"I Was Raised In An Alcoholic Family"

Sorry to hear that.
But WHO GIVES A CRUMB!

“. . . the multitude of persons who exhibit misbehavior conduct through faulty upbringing or complexes, who are oppressed by a sense of humiliation or inferiority because of unfriendly or disapproving associates or because of some physical defect, and find that a few drinks enable them to consider themselves the equals of any or even superior to all others, are not to be classed as chronic alcoholics merely because they indulge in alcohol regularly.” Dr. William G. Silkworth – “Alcoholism as a Manifestation of Allergy,” Medical Record (March 17, 1937)

Sometimes I go to meetings and I swear – it sounds like an audition to play Rodney Dangerfield in a movie – not an AA meeting

“My mutha was a drunk. My father was a lech. I even married a drunk.”

“I once walked into the house at five in the morning and my new bride was wearing nothing but a negligee and stockings. Yeah, she was just coming in.”

“No wonder I drink. “I gotta drink I tell ya!”

“We were so poor that I felt inferior to my peers and so I drank to feel better – and I did it so much and often that I became a no good bum with a rotting liver who lied and cheated and earned the hatred of my kids children. They don’t give me no respect. I went to fifty rehabs didn’t stay through most of the courses – I still couldn’t stay sober — and all this makes me an alcoholic now. Right?

WRONG!

All of this makes you ASSHOLE.

All alcoholics may well be assholes – do you know any who are not? I don’t. But not all assholes are alcoholic.

What makes you an alcoholic is fitting “Our description of the alcoholic” set forth in the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous. There is no other way. We cannot turn you into a real alcoholic. We cannot “declare ” or “proclaim” that you are “one of us”.

What we can do is show you “Our description of the alcoholic” so that you can see if you fit – if you qualify for membership – then decide if you want to try the solution we have used. Our solution FIT “Our description” and no other description of alcoholism. If not, your solution may lie elsewhere. If you don’t qualify – we trust you to go away.We pray that you find YOUR solution.

Peace,

Danny S

Got A Bad Case Of The Krebs

There are all any kinds of alcohol. The particular alcohol which has caused us so much trouble and grief is Ethyl Alcohol also known as ETOH or Ethanol. That’s the one we like!

It may surprise you to learn that the alcohol contained in the alcoholic beverages that we have so enthusiastically poured down our greedy little gullets — or ethanol — is actually a carbohydrate.

That’s right – it’s FOOD, which the body absorbs and metabolizes as a source of energy, producing calories. This is accomplished in what is known as the “Krebs Cycle“ which breaks all carbohydrates (alcohol included) into carbon dioxide and water to generate a form of usable energy.

A minority of humans – estimated at perhaps only ten percent of the world population – experiences an abnormal reaction to this type of alcohol since it produces a phenomenon of craving in these individuals.

This is not an experience with which most people identify. They NEVER experience it – hence it can be considered an “Allergy” – in the same way that some people have no tolerance for sunlight, or peanuts are both considered allergies.

Just can’t bring yourself to use the word “Allergy“? Fine! Call it what you like – but its abnormal and if you don’t experience it once any alcohol whatever enters your system – you don’t fit “Our description of the alcoholic” which is so exhaustively explained in the first forty three pages of the Big Book, “Alcoholics Anonymous”. (Oh crap! Now you’ll NEVER let the Big Book into your silly little Open Discussion Group Meeting!)

People who abuse alcohol and do not experience this allergic reaction would not be considered real alcoholics according the book “Alcoholics Anonymous” also known as The Big Book – even though they may develop serious health and social consequences stemming from their heavy or hard drinking.

There is help for them. it is called COUNSELING! Or maybe CHURCH. Or even just getting “Sick and being of being sick and tired”. That ought to keep a non-alcoholic away from booze.

Hell I know folks who stopped drinking just because their wives wouldn’t screw them anymore! There are no such success stories of self-will for us real alkies.

Real alkies drink – NO MATTER WHAT.

Other types of alcohols such as the kind that may be present in trace amounts in some food products like orange juice, which have no energy value have no deleterious effects on the alcoholic in such minuscule amounts since alcoholics are not typically allergic to these.

So the next time someone wants to tell you that a drug is a drug is a drug – and that it is OK to tell non-alcoholic drug addicts that have become members of Alcoholics Anonymous – ask him how many calories he thinks are in a stem full of crack?

How much energy does he get from a shot of heroin?

Do Oxys make him feel full?

And the next time someone at a party asks you why you aren’t drinking, do what I do.

First look around in both directions to see that no one else is listening. Then simply raise your Ginger Ale – raise one eyebrow – swirl a few ice cubes around in your glass – not too much – just enough to make a slight tinkling sound – then look them in the eye and say, “Oh no, no. . . I’d love to but . . . I’ve got Krebs”.

