Reversing alcohol dementia;.

The effect of heavy drinking on alcoholic dementia.

The effects of heavy drinking on alcoholic dementia.

Reversing alcoholism fast.

These musings of mine about my family and me and alcohol are personal however, if someone benefits from our experiences this in my mind is a good thing. I remember when an older member of our family (protect their identity), and I were enjoying an evening in the pub celebrating something or other. As we approached the end of the evening we agreed to meet again on the weekend. I said to him, when we meet on Sunday, you will not remember I was here all evening with you tonight! He said ofcourse he will. On Sunday I turned up after confirming our meeting on Saturday midday, (the safest and most reliabe time to talk to him), and on the Sunday morning I asked the infamous question. When was the last time we meet? He said about 3 months ago was it not? I said no it was this Wednesday evening just gone, and I said to him that I had predicted he would not remember my visit on that Wednesday evening and he said really! On this question of reversing alcoholic dementia, it appears that finding someone that recognises they have the condition is one thing, however, finding someone with the condition recognising it and then wanting to do something about it is quite another. This is a work in progress. I think this experience has contributed to my desire to reduce my alcoholic consumption more and more. I am sure that one day I will enjoy a fresh glass of water as much as any other beverage one day.

There are many books on the subject of alcohol addiction. Most bring something of value to the discussion. I have only read 11 of them. I found some useful information that was shared in most of them and use this information to this day in curbing my alcohol consumption. Very rarely does one book bring more than one useful idea to one individual. I will be lucky if my small contribution here makes any difference to any individual. I will give a brief description of the condition I was in, than I will step through the changes that I took and what happened at each step and say something as to why I think it happened.

My short history here begins just like it was predicted at university and that is a lot of the habits one starts there tend to stay. Well I started drinking more at uni. This did continue. I just felt it did not matter. Although my grades did suffer in my opinion. I also had health problems at uni. At the time I put this down to stress, although with hind sight it seems probable I was already suffering some consequences of my drinking. The health issues included hangovers, loss of memory from drinking too much, chronic tiredness and eczema out breaks. The eczema problem was fixed through the elimination diet. I remember the day I broke the back of my eczema, it was such a relief. However, it was achieved by eating less, which means less nutrition. Which in my opinion had its own full out that followed in time.

Alcohol consumption continued as my health continued to decline. I decided I was not going to retire an alcoholic. So I began thinking about not drinking. This process is similar to other individuals whom consider that not drinking is as easy as drinking in the first place. As time passes you begin to realise that not drinking only increases the desire for it until you go and buy some and drink it. What next you ask? It is at this point one begins to wonder what is happening, does alcohol have a hold? When this process of trying new things to quite and then the next thing that may make your desire for alcohol go away continues in a loop of trying new things again and again keeps failing. It is not then surprising to find indignation creeping in. You might say "I am an adult that can achieve things, of course I can decide to not drink! Or to not like drinking."

Just in case you are new to exploring not drinking or drinking so little that it does not matter, because the amount you drink is so small. I should explain there is a well known phenomena amongst drinkers where they discover the next days/mornings drinking seems to simultaneously take away the hangover and at the same time satisfy something in us and brings us back to normal. Alcohol can achieve this because it an anaesthetic, which numbs pain, and addictive like nicotine, which means it satisfies cravings. So if drinking becomes regular it can slowly over time create an ever larger void of pain and cravings that is bridged by the next days drinking. For clarity this void is the reduction of the pain from the night before drinking and at the same time it is the satisfying feeling of alleviating your cravings. Of course these cravings are not always just alcohol. They could also be the sulphites or sugar or gluten if it is a beer!

Some of us have a very strong reaction to sulphites and they know it, and do not drink because of that reaction. Others amongst us have independently developed a sugar addiction. Now although sugar is not known to have an anaesthetic quality I have felt an almost relaxing/calming effect from eating sugar. It would seem that emotional/nervous system distress from an addiction to sugar can almost feel like pain that needs alleviating.

Where gluten hits the scene here is where it might cause a slight quickening of the heart rate when consumed. This is not really gluten intolerance like a celiac, but it is enough to be noticeable and detectable in the heart rate quickening by about 8 to 10 beats a minute extra. This may seem insignificant, but this rush of blood around the body does not go unnoticed. This is because extra blood flow produces extra oxygen for your brain. It can feel good! Along with this rush, gluten can stimulate the immune system to think it is under attack. The reason gluten can do this is because it is a very small protein and enters the blood stream through the gut wall lining and our white blood cells (immune cells) think it is a toxin or pathogen of some kind and begins to make antibodies to fight this invader. This invader can look very similar to other small things in our bodies that are also not the enemy like organs, including the pancreas, heart, kidney, eyes, ears and even the brain, although the brain has an added defence. This is a case of mistaken identity. This can lead to our own immune system attacking parts of our own bodies. I do in fact hear drinkers sometimes say that drink will protect them from colds and flu. I do not think there has been a clinical trial to test this theory out. However, assuming their organs are not under attack, this may have a half truth in it. Of course one does not need alcohol to stimulate their immune system with gluten. Gluten is everywhere! The problem is most likely over stimulation of the immune system with too much gluten rather than not enough. Also there are other healthier ways to stimulate the immune system.

