My gf came home from a bachelorette party drunker than she has ever been. She drank a whole six pack of beer and a rum and coke. She has been sitting on the toilet for half an hour now, and over the course of it has had two bouts of vomiting. She is sitting upright, drinking water from a glass and holding onto the pot, but when I ask her questions she only nods, grunts or looks around confused. Her hands are still warm, her lips have color and she seems to breathing normally. She is afraid she will keep vomiting more.
Is there a chance the symptoms could get worse? What should I do to help? I've been drink off my ass but never took care of someone who was this drunk before. I will keep her in the recovery position when she gets off the toilet and I plan to pull an all nighter watching her. What else? What is the first sign I should call the hospital?
>>17342254
Respiratory suppression, ie, if her breathing slows or becomes shallow. Choking on her own vomit is also possible.
That she's vomiting is probably a good sign, it means her gut is rejecting whatever might still be getting absorbed. Whether or not that has much impact on how much ethanol is entering her upper intestine, or how readily it crosses the intestinal wall, I don't really know.
She'll probably be fine, but you're right to keep an eye on her. I've woke up face down in my own vomit many times, and even woke up having shat myself once. Probably lucky to have survived so many times in retrospect.
When in doubt take her to the doctor, there is no way for us to really determine when she has crossed the line into alcohol poisoning.
The fact that she is sitting up and drinking water out of a glass is good sign. Keep having her drink water and monitor her. If at any time she can't sip any water, passes out, has irregular breathing, can't acknowledge you at all it's probably time to call 911.
>>17342265
Her breathing is pretty shallow and quick, but I have to wonder if that's just because of the vomiting. She just had her third bout. Still nodding and grunting but won't even let me switch her a new pot to empty out the old one.
>>17342254
>What is the first sign I should call the hospital?
If she is warm, is breathing normally, is conscious and is capable of speaking, she probably doesn't have alcohol poisoning. A 6pack and a rum and coke won't give anyone alcohol poisoning, most likely, unless she chugged that shit down in like 2 minutes.
Keep monitoring her and make sure she's drinking and keeping down water. If she is not better in the morning or suddenly gets worse (passes out and you are unable to wake her), it could be something serious and you should probably go to the doctor. Otherwise, she just sounds really drunk. Don't let her lie on her back, keep her head to the side, but you probably shouldn't have anything to worry about, especially if she's already vomited up all the crap in her stomach.
>>17342272
How can I tell the difference between passing out and falling asleep? It's 2:00 AM here.
>>17342273
That's not so bad, it's the gaps between breaths that should worry you
>>17342273
>Her breathing is pretty shallow and quick
How many breaths a minute? If she's panting, that's not a bad thing. It's when she's forgetting to breathe when you need to call an ambulance ASAP.
>>17342276
Are you able to rouse her? When someone passes out they might slip in and out of consciousness for minutes at a time. So if it seems like she is sleeping for a minute or two and then lurches back to awakening that's a good indication.
>>17342273
As the other anon said, if her breathing seems erratic and she's outright unable to make responses, it might be a good idea to take her to the hospital. Even if it's embarrassing, expensive, or whatever.
Here in the US we're biased against it because an ER visit costs at a minimum, 1000 dollars. Use your judgement, an unnecessary and expensive decision is better than her dying.
>>17342276
>How can I tell the difference between passing out and falling asleep
You can wake people up when they're asleep, not when they're passed out.
>>17342275
>A 6pack and a rum and coke won't give anyone alcohol poisoning
Bear in mind though, we don't know her size, ancestry, or general physiology. Some ethnicities have very inefficient versions of alcohol deydrogenase, and the associated aldehyde / acetone processing systems.
>>17342279
Just timed it at about 20 breathes per minute. She's sitting there with her chin propped in her hand drooling into the pot.
>>17342287
Also she may well have had more than that
Also, I don't know if this would be cheaper than an ambulance, but couldn't you call the police station and ask them if they could send an officer with a breathilizer to check her alcohol level? The police will most likely be able to tell if she's critical or just drunk.
>>17342287
>>17342292
This is true. Ignore what I said before.
>>17342289
20 breaths per minute sounds a bit quick, but her breathing isn't slowed, which is good.
>>17342293
I might do that if she doesn't start improving. She refuses to let me call or take her to the hospital, saying it "won't help anything." She said she's scared, though, but when I said if she's scared we should go to the ER she said she's only scared of vomiting more. I know that sounds pretty cogent but her head is rolling around and her tongue is hanging out.
She's 5'4", a bit thicc and Irish.
OP, if you don't want to take her to the ER, you can take her to an urgent care clinic. Check online to see the urgent care clinics near you. If you take her in there, you won't have to pay the enormous hospital fees, but if she IS in danger, they will be able to tell you and send her to the ER.
