Have you ever woken up with no memory of the night before? You’re not alone. In this powerful episode of The Sober Butterfly, host Nadine Mulvina—once a regular blackout drinker—opens up about the frightening reality of blackouts and explores what’s really happening in the brain with Dr. Sarah Nasir, DO.
Dr. Nasir is a board-certified Addiction Medicine physician, life coach, and holistic recovery advocate. She breaks down the short- and long-term effects of binge drinking and blackouts on the brain, how alcohol impairs memory and cognition, and what recovery looks like from a medical and holistic lens.
This is Part 1 of a two-part conversation packed with valuable insight and empowering information—perfect for anyone questioning their relationship with alcohol or seeking deeper understanding of the science behind sobriety.
🎧 In This Episode, We Cover:
- What a blackout really is—and why it happens
- How binge drinking affects memory, decision-making, and brain function
- The physiological toll of alcohol on your nervous system
- Why some people blackout more than others
- The truth about alcohol overdose and life-threatening risk factors
- Why honesty with your doctor is a radical act of self-care
- How the brain can repair itself in sobriety with the right support
🌿 About Dr. Sarah Nasir:
Dr. Nasir empowers women to navigate sobriety with compassion and clarity. With a background in osteopathic medicine and life coaching, she offers a unique perspective on addiction recovery that blends medical expertise with holistic tools. Her mission is to support women in reclaiming their health, confidence, and purpose.
📚 Mentioned Resource:
🧾 Understanding the Dangers of Alcohol Overdose – NIAAA
📺 Watch This Episode on YouTube:
🎥 Don’t forget to check out the full video on The Sober Butterfly YouTube channel which will premiere Sunday, May 4th.
👉 Subscribe here: YouTube:@thesoberbutterfly
📌 Stay Tuned for Part 2:
Part 2: Healing Through Faith & Holistic Recovery drops Sunday, May 4th. Dr. Nasir returns to discuss how spiritual wellness, emotional intelligence, and lifestyle changes support sustainable sobriety.
🔗 Connect with Dr. Sarah Nasir:
📲 Connect with TSB 🦋
- Follow Nadine on Instagram @the.soberbutterfly @soberbutterflypodcast
- Leave a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify
- Join our newsletter 💌 for sober travel, tips, and updates
Please note that this episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct or indirect financial interest in products or services refereed to in this episode.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
the-sober-butterfly_2_05 (00:00):
Hello.
Hello, beautiful butterflies andwelcome back to another episode
of The Sober Butterfly, yourgo-to podcast for navigating an
alcohol free life with intentionand joy.
I'm your host, Nadine.
And today's episode isespecially close to my heart
because we are talking aboutsomething that used to be a
pretty normal part of mydrinking life, we're talking
(00:22):
about blackouts here, and Let metell you guys, there is nothing
funny about blackouts.
There's nothing empowering orfunny about waking up and not
remembering what happened thenight before, but yet that was
the norm.
Especially in, my late teens,early twenties, that was a part
(00:42):
of the journey and.
Not just myself, like my friendsincluded, we would black out.
And I'm just like thinking backto how terrifying that actually
is.
You know, the text messages, theconversations, the choices,
trying to piece that alltogether, like a crime scene the
next day is not living, it ismerely surviving.
(01:04):
I would even argue you're barelysurviving at that point.
So I've been wanting to get intosort of.
Understanding more of thescience behind blackouts, which
is why I'm so honored to welcometoday's guest, Dr.
Sarah Nasir.
To the show dr.
Sarah is the perfect person toget into this topic of blackouts
today because she has all thecredentials and she breaks
(01:26):
things down in a reallypalatable way, which I
appreciate because sometimes Iwon't lie, the A DHD starts
kicking in when people startgetting super technical, but Dr.
Sarah has visuals for us, so besure to check out this episode
on YouTube if you want to seesome of those visuals where she
really breaks down the sciencein, like I said, a way that is
(01:48):
just.
Easy to understand.
And the more you know, the moreyou know, the better choices you
can make.
So this episode, by the way, isnot to scare anyone.
I'm not into fear mongering as apractice to get people sober.
I, I don't think that actuallyhas much of a lasting impact.
I like to tell stories, which iswhy I have this podcast.
(02:08):
But I do like to also understandsome of the ways in which
long-term heavy drinking andblackouts have an impact, and
how they influence brain health.
Some of those risks are veryreal, so I have to keep it real
with you guys.
But even as we unpack some ofthe short and long-term impacts,
there is good news, butterflies,Our bodies and brains are so
(02:31):
powerful and they're working sohard for us, and we learned in
this episode that our brains andour bodies can actually heal
with time, support and recovery.
In this episode, Dr.
Sarah also shares herosteopathic approach to
addiction recovery.
I know that's a mouthful.
Basically, she approaches eachperson, she calls them patients
(02:53):
because she's a doctor, so eachpatient as an entire being, and
she really gets into holisticapproaches and.
Remedies or recommendations tohelp someone truly heal from the
inside out and it's that brainbody spirit connection.
She also includes some otherpillars or principles that she
(03:14):
finds super relevant and helpfulwith helping us restore.
Balance after maybe years ofblacking out like me.
so we covered a lot in today'sepisode, talking about why
honesty or how honesty with yourdoctor matters and why it's
important to share truthfully,why blackouts are a big red flag
(03:38):
and what we can do to actuallyturn things around.
And this is only part one of apowerful two part series with
Dr.
Sarah.
And in part two, which will dropSunday, May 4th, this Sunday we
go even deeper.
So we get into exploring theconnection between faith and
healing and how spirituality andself-trust can play a role in
(03:59):
long-term recovery.
Alright, let's get into thisrich and honest conversation
with Dr.
Sarah Nasir.
the-sober-butterfly_15_04-2 (04:07):
Dr.
Sarah Naer, welcome to The SoberButterfly.
How are you today?
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22-2 (04:12):
Hi Nadine.
I am doing well and thank you somuch for having me on your show
to talk to your butterflies.
I am so excited to be here.
the-sober-butterfly_15_04-22- (04:21):
I am so excited and honored to
have you here and this is trulyDr.
Sarah, an episode that I havebeen wanting to do for so long
because as a former blackoutdrinker, I don't think I
realized at the time just someof the long term and short term
implications.
(04:41):
Drinking, especially to thepoint of blackouts had on my
overall cognitive health.
And so I really would love toget into today's conversation
around what actually happens toyour brain during a blackout.
So do you think you can help usclear up some of the misnomers
misconceptions and just mythsthat we have around blackouts?
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22-20 (05:03):
I will try my best and I hope that
this makes sense to theaudience, but it's a very good
point that you bring up.
Blackout definitely is somethingthat a lot of people, I'm gonna
say patients because.
By the time I'm taking care offolks who are drinking heavily,
they are, you know, ready toseek care and do something about
(05:23):
the lifestyle that they've beenleading because they're just
tired of waking up groggy,waking up miserable, the
withdrawal symptoms, not havingany control over their lives.
So I'm gonna say patient becausewe work together in that
situation to figure out how tobalance their chemical
imbalance.
