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Post by Lin on Apr 28, 2015 16:39:50 GMT -5
I was asked last night if alcoholism is an allergy. I said I had heard some doctors many years ago wrote that was what it was. (1935 perhaps?) I guess they meant like if we have a peanut allergy and we eat peanuts, our body acts differently...maybe throat close. Maybe a rash. Maybe we have trouble breathing. But we react to the food we are allergic to. Perhaps the fact when an alcoholic drinks, they react differently than other people would. And it does effect their body. I told her I had heard more often that it was referred as a chemical imbalance in the brain. It causes an alcoholic to react differently to the drink than a non alcoholic would. It causes them to want to have more. I can't see an allergy to peanuts making a person want more peanuts. So I am thinking the allergy opinion has been replaced by more recent data and studies.
It's been a long time since I read the Big Book or went to an open meeting of AA or to a rehab meeting for family info.
So what is the latest thought on addiction being an allergy?
LIN
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Post by majestyjo on Apr 28, 2015 18:11:07 GMT -5
It is written in the Doctor's Opinion in the Preface to the Big Book.
We do not metabolize alcohol the way normal people do. Will post more later.
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Post by Lin on Apr 29, 2015 8:19:17 GMT -5
Thanks. I talked to Dorrie a while and she also said that. She explained that she has an allergy to alcohol.
.. If I am allergic to peanuts or milk or something like that and consume it, I get sick. Same with alcohol. I also see it as a disease. It can't be cured but it CAn be put into remission. I also see how a chemical in the brain can cause some people to behave differently when different things are consumed. SO I can see it as a combination of all three ideas.
Look forward to hearing your thoughts.
LIN
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Post by majestyjo on Apr 29, 2015 20:11:22 GMT -5
Thanks for sharing Lin, I appreciate your input. I put some links in for AA literature. This is a link to the Doctor's Opinion. anonpress.org/bb/docsopin.htmI think alcohol affects different people, different ways. I had a guy say, he spilled more alcohol than I drank. It wasn't how much I drank, or how much drank I before I changed, it was about what happened to me when I did drink. It was a progression, it kept taking more, and it took over my body, mind and soul. For some, it takes long than others and with the new drugs of today, the combination is deadly. There are very few 'pure' alcoholics today. |
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Post by Lin on Apr 30, 2015 8:10:57 GMT -5
Thanks for the link. It was alot to take in. But I read it.
LIN
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Post by majestyjo on Nov 15, 2016 21:24:58 GMT -5
When I think of allergy, I remember the joke "I am allergic to alcohol, I break out in spots, Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, New York, New Orleans....
It is an allergy, we don't metabolize things like 'normal' people do. It is an obsession of the mind, for me one I couldn't let go of until I found a God of my understanding, and asked for help.
My best thinking got me to the doors of recovery, they will also take me back out the door if I don't deal with them.
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. I will be back looking for Lin and others.