College
**After starting college:<a href=“Note:%20there%20are%20no%20posts%20between%20July%202005%20&%20October”>/b</a> </p>
<p>10-04-2005
01-05-2006
Note: Everclear is a brand of grain alcohol that is 190 proof - or 95% pure alcohol; see: <a href=“http://www.webtender.com/db/ingred/71[/url]”>http://www.webtender.com/db/ingred/71</a> (“Can be lethal when used as shots or substituted for water in Jello shooters.”)</p>
<p>01-02-2006
02-11-2006
</p>
<p>So basically at the beginning we have a kid who advocates caution until one can develop a sense of their own “tolerance” – and by January the same kid is experimenting with Everclear, and is confident that 12 shots is safe for anyone with “reasonable tolerance”. I actually don’t see much of a change - the sad thing is that there apparently was a very misguided belief that a person with a strong “tolerance” for alcohol is immune to its dangerous effects.</p>
<p>Finally, I’d like to say that I hope this post can be viewed as cautionary -and not an attack on Lucifer. Whether or not an autopsy shows his death was due to alcohol poisoning, it is a tragic event, and it is something that could potentially happen to any one of our kids. I am sure that every young person who has ever had too much too drink had some sort of rationalization - and it doesn’t really matter what it was. Lucifer’s gift to us all - and to our kids – is that he provided us all with a window into his thought processes while he was alive – so at least his legacy might be to save the life of some other kid by helping us all to recognize the danger signs.</p>
<p>One of the grave dangers of teenage drinking is that a kid entrusts his future to his friends/fellow drinkers. These are, in fact, very young people who are:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>drinking themselves, and lacking the judgment, experience and maturity to deal with a crisis situation; </p></li>
<li><p>utterly ignorant of how to assess or address alchohol-related (or drug-related) danger signs; and</p></li>
<li><p>frequently unwilling or fatally slow to seek help for fear of getting into trouble with the law, their school, or their families.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Chrissy,</p>
<p>It may not take that many. My H had a receptionist who’s son died while he was “sleeping”. He was living at home with his parents. He had some alcohol, but I cannot tell you how much. He also had a cold. He took some over the counter cold medication after drinking. He vomited (while in his stupor/sleep),and he choked on his own vomit. His mother found him dead in the morning, in his own bed. It was so tragic.</p>
<p>My D said that Rice covers this at length during “O Week” (orientation for freshmen). At one of the larger campus parties where there is lots of alcohol, each residential college assigns a “drunk sitter” to make sure medical attention is obtained for anyone in need. How to handle drunk friends and the need for medical attention is covered during O Week.</p>
<p>In our area, there have been numerous warnings about the often deadly consequences of mixing energy drinks with alchohol. If I understand the layman’s explanation correctly, the energy drink speeds up body functions, which in turns speeds up the effects of the alchohol giving the drinker not only a quicker drunk, but a more intense rush. Trouble is, it’s already hard enough for the body to process excessive alchohol and a an intense onslought of effects doesn’t help.</p>
<p>Substance abuse is such a complex issue. I attended the funeral of the son of friends and neighbors some years back. He overdosed (some seriously suspect suicide) while in an outpatient setting after his third time at rehab. It seems just before his death that he was diagnosed as being bipolar. It was felt as though the early symptoms (which manifested themselves in grade school) were misdiagnosed and his drug abuse which started in his teens were in fact self medication. His worst battles with abuse were during his manic times.</p>
<p>My point is here that any person, regardless of age, that thinks he or she has a problem should immediately seek help. Encourage friends to do the same. And always, always, seek immediate medical attention if you even suspect that you or a friend is in danger of an immediate crisis. </p>
<p>That funeral changed my life and the way I look at things. I think I must have aged ten years that day. So, please, please, please, keep searching until you find the person or program that works for you.</p>
<p>now the question is… how many kids actually pay attention during orientation? i know most times i couldn’t wait for it to be over…</p>