And then also figure out how to,take care of them in a holistic
(05:46):
manner so they achieve totalrecovery And blackout tends to
be very common in thesepatients.
the-sober-butterfly_15_04-22- (05:54):
I love so much of what you just
shared.
I'm wondering if a patient comesto you and they say, Dr.
Sarah.
I am struggling with my drinkingand I need some help.
What would, be a first step thatyou would recommend that a
patient takes to assess or moveforward with their overall
health and recovery process?
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-2 (06:14):
Yeah, I love approaching the patient
as a person with their wholestory around them.
Not just as a person who iscoming in with a disease and so
just prescribe them a few pillsand that's it.
They're gone.
I love to work with people whohave the drive to transcend and
become a better version of wherethey are, because whether it's
(06:36):
substance use, alcohol, or otheraspects of life, we're gonna be.
Faced with challenges in lifeanyway, help us grow.
And so this is that type ofjourney.
So I'm an osteopathic medicaldoctor, and that's where my
holistic philosophy comes in.
From the first day of medicalschool, we were taught the four
(06:58):
tenets of osteopathic medicine,and I remember like two of'em,
and then I forget the rest.
Always I have to look it up.
So the main things that reallydrive my mission and approach
with patients is the conceptthat the body is a unit of mind,
body, and spirit.
And that the, body has aninherent capability to heal
(07:18):
itself.
And so, what that means is that.
It has what it needs to fixitself, and that's why we get to
go through life.
When it starts to move away fromthat homeostasis, it starts to
go into that diseased phase.
And so when we're taking care ofdisease, it's not just like, oh,
you're sick.
Take this medicine.
It's also about what got yousick in the first place and how
(07:42):
can you not be.
Sake again.
And while you're recovering inthe process of this disease, you
know, what are the otherelements of you that need to be
addressed?
So the founder of osteopathy,Dr.
Andrew Taylor Steele, came upwith these principles and now I
at a few more of my principles.
So he said, mind, body, andspirit.
(08:04):
I also add social dimension.
Financial dimension andaspirational dimension, the need
to contribute.
What do you wanna leave behindwith your life as other
dimensions that need to beaddressed to help a person
transition from wherever theyare, whatever they're struggling
with, to find that the sun intheir horizon that keeps them
(08:27):
moving down the path.
So when a patient comes to mefirst, you know, the intake
process is that.
Trying to dive into what is thedisease itself?
Where are they, what otherconditions they may be suffering
with, and what is leading tothat?
What are the different areasthat we need to figure out and
(08:47):
regain balance, not justbiochemically, but in life as
well.
And then over the nextappointments over the year and
sometimes years, most of thetime years, rarely one year, you
know, because it's much easierto break something than it is to
fix something.
It takes much longer.
And so, it's that.
(09:08):
Time that they want to givethemselves.
That's another quality thathelps a person become successful
is when they're willing toinvest in themselves with all
the resources they have.
And time is an important one.
So I hope that answers yourquestion.
I.
the-sober-butterfly_15_04-22 (09:24):
It surely does, and hearing you
talk already, I feel so assuredin you sharing about your
philosophies and what drives youto practice the type of medicine
that you've just shared with us?
I know that you can't go intothat whole spiel with every
patient, but that I think breedstrust and I think patients will
(09:45):
feel more comfortable disclosingcertain things that may be
important in assessing.
Some of the contributing factorsas to what may be leading to
some of these disorders orconditions.
Because I feel like so often Iwon't speak for everyone, but
personally I have gone throughthat intake process with a new
(10:05):
doctor or a new physician, andyou're being faced with that
long laundry list of questionsor that dreaded questionnaire,
which is like,
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22-20 (10:14):
I use that laundry list.
the-sober-butterfly_15_04-22 (10:16):
As someone who is self-reporting.
The dreaded question, like, howmany alcoholic drinks does one
have per week?
And I remember being asked thatquestion and immediately
defaulting to, okay, what is theamount that I'm supposed to say?
Because I don't want to raisered flags, especially as someone
who is not on paper, consideredunhealthy.
(10:38):
Like my doctor looking at myvitals will be like, oh,
everything seems okay.
So when they're asking me thesequestions, it's like, I don't, I
guess trust.
The doctor, or maybe I'm justlying to myself and I don't feel
ready to admit the questionaround, do you smoke or do you
drink, and all these otherthings.
This is before I got sober, ofcourse.
So my question for you, doctorSarah, is.
(11:02):
What do you recommend patientsdo in terms of sharing maybe the
amounts of alcohol or substancesthey are imbibing if they know
it's outside of the range sothat they can actually begin to
do the work long-term, back toyour point, and making those
real lasting changes in theirlife.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22-20 (11:20):
I think the main answer will come
from somebody who has succeededin transcending alcoholism like
yourself because in regards tolike, what do they need to do is
hearing somebody else talk aboutthat, you know, normal to feel
that shame, that guilt when youshow up because having to face
(11:43):
that, you know.
Ugly side in the mirror, in manyways that you don't wanna look
at, maybe that's something thatyou can share.
But for my perspective, youknow, as a doctor, when I talk
with my patients, or even in mycoaching situation what I tell
my patients is that, you know,the first person that can help
(12:05):
you in achieving what you wantto achieve is you.
Right, and so you have totranscend those limits to
connect with yourself, becomeyour friend, your own friend,
because we can throw the bestmedicines at you.
We can throw the best people atyou, but nobody has the power
(12:27):
over you that you do.
the-sober-butterfly_15_0 (12:30):
That's very true.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22-2 (12:31):
So if you show up and you're having
to ask those, answer thosequestions, and it doesn't sit
right in you, it's because yoursoul is so smart, you know that
something doesn't feel right.
Lean
the-sober-butterfly_ (12:47):
Oftentimes we know before we know
consciously.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-2 (12:50):
Yeah.
the-sober-butterfly_15_04 (12:51):
Yeah.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22- (12:51):
sit well here, that means that you
are, it's not inc congruencewith who you are and who
the-sober-butterfly_15_04 (12:58):
Yeah.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22-2 (12:59):
to be.
And so if you're able to betruthful, the more truthful you
are, the more help can bedelivered to you.
And yes, sometimes I've heardpatients say that I felt judged
when I mentioned that.
the-sober-butterfly_15_04 (13:14):
Yeah.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22- (13:15):
who cares, right?
the-sober-butterfly_15_04 (13:17):
Fair, fair point.
I have a question for you, Dr.
Sarah, so be honest.
off the record, can you telloftentimes if someone is maybe
bending the truth a little bit?
Because I think just defaultmode, if a doctor's asking how
many, you know, drinks I'mhaving.
Per week.
And to your point, that shame orthat judgment is playing in the
(13:39):
back of our mind.
Sitting in the other side ofthe, chair, can you tell if
someone's fibbing or not tellingthe truth.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22- (13:48):
So.
Off the record, this is, we kindof tend to approach with a
default that we're not gonna getthe correct numbers.
And sometimes we have jokedabout like, you know, some, if
someone says you, oh, they'rejust smoking two to three
cigarettes a day.
Like at a few more to that.
Yes.
So I try to be a little creativewhen I'm asking the questions.