ER is for emergencies, urgent care is for getting treatment at night.
Now she's hiccuping a lot and texting her co-workers to try and cover tomorrow morning's shift. I think she's getting better but I'm still gonna stay up just in case.
>>17342306
Wait, she can still text? She's just drunk, dude. Alcohol gets dangerous in two scenarios, 1. when you choke on your own vomit or 2. when you drink so much it starts affecting your hippocampus and you stop breathing. if she can text she's going to survive. Keep her hydrated and watch out for her. If she gets worse, call for help, but other than that just make sure she doesn't choke on her puke and she'll be fine.
>>17342316
Thanks, I'm just scared. It surprised me when she whipped out her phone and started texting considering a few minutes ago she had a string of drool going from her mouth to her vomit.
>>17342316
OH one more thing: check her pulse and pupils. If her pulse is skyrocketing and her pupils are dilated, there might be something else in her, in which case definitely call an ambulance, the costs be damned. Do you know how to check pupil dilation?
>>17342330
Yeah at this point just make sure she doesn't sleep on her back, try to keep her on her side and just watch out in general. She'll be fine. One hell of a fucking hangover though
>>17342316
>so much it starts affecting your hippocampus and you stop breathing
Close. Ethanol does strongly affect the hippocampus (and dendritic spines generally), which is why you stop forming memories and become "blackout" drunk. Breathing and your heartbeat is controlled by the brainstem, however.
I also don't really buy the conventional explanation about postural nystagmus, which causes your eyes to move on their own when you lay horizontally, which makes you feel like you're spinning. It's said that ethanol changes the specific gravity of the fluid in the middle ear, and this makes your brain falsely perceive motion. But I've eaten lots of cocoa beans before, and ended up on the floor with random muscle spasms, the inability to form coherent thoughts (I was experiencing myself as thought I was a C++ program, and it was awful), and the sensation that I was spinning. My thoughts cleared, but the sensation of spinning when I was laying down remained for several more hours. Leading me to believe it's either related to cAMP, severe vasodilation, dehydration, or some neurotransmitter system.
Anyway, it's the brainstem.
>>17342338
>Do you know how to check pupil dilation?
No, I have no medical knowledge.
I wonder why she got as loaded as she did.
You may want to look over her call log, texts, and her multimedia.
>>17342356
Look at her eyes under normal light. If you can, take a picture of her eyes, and then yours under the same light, without a flash. If the black part of her eyes is significantly larger than yours, then her eyes are dilated. Alcohol does not cause pupil dilation, which means she has another drug in her system, in which case you need to take her to an urgent care clinic or the ER.
>>17342356
In dark conditions, take a flashlight and from a close position, shine it into her eye. Which is just a technical way of saying, shine a flashlight in her eye.
If her pupil responds to light by contracting (becoming smaller), she's responsive to light. If her pupils remain dilated, something is interfering with the signalling pathways that control it, which is usually a serotoneric / dopaminergic drug. Means ethanol isn't the only thing in her system.
If she's texting, even if her eyes aren't responding much to light she's probably fine. Whatever the drug is will in all likelihood pass.
someone once (against my will) took me to the ER for being too drunk
When all was said and done from 2 docs, the er location and the amb ride I left with a $5000 bill and a note on my record im an alcoholic (worse than you could imagine).
$1000/hr to nap there or where she is now for free. If she can see her phone at all she's not even close to 'not ok'
>>17342397
Recently I went to an urgent care for an impacted wisdom tooth infection in a fever haze. I thought it was attempting to erupt, or might be infected, so I went to figure out what the hell its problem was.
Hadn't been the hospital in at least 7 years. Looked at a copy of my records afterwards, found from years ago "Depression NEC", and a few notes about potential bipolar 2 / schizoaffective. Well now.
>>17342397
I live in Houston and they have a drunk tank here specifically for drunk people that aren't driving or that haven't hurt anybody, that's off the police record and exists just to keep people from hurting themselves or others. It keeps the jails clear for people that actually deserve to be there, and gives people that mess up a chance to sober up under professional supervision without going to the hospital or to jail.
I ended up there once after a really messy breakup, but the cop that was in charge there gave me a stern as fuck talking to and I haven't messed up since. They should honestly have these things everywhere. It saves more money than it costs, in the long run.
>>17342254
6 beers, huh?
sounds like shes going to die, anon
press F to pay respects
>>17342414
I will promote this locally, that alcoholic diagnosis and $5k bill did more long term damage than the blowing out voice screaming, cutting, and mild block-wall-induced concussion ever could have ever done.
Name of the place or something I can look into to make a case on how well they work?
Same deal here (bible belt) with needle exchanges, those who have never been in a position don't see the problem, those that have are furious something near free isn't more prevalent. I feel a case study on booze-related would help pave a way for more harm reduction facilities geared towards other substances.
