fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #4894 ]

[ SECRET POST #4894 ]

⌈ Secret Post #4894 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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02.

[What We Do in the Shadows]

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03.

[sarazanmai]

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[image is a Dark-Eyed Junco (bird species)]

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05.

[star wars]

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06.

[Hairspray Live!]

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07.

[homestuck 2]

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[ff7]

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09.

[Doctor Dolittle]

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10.

[great british sewing bee]

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11.

["La Lisiada" scene from Maria la del Barrio]

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12.

[Sailor Moon]

Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 04 pages, 83 secrets from Secret Submission Post #701.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

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I drink 3 coctails every Friday and Saturday. I'm not worried about being an alcoholic, but I am worried about my long term health. I'm 40, and want to live a long time with my wits intact. Should I cut down?

How much do you drink?

I mean, there are guidelines for how much alcohol is considered a moderate amount for adults. I don't know what they are, but I imagine you could look them up.

apparently it's 1 drink a day for women and 2 drinks a day for men

and a "drink" is 12 oz of beer, 8 oz of malt liquor, 5 oz of wine, 1.5 oz of 80 proof liquor

hmmmm

Personally, I only drink very occasionally, and when I do I drink about that amount (2-4 drinks usually).

Honestly I don't know how to judge because I have what I think is a high tolerance. I'm not sure I've ever been actually drunk. I've never lost my awareness of my surroundings or lost control at all. The most I've been is happy and relaxed and sleepy and maybe a bit unsure on my feet. I have control issues, so I always stop drinking when I start to hit that point. I don't want to be any deeper into it than that. I don't want to lose control of my body or mind.

I have nothing but anecdotal evidence to offer. I worked as a carer for several dozen older people for five years or so. There was a stark difference between the drinkers and non-drinkers. The drinkers were in much worse health at much younger ages. I never touch it anymore.

And meanwhile, my grandpa would have a glass of whiskey every night after dinner and he lived to 95 so yeah, anecdotal evidence isn't worth much.

No of course anecdotal evidence isn't worth anything. That’s why I explicitly said it was anecdotal evidence. One of the world's oldest ever women smoked 40 a day, that doesn't negate the huge body of evidence showing that smoking is bad for you and will most likely shorten your life span. However, my experience left a lasting impression on me which is what i was sharing. And to be fair, at least my sample of 36 was bigger than just one person.

I mean, if we're offering anecdotal evidence, my great-grandmother never touched the stuff and dropped dead of a heart attack in her 50s. Meanwhile, her brother was an alcoholic for 70 years and died at home when he was almost 90.

Better get drinking then shit shack.

(this is not helpful but) i don't drink at all. Tried but hated the taste, got used to being the boring sober one. Now that we're middle aged several of my friends have quit and they marvel the improved sleep, clearer skin and better feelings in general... i'm like yeah that it pretty nice, glad you joined me, let's go get some mocktails

I don’t, at all, but my mom, her oldest brother, and both their parents died pretty horribly of alcohol related issues. I couldn’t tell you if ~6 drinks per week over two days for life is worse for you than one drink a day every day for life, or if the type of alcohol makes a big difference, but for what it’s worth my dead relatives mostly drank a lot more than that, especially as their alcohol addictions got worse. I don’t think one drink every so often will kill you, though.

I had a couple sips each of two different alcoholic drinks (Sex on the Beach, which was disgusting as fuck, and Gin & Tonic, which was slightly better but still gross) on my 21st birthday and never drank anything alcoholic again. I keep hearing that everyone hates the taste of alcohol at first and you have to "get used to it" but I don't really understand exactly what effect it's supposed to produce that would make it make sense to force yourself to get used to stuff that tastes awful. Like, I know you get drunk if you drink enough, but I don't exactly understand what that means or what positive things you get out of it?

(I realize I sound like a complete fucking moron right now, but I've never really understood the reasoning behind drinking alcohol and never wanted to ask anyone because obviously everyone's supposed to know and I feel like an idiot.)

