So what does alcohol do to the body?

"Alcohol damages almost every organ in the body, including the brain; because of the cumulative toxic effects of chronic alcohol abuse, the alcoholic risks suffering a range of medical and psychiatric disorders."

"The alcoholic woman is more sensitive to alcohol's deleterious physical, cerebral, and mental effects...." Well, great.

"Long term misuse of alcohol can cause a wide range of mental health problems. Severe cognitive problems are not uncommon; approximately 10 percent of all dementia cases are related to alcohol consumption, making it the second leading cause of dementia." My mom keeps telling me I've probably done some damage to my brain, considering the blackouts and such, and my alcohol abuse over a long period of time. Now I have to worry about dementia? I already have enough worries, for crying out loud.

"Psychiatric symptoms usually initially worsen during alcohol withdrawal, but typically improve or disappear with continued abstinence." So this is what's happening with me. My psychiatric symptoms have been on the rampage since I quit drinking, and I've had another person tell me this as well. My doc's both think I need to be watched more closely, because meds often change when you're detoxing.

I wonder if it's made the bipolar worse. It certainly doesn't help, I'm sure.

"Alcoholic lung disease is disease of the lungs caused by excessive alcohol consumption. Chronic alcohol ingestion impairs multiple critical cellular functions in the lung. These cellular impairments lead to increased susceptibility to serious complications from lung disease. Recent research cites alcoholic lung disease as comparable to liver disease in alcohol related mortality.[1] Alcoholics have a higher risk of developing acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and experience higher rates of mortality from ARDS when compared to non-alcoholics." So, great. Not only have I fucked up my lungs by smoking, my alcoholism has also done a number on my lungs.

All links from Wikipedia.