(14:12):
I try to approach it in adifferent way than what the
questions ask, like how manydrinks you've had and et cetera.
So when I'm asking my patients,don't ask yes or no, or one or
two choice, like, you know.
Pick one of these things.
I try to open the space for thepatient to tell their story
because you can't fib for long.
(14:33):
You know?
The
the-sober-butterfly_15_ (14:33):
That's, that's true.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22-2 (14:35):
So
the-sober-butterfly_15_04- (14:35):
very true.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22- (14:36):
the way I normally ask is, when is
the last day you drank?
You know, first I say thesequestions are not meant to judge
you.
You know, set the tone that I'mnot here to judge you.
This is a safe space.
recovery is not something thathappens instantaneously.
It's a process.
And so if I see like somebodyneeds a little extra talking,
what these questions are gonnahelp me do is understand where
(14:59):
you are, so then we can continueto trend the pattern.
It's kind of like if you'retrying to lose weight, you gotta
stand on the scale and I gottaask you the numbers, right?
So then I'll ask things like,when was the last time you drank
and in the past week, how manydrinks you've had?
Instead of like, How much drinksdo you have at a time?
(15:20):
I don't know.
Just rephrasing the questionsometimes makes it easier.
And then of course, when thepatient keeps coming back, over
time they feel more safe andthey're more willing to speak
the truth and they get in thegame that, Hey, we're trending
this.
I drank less this week than Idrank before.
So then they get excited withthese measurable numbers as
(15:43):
well.
the-sober-butterfly_15_04-22- (15:44):
I love that approach and I think
that you help so many people byfirst of all, framing from the
beginning like, I'm not here tojudge you.
This is only to help you.
it sounds so simple, butoftentimes if you feel as though
you are just a number orsomeone's just checking a box,
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-2 (16:01):
Yeah.
the-sober-butterfly_15_04- (16:02):
then you are less.
Prone to being honest withsomeone And then beyond that,
I've even had a doctor say tome, well, the CDC, not the CDC,
but American heart associ, oneof the different entities will
be, they'll say something like,statistically, you're supposed
to ingest blah, blah, blah as awoman per week.
(16:23):
when I would hear that number,and I wanna say it was like four
alcoholic beverages orsomething.
In my mind at the time, that wasvery low and I was exceeding
that number by like times five,truly, like I was having like 20
alcoholic drinks per week, soExactly.
Wow.
So like when, when they wouldlead with that, like, this is
what the recommendation is.
(16:43):
Are you falling within thatrange?
It's like, yeah.
Uhhuh.
No, no.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22-20 (16:48):
I Don's.
the-sober-butterfly_15_0 (16:49):
Right, exactly.
It's like, I don't, who are youwho's listening to this?
Are you gonna report me?
So that, I think that is reallytrue.
And like, to your point earlier,yeah, it's hard to keep up the,
the narrative, especially if youhave rapport with your
physician, I'm not gonnaremember how many jokes I told
you the last time six monthslater.
So.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22 (17:08):
I'll write it down.
the-sober-butterfly_15 (17:09):
Exactly, exactly.
So I actually, you know,speaking in terms of like,
quote, normal, so as far as I'maware.
Alcoholism is on a spectrum.
So the alcohol use disorderspectrum, it's a range.
And so going back to this ideaof what is the, you know, quote
or number or the quota ofdrinks, one is supposed to I by
(17:32):
per week.
I know that they have differentranges for different genders.
Your weight plays a role, likeall of these other factors come
into play, but for the mostpart, one should not be
exceeding.
A certain number of drinks perweek.
Right?
And so as someone who drankheavily almost daily, depending
on the time in my life aroundthe time that I quit drinking
(17:55):
permanently, when I got sober, Iwas drinking prior to that every
day.
And so my question to you is,how does that impact the brain?
I know that you mentioned.
More than just the brain, it'sthe mind body, soul connection.
And you also mentioned socialcurrency and things of that
nature.
But in general, what happenswhen one binge drinks in excess
(18:20):
on a consistent basis to maybeeven the point of a blackout?
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dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-2 (20:09):
Yeah.
Short answer.
it doesn't do well on the brain.
It, it's not good because if youthink about it, you know when
you are sanitizing your handsand getting rid of all those
germs on your, in your hands,you're killing them with
alcohol.
Right.
And now you're putting that intoyour body.
So while your liver is healthyand young and you have good,
(20:33):
strong metabolism, your bodydoes its best to get it out.
But then when you start to drinkfaster than your body can clear
it out, you start to have thetoxins of the alcohol build up
in your body.
And so that's why at thebeginning, alcohol feels.
Happy.
But then as you keep drinkingand drinking and the speed at
(20:55):
which you're putting alcoholinto your body becomes more than
how fast your body can clearthings out.
The toxic stuff starts to buildup and it starts to damage your
body And if you do it every daychronically or a, a frequent
basis, then it starts to makemore lasting damages.
And to permanent changes.
(21:16):
And so once again, going back tothat concept of homeostasis,
that's where it comes to ourbody is built with a range that
it can operate in per optimally.
when you start to fall out ofthat range, it starts to break
down and it starts tomalfunction.
And our, our body is so smart,it starts to reset the threshold
(21:38):
so it doesn't keep like, youknow, sending you fire like
alarms, like all the badfeelings you get.
That's basically your body'salarm system trying to.
Alert you that it's not doingwell, it needs help, et cetera.
But you know, I don't know ifyou've ever set your fire alarm
off because you're cooking likesomething and it's burning and
(21:58):
really there's no fire.
It's just the alarm beingstupid.
the-sober-butterfly_15_04 (22:01):
Yeah.
Yeah.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22-2 (22:03):
we do sometimes is we go and we
take the battery out.
I hope no fire fighterslistening to this, but we put it
back, right?
But, but until we have like allthe smoke clears out and stuff,
we take it off.
So your body kind of like resetsthe threshold for alarming you.
That doesn't mean that thedamage stops.
(22:23):
So over time it starts to shiftand towards the damaged process.
And so what happens is when youdon't have this offending agent
there anymore you know, thealcohol isn't there anymore to
cause disturbance.
All of a sudden your body startsto.
Find itself in a wrong position.
It, it's off balance when thealcohol is no longer there or
(22:46):
other drugs as well.
And so it's then it starts togive you the withdrawal symptoms
as an alert that it's hurting,it's in danger, it needs
support.
And normally people take that aslike, I'm just miserable without
alcohol.
Alcohol just will make it alldisappear.
So they drank more or otherdrugs as well.
And so that, stops that thatfills that chemical gap.
(23:09):
However, further along, peopleare drinking more because they
have other reasons why they gotinto alcohol in the first place.
And in my patient population, ittends to be a lot of unaddressed
trauma, like rape or abuse oryou know, systemic
discrimination, whatever it is.
You know, things that they'retrying to get away from.
(23:32):
So they keep drinking, you know,the drive is to keep drinking
to.
Run away from the probleminstead of solving it, which
doesn't make the problemdisappear.
so, people will drink more thanthey need.
And then that just makes thesituation even worse.
So it's like pushing and pushinguntil you fall off the cliff and
(23:52):
whatnot.