<p>Well, obviously my daughter did, but she is pretty good about that sort of thing. She and her friends do drink and have for several years (she is now 21), but her crowd at Rice seems to be pretty responsible about it.</p>
<p>Bouncechrissy,
I have always advocated the Ariesathena suggestion of 1 glass of water for each drink…</p>
<p>but, another quick hint that you have had enough is the beginning slurring of your words. You hear it in your head… the moment you slur a word, you should STOP drinking immediately. That is the very first physical warning that you have had ENOUGH. Unfortunately, folks think that is a sign that the evening has just begun, party on, have another…the buzz will only get better. WRONG, WRONG, WRONG. For every drink after the slur, your hangover will grow exponentially. </p>
<p>Years ago, Ann Landers had a column she ran once a year, written from the perspective of the deceased 17 yr old from his coffin. His view of all the family, relatives, friends etc who came to his funeral and were crying while in front of him. His inability to stop the finality of death. It should be mandatory reading every night before going out to drink/party where you might be tempted to consume more than a drink or two. Burying a vibrant teenager/young adult goes against nature. It is heartbreaking for everyone left behind, FOREVER. Speaking as a parent who was once a “child” my personal favorite time with my own parents were my mid-twenties when I finally realized how great they were. I knew it as a kid, I knew it as a teen… but I paid less attention to them as I built other relationships etc and I didn’t want them slowing me down. Both of my parents were deceased by the time I was 30…and I am just very thankful that I had my mid-twenties epihany before it was too late. Life isn’t wasted on the young, but boy, does it continue to get richer and richer. So much to treasure, savor, enjoy, learn, experience, relish…new people, places and things. No party, no drink, no drug, no stupid human trick is worth risking a full, rich life for…EVER.</p>
<p>I have thought a lot about this young man. The cause of death is yet to be determined so we don’t know that it was alcohol poisoning or related to drinking. I have read an article that he was drinking from a flask at a frat party. Friends got him into a bed and rolled him over and eventually left him. No matter the cause of death, drinking was involved in his final hours and he was not in good shape. The issues over drinking still exist even if it was not the cause of his death. </p>
<p>Looking back on many of lucifer’s words, I feel almost sick and helpless that we had all read them though we are merely on an internet forum and very hard to help. But in retrospect, I think he was calling out for help because he had the signs of someone with alcohol problems/issues as he was denying he had any problem, that he could handle alcohol and had a high tolerance, and he defended heavy drinking in certain respects. I know a bit about alcoholism and there are signs of it in his posts. I only wish we could have done more for him. He seemed like a wonderful bright student with much promise. </p>
<p>As others have mentioned, there are also issues of peers knowing when to get medical assistance for friends who are in a certain state after drinking. I wonder if they are afraid to get help for fear of being in trouble. I know at an after prom party in my community (lots of issues as the parents were not home and they were on the school board), a boy who was an accomplished athlete got alcohol poisoning and was not conscious and his friends drove him to the hospital which is how this party was found out but they were wise to overlook any problems that would cause as the boy needed help and he survived. </p>
<p>My niece is a soph in college but last year as a frosh, she had a very serious medical problem that landed her in the hospital due to drinking. She got pancreatitus (I hope I named/spelled that right). I know that she parties a lot at her college. Drinking is a theme that comes up often and we were just visiting her at her college a few days before that and drinking was a big topic (as it seems to have been with lucifer). I think it is unwise that my niece have ANY alcohol now (she is in fine health now) because of this predisposition to this and that she could not be so lucky next time. Still, I know she does drink, hopefully more moderately. </p>
<p>I agree with calmom that there is hope that stories like Lucifer’s will help some other kids and his legacy will live on in not only that way to benefit others but just for all his other accomplishments.</p>
<p>maineparent: “You are 100% correct that by posting here, this kid was raising a flag…and we missed it.”</p>
