
Ask HN: Any alternatives to alcohol? - daralthus
After getting better from pancreas inflammation, I'm still likely to keep my alcohol abstinence.<p>However I would like to experience the effects of it sometimes, so do you know any good and hopefully (more) healthy alternatives to it?
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Mz
My medical condition has significant impact on the pancreas and intolerance
for alcohol runs in the family. I find that alcohol per se is not the big
issue all by itself, though I'm not crazy about the stuff. A lot of alcoholic
beverages have all kinds of poorly tolerated additives. Beer is full of yeast,
which I don't do well with. Red wine is high in sulfur, which I don't do well
with. The only alcohol I find that I tolerate okay is Kahlua. (Not that I have
tried all options out there, but I did make an effort to try several different
options and came up with nothing else I tolerated well.)

I did a lot of reading and tried a lot of different stuff to deal with my
medical condition. Inflammation is a major component of my condition. I found
that changing my diet with an eye towards correcting PH balance and removing
foods that are inflammatory for other reasons did me enormous good and helped
me get off multiple anti-inflammatory drugs. Not saying that going back to
drinking would be a great idea, just saying that occasional alcohol isn't
necessarily a big problem if you can address the problem effectively through
other avenues.

That's the best I can do. I react allergically to marijuana and never tried
any other recreational stuff.

Best of luck.

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_0ffh
Apparently diethyl ether used to be a popular substitute, but I have no idea
what it will do to your pancreas. And it's very volatile and flammable, which
might not mix very well with inebriation... Anyways:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diethyl_ether#Recreational_use>

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neologik
Having a decent cigar every once in a while isn't quite the same as alcohol,
but is (arguably) equally enjoyable.

------
known
How do I quit drinking and control tremors?
[http://doctor.ndtv.com/faq/ndtv/fid/0024069/How_do_I_quit_dr...](http://doctor.ndtv.com/faq/ndtv/fid/0024069/How_do_I_quit_drinking_and_control_tremors.html?cp)

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VuongN
I drink tea and water. Only when I have to (social events), that I'll have a
beer or two. But yes, tea and make it into a serious thing--I have tea room at
home :) Hope you feel better.

PS: I hear green tea is suppose to be good for you.

~~~
daralthus
Thx. I am kind of interested in the alternetives for social events. Do you
know any tea for that? I am occasionally drink mate, chamomile, lemon balm,
calendula, etc... but none will get you the buzz of GABA agonists.
<http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/synthehol1.htm>

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tryl
the GABAb agonists come the closest to what you're looking for. GHB is one,
which is probably illegal where you're at. baclofen is another, which might
require prescription.

then there's kavakava, but that's not particularly social.

weed.

 _shrugs_

morphine? :]

~~~
Aron
yup -- phenibut. Similar to baclofen but available without Rx.

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wturner
Kava.

It is not a pleasant tasting root.I have a blend of stevia, mango powder and
cinnamon that I came up with that tastes good and has a strong effect.
awesomekava [at] gmail if interested

~~~
pasbesoin
It's been speculated, perhaps determined, that kava can challenge the liver.
(I'm recalling particularly a flurry of press, oh, 5 - 10 years ago.) If the
grandparent poster is recovering from inflammation (and a possible
infection?), they should exercise due caution with respect to use of kava.

~~~
wturner
From what I've come to understand the press cases regarding liver problems
came from consumers of leave-based manufactured kava pill "products" instead
of direct root-based kava consumption. The botany of the leaves is different
than the roots. The liver issues appear to emanate from the leaves.

~~~
pasbesoin
Thank you, that's good to know. I had one friend who relied on kava
significantly to combat anxiety. They were rather conflicted when the concerns
started to surface. (We've lost touch, since then -- albeit for unrelated
reasons.)

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brudgers
Quaaludes (methaqualone) have a similar effect to alcohol (sans hangover) but
are classified as Schedule I in the United States.

I doubt that they are particularly healthy though.

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scotty79
I think the weed numbs the brain similarly. But you have lung cancer (and few
other) to look forward to and prosecution if you don't live in Netherlands.

~~~
veidr
Recent research has shown that smoking weed does not cause lung cancer[1],
unlike smoking tobacco.

A separate Harvard study indicated that marijuana may be helpful in _treating_
lung cancer, reducing tumor growth[2].

However, the effects of smoking weed seem pretty different from alcohol to me.
So depending what you want out of alcohol, it may be a poor substitute. But
the health risks of weed are nominal. It's one of the safest recreational
drugs mankind has come up with. (Smoking anything too much can harsh out your
lungs, but weed can be eaten in foods, vaporized, etc.)

[1]: [http://www.webmd.com/lung-cancer/news/20060523/pot-
smoking-n...](http://www.webmd.com/lung-cancer/news/20060523/pot-smoking-not-
linked-to-lung-cancer)

[2]:
[http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/04/070417193338.ht...](http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/04/070417193338.htm)

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tobylane
What effects do you want? Pot and non-alcoholic beer? A easily-repeatable
exercise like surfing or cycling? Skydiving?

------
trollhammeren
Gaming \m/ Pick up the controller or KB/M and fire away

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logjam
Running long distances and surfing are each a thousand times better than
alcohol, addicting, and will change your life for the better instead of for
the worse.

~~~
noduerme
ffffffffffffffffffffffffffff...

you'll be buried next to me about six months later, with a little sign that
says "he tried really, really hard to live longer than -> that guy"

~~~
logjam
Uh, no. I spoke of positive spiritual and mental effects of things like
running and surfing, not their well-documented health benefits.

~~~
daralthus
I appriciate the mentality. Of course I cycle a lot and it has great benefits,
but I think it can only rise your overall happiness and that is different then
just having a drink get relaxed and feel good at a party. I don't have social
anxiety anymore since I am healthy, but still a drink can have great effects
on me when I go out.

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noduerme
oooh man. I had the pancreas thing blow up on me once. They told me to stop
drinking. Which obviously...I didn't do. If you aren't into pot or anything,
it's not much fun.

What I blame it on, though, was living in South American and drinking a lot of
really cheap local wisky. After my Kermit the Frog - green week from hell
barfing, I stopped drinking hard booze; stopped everything for about 3 weeks,
then slowly started with beer again. And now, I only drink beer. It hasn't
come back for the last 4 years. I try to keep it to 6-9 beers a night (4-6 for
the first year afterwards). I can't guarantee the same results for you.

On a short term basis I'd recommend taking one Xanax, one Vicodin and 1-2
beers, as that won't cause another pancreatitis attack and it pretty well
mimics the effect of a twelve pack. If you're one of the 19-drinks-a-night
crowd though, I'd suggest treatment because nothing is going to fix it without
almost killing you.

Party on, amigo.

~~~
erikpukinskis
Interesting how relative things are. 6 beers for me in one night is pretty
much a bender. And I weigh 200 lbs. I often go weeks without drinking, so
that's probably why.