So I'm actually gonna share myscreen if it's okay with you.
'cause I think sometimes visualsare, more easier to remember and
I'll share the,
the-sober-butterfly (24:02):
Absolutely.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_0 (24:02):
question you had asked about the
drinking, how many servings ofdrinking is good and not good.
the-sober-butterfly_15_04-2 (24:09):
I'm not a doctor, but I feel like no
traces or amounts of alcohol aregood for you.
Is that a fair assertion?
I.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22- (24:18):
the best, that's the best way to go.
And actually that's ourspiritual practice as well.
And you know, if time permits,maybe I can go into My faith.
Because, you know, I think faithhas such a powerful.
in how we heal and stuff.
But let me quickly go throughwhat the standard drinks are
because depending on what you'redrinking, that also impacts how
(24:41):
fast you become intoxicated,right?
So normal.
the-sober-butterfly_ (24:46):
Absolutely like the A BV, the amount of
ethanol present in alcohol.
That make sense?
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22 (24:51):
Yes.
It makes sense that you'retalking about what's the amount
of or concentration of alcohol
the-sober-butter (24:56):
Concentration,
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04 (24:57):
varies, right?
So, the standard drink, what isa standard drink?
All this a standard drink.
Okay, so, the 12 ounce ofregular beer has the lowest
amount of alcohol on the market,and then a shot of.
Distilled spirits like tequila,vodka, whiskey, which is 40%
(25:19):
alcohol.
So almost half of what you'reputting in a sip is alcohol.
Basically.
You just need a shot of it,right?
And that's enough.
So normally, what is thestandard for men?
It tends to be two drinks ofwine equivalent.
And
the-sober-butterfly_15_04- (25:34):
wow.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22- (25:35):
for women it tends to be one drink a
day.
And then if you're talking abouthow much are you drinking in a
week, you know, if you do themath, a man shouldn't be
drinking more than 14 drinks ina week.
And that's basically thedefinition of binge drinking as
well.
So the equivalence of drinking.
14 drinks in one sitting or forwomen, if you're drinking more
(25:57):
than seven drinks in onesitting, that tends to make you
go to binge.
And once again, I'm talkingabout drink, like, you know, the
table wine and less when I'mtalking about seven to 14
drinks.
the-sober-butterfly_15_04 (26:08):
Wait, so can I ask a clarifying
question, doctor, so as a woman,I should not be drinking.
According to this table or thestandard, more than seven drinks
of, say, a wine or beer in onesitting or for the week, is it
seven?
Oh, for the week.
(26:28):
Okay.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22- (26:29):
And
the-sober-butterfly_15_04 (26:29):
Okay.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04 (26:30):
sitting is just one drink.
the-sober-butterfly_15_04-2 (26:31):
Oh,
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22 (26:33):
Yes.
But then when people arebinging.
You
the-sober-butterfly_15_04- (26:36):
yes.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22 (26:37):
tend to go, like that's
the-sober-butterfly_15_ (26:39):
Beyond.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22 (26:39):
they end up drinking.
So, that's what next thing comesin is binge drinking is how much
do you need to drink to raiseyour blood alcohol concentration
to 0.08% or up.
the-sober-butterfly_15_04-2 (26:52):
And that's the DWI level.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22 (26:55):
yes, that's the one that they check
for.
That's the legal level of beingunder influence
the-sober-butterfly_15_04-2 (27:03):
Got
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-2 (27:03):
Yeah.
the-sober-butterfly_15_04- (27:04):
Yes.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22- (27:05):
And so next thing I wanna show,
'cause you were talking aboutthe, Blacking out.
So I wanna show you a cutepicture.
Not really cute, but I, I like,it's, you know, it's, it's easy
to see, but quickly the, thecritical signs and symptoms of
alcohol overdose because if youdrink too much, this is what it
looks like.
You can, I.
Be very confused.
(27:26):
You'll have difficulty stayingconscious.
Un arousable.
You might find yourself vomitingtoo much.
Drinking can go to seizures.
Shallow, slow breathing.
So that's less than eightbreaths per minute.
So if you're with somebody andthey're exhibiting the signs,
here's the number.
Maybe we'll test you on it atthe end of the day.
Right.
the-sober-butterfly_15_04- (27:46):
Stay tuned, guys.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22 (27:47):
Yes, focus.
And then your heart slows downbecause you know the alcohol is
poisoning your body.
the-sober-butterfly_15_ (27:54):
Mm-hmm.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22 (27:55):
that the skin gets clammy, they're
sweating they're just reallydull who response.
Basically everything in theirbrain is just shutting down,
down, down, down.
And then that includes theirbody temperature starts to drop
because everything in the bodyis shutting down.
The heart is basically shuttingdown.
It's not pumping.
And if you have no bloodflowing.
(28:16):
You are not like you're movingto away from living.
So basically that's what theslow heart rate, the slow pulse,
all those are indicating aswell, right?
The brain is shutting down.
When you're not having goodresponses, your heart is
shutting down as a slowing down.
So, so many organs are beingimpacted.
(28:36):
And then when there's thevomiting happening, your GI
system, your gut system istrying to like purge it out to
protect you.
So all these things that yourbody's trying to do to keep you
alive while it's being damaged.
So owe it to our bodies to takegood care of it.
It's, it's such a, such an allyfor us.
the-sober-butterfly (28:57):
Absolutely.
I've experienced a lot of thosecritical signs, unfortunately in
my many years of drinking, bingedrinking to the point of
blackouts, how many drinks onaverage?
Would you say somebody wouldhave to ingest to start
experiencing some of thosecritical symptoms slash binge
(29:20):
drinking, or does it vary perperson
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22-2 (29:23):
it varies per person because it
depends how your body haschanged itself.
the-sober-butterfly_15_04- (29:28):
like tolerance?
Mm-hmm.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_ (29:30):
tolerance is one.
Genetics is one.
the-sober-butterfly_15_04 (29:33):
Okay.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04 (29:34):
because some people like you know, the
East Asian population, they tendto have, They don't tend to have
one of the enzymes,
the-sober-butterfly_15_04-22 (29:44):
to metabolize alcohol.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-2 (29:45):
yeah.
Exactly.
And so they are ready to tapout.
Like, you know, the jokingly inthis media, they say like, oh,
they can't hold their alcoholbasically.
So,
the-sober-butterfly_15_ (29:56):
Mm-hmm.
I wish I didn't have the enzymeor had the enzyme or whatever
that genetic factor is
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-2 (30:02):
Yeah, but you know, you're here,
you're on the other side.
Next question you asked is, howmany drinks do they need?
If you remember the picture thatI showed you, how the alcohol
concentration varies and
the-sober-butterfly_15_0 (30:14):
right.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04 (30:15):
drinks, that if I just give you a number
of how many drinks you, if I saylike, oh, you can have three
drinks of such and such, youknow, two drinks of the, of the
beer.
But then if you go and you drinktwo shots of vodka, your blood
alcohol concentration is gonnabe totally different.
the-sober-butterfly_15_04-2 (30:32):
Got it.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_0 (30:33):
question is more about.
At what blood alcoholconcentration do you see the
different types of changes inthe body rather than how many
drinks is safe as'cause?
