arboles:
Replacement of ETHANOL with METHANOL is your best bet, similar smell, similar taste, HORRIBLE EFFECTS and sadly in many countries so industrious that commercial factory solvent grade METHANOL is cheaper than ETHANOL and as per factory grade, VERY IMPURE :(
Is most damaging when served drinks of low volume as the ratio of methanol/ethanol is MAINLY METHANOL (i.e COCKTAILS, SHOTS, PARTIAL GLASSES of slightly flavored liquors)
If you can remember if your drinks were large or small that could be helpful to gauge a range of METHANOL consumed as if the volumes were large than hopefully more ethanol was included(an ANTIDOTE for METHANOL toxicity)
Start taking racetams NOW!
Get your VISION comparatively TESTED with the exam before THIS INCIDENT, remind the doctor of your METHANOL poisoning
he can do retina/corneal exams and map these areas and note the extent of the damage
your typical eye glass shop, even commercial ones all have these machines now which check for diseases of the eye, they check for this damage too
Best
Thanks for your suggestions.
It most likely was methanol as that is the most often used substitute for ethanol in counterfeit alcohol, but I can't rule out any of the other toxic chemicals used as substitutes.
I am interested in learning how the long term deficits and damage from counterfeit alcohol poisoning are different than the type of brain trauma that occurs in long term alcoholics. i can only find short term studies on methanol posioning, nothing addressing any of the long term damage.
My response to racetams (piracetam, noopept) has been mixed.
I'd like to get an MRI done onyl problem is that even with my insurance its expensive due to my deductible. I'd like to see a neurologist to see if they have any suggestions for therapy or medications. I've read about memantime and nsi 189 and other experimental drugs. but would like to speak to a specialist. although i don't think i will ever return to my original baseline, i would like to regain as much as possible.
I've had an eye exam recently - I didn't mention the poisoning incident to the doctor when I went in for the appointment - it may be a good idea when I go back to tell him so that he can look specifically for signs of methanol damage. The opthamologist said my eyes were okay however my vision would benefit from prescription eye glasses. I would need to compare the pre and post exam vision to check for any degradation in vision. It's possible that methanol was the cause for needing glasses but it could also be just normal aging or other things.
I was served counterfeit alcohol on more than one occasion during my time living in China. On each of these separate occasions I was either drinking: whiskey, vodka, sake, or baijiu.
A variety of things that occurred subsequent to drinking that normally wouldn't occur if I was just drinking regular alcohol:
becoming very intoxicated after consuming only a small amount of alcohol.
blackout after only consuming a small amount,
no memory of the event.
In the days following I was feeling like I was still drunk and i never regained my mental clarity.
the hangover didn't go away.
concentration and ability to focus decreased,
persistent confusion and dizziness - (possibly the most troublesome symptom in terms of quality of life.)
attention span substantially decreased
long and short term memory and word recall decreased
ability to quickly query my memory for recent events decreased, it takes me longer to remember things.
ability to think on my feet decreased,
ability to understand and comprehend complicated topics and learn new things decreased,
ability to speak fluently decreased, as I mentioned I experienced decreases in verbal acuity and what I can only describe as verbal aphasia.
spatial reasoning and memory. harder to get remember locations and directions to certain locations.
ability to remember peoples names decreased.
reading comprehension decreased substantially. i can no longer speed read, complicated topics take longer to understand. i read slower and i have constant interruptions. and have storing new information, and trouble remembering what i've read.
ability to remember numbers decreased
Edited by arboles, 23 January 2014 - 02:08 AM.