Peace,

Danny S

Got A Bad Case Of The Krebs

There are all any kinds of alcohol. The particular alcohol which has caused us so much trouble and grief is Ethyl Alcohol also known as ETOH or Ethanol. That’s the one we like!

It may surprise you to learn that the alcohol contained in the alcoholic beverages that we have so enthusiastically poured down our greedy little gullets — or ethanol — is actually a carbohydrate.

That’s right – it’s FOOD, which the body absorbs and metabolizes as a source of energy, producing calories. This is accomplished in what is known as the “Krebs Cycle“ which breaks all carbohydrates (alcohol included) into carbon dioxide and water to generate a form of usable energy.

A minority of humans – estimated at perhaps only ten percent of the world population – experiences an abnormal reaction to this type of alcohol since it produces a phenomenon of craving in these individuals.

This is not an experience with which most people identify. They NEVER experience it – hence it can be considered an “Allergy” – in the same way that some people have no tolerance for sunlight, or peanuts are both considered allergies.

Just can’t bring yourself to use the word “Allergy“? Fine! Call it what you like – but its abnormal and if you don’t experience it once any alcohol whatever enters your system – you don’t fit “Our description of the alcoholic” which is so exhaustively explained in the first forty three pages of the Big Book, “Alcoholics Anonymous”. (Oh crap! Now you’ll NEVER let the Big Book into your silly little Open Discussion Group Meeting!)

People who abuse alcohol and do not experience this allergic reaction would not be considered real alcoholics according the book “Alcoholics Anonymous” also known as The Big Book – even though they may develop serious health and social consequences stemming from their heavy or hard drinking.

There is help for them. it is called COUNSELING! Or maybe CHURCH. Or even just getting “Sick and being of being sick and tired”. That ought to keep a non-alcoholic away from booze.

Hell I know folks who stopped drinking just because their wives wouldn’t screw them anymore! There are no such success stories of self-will for us real alkies.

Real alkies drink – NO MATTER WHAT.

Other types of alcohols such as the kind that may be present in trace amounts in some food products like orange juice, which have no energy value have no deleterious effects on the alcoholic in such minuscule amounts since alcoholics are not typically allergic to these.

So the next time someone wants to tell you that a drug is a drug is a drug – and that it is OK to tell non-alcoholic drug addicts that have become members of Alcoholics Anonymous – ask him how many calories he thinks are in a stem full of crack?

How much energy does he get from a shot of heroin?

Do Oxys make him feel full?

And the next time someone at a party asks you why you aren’t drinking, do what I do.

First look around in both directions to see that no one else is listening. Then simply raise your Ginger Ale – raise one eyebrow – swirl a few ice cubes around in your glass – not too much – just enough to make a slight tinkling sound – then look them in the eye and say, “Oh no, no. . . I’d love to but . . . I’ve got Krebs”.

Peace,

Danny S

What We Don’t Know Can Kill Us

I heard a guy online recently telling people that “ALLERGY” is NOT part of alcoholism. I can understand not “BUYING” the allergy angle sometimes because so few of us have it explained to us – and unless we study the Big Book – we may NEVER understand it. But unless we do – we are fucked! Pardon the expletive. I am no saint!

Allergy is a perfectly proper and well accepted word to those of us who understand the malady –because unless a real alcoholic can come to grips with the fact that he has an allergy to alcohol – his recovery will elude him. And unless we who have recovered understand it enough to explain it to a newcomer, then we can effectively work with others – and THAT is detrimental to us too.

“In our belief, any picture of the alcoholic which leaves out this physical factor is incomplete.” (The Doctors Opinion)

Like many people – including many people to attend our fellowship meetings when they think of “allergy” they think of histamines, antihistamines and visible manifestations (Like swelling, hives, coughing, ect) which develop when the body’s immune system becomes misdirected and attacks harmless food proteins and other substances in the body. But this is an incomplete definition of an allergy. As a result, many people dismiss other potentially lethal substances as harmless when in fact they actually are deadly. SUCH AS ALCOHOL. Some folks are quick to rule out alcoholic allergy yet so readily accept allergies to things like latex, wheat, and even invisible mold spores in HVAC systems. Why is that?

The most popular “definition” the one to which most of us have limited our knowledge is NOT what we are talking about when we talk about alcoholic allergy. If can expand our knowledge base to include the WHOLE definition of “allergy” and not keep it only to you own limited experience – you too can understand why all alcoholics are allergic to alcohol.

First let’s look at one definition, the one everyone like since it’s likely to be the only one to which they have been exposed: (from Merriam-Webster )

1 : altered bodily reactivity (as hypersensitivity) to an antigen in response to a first exposure

Ahh but “Allergy” is not limited to this single description. Now try this definition – just as valid – on for size:

2 : exaggerated or pathological immunological reaction (as by sneezing, difficult breathing, itching, or skin rashes) to substances, situations, or physical states that are without comparable effect on the average individual.