As you said, zero drinks is thebest number to drink.
the-sober-butterfly (30:47):
Absolutely.
I understand that now, and itjust alarms me so much to think
about.
My past self and how much Ichronically been drank, and how
I'm still standing.
We're sitting here to talkbefore you today and to anyone
listening at home.
I think one of the main symptomsI.
I experienced after blackoutdrinking was the short term
(31:10):
memory loss.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04 (31:12):
Mm-hmm.
the-sober-butterfly_15_04-22- (31:13):
I know that one of the critical
symptoms you mentioned waslosing consciousness or
sometimes I wouldn't quiteliterally lose consciousness.
I would be, I.
Here awake, but there was noone, you know, the lights aren't
on, basically.
So I could be sitting here orslouching over or talking to
you, and then I have norecognition the following day as
(31:33):
to what happened, what wediscussed.
And so those moments I thinkwere the most jarring for me
when I'm being given feedbackabout what I did or my
behaviors.
And I have literally no ideawhat anyone is referring to or
talking about.
So.
In terms of how the brainfunctions, and I believe like
the hippocampus, am I making itup?
(31:55):
Or hypothalamus is responsiblepartly for short-term memory.
Can you explain to us a littlebit about what happens for
people who may be blacking out?
In terms of losing thatconsciousness or not being able
to recall what happens to them.
Because I so often think that'swhere the shame can come into
play, where it's like, you don'tknow what you did, you don't
(32:17):
know what you said.
You don't even know maybe howyou were affected or what
happened to you, but yet you'releft with the remnants of
dealing with, you know, theconsequences.
So yeah.
Can you talk to us a little bitabout the memory loss,
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22-2 (32:30):
of
the-sober-butterfly_15_04-22- (32:30):
I think that's the scariest part
of blackouts, at least for me.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22- (32:33):
For sure.
The brain area that you'rereferring to is hippocampus.
That's our
the-sober-butterfly_15_04 (32:39):
Okay.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04 (32:39):
center.
the-sober-butterfly_15_ (32:40):
Mm-hmm.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22- (32:41):
and you know, amygdala is with the
emotions and the emotion and thememory tend to go together.
So basically the more your bloodalcohol concentration increases,
the more different areas of yourbrain starts to shut down.
Because the way that the alcoholworks is it potentiates the
power of the inhibitory, hormonein our body known as gaba.
(33:04):
The GABA is basically aninhibition, like when you have
more of it, then things start toshut down.
And so what I'm gonna do is I'mgonna go through this arrow that
you're looking at because as theconcentration rises, the more
impaired you start to become.
And I can't imagine like.
Blackout sounds really scarywhere you don't remember like
(33:27):
what
the-sober-butterfly_15_04 (33:27):
Yeah.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2 (33:27):
transpired in your life, right?
So yeah, when you have zero2.05% of blood alcohol
concentration, so this isbasically I.
You are not legally drunk yet,right?
You start to see mildimpairment, like your speech can
be a little slurred.
You start to have a littlememory problem.
(33:48):
Your attention is like a littleunfocused.
You might have a littleuncoordination and you start to
feel that, relax.
And you feel sleepy.
So a lot of times people saylike, oh, I couldn't sleep.
I needed to relax, so I startedto drink.
You know, and that's normallywhere it starts when people are
self-medicating with alcohol.
then when you go up to the nextlevel, 0.06 to 0.15%, so you're
(34:13):
now in the legal alcohol youknow, intoxication limit.
You basically have moreimpairment you start to feel
more relaxed.
You know, this is also still inthat range where people drink
for the intended pur intendedpurpose.
But you are now entering therisky phase of alcohol where the
(34:34):
tolerance will start to develop.
The more you do it, you mightfind increased risk of
aggression because, you know, inthe center of the brain is the
primordial part of the brain.
There's prefrontal cortex in thebrain.
That's your judgment system.
This is where you are anddeciding and you're in control
(34:54):
of your body.
But anything more thatposterior, I'm like trying to
not use medical words here.
That's where the more, basicintuitive survival you know,
primal.
Survival instincts lie.
And so basically in this level,at the 0.06 to 0.15, the
(35:16):
connection between your judgmentcenter and your automated center
starts to kind of get morerelaxed.
So the connection starts toloosen up.
So that's why you're feelingrelaxed.
However, in some people who arejust, you know.
Do give it their best to not getaggressive.
You know, they become aggressivebecause now that fight or flight
(35:37):
aspect of the, the control overthat fight or flight is slowly
going away.
Right?
And so more is that speechmemory, attention coordination
balance is further impairedbecause this is happening all
the way in the back of your headin the cerebellum area.
The coordination.
So even those connectionsbetween the brain pathway are
(35:58):
now being impacted.
if you're driving, if you don'thave that good coordination and
you have impaired attentionspan, this is where drunk
driving and accidents happen.
So increased risk of injury toself and others, and memory
starts to go out.
you go to the next stage ofalcohol.
(36:19):
What's the word?
Impairment.
Intoxication.
Sorry, that's the word I'mlooking for.
Alcohol, intoxication.
Point one.
Six to 0.3.
This counts as severeimpairment.
This is where you basically havelost most of your control over
how you talk.
I.
you remember, how you move, whatyou're paying attention to, how
(36:40):
fast you can react.
So like if you need to protectyourself, you lose it.
This is the blackout phase.
Okay, so blackout gaps inmemory.
Your judgment and decisionmaking are dangerously impaired.
You are basically, if your bodyis a.
Vehicle.
That's kind of how I use theexample of the body when I'm
talking with my patients, isthat your body is like a car and
(37:01):
your soul is the one that'sdriving it.
Your awareness, yourconsciousness that's driving it.
So now you're basically removingyou from your body, and now it's
like being behind a car and youare not holding the steering
wheels, you are not controllingthe brakes and the accelerator.
Right?
(37:22):
And now just the thought ofTesla and the automated
the-sober-butterfly_15_0 (37:24):
Right,
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22- (37:26):
But you know, even that haying right
the-sober-butterfly_15_0 (37:29):
right, exactly.
Stocks are plummeted anyway.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-2 (37:32):
Yeah, that's a different discussion we
can have on a different day.
But basically your automateddriving system is gone.
You are no longer at the wheels,and your body is just like, oh,
I guess it's time to like checkout,
the-sober-butterfly_15_0 (37:48):
Right.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22-2 (37:49):
So all this is happening, and this
is basically the level ofpoisoning, alcohol poisoning
because now the vomiting isstarting and slowly you move
towards what's called syncope orloss of consciousness, like
passing out.
It's not just blackout whereyou, you're not in connection
with your memory.
It's also that you actually passout, your whole body passes out
(38:11):
because the inhibition has likedepressed everything, like the
operation's so, so low.
The factory's shutting down andso then it, if you keep going
past that, you know, 0.31% to0.45% alcohol concentration in
your blood, you are
the-sober-butterfly_15_0 (38:31):
Fatal.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22 (38:32):
risk
the-sober-butterfly_15_0 (38:32):
Fatal.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-2 (38:33):
life.
Yes,
the-sober-butterfly_15_04 (38:34):
Yeah.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04 (38:34):
putting your life at danger.