The reason I have mentioned all these other ingredients in alcoholic beverages is that it is possible that another addiction is driving the alcohol consumption. Just like when someone fancies dark chocolate, and really what is happening is that their body needs magnesium or the sugar or caffeine or the polyphenyls that are in it. Our subconscious has the ability to make us decide we want something. What I mean is that in a

(opens in new tab) trial not so long ago electrodes were connected to some ones' head and the electrodes measured electrical signals.

Over time the data collected meant the operatives were able to guess with 100% accuracy whether the participant was going to say yes or no to any particular set of questions asked half a second before the participant themselves knew what the answer was. This is quite revealing, because it suggests that our decision to go left or right was already made for us in our subconscious a full half second before we became conscience of our decision!

I like what

(opens in new tab) Russel Brand says about this in his book called recovery on alcohol addiction

when he says he was walking down the Kings road pushing his little girl along and he sees a beautiful long legged blond walk by and she smiles at him, and in this moment he has less than half a second to stop the automatic cascade of emotions that are already taking place in his sex addicted brain. He says 5 minutes ago I was a happily married father of one and now all that is being forgotten in less than a second. Somehow he has to regain control of the moment by remembering that this image of himself as a sex addict is a throw back from his miserable past existence,

(opens in new tab) as also explained in Lewis Davids' book on alcohol,

that longed for what he has now, and that it is a subconscious imposter from a life he does not want anymore trying to be goal orientated like evolution trained it over a millennia and give him what it thinks he wants. However, he is retraining his brain and a new set of habits that build the future for his future self and family to live in have been in operation for years and he just has to say to himself, 'no this old self is not what I want. I am incredibly happy with what I have chosen and let me get on with building my better future' and suddenly he is back in the real world that he has worked very hard to build for himself. That is one more nail in the coffin of his addictive past persona.

So what we have done here is separate out some aspects of alcohol addiction. However, there is one more very serious under rated component to this story. Bill Wilson and Bob Smith began AA (alcoholic anonymous) in June 10, 1935 and later Bill meet Abram Hoffer authour of many books and publications and in his book on

(opens in new tab) Orthamolecular Medicine,

in a chance encounter and Bill asked Abbram if there might be something that could help with the on going pain that has resulted from so much damage done to the nervous system by drinking so much alcohol for so long. Bill went onto say that about a third of ex heavy drinkers suffer from this ongoing pain. Abram Hoffer wondered about this. He recommended 3g vitamin C and up to 3g of B3 split into 3 doses after each meal. Bill was grateful and to my knowledge tried it and it alleviated some of the symptoms for himself and most of members that went onto try it for themselves. Bill remained an advocate for nutritional support for ex alcoholics for the rest of his life.

Getting nutritional support after quitting drinking is one thing. At A&E (accident and emergency) it is a well known treatment for acute alcoholics to receive vitamin intervention before they have quite, like with Wernicke encephalopathy. This condition is treated with high doses of B1 (Thiamine), and helps patients with their memories and acute death. What treatments are there for before quitting carbohydrate addiction and what treatments are there for after quitting carbohydrates? Similarly the same can be said for

(opens in new tab) S02 (sulphur dioxide) 'sulphites' etc,

and before and after caffeine and before and after gluten.

This gave me the idea that my drinking problem was perhaps a combination of micro addictions, that can be individually dealt with and supported with nutritional intervention. It also later became clear that the original drinking problem might have been accelerated because of malnutrition in the first place! I needed to do some experiments on myself and see if my alcohol consumption could be reduced without any real effort apart from mindfulness and a clear desire to retire sober and getting off the other micro addictions.

With hind sight I would have done things differently. However, what I did do, mostly because of panic, is instigate periods of time without alcohol, just like what is suggested by every book that I had read up till then on quitting alcoholism. This fasting does indeed accelerate the whole process of getting off alcohol, and still remains the one sure fire way to reducing alcohol dependence. I did notice that after a particularly long period of time off alcohol (45 days) that I had a strong desire for something. I was feeling like I needed alcohol. This is what my brain was telling me anyway. I assumed it was the psychological aspect of alcohol addiction, I decided that the pain/uncomfortableness was so bad that I would have a shot of gin! This did not work. Which was a good and a bad thing. The feeling did not go away. It was good because, now I knew I did not have a pure alcohol addiction and it was bad because I still had the uncomfortable feeling and had gone back to drinking, after all alcohol is a pain killer and it did help, but I could of chose another pain killer right?