THIS is the definition which applies to alcoholism – not the first – but ignorance the second definition is no excuse for passing around false information.

When an alcohol allergic person has so much as one drop of alcohol, they experience an exaggerated or pathological reaction to the alcohol that are without comparable effect on the average individual. It is estimated that only ten to fifteen percent of the world’s population are afflicted – which perhaps is why you have never been exposed to the whole definition of “allergy” – it just doesn’t apply to you or most people.

But just because of that – please don’t rule out how we real alcoholics react to ETOH. The exaggerated or pathological reaction manifests itself as a phenomenon of craving. Craving is not a reaction which the average individual experiences when they ingest alcohol.

This happens ONLY to alcohol allergic people.

Are you beginning to get the picture? Can you see how what we don’t know – and claim to know – can harm others?

Here’s an article that may be of interest to you if you care to learn more. If not just click away to other regions of the Internet.

Do Drugs Make Your Ass Big?

Peace,

Danny S

What We Don’t Know Can Kill Us

I heard a guy online recently telling people that “ALLERGY” is NOT part of alcoholism. I can understand not “BUYING” the allergy angle sometimes because so few of us have it explained to us – and unless we study the Big Book – we may NEVER understand it. But unless we do – we are fucked! Pardon the expletive. I am no saint!

Allergy is a perfectly proper and well accepted word to those of us who understand the malady –because unless a real alcoholic can come to grips with the fact that he has an allergy to alcohol – his recovery will elude him. And unless we who have recovered understand it enough to explain it to a newcomer, then we can effectively work with others – and THAT is detrimental to us too.

“In our belief, any picture of the alcoholic which leaves out this physical factor is incomplete.” (The Doctors Opinion)

Like many people – including many people to attend our fellowship meetings when they think of “allergy” they think of histamines, antihistamines and visible manifestations (Like swelling, hives, coughing, ect) which develop when the body’s immune system becomes misdirected and attacks harmless food proteins and other substances in the body. But this is an incomplete definition of an allergy. As a result, many people dismiss other potentially lethal substances as harmless when in fact they actually are deadly. SUCH AS ALCOHOL. Some folks are quick to rule out alcoholic allergy yet so readily accept allergies to things like latex, wheat, and even invisible mold spores in HVAC systems. Why is that?

The most popular “definition” the one to which most of us have limited our knowledge is NOT what we are talking about when we talk about alcoholic allergy. If can expand our knowledge base to include the WHOLE definition of “allergy” and not keep it only to you own limited experience – you too can understand why all alcoholics are allergic to alcohol.

First let’s look at one definition, the one everyone like since it’s likely to be the only one to which they have been exposed: (from Merriam-Webster )

1 : altered bodily reactivity (as hypersensitivity) to an antigen in response to a first exposure

Ahh but “Allergy” is not limited to this single description. Now try this definition – just as valid – on for size:

2 : exaggerated or pathological immunological reaction (as by sneezing, difficult breathing, itching, or skin rashes) to substances, situations, or physical states that are without comparable effect on the average individual.

THIS is the definition which applies to alcoholism – not the first – but ignorance the second definition is no excuse for passing around false information.

When an alcohol allergic person has so much as one drop of alcohol, they experience an exaggerated or pathological reaction to the alcohol that are without comparable effect on the average individual. It is estimated that only ten to fifteen percent of the world’s population are afflicted – which perhaps is why you have never been exposed to the whole definition of “allergy” – it just doesn’t apply to you or most people.

But just because of that – please don’t rule out how we real alcoholics react to ETOH. The exaggerated or pathological reaction manifests itself as a phenomenon of craving. Craving is not a reaction which the average individual experiences when they ingest alcohol.

This happens ONLY to alcohol allergic people.

Are you beginning to get the picture? Can you see how what we don’t know – and claim to know – can harm others?

Here’s an article that may be of interest to you if you care to learn more. If not just click away to other regions of the Internet.

Do Drugs Make Your Ass Big?

Peace,

Danny S

STICK WITH THE WINNERS

“From a trembling, despairing, nervous wreck, had emerged a man brimming over with self-reliance and contentment.” - Dr. Silkworth on encountering Bill W AFTER Bill’s transformation (spiritual experience)

I guess the good Doctor hadn’t heard that he shouldn’t be taking anyone’s inventory or be judgmental. He took Bill’s inventory all right and the store looked in fine shape.

It is only the businesses that are failing – going out of business – have poor inventories – that hate to be observed with a discerning eye.

I know – I worked on Wall Street for years doing just this. Good companies, just as people that are healthy inside and out, don’t mind being seen – they don’t mind the books being examined and they welcome the occasional discovery of a bad item so it can be discarded.

STICK WITH THE WINNERS – and the fellowship I crave forms around me like a “Pink Cloud”. Much like my internet and F2F life within the Fellowship. HA!

Peace,

Danny S

http://recoveredalcoholic.blogspot.com