Alcoholism can put a person at risk for many life-threatening diseases including those affecting the liver, heart, and pancreas.  But what about the common cold, a sinus infection, or strep throat.  What’s that like for someone with alcoholism?  I have a cold today, and I got curious.  Here’s what I found out.

Fluids Flush Out Toxins and Alcohol Dehydrates

Doctors always push fluids, fluids, and more fluids when your body is dealing with an infection.  Fluids help flush out the germs, keep your mucus flowing to prevent congestion, and generally support the germ-fighting activity of your white blood cells. 

Well, what if you are drinking all kinds of hard alcohol or a 12-pack of beer every day?  Alcohol dehydrates you, so medical professionals often recommend that you avoid alcohol when you have a cold or the flu.  If you are already drinking an excessive amount, your body is “in the hole” when it comes to fluid balance. 

Alcohol Limits White Blood Cells Abilities

Alcohol in large amounts also limits the ability of white blood cells to fully fight an infection.  Also, drinking lots of alcohol takes the place of nutritious food.  This decreases a person’s nutritional intake over time, depriving the body of vitamins and minerals needed to build a healthy functional immune system.  Nothing, not even the best vitamin supplements, can replace the nutritional value of healthy food.  With all this, the alcoholic’s body is always a few steps behind when a germ invades.

When your body spends a lot of resources and energy flushing all the alcohol out of your body, it has little left to deal with germs waiting to get in.  Like a castle left with just a few guards at the main entrance, infection can easily get established.

Brown Bottle Flu And The Common Cold Bad Combination

You know how awful you feel when you have a bad cold or the flu - headache, fever or chills, achy muscles, stuffy head, raw throat, fatigue.  Now think about a hangover - headache, achy muscles, upset stomach, fatigue.  Hmm….no wonder a hangover is often called the “brown bottle flu”.  Can you even imagine how it feels to have both of these going on at the same time?

Some people may try using the excuse that drinking helps prevent colds and illness.  Well, having a small amount of alcohol helps the body to relax.  Stress and chronic muscle tension can weaken a person’s immune system  But in this case, more is not better.  The damage from excessive alcohol completely overshadows any benefits from increased relaxation.

Alcohol Rehab For a Healthy Immune System

A person with alcoholism needs alcohol rehab for many reasons.  Obviously, stopping the consumption of large amounts of alcohol is the first step.  When all the problems have persist and gotten worse, keeping the toxins out of the system will have the greatest first impact. 

Alcohol rehab is also a place for people to regain and nourish their physical health.  No doubt they have experienced more infections and illnesses than most other people.  They need time to learn healthy eating habits, exercise routines, and to strengthen their immune system.  Going to alcohol rehab is the best way for an alcoholic to get a strong immune system.

 A young woman had been an alcoholic for longer than she realized.  She had the deck stacked against her in so many ways, it’s not surprising she had this coming.  The following is a fictional story, but every woman with addiction can probably find themselves somewhere in it.  Where do you fit in? 

Real progress on the path comes from the blessings of the guru, and these blessings are sparked by your devotion.

Finding Peace In The Storm Of Alcoholism

Alcoholism And Family History

Family history of alcoholism - check.  As anyone with alcoholic parents knows, a family with alcoholism is no healthy family.  Children often become the parents and vice-versa.  The one steady parent resents the “free pass” the other parent seems to have for family responsibility, marital problems, and financial stability. 

Too much responsibility for a young girl to take on - check.  This young woman grew up expecting chaos and mixed-up family roles.  As the oldest child in the family, she became the mom to her younger siblings.  No counting on her own mom for much.  She worked constantly and went out with friends because she just “had to get out of the house”.  

Like her father, this young girl had untreated mental illness.  She had bipolar disorder, creating periods of severe ups and downs in her mood.  A few weeks at a time she might be going all the time, having racing thoughts, and trouble getting to sleep.  The next few weeks she could have trouble even getting out of bed, little hope in life, and hardly any motivation.  

Alcoholism And The Facade Hid Mental Illness

Inside, she was breaking apart.  She was disconnected from her parents in different ways.  Her alcoholic father never went to alcohol rehab or even AA to deal with his drinking.  Her mother was constantly gone.  She herself has come close to having an addiction herself as of late. 

Her bipolar seemed to really have a mind of its own when she was in college.  She increasingly used alcohol as a way to calm herself when she was manic and soothe the pain when she was depressed.  As a young adult, she had a long-term relationship with a guy who mostly had her around for sexual encounters.  There was no respect here, but to her it was at least better than being alone. 

One time, she was raped by this guy.  She was so embarassed and ashamed, in so much pain.  She got seriously drunk a few times, and once she was taken to the hospital by a friend because she passed out and had taken a large amount of over-the-counter sleeping pills. 

The doctors told her she needed to go to alcohol treatment right away.  She had come close to dying because of the amount of alcohol and pills in her system.  She was ashamed to know she was turning out just like her parents with their drinking, but she did know that something had to change.  She couldn’t go on like this anymore. 

After Alcohol Rehab A Life Coming Back Together

Slowly but surely, she started to turn her life around in alcohol rehab.  She was prescribed medication to help her with her bipolar disorder, which finally helped her feel more normal than she could remember in years.   Opening up about her addiction and the rape was hard for her.  But the staff and the other women at the alcohol rehab center were so understanding. 

She finally felt a bit of peace in her heart and learned much more about how she had been drowning her horrible feelings in alcohol.  When her alcohol rehab stay ended, she knew she still had a long journey ahead.  But for the first time, she had a new vision for a better life.