So one, you lose consciousnessand overdosing and.
know, it says like, basicallyall of your vital life functions
are being impaired at this time.
this is not where your bodywants you to be.
Your body wants you to behealthy, living, thriving,
(38:54):
growing, taking care of it,
the-sober-butterfly_15_04 (38:57):
Yeah.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22 (38:58):
It's only one body that you get.
And so when they say your bodyis your temple, it's so much
more than that.
So much more than that.
the-sober-butterfly_15_0 (39:08):
That's been so helpful, Dr.
Sarah.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22-2 (39:11):
Of course.
the-sober-butterfly_15_04 (39:11):
Thank you so much for sharing that,
and I will drop everything inthe show notes for folks
listening at home.
This episode is also availableon YouTube.
However I wanted to go back tothis idea of homeostasis and the
body regenerating or repairingitself with time.
I'm imagining binge drinkingover the course of many years is
not good for you, but is there,you know, a silver lining at the
(39:34):
end.
Are we able to repair some ofthose damages that we've done
cognitively to our brain?
Because I know some people dosuffer from short to long-term
memory loss if they consistentlybinge drink, for many years.
So just wondering is it possiblefor the body to repair some of
those damages, rewire or reccircuit, some of those
(39:57):
neurological I guess.
Defects that we've created fromnot taking care of our bodies or
our vessels.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22 (40:05):
This answer applies not only to,
alcohol.
Dependence or substance usedisorder, it applies to
everything, like all chronicdiseases.
So that's
the-sober-butterfly_15_04 (40:16):
Yeah.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04 (40:17):
disease question.
Our body is is amazing if it hasthe resources, the right
resources it needs, and itdoesn't have the stress of
having to protect itself againsta threat because that's what
heavy alcohol use is doing.
It's threatening your body'sand, and ability to live.
(40:37):
Our body is constantly trying togo for the optimal, most
efficient route of being safeand growing.
So as soon as you stop puttingin offending agents in your
body, and I'm gonna sayoffending agents, because it's
not just alcohol, as Imentioned, it's also nicotine,
it's also
the-sober-butterfly_15_04-2 (40:54):
Mm.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_0 (40:55):
opioids, methamphetamine, cocaine,
the-sober-butterfly_15_ (40:58):
Mm-hmm.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22- (40:59):
I'm a visual person, so imagine that
there was a disaster and like awildfire.
That's very common inCalifornia.
In New York, it's probably, youknow, the snow storms that just
really damage everything.
In some areas it might be floodor tornadoes, but basically any
natural disaster that happens,right?
(41:21):
It just destroys and decimateeverything.
And as soon as it stops.
The offending agent stopsincreasing in damage, that's
when the recovery and therebuilding starts.
So depending on how much or howbad the damage is, and if it has
destroyed something that'sirreplaceable, know, things that
(41:44):
are irreplaceable are not gonnacome back.
If it's something that can beput back on track with, you
know, now coming back to thebody's communication, diet,
exercise, lifestyle, and as wellas rehabilitation.
'cause if you think about astroke, when a person can suffer
a stroke and become paralyzed onpart of their body, sometimes
(42:06):
it, the d the damage is so baddepending on how, how big the
area is.
Right.
the-sober-butterfly_15_ (42:14):
Mm-hmm.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22-2 (42:15):
it dictates how much functionality
you can get back, but people getat least something back if they
try to go back and retrain theirbody.
Other factors that go into playis, know, how long have you been
using how old you are, becausethe longer you use, the more the
permanent damages tend to be, oryou don't have as much left.
(42:38):
To recover because the damage isso much more when you're older.
The natural process is that it'sharder to heal just naturally.
However, you know, people whoare really on top of it and they
go on these really you know,observant and strict lifestyle
to help them.
(42:59):
Heal and regain them, theirbodies, they can get a lot more
back than the average person whodoesn't.
For example, people who havereally bad heart disease,
plaques in their blood vessels.
If they strictly, you know, dothe low salt, high fiber
vegetarian diet, they tend toactually reverse the
(43:20):
atherosclerotic plaques.
On their blood vessels.
As well as diabetes, you know,if you create the lifestyle that
controls your blood sugar, butintensely adhere to it, it is
possible to reverse.
But sometimes the damages thatare done will persist if
the-sober-butterfly_15_ (43:38):
Mm-hmm.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_ (43:39):
permanent and unchangeable.
So it really depends.
But for the most part, as soonas you stop putting that poison
in the body.
the-sober-butterfly_15_ (43:47):
Mm-hmm.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22 (43:48):
Your body starts to detox and heal
itself, and if you continue towork with it and help give it
what it needs, you'll probablyget more back than if you just
be like, I'm not drinkinganymore, I'm done.
the-sober-butterfly_3_05- (44:05):
Okay.
That was powerful.
And I wanna give a huge thankyou to Dr.
Sarah Nasir for dropping so muchwisdom, compassion, and science
back knowledge in today'sepisode.
Whether you're newly sober,sober, curious, or have years in
recovery, I hope this convo.
Left you feeling inspiredbecause your brain and body are
(44:25):
capable of healing, especiallywhen you stop numbing and start
nourishing or replenishing.
And if you've ever experienced ablackout like I have, I want you
to know it does not define you.
It is simply a wake up call, andyou just need to keep listening
to your body, right?
These are signs, these are noteven signs.
(44:45):
These are quite literallyalarms.
And so we have to tap into thatinner voice.
You guys know I love to talkabout my intuition.
We all have it.
Listen to that inner voice andstart taking steps, incremental
steps toward awareness andchange.
Don't forget part two of myinterview with Dr.
Nasir.
(45:07):
We'll be out Sunday, May 4th.
This is where we talk aboutfaith, healing and holistic
wellness.
So mark your calendar, or betteryet, just hit follow so you
don't miss it.
if you loved part one of thisconversation, please take a
screenshot.
Tag me on your stories onInstagram at the period Sober
Butterfly.
I love to see it.
I love to hear your feedback andsupport or if you have any aha
(45:30):
moments.
Also feel free to DM and sharethose with me Okay, butterflies.
I love you so much.
Stay soft, stay strong, and staysober.
I'll see you this Sunday forpart two of this convo.
Bye.
Hello.
Hello, beautiful butterflies andwelcome back to another episode
of The Sober Butterfly, yourgo-to podcast for navigating an
alcohol free life with intentionand joy.
I'm your host, Nadine.
And today's episode isespecially close to my heart
because we are talking aboutsomething that used to be a
pretty normal part of mydrinking life, we're talking
(00:22):
about blackouts here, and Let metell you guys, there is nothing
funny about blackouts.
There's nothing empowering orfunny about waking up and not
remembering what happened thenight before, but yet that was
the norm.
Especially in, my late teens,early twenties, that was a part
(00:42):
of the journey and.
Not just myself, like my friendsincluded, we would black out.
And I'm just like thinking backto how terrifying that actually
is.
You know, the text messages, theconversations, the choices,
trying to piece that alltogether, like a crime scene the
next day is not living, it ismerely surviving.
(01:04):
I would even argue you're barelysurviving at that point.