>inb4 intensive pot rehab or joe's beat your wife funhouse
>>17342361
don't be such a paranoid dick.
>>17342414
do you know what the official name of that type of drunk tank is? I want to check if we have anything like that here in minnesota. we sure have enough drinking here.
>>17342483
>Name of the place or something I can look into to make a case on how well they work?
>>17342494
>do you know what the official name of that type of drunk tank is?
http://blog.chron.com/thetexican/2013/10/houstons-sobering-center-is-soaring-seven-months-after-opening/
Here ya go, that's from 2013. It saves the city money, keeps jails empty for violent offenders, and gives first-time offenders a wake-up call without a police record. Literally no downsides.
>>17342495
thank you!
>>17342494
Number two in the country! (highfive)
>>17342499
#1 is wisconsin right?
>>17342495
DICK!
>"SHELLCODE Hex Obfuscated JavaScript Heap Spray"
hate this site sometimes
>>17342366
Lmfao if I was drunk as fuck and some idiot started doing this to me, I would slap them sideways.
Leave her alone, let her vomit. If she falls asleep, put her on her side. That's literally all you need to do.
>>17342504
yea, and I'm over in #4 ohio but it feels much worse here, really does depend on what part
>>17342508
Sorry about the Chron, man. Here's a Pastebin of the article.
http://pastebin.com/v1WRBhWG
>>17342509
>Lmfao if I was drunk as fuck and some idiot started doing this to me, I would slap them sideways.
If you were drunk and also drugged you would not react this way and somebody checking your pupils could save your life, dipshit.
>>17342513
Wonderful, Thank you.
>Visitors aren’t arrested and the visit isn’t put on their record. It’s enough of a wake-up call for most, though, that things in their life are being steered off course. It’s likely saving the City of Houston money too, making more room for real criminals in the jails.
>Drunk drivers, of course, don’t get to come to the Houston Center for Sobriety, and neither do those that are combative. They go to real jail.
>You get brought here, you cannot just knock on our door and take a load off,”
My small town could save so much money doing this it's unreal, the local municipality jail IS the drunk tank.
>>17342397
America, Land of Freedom. Where there are so many ways to easily ruin someone's life.
>record im an alcoholic
What the fuck? How is that in any way legal?
>>17342534
Also, this is something they didn't write in the article: When people are brought to them they take their names, introduce them to Houston's rehab and detox program, and ask them to sign a letter saying that they want to do what they can to get better. I don't know what happens if you don't say you want to get better, but if you do, they give you a phone number of a therapist to call, and an emergency phone number if you feel like they are in danger.
This is honestly an amazing program, and one that needs to be spread.
>>17342552
>and an emergency phone number if you feel like they are in danger.
Sorry this was supposed to say a phone number to call if you feel like YOU are in danger.
>>17342539
in my case it means:
>in incredible pain no drugs from the ambulance after the car crash
(because alcoholic=desperate homeless person banging heroin from a needle they found in the gutter)
>no anti-anxiety meds because I'll abuse them
>no more quality dentist because the Novocain reacts and there is a small change of serious complication
>no working at a government job, ever (above mail-lady)
>no working in a dangerous environment unless somehow they have an insurance company from the 1960s
>driving on the clock immediately indemnifies all parties involved (if it happens at all)
---
>"we found a better candidate".
---
I could write for an hour about what I personally have seen as consequences.
HIPPA tried but is failing, prolly because half the population brags about it.
>>17342572
That's horrible. None of that would ever happen anywhere in Europe. Oh, hell, probably nowhere that's not the US.
I knew your sex offender sex registry was bad, but I didn't know about this way of ruining people's lives. It's like your society enjoys it.
>>17342289
16-22 breaths per minute is considered the normal range just fyi
>>17342361
Wtf? I feel sorry for you.
>>17342361
Don't be a fucking cunt. If you feel like you have to spy on your gf's call logs and texts, you might as well break it up then and there.
Fucking Christ, you goddamn faggots.
>>17342701
Every interaction with another person, just imagine them as an ape roaming the Savannah. It will all make sense.
>>17342703
>Every interaction with another person, just imagine them as an ape roaming the Savannah. It will all make sense
What if I don't want to interact with any human?
>>17342711
I won't blame you, but also will state I can't give any advice.
OP any update on this? What happened?
>>17343374
Just woke up after staying up till 4:30. She's already left to get some lunch for us both. Everything is fine.
I won't be checking her shit because i know the four women at the bachelorette party and the location. She was only give for about five hours.
>>17343402
Don't give her shit but ask her not to drink so much at once. There's no way it was just what you said, I'm a similar size and ethnicity and am currently hungover from drinking half a bottle of everclear and four beers throughout the day yesterday.
