What are some of the fundamental differences between people who blackout from drinking and those who don't?

The only correlation between blacking out and phenotype is that full blown alcoholics like me black out. I didn’t black out every time I drank, but often enough that it was commonplace. and it occurred more often as my drinking progressed.

And, it is commonplace in recovery meetings for people to talk about their blackouts. It is not universal, but it is common.

The ones who blackout must have been drinking above the limit they can cope up with…i don’t see any relation with personality in these cases..how much is the limit and whether to continue with it or not will vary from person to person though.

I have blacked out a fair amount. Same with my drinking buddy. It is just a function of time and quantity for us.

I did have a roommate that had what my sister said was a thyroid problem. Something was going on with that guy and when he drank his brain never sent a signal to his body that it was time to stop. I frequently slept in the basement behind boxes when he came home drunk so he couldn’t find me. He never remembered barging into my room and trying to fight me.

Blackout are usually considered to be a sign that the person is an alcoholic.

The tendency to blackout probably has something to do with how the persons brain is wired. It’s also convenient for people who use alcohol as an excuse for bad behavior.

If you are mixing Xanax and alcohol you are seriously taking a HUGE risk. The risk of dying.

I’d seriously consider your own alcohol tendencies. Try not drinking for a while, save the money, and take a vacation.

The only time I ever blacked out from alcohol was once when I was 18 and pot was also involved. I can also say I think I had a brownout just a couple times at most and at my heaviest of drinking I should have blacked out every night but never did. This article suggests that some peoples brains are wired differently and some will be predisposed to blacking out and others won’t black out.

The ability to know your own limits and stop drinking?

Yeah, I’ve only blacked out once, and it was the Monday after a long weekend of partying and camping. I was already dehydrated and hungover, and then I went out to the bar with my husband.

In retrospect, not a great choice.

Most alcohol (ETOH) is broken down, or metabolised, by an enzyme in your liver cells known as alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH). ADH breaks down ETOH into acetaldehyde, and then another enzyme, aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH), rapidly breaks down acetaldehyde into acetate.

Unmetabolized ETOH is a deadly poison that travels to the brain, paralyses the hypothalamus and shuts down the autonomic nervous system. The autonomic nervous system controls respiration, cardiac regulation (the cardiac control center), vasomotor activity (the vasomotor center), and certain reflex actions such as coughing, sneezing, swallowing and vomiting. I think you know where this is going.

Some people do not produce enough ADH to adequately break down the ETOH in their systems and can quickly become symptomatic of ETOH poisoning even in small doses. The inability to break down ETOH can be congenital, due to poor health, or simply due to the aging process.

Blackouts are a symptom of mild ETOH poisoning. ETOH poisoning can cause coma and even death due to heart or lung malfunction.

@JLeslie

Those two instances of my own were isolated and more than 7 years ago. Haven’t had xanax since. Appreciate the concern though.