So I've been wanting to get intosort of.
Understanding more of thescience behind blackouts, which
is why I'm so honored to welcometoday's guest, Dr.
Sarah Nasir.
To the show dr.
Sarah is the perfect person toget into this topic of blackouts
today because she has all thecredentials and she breaks
(01:26):
things down in a reallypalatable way, which I
appreciate because sometimes Iwon't lie, the A DHD starts
kicking in when people startgetting super technical, but Dr.
Sarah has visuals for us, so besure to check out this episode
on YouTube if you want to seesome of those visuals where she
really breaks down the sciencein, like I said, a way that is
(01:48):
just.
Easy to understand.
And the more you know, the moreyou know, the better choices you
can make.
So this episode, by the way, isnot to scare anyone.
I'm not into fear mongering as apractice to get people sober.
I, I don't think that actuallyhas much of a lasting impact.
I like to tell stories, which iswhy I have this podcast.
(02:08):
But I do like to also understandsome of the ways in which
long-term heavy drinking andblackouts have an impact, and
how they influence brain health.
Some of those risks are veryreal, so I have to keep it real
with you guys.
But even as we unpack some ofthe short and long-term impacts,
there is good news, butterflies,Our bodies and brains are so
(02:31):
powerful and they're working sohard for us, and we learned in
this episode that our brains andour bodies can actually heal
with time, support and recovery.
In this episode, Dr.
Sarah also shares herosteopathic approach to
addiction recovery.
I know that's a mouthful.
Basically, she approaches eachperson, she calls them patients
(02:53):
because she's a doctor, so eachpatient as an entire being, and
she really gets into holisticapproaches and.
Remedies or recommendations tohelp someone truly heal from the
inside out and it's that brainbody spirit connection.
She also includes some otherpillars or principles that she
(03:14):
finds super relevant and helpfulwith helping us restore.
Balance after maybe years ofblacking out like me.
so we covered a lot in today'sepisode, talking about why
honesty or how honesty with yourdoctor matters and why it's
important to share truthfully,why blackouts are a big red flag
(03:38):
and what we can do to actuallyturn things around.
And this is only part one of apowerful two part series with
Dr.
Sarah.
And in part two, which will dropSunday, May 4th, this Sunday we
go even deeper.
So we get into exploring theconnection between faith and
healing and how spirituality andself-trust can play a role in
(03:59):
long-term recovery.
Alright, let's get into thisrich and honest conversation
with Dr.
Sarah Nasir.
the-sober-butterfly_15_04-2 (04:07):
Dr.
Sarah Naer, welcome to The SoberButterfly.
How are you today?
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22-2 (04:12):
Hi Nadine.
I am doing well and thank you somuch for having me on your show
to talk to your butterflies.
I am so excited to be here.
the-sober-butterfly_15_04-22- (04:21):
I am so excited and honored to
have you here and this is trulyDr.
Sarah, an episode that I havebeen wanting to do for so long
because as a former blackoutdrinker, I don't think I
realized at the time just someof the long term and short term
implications.
(04:41):
Drinking, especially to thepoint of blackouts had on my
overall cognitive health.
And so I really would love toget into today's conversation
around what actually happens toyour brain during a blackout.
So do you think you can help usclear up some of the misnomers
misconceptions and just mythsthat we have around blackouts?
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22-20 (05:03):
I will try my best and I hope that
this makes sense to theaudience, but it's a very good
point that you bring up.
Blackout definitely is somethingthat a lot of people, I'm gonna
say patients because.
By the time I'm taking care offolks who are drinking heavily,
they are, you know, ready toseek care and do something about
(05:23):
the lifestyle that they've beenleading because they're just
tired of waking up groggy,waking up miserable, the
withdrawal symptoms, not havingany control over their lives.
So I'm gonna say patient becausewe work together in that
situation to figure out how tobalance their chemical
imbalance.
And then also figure out how to,take care of them in a holistic
(05:46):
manner so they achieve totalrecovery And blackout tends to
be very common in thesepatients.
the-sober-butterfly_15_04-22- (05:54):
I love so much of what you just
shared.
I'm wondering if a patient comesto you and they say, Dr.
Sarah.
I am struggling with my drinkingand I need some help.
What would, be a first step thatyou would recommend that a
patient takes to assess or moveforward with their overall
health and recovery process?
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-2 (06:14):
Yeah, I love approaching the patient
as a person with their wholestory around them.
Not just as a person who iscoming in with a disease and so
just prescribe them a few pillsand that's it.
They're gone.
I love to work with people whohave the drive to transcend and
become a better version of wherethey are, because whether it's
(06:36):
substance use, alcohol, or otheraspects of life, we're gonna be.
Faced with challenges in lifeanyway, help us grow.
And so this is that type ofjourney.
So I'm an osteopathic medicaldoctor, and that's where my
holistic philosophy comes in.
From the first day of medicalschool, we were taught the four
(06:58):
tenets of osteopathic medicine,and I remember like two of'em,
and then I forget the rest.
Always I have to look it up.
So the main things that reallydrive my mission and approach
with patients is the conceptthat the body is a unit of mind,
body, and spirit.
And that the, body has aninherent capability to heal
(07:18):
itself.
And so, what that means is that.
It has what it needs to fixitself, and that's why we get to
go through life.
When it starts to move away fromthat homeostasis, it starts to
go into that diseased phase.
And so when we're taking care ofdisease, it's not just like, oh,
you're sick.
Take this medicine.
It's also about what got yousick in the first place and how
(07:42):
can you not be.
Sake again.
And while you're recovering inthe process of this disease, you
know, what are the otherelements of you that need to be
addressed?
So the founder of osteopathy,Dr.
Andrew Taylor Steele, came upwith these principles and now I
at a few more of my principles.
So he said, mind, body, andspirit.
(08:04):
I also add social dimension.
Financial dimension andaspirational dimension, the need
to contribute.
What do you wanna leave behindwith your life as other
dimensions that need to beaddressed to help a person
transition from wherever theyare, whatever they're struggling
with, to find that the sun intheir horizon that keeps them
(08:27):
moving down the path.
So when a patient comes to mefirst, you know, the intake
process is that.
Trying to dive into what is thedisease itself?
Where are they, what otherconditions they may be suffering
with, and what is leading tothat?
What are the different areasthat we need to figure out and
(08:47):
regain balance, not justbiochemically, but in life as
well.
And then over the nextappointments over the year and
sometimes years, most of thetime years, rarely one year, you
know, because it's much easierto break something than it is to
fix something.
It takes much longer.
And so, it's that.
(09:08):
Time that they want to givethemselves.
That's another quality thathelps a person become successful
is when they're willing toinvest in themselves with all
the resources they have.
And time is an important one.
So I hope that answers yourquestion.
I.
the-sober-butterfly_15_04-22 (09:24):
It surely does, and hearing you
talk already, I feel so assuredin you sharing about your
philosophies and what drives youto practice the type of medicine
that you've just shared with us?
I know that you can't go intothat whole spiel with every
patient, but that I think breedstrust and I think patients will
(09:45):
feel more comfortable disclosingcertain things that may be
important in assessing.