Taken in moderation, alcohol makes most people feel relaxed and a little bit silly, and some people enjoy that feeling. That is all.

Hmmm, okay, I guess I get that.

Like, I know you get drunk if you drink enough, but I don't exactly understand what that means or what positive things you get out of it?

The only way for you to really understand it is to just get drunk. I mean, if you've ever been stoned or done any other drugs, then you know that they alter your way of experiencing the world, which is a feeling that's very difficult to convey with words.

That said, the way different people perceive the sensation of being drunk also varies quite a bit. We've got at least one person ITT saying they avoid getting drunk because they don't like the feeling.

That's almost unimaginable to me. I have intense generalized anxiety and getting drunk just completely erases it. Suddenly, the entire world seems fun. Everything is so effortless and exciting. I also feel more connected with my friends because I'm more relaxed and open to them, not reflexively holding myself apart the way I always am when I'm sober. And I'm a lot wittier because I just say whatever comes to mind, rather than triple-checking it and refining it to make sure it's what I mean.

The first time I got drunk, I remember declaring, over and over, that I would like to be drunk for the rest of my life.

Fortunately, I also got brutal hangovers which tempered my love of being drunk a bit, and over time I realized that the negatives of getting drunk were outweighing the positives (no matter how immense the positives feel while I'm experiencing them). At this point I only get drunk once or twice a year, and never drink apart from that.

But I really cannot overstate how incredibly good being drunk feels for some people. It's like a whole new world. Everything is better.

And for the record, I HATE the taste of alcohol. I think it is unspeakably vile. I never developed a liking for it in any way. But I mean, people willingly drink Buckleys when they have a cold, and it's nasty af. The good feeling I get from alcohol is so far beyond anything a nasty cough syrup has ever done for me.

The only way for you to really understand it is to just get drunk.

I guess I will never know then, because I have no desire to drink a bunch of gross stuff lol.

And I've never done any other drugs so I don't really know what that's like, either. I'm not opposed to marijuana, and was going to try it when I went on a trip to a state where it's legal, but they only let a limited amount of people in the store at one time, and the rest of my group really wanted to go and since I didn't care that much I ended up not going (and didn't feel like going back at another time), so it ended up just not working out.

Anyway, I feel like life is pretty fun as it is, but then I get made fun of for getting way too excited over even the smallest stuff so I'm probably just weird lol.

Re: Drinking advice

(Anonymous) - 2020-05-30 23:37 (UTC) - Expand

NAYRT but I think alcohol was this for my mom because we both had crippling anxiety, but I don’t drink because her drinking killed her. Also one of the things I’m most anxious about is losing self-control; I hate even the idea of drugs and alcohol because I don’t want to relax if it means not having it. But while I don’f think of myself as witty, I get mistaken for drunk/high sometimes because I’m weird and frequently have no filter despite my anxiety. It’s not that I don’t care what people think of me, I’m just bad at self control already so I’d be scared to experience anything without even my modest checks on my id.

Re: Drinking advice

(Anonymous) - 2020-05-30 23:57 (UTC) - Expand

Some people do genuinely enjoy the taste. Me, I like a nice wine or a good whiskey because I really do like how they taste. I don't drink to get drunk (and in fact have only ever been drunk once in my life), I drink them for the same reason I drink... anything else I drink: because they taste good.

NAYRT - I've long suspected that the taste of alcohol itself (that ferment and/or astringent taste of Things Gone Hella Bad On Purpose) is something some people just have more taste receptors for than others.

I have no idea if there's any science to back me up. I just know that if you put a half-shot of high-quality vodka in a litre of Coke, I will be able to taste it and I will think it tastes bad. I understand that when other people drink something with alcohol in it, they are tasting all sorts of flavors of the beverage, and some of those flavors are enjoyable. But for me, the taste of ROT, SPOIL, BADNESS, IT'S POISON YO, is so prominent that I can't enjoy any other flavors that may be in the drink. Like, a bellini tastes like ROT, SPOIL, BADNESS, IT'S POISON!!! (and also peach).

