Blackouts...Does anyone else get them?

Forums: Health, Medical, Alcohol, Blackouts, Binge Drinking
Email this Topic • Print this Page

I know quite a few people who experience haziness or have difficulty remembering bits and pieces when they're drinking, but I'm the only person that I know that literally loses hours of time. For instance, I will wake up and have to ask other people what happened. I can usually narrow down how long I was blacked out for by looking at text messages or just asking people, one time I even had to use my step tracker app to see how late I was up and about.

Does anyone else experience this? I have done some research on it and a lot of the studies done relate blackouts to being an alcoholic or heavy drinker, which I am neither one. And this only happens to me if I have like 10 to 12 drinks in a 5 hour period (I know this is considered binge drinking and unhealthy, I don't do it that often) but this is something I've been curious about. Hoping to hear other people stories/experiences when drinking and blacking out.

Topic Stats
Top Replies
Link to this Topic

Type: Discussion • Score: 5 • Views: 1,427 • Replies: 9

@Anonymous32776,

Anonymous32776 wrote:

or heavy drinker, which I am neither one. And this only happens to me if I have like 10 to 12 drinks in a 5 hour period.

10 - 12 drinks in a 5 hour period is heavy drinking

http://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/faqs.htm#heavyDrinking

Quote:

For men, heavy drinking is typically defined as consuming 15 drinks or more per week. For women, heavy drinking is typically defined as consuming 8 drinks or more per week.

8 drinks over a week is heavy drinking for a woman

10 - 12 over 5 hours is well past the definition of heavy drinking

it is also significantly in excess of what is defined as binge drinking

Quote:

What is binge drinking?
According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism binge drinking is defined as a pattern of alcohol consumption that brings the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) level to 0.08% or more. This pattern of drinking usually corresponds to 5 or more drinks on a single occasion for men or 4 or more drinks on a single occasion for women, generally within about 2 hours.3

Given your other thread, I'd suggest that if you are planning to go out on an evening that will include drinking that you behave somewhat sensibly and do not take your car or car keys with you.

0 Replies

You don't need to count the drinks.

It's WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU DRINK that determines whether or not you are an alcoholic. If you are having black-outs, no matter how many drinks you had, then that is a real warning that you and alcohol don't mix.

Heed the warning.

1 Reply

@PUNKEY,

How do you figure that the number of drinks doesn't matter?

If I binge drink on a Saturday night, and then don't drink again for a month, I'm still an alcoholic because of that one night? To me, the number of drinks is everything. If you drink everyday/can't go a day without drinking/feel withdraw if you don't drink, you are an alcoholic.

I understand blackouts indicate something else wrong, and I am trying to figure that out by asking others for their real life experiences. But it does NOT make me an alcoholic. I disagree with that statement.

2 Replies

@Anonymous32776,

Blackouts are a sign that you've had too much to drink.

It might happen after one drink or two or more. By the time you get to five or more you've moved to another danger zone. Alcohol poisoning becomes a possibility.

0 Replies

@Anonymous32776,

One drink can be too much, so Punkey is correct on that.

Alcoholism doesn 't necessarily mean drinking every day.

A need to drink every day talks to the matter of alcohol dependency.

0 Replies

@Anonymous32776,

Have you talked to your roommate about this? your doctor?

You need to talk to real-life people about the blackouts.

0 Replies

@Anonymous32776,

No, blackouts are not normal. If they are from your drinking you need to see a doctor to check what damage you have already done and seek treatment. If they are not from your drinking then clearly something else is very wrong and you need to see a doctor to begin to find out what that is.

Note....all roads lead to a doctor.

1 Reply

@dlowan,

Quote:

Blackouts are periods of amnesia about things a person did or places a person went while intoxicated, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Blackouts are not the same as passing out while intoxicated, and a drunk person and others around him or her might not realize they're happening. For most people, the sign of a blackout is waking up wondering, "What happened?"

"They're very common, frighteningly so," especially among college students who drink alcohol, said Aaron White, PhD, senior adviser to the director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and one of the country's leading experts on blackouts.

Related: Is drinking with your kids at home a good idea?

Back in 2002, White, then at Duke University, conducted a study involving nearly 800 students at the university who had consumed alcohol at some point in their lives. Some 51% reported having at least one alcohol-induced blackout.

And for the students who drank during the two weeks before the survey was conducted, 9% of men and 9% of women said they blacked out. Many had driven a car, had sexual intercourse, vandalized property or engaged in other risky behaviors during a blackout, according to the study. Several studies have found that students are more likely to sustain alcohol-related injuries during blackouts.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/06/health/blackouts-drinking-book-sarah-hepola/?iid=ob_homepage_deskrecommended_pool&iref=obnetwork

0 Replies

@Anonymous32776,

Blackouts are one of the biggest indications of alcoholism.

0 Replies

Blackouts...Does anyone else get them?

Related Topics

Quick Links

My Account

able2know