(This is a story originally from my Reddit account, posted almost a month ago. But along with my Reddit account, this post got deleted, so I though I'd find it on the Wayback Machine and post it on Lemmy instead. I found it really funny and wanted to keep it around)
About a week ago, I went out drinking with a couple of my friends. I enjoyed myself a lot, but I got really, really drunk lol. E has totally decreased my tolerance for alcohol and I rarely drink anyway.
When I stumbled back home (almost crawling on all fours at that point), my bf was very understanding. He helped me get undressed, inserted my prog for me and made sure I got to bed safely. Then I fell asleep.
I don't know why, but alcohol initially makes me fall asleep really easily, but then I always wake up a couple of hours later, not very well rested. So while I did fall asleep quite quickly, I didn't stay asleep for more than 5 hours.
I kinda woke up at about 3AM (my guess), totally out of it and confused. I did not open my eyes yet though. There was a lingering smell of wine in my nostrils, which was quite unpleasant, but I was fine otherwise, just really confused. I was trying to remember who I was or where I was, with my eyes still closed, and I kinda started rubbing my face against the pillow I was sleeping on.
It was really soft and smelled really, really good. Like that kind of smell that a girl's hair would have, nicely taken care of with various hair care products. This kind of worried me, because my brain was like: "This is a girl's pillow. What the hell did you do last night? Who am I going to wake up next to? I'm totally gonna wake up next to a girl that I don't know in the morning. And I don't even like girls!". I grew increasingly panicked, but I couldn't get enough of the scent, lol.
So I finally opened my eyes. My bf was sleeping next to me, in our own bed and I was laying on my own damn pillow ๐คฃ. I felt so stupid, but also pretty damn euphoric. It smelled soooo good! I guess HRT made my hair much less oily, so the only thing I could smell from my pillow was my shampoo and conditioner. It definitely gave me a confidence boost.
The next morning I woke up, after a not-so-restful night with a really bad hangover and felt like shit. But I had my euphoria and was at least really happy ๐ฉท
This is a cute story! I love moments of euphoria like that, even when they are a bit confusing.
So, in case you were curious what is happening physiologically, here is a hand-wavy generalized breakdown:
Alcohol is a depressant, meaning it basically slows down your nervous system (and by extension, your cardio-vascular system)... like a lot. Your initial "falling asleep" isn't actually sleep (which is a specific biological process with measurable stages), it's losing consciousness due to your nervous system being incredibly impaired.
Once your liver processes enough of the alcohol, your nervous system fires back up again and wakes you. It's often hard to go back to "sleep" when this happens because your body is over-compensating for the depressant by being more stimulated that normal given this context. You may notice your heart beating harder and more quickly when this happens.
Your body is also likely dehydrated because alcohol is a strong diuretic (which you've probably noticed). Most of the typical hangover symptoms are actually a result of dehydration. Basically the best thing you can do at this stage is continuously sip water. The girl in the morning will thank you.
The thing is, your body likes equilibrium. When something like alcohol throws it off, it will compensate by overstimulating the things the alcohol slowed down. Eventually this over-correction wears off and your body returns to normal. Now, with chronic alcohol use, your body has a harder time doing that, which is why alcoholism can be so dangerous (and even fatal) when it gets out of control, because your heart is basically flooring it 24/7 to compensate for the depressant.
Every once in a while, in moderation, alcohol is fine. Even the rare binge night is probably okay (given your are in a safe environment). People have been drinking it for thousands of years, so a healthy relationship is possible. But do take care of your new girl body so you can spend as long of a life in it as possible! ๐
P.S. I am not a medical professional, I've just been close to a couple people who struggled with alcohol. If you are a doctor and I've made any mistakes here, feel free to correct me.
Aha. Thanks for the explanation. Someone on the original post already explained it, but I'm dumb, I didn't get it the first time ๐
I thought this might be it...
I think it's why alcohol and benzo withdrawal specifically is so dangerous...
I will, tysm! And thanks a lot for the explanation ๐ฉท
I'll take better care of myself.
CW: substances
I'm stopping kratom today. Used to take 2 teaspoons daily, which sucked. It keeps me from drowning in a deep depression, but the long term effects aren't great, not to mention addiction.Instead (and this is gonna sound terrible) I have weed. I don't smoke it, I have an expensive dry herb vape, so no tar, it's much better on my lungs.
I have a much better relationship with weed than kratom, much longer too. I'll be fine, but I still kinda feel like a bad human, needing some drug to cope with life. I'm just disappointed that I'm not strong enough to cope sober...