I think it's a bit more complicated in humans. I first started drinking at 14 and regularly by 16. I was 6' 1" and all of 140 pounds at 16. Three beers got me very tipsy at that age; six and I was done for the night. In college I started lifting weights and bulked up to 180. By then I could down twelve or so on a night and still not show real signs of drinking. After college I continued drinking and lifting weights, reaching my maximum, current weight of 200. In my thirties and early forties I could drink well into the twenties on any given night and you would not know it, other than in the eyes. But there is cumulative effect to all that drinking and it wears on you. I've seen it with my other alcoholic friends, all of whom could drink a case of beer in a night and walk straight in their 20s and 30s but not so much in their 40s. After a while, I believe the cumulative effect does significant damage and you start to get sloppy. That was my experience anyway. I don't think age had as much to do with it as much as the cumulative effect of having 50-100 drinks, week after week, year after year. Not a scientific observation, just one from my personal experience.

I believe that too Nick. Alcohol (unlike some other addictive drugs) poisons your whole body. When I was in publicly funded detox / rehab the heroin addicts felt sorry for us alkies, because of all the harm it does to our entire bodies, and not least the brain. Heroin, apparently, is very specific in the harm it does (unlike methadone which is much nastier stuff, much like alcohol, in that it affects every cell in your body - but that is a discussion for another forum I think).

That said, watching that documentary was a revelation. There are, I now strongly believe, significant effects that are attributable to age and not just to drinking history.

Which documentary?

Love this post. Slurring is not pretty male or female. Getting behind the wheel "under the influence" no matter what that influence may be is risky...especially after the DUI. That unhappy experience a few months previous is what took me into Barnes and Noble one dreary night last February.

But ya know...I may complain I am feeling no difference, but the real truth is, I am!! I am HERE. I am significantly aware of what I am drinking, counting them, keeping track, on this website, getting counsel from you wonderful people, and I am doing BETTER!! I am doing better. That is the difference, if nothing else.

I am doing BETTER. I am HERE. I care about myself enough to go through the humiliation of asking 2 doctors for help, going thru my school district insurance to get the meds...it's better.

As for being less social, pisces, you will be MORE social b/c you will feel more in control and confident you are doing SOMETHING. Welcome aboard! :-)

pisces7378,
At first blush, I was not interested in this thread. I thought it was vanity and not worth my time but upon further reading, i believe you have touched upon something very important to the state of "cured" that has dissappointed so many. It is late so stand by for an indepth post tomorrow.

Thanks for starting this.