Since I had not yet dealt with any of the under lying micro addictions that I may of had or intervened with any nutritional supplementation yet for any of my afflictions it was quite an ordeal and quite a disconcerting feeling. Now that we are talking about supplementation it is important at this stage to mention the astounding discovery made by Abram Hoffer that a significant enough amount of trauma in ones' past life, be it a period of time in ICT/ICU (intensive care trauma unit) or a term in a labour camp or being a POW (prisoner of war) where malnutrition was a normal part of the punishment, can lead to a

(opens in new tab) lifelong dependence on nutritional support of one kind or another

written by Andrew W. Saul Ph.D. in his book Doctor Yourself. His discovery is backed up by the study that revealed POWs returning from WW2 (world war two) after being incarcerated for more than a year had different dying rates. Some took nutritional supplementation and lived on average till their early 80s vs the ones that did not take nutritional supplementation upon their return or did not keep it up died at an average age of 65 years old.

I suspect other trauma can be included in this list too. According to

(opens in new tab) Gabor Mate in his excellent book scattered minds

he cites emotional trauma can happen even whilst still in the womb. I agree with this and also I suspect caesarean section and even serious illness in the first two years of life that require antibiotics and I am sure there are more can be considered trauma. So for these people that have an underlying need for extra nutritional support, I would not be surprised to find out that they have difficulty coping with stressful situations and that if they try drinking at any time in their lives, they might find it takes away some of their pain, because alcohol is a physical and emotional pain killer.

This feeling of uncomfortableness could also have been hyper (high) or hypo (low) glycaemia (sugar). Indeed it turned out that I did have pre diabetes, self diagnosed by using a glucose reader and taking my blood fasting sugar levels. My results were as high as 8mmols (millimols) or 120+ dll (decilitres) these readings are high. My readings should have been lower somewhere closer to 100 dl or 5mmols. This cites another good example of where outside conditions are being confused with alcoholism. So our list has grown. It is now pre-diabetes, sugar, caffeine, sulphates SO2 (sulphur dioxide), gluten or finally alcohol, and there is of course the obvious and that is thirst.

So if it turns out you have pre-diabetes than for some this is incurable, but for others it is possible to reverse this. I managed it, I was one of the lucky ones. I very occasionally get hypoglycaemic due to poor food choices earlier in the day, which sets off a chain reaction and leads to sugar being low. Just in case you are interested this chain of events starts with a meal that is too high in carbs. This results in sugar levels rising temporarily too high followed by a slump in sugar levels. You may ask, but was you not therefore too high in sugar to start with? Fair question. If your sugar levels rise and your pancreas is still working it will pull that sugar level down with insulin thus turning all that sugar to fat and storing it under your skin, but if your pancreas is not working properly than your sugar levels may stay high, which is very dangerous, for that matter the opposite is also not good, sugar levels in your blood stream should also not be too low. At any one time our blood stream can only hold approx a maximum of just 5g of sugar. This is a very tightly controlled mechanism.

If there are all these other parts to a desire for alcohol that may contribute to alcohol consumption, than what is one to do? In my opinion they all need to be dealt with simultaneously. Slowly convert to a carbohydrate free diet and also only drink pure alcohol with no sugar or sulphates and avoid gluten and other lectins in it and mix each drink with plenty of water, add some stevia (sugar substitute of your choice) for flavour if you need and only consume alcohol after you have eaten. In fact it could be argued that drinking a short in the evening is better than any amount of sugar.

Just remember to keep these parts of the equation seperate in your mind. So that if after a drink you are still craving something, first try the healthy options like some dates or figs or dark chocolate, next if this is not cutting the mustard (doing it) for you then you might be facing a sodium dioxide (sulphates) problem. I think this molecule/chemical is very dangerous. I am still working on this problem, so in the short term find something that has sulphates like alcohol free wine or alcohol free cider and include this for the next 20 minutes or so and then see how you feel. The only other thing on the list is gluten. Now gluten is a lectin, so you can choose any other lectin too. White potato is a lectin as are peanuts so keep a bag of peanuts around just in case. If the feeling is really bad, then I would eat it all at once. However, I hear you asking what about the nutritional support and how does that work? By the way nearly all if not all processed foods contain sulphates. Infact the government cite that manufacturers do not even need to put sulphates on the ingredients if it contains less than 10 ppm (parts per million) when 100 ppm if breathed in can kill! This means you could go and grab the meat of a burger thus avoiding gluten or if vegan you could eat a processed snack bar. It is important to get into the habit of taking these seperately so that you can feel the effects if any. However, in a crisis eat anything!