I really envy people who can enjoy various alcoholic drinks. There's so many options and they always make them look so cool and fancy. :)

Re: Drinking advice

(Anonymous) - 2020-05-31 00:32 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Drinking advice

(Anonymous) - 2020-05-31 00:44 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Drinking advice

(Anonymous) - 2020-05-31 01:32 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Drinking advice

(Anonymous) - 2020-05-31 02:06 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Drinking advice

(Anonymous) - 2020-05-31 05:40 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Drinking advice

(Anonymous) - 2020-05-31 02:02 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Drinking advice

(Anonymous) - 2020-05-31 02:50 (UTC) - Expand

am currently a little drunk so...

the feeling you're chasing is a sense of relaxation, freedom, and a conscious lowering of inhibitions. some people can achieve it at a lightly tipsy level, others need a bit more, and it can change depending on your tolerance and experience. but generally, it's not being incapacitated, it's being a little wobbly but otherwise generally more genial, relaxed, open, and a little tingly, funny, off the wall. if you're a talkative drunk, it means sharing things without the desperate need to censor yourself. if you're an emotional drunk, it means expressing laughter and tears without being self-conscious about doing so. heaven help you if you're a mean drunk, though.

some drinks, if mixed too strong or with poor quality alcohol, taste terrible and there is no need to "get used to it." Either mix better, use better ingredients, or don't bother. I have German genes and a high tolerance so I usually drink my liquor neat, but my roommate is a lightweight so she needs good quality cocktails, mixed well, so she can't taste the booze. it's definitely possible. more than possible, I've had excellently mixed cocktails where I would swear there's no booze in them and yet half an hour later I'm pleasantly wobbly. it sucks that you do have to try so hard to find the perfect mixed drink but you kinda do.

me, I've just been drinking rum neat because there's riots downtown from me and I don't want to deal with it. I'm drunk enough to type without needing spellcheck but not so much that I'll be hung over.

Re: Drinking advice

(Anonymous) - 2020-05-31 05:53 (UTC) - Expand

If you're doing that every week, that does seem like a lot. Why do you feel like you need three? Are you drinking to get buzzed?

I don't think there's anything wrong in having three cocktails in a night by itself, it's when it becomes a regular thing that it starts getting questionable.

I don't personally think that's a lot, but unfortunately it probably is enough to have a negative impact on your health in the long run.

I think it's totally up to you to decide for yourself whether the significant possibility that it will effect your health later is enough to make it worth it to you to drink less now.

This sounds obvious, but I feel like when it comes to stuff like alcohol people are constantly muddying the waters with judgement and moralizing, and I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about the basic pragmatics of Pleasure Now Vs. Price Later.

Like, I love Iced Caps. They are LOADED with sugar and are almost definitely bad for my health. I drink two or three a week. I would probably drunk twice that many if they weren't so terrible for me. But at the same time, it would be a lot healthier if I just didn't drink them at all. However, I've decided, fuck that, life is finite, I'm going to continue to enjoy this unhealthy thing I love. I'm thin and Iced Caps aren't considered a "drug," so people don't judge me for them the way people judge some other stuff, but they're still bad for me.

We all do shit that's bad for us because we like it. To moderate our unhealthy behaviors or not to moderate our unhealthy behaviors, that is the question.

From a purely toxicological standpoint, you're probably fine. But what does your family history look like? If you find yourself checking 'yes' to most of the boxes on medical history questionnaires, particularly the cancer and mental health ones, you might want to cut back a little. At the end of the day, it's all genes and luck.

Three cocktails twice a week is unlikely to have any significant impact on your long-term health, barring significant compounding factors.

But if you're worried, cut back. Sub in something fruity and non-alcoholic for one of your cocktails.

I don't drink at all. I don't like the smell of any kind of alcohol and don't like the idea of it altering my behavior.

Six cocktails a week probably won't significantly impact your health unless there is some medication (even OTC, like ibuprofen) interference or underlying health condition.

But peoples' metabolism tends to slow down with age, so you may want to be aware of that when drinking, both for the calories and for the way your body metabolizes alcohol.

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