<p>No, maineparent, I did not miss it. Lucifer was cautioned and made his decisions. The results were lethal. Even if the proximate cause of death is not alcohol poisoning, alcohol was a contributory cause. My heart always aches at the death of a young person. But this one also angers me.</p>
<p>"Quoting lucifer: </p>
<p>Most risks other than drunk driving are nearly negligible; it is possible to die from alcohol poisoning, but most cases like that occur at college with kids who either a) don’t know what they’re doing drinking-wise or b) are being hazed and try to drink a ridiculous amount of alcohol in a night (a kid who tried to down two handles (~120 oz) of vodka after being told to and later died comes to mind)). Alcohol-related injuries (falls, etc.) are possible, but again serious ones (more than scrapes or minor bruises) are rare relative to the amount of drunken stupidity in the world."[end lucifer quote]</p>
<p>Quiltguru then states: "I am generally very charitable to misguided students on these boards, but these statements are ignorant and dangerous. Just as ignorant and dangerous as statements made by kids at my D’s school during a recent parent/student discussion on alcohol and drugs when they said that they would “know” when one of their friends drank too much that they were in trouble and would get them help and that they could “tell” if someone was unconscious in trouble or just passed out from drinking. Horse hockey. They don’t know squat. I recently spent all night in the hospital doing an organ donor evaluation on a teenager who drank to unconsciousness while his “friends” egged him on. They left him on the floor to “sleep it off.” Except he never woke up. He was brain dead. His parents were devastated. I was enraged. We couldn’t even use the organs because the alcohol had poisoned them all, so there was NO good that could have come from this idiotic action. </p>
<p>lucifer, you are ignorant and dangerous. I encourage all parents to do whatever it takes to stop this underage drinking. Call the counselor, call other parents, call the police. Do what it takes."</p>
<p>Another word of caution from me (a physician) re: the “AriesAthena method”:</p>
<p>"I highly suggest the AriesAthena method: for each “drink” (12 oz of beer = 5.5 oz of wine = 1.5 oz of hard liquor), you should consume, independently, 8 oz of water. Now, be very aware of the numbers I put up there - your body will process one drink in about 75 minutes. Be very aware of how much alcohol you are consuming. If you’ve eaten, it can sometimes take a long time to feel the effects. I suggest the water thing for two very practical reasons:
<p>**Wrong, wrong, wrong!!! **This is dangerous! Do NOT do this!!! Not only does this NOT prevent drunkeness or hangovers, the combination of alcohol and water can lead to an equally deadly condition called water intoxication. Alcohol can be a proximate cause of something called SIADH…the brain produces an “anti-diuretic hormone” that prevents the kidneys from excreting excess water. The individual’s electrolytes become diluted (hyponatremia) which causes brain cells to swell and can produce coma and death. </p>
<p>There is only ONE solution here. If you are underage DON’T drink. If you are of age, drink in moderation. If you see a drunk friend, cut them off. If they have impaired consciousness of ANY kind, call 911.</p>
<p>Wrong, wrong, wrong!!! This is dangerous! Do NOT do this!!! Not only does this NOT prevent drunkeness or hangovers, the combination of alcohol and water can lead to an equally deadly condition called water intoxication. Alcohol can be a proximate cause of something called SIADH…the brain produces an “anti-diuretic hormone” that prevents the kidneys from excreting excess water. The individual’s electrolytes become diluted (hyponatremia) which causes brain cells to swell and can produce coma and death.</p>
<p>So I have a question
alcohol drinks dehydrate is that correct?
so why wouldn’t drinking water be important?
for example I don’t drink much- maybe a couple of times a month I have a glass of wine or a beer but last weekend I went to a concert that was about 4 hours long , when ever I do this I get three things- a gin & tonic, a 16 oz bottle of water and a cup of coffee for my husband. It takes me a little over an hour or so to drink my drink and my water- I had three drinks and three bottles of water altogether over about 5 hours
I had read that a great deal of fluid is required for your electrolytes to be unbalanced, and as aries is only recommending 8 oz for every oz of alcohol, that seems like a good balance to slow down alcohol consumption by drinking water( and having to run to the bathroom)- & you are rehydrating yourself so that even if you have a couple drinks, you won’t be dehydrated the next day.
so if I am not to drink plain water- should I add a packet of emergen-c ?</p>