I wish I could say that it is in this crisis moment that vitamins and amino acids work best, but I cannot say that. This is because vitamins and amino acids are like nudging the boat from the side. You are already on a journey and we have mentioned the major players and that engine is propelling you forward, vitamins and minerals and amino acids can only help with the direction/trajectory. This crisis situation is one of the worst feelings in the world, and we will do almost anything to escape it. However, it is best dealt with by avoiding entering into the state in the first place.

Just to finish up on the major players here. Finding which of the players are most likely to take away that crisis feeling is a really significant step, and hopefully it is not all of them, but it could be, it was for me, now you have found the status quo with regards your addictions it is now possible to work with vitamins and minerals and amino acids and slowly watch what these major players do with each passing week on the nutritional supplementation.

The most imortant supplement to begin with is vitamin C. Take 1 -2g after each meal or if you are fasting till lunch time or later then it is OK to take vitamin C on an empty stomach just like it is with all the B vitamins too. Do not take any mineral supplements on an empty stomach or you might throw up. This vitamin C supplement will make a huge difference to your health and give you a real boost. By the way if you have four small meals then take the vitamin C after every meal still. Because, vitamin C is safe especially if you are not on any medication. Also reaching bowel tolerance is just considered that you have now taken the optimal amount, and this could be a personal goal that of reaching bowel tolerance at least once a month.

B1 (thiamine) is the next most important supplement. This is the brains conductor. It will start to repair any structural damage to both the subconscious and the frontal lobes which is where the decision making part of the brain is. So you might start making better choices! Next is B3 (nicotinamide)(niacin) all the same stuff. This somehow made the most difference to Bill the co founder of AA (alcoholic anonymous). He said his CNS (central nervous system) was shot after all those years of drinking and he was suffering for it. When Abram Hoffer offered B3 as a supplement Bill tried it and to his amazement it really helped.

Next is amino acids. N Acetyl carnitine and Tyrosine and N acetyl cystine will help with cravings. Next is magnesium as this will help you to sleep and lack of sleep will be a problem going forward and this will need your constant attention. There is a thing now called

(opens in new tab) sleep hygiene

and there are lots of websites that will help here. The reason sleep is important is because, the CNS (central nervous system) will calm down with these B vitamins and magnesium thus taking away a huge amount of agitation that seems to drive us to drink sometimes.

There maybe other deficiencies that one has that are contributing towards a CNS aggitated state or towards a confused state such as choline. Choline is one of the few B vitamins supplements that in trials have helped

(opens in new tab) Alzheimers patients.

This is not a surprise because, one third of our brains dry weight is lecithin and choline is concentrated lecithin. Other supplements that may have significant contributing factors towards your sobriety is B12, B6 because these form part of the energy equation called

(opens in new tab) methalation plus epigenetics

and this is very important if you would like your energy back without drinking.

I have found with these supplements and the occasional abstinence from alcohol, that my happiness without alcohol is increasing and my consumption has dropped to one third of what it used to be, but it has taken a couple of years. There is an important psychological component to not drinking too, which is the focus of nearly all the other books. Remember most alcoholics are also malnutritioned and have the same disease rates as developing countries where food is lacking, like with subsistance farming methods growing a single crop. These diseases include heart disease and diabetes this could be because, alcohol depletes the body of vital nutrients.

The psychology of addiction in my opinion has a nutritional component too. Emotional stress is just as depleting of nutrients in the body as is alcohol. It is also fair to say that sport or a hard physical job can play a big role in nutrient depletion. If one was to add to this a diet that was devoid of nutrients that would be bad enough, but if the diet actually added more stress on the body in that it stressed the body, like gluten/lectins or too much caffeine or smoking or too much drinking then this could be considered more than a tri-factor of destruction. The secret to making progress is to pick one area for yourself where you are most likely to make the most progress and that offers promise of succeeding and let that area be your peronal area to contribute to the organism as a whole (you) in question, instead of taking away something vital through one of the behaviours that put stress on the body. If the psychological is easier to fix than that is great, if the diet is easiest to fix than that is great, or if taking a bunch of supplements is easiest, that is great, or if quitting smoking is the easiest thing to do, that is fine, or if changing jobs or taking a break from work is an option than that is great. It is just important to realise that the body can almost always heal itself if given enough opportunity.

Now of course if you are thinking I am not sure if I can or want to change now so as to improve my future selves life then I would recommend listening to

(opens in new tab) Jordan Peterson on You Tube

and buy

(opens in new tab) one of his 3 books/audio books

or if you have enough money get some counselling from someone that has studied him.

So is drinking safe levels safe? This site has the most positive approach to drinking I have seen in a long time. It is not too late to

(opens in new tab) reverse the trend!