Some of the contributing factorsas to what may be leading to
some of these disorders orconditions.
Because I feel like so often Iwon't speak for everyone, but
personally I have gone throughthat intake process with a new
(10:05):
doctor or a new physician, andyou're being faced with that
long laundry list of questionsor that dreaded questionnaire,
which is like,
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22-20 (10:14):
I use that laundry list.
the-sober-butterfly_15_04-22 (10:16):
As someone who is self-reporting.
The dreaded question, like, howmany alcoholic drinks does one
have per week?
And I remember being asked thatquestion and immediately
defaulting to, okay, what is theamount that I'm supposed to say?
Because I don't want to raisered flags, especially as someone
who is not on paper, consideredunhealthy.
(10:38):
Like my doctor looking at myvitals will be like, oh,
everything seems okay.
So when they're asking me thesequestions, it's like, I don't, I
guess trust.
The doctor, or maybe I'm justlying to myself and I don't feel
ready to admit the questionaround, do you smoke or do you
drink, and all these otherthings.
This is before I got sober, ofcourse.
So my question for you, doctorSarah, is.
(11:02):
What do you recommend patientsdo in terms of sharing maybe the
amounts of alcohol or substancesthey are imbibing if they know
it's outside of the range sothat they can actually begin to
do the work long-term, back toyour point, and making those
real lasting changes in theirlife.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22-20 (11:20):
I think the main answer will come
from somebody who has succeededin transcending alcoholism like
yourself because in regards tolike, what do they need to do is
hearing somebody else talk aboutthat, you know, normal to feel
that shame, that guilt when youshow up because having to face
(11:43):
that, you know.
Ugly side in the mirror, in manyways that you don't wanna look
at, maybe that's something thatyou can share.
But for my perspective, youknow, as a doctor, when I talk
with my patients, or even in mycoaching situation what I tell
my patients is that, you know,the first person that can help
(12:05):
you in achieving what you wantto achieve is you.
Right, and so you have totranscend those limits to
connect with yourself, becomeyour friend, your own friend,
because we can throw the bestmedicines at you.
We can throw the best people atyou, but nobody has the power
(12:27):
over you that you do.
the-sober-butterfly_15_0 (12:30):
That's very true.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22-2 (12:31):
So if you show up and you're having
to ask those, answer thosequestions, and it doesn't sit
right in you, it's because yoursoul is so smart, you know that
something doesn't feel right.
Lean
the-sober-butterfly_ (12:47):
Oftentimes we know before we know
consciously.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-2 (12:50):
Yeah.
the-sober-butterfly_15_04 (12:51):
Yeah.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22- (12:51):
sit well here, that means that you
are, it's not inc congruencewith who you are and who
the-sober-butterfly_15_04 (12:58):
Yeah.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22-2 (12:59):
to be.
And so if you're able to betruthful, the more truthful you
are, the more help can bedelivered to you.
And yes, sometimes I've heardpatients say that I felt judged
when I mentioned that.
the-sober-butterfly_15_04 (13:14):
Yeah.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22- (13:15):
who cares, right?
the-sober-butterfly_15_04 (13:17):
Fair, fair point.
I have a question for you, Dr.
Sarah, so be honest.
off the record, can you telloftentimes if someone is maybe
bending the truth a little bit?
Because I think just defaultmode, if a doctor's asking how
many, you know, drinks I'mhaving.
Per week.
And to your point, that shame orthat judgment is playing in the
(13:39):
back of our mind.
Sitting in the other side ofthe, chair, can you tell if
someone's fibbing or not tellingthe truth.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22- (13:48):
So.
Off the record, this is, we kindof tend to approach with a
default that we're not gonna getthe correct numbers.
And sometimes we have jokedabout like, you know, some, if
someone says you, oh, they'rejust smoking two to three
cigarettes a day.
Like at a few more to that.
Yes.
So I try to be a little creativewhen I'm asking the questions.
(14:12):
I try to approach it in adifferent way than what the
questions ask, like how manydrinks you've had and et cetera.
So when I'm asking my patients,don't ask yes or no, or one or
two choice, like, you know.
Pick one of these things.
I try to open the space for thepatient to tell their story
because you can't fib for long.
(14:33):
You know?
The
the-sober-butterfly_15_ (14:33):
That's, that's true.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22-2 (14:35):
So
the-sober-butterfly_15_04- (14:35):
very true.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22- (14:36):
the way I normally ask is, when is
the last day you drank?
You know, first I say thesequestions are not meant to judge
you.
You know, set the tone that I'mnot here to judge you.
This is a safe space.
recovery is not something thathappens instantaneously.
It's a process.
And so if I see like somebodyneeds a little extra talking,
what these questions are gonnahelp me do is understand where
(14:59):
you are, so then we can continueto trend the pattern.
It's kind of like if you'retrying to lose weight, you gotta
stand on the scale and I gottaask you the numbers, right?
So then I'll ask things like,when was the last time you drank
and in the past week, how manydrinks you've had?
Instead of like, How much drinksdo you have at a time?
(15:20):
I don't know.
Just rephrasing the questionsometimes makes it easier.
And then of course, when thepatient keeps coming back, over
time they feel more safe andthey're more willing to speak
the truth and they get in thegame that, Hey, we're trending
this.
I drank less this week than Idrank before.
So then they get excited withthese measurable numbers as
(15:43):
well.
the-sober-butterfly_15_04-22- (15:44):
I love that approach and I think
that you help so many people byfirst of all, framing from the
beginning like, I'm not here tojudge you.
This is only to help you.
it sounds so simple, butoftentimes if you feel as though
you are just a number orsomeone's just checking a box,
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-2 (16:01):
Yeah.
the-sober-butterfly_15_04- (16:02):
then you are less.
Prone to being honest withsomeone And then beyond that,
I've even had a doctor say tome, well, the CDC, not the CDC,
but American heart associ, oneof the different entities will
be, they'll say something like,statistically, you're supposed
to ingest blah, blah, blah as awoman per week.
(16:23):
when I would hear that number,and I wanna say it was like four
alcoholic beverages orsomething.
In my mind at the time, that wasvery low and I was exceeding
that number by like times five,truly, like I was having like 20
alcoholic drinks per week, soExactly.
Wow.
So like when, when they wouldlead with that, like, this is
what the recommendation is.
(16:43):
Are you falling within thatrange?
It's like, yeah.
Uhhuh.
No, no.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22-20 (16:48):
I Don's.
the-sober-butterfly_15_0 (16:49):
Right, exactly.
It's like, I don't, who are youwho's listening to this?
Are you gonna report me?
So that, I think that is reallytrue.
And like, to your point earlier,yeah, it's hard to keep up the,
the narrative, especially if youhave rapport with your
physician, I'm not gonnaremember how many jokes I told
you the last time six monthslater.
So.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22 (17:08):
I'll write it down.
the-sober-butterfly_15 (17:09):
Exactly, exactly.
So I actually, you know,speaking in terms of like,
quote, normal, so as far as I'maware.
Alcoholism is on a spectrum.
So the alcohol use disorderspectrum, it's a range.
And so going back to this ideaof what is the, you know, quote
or number or the quota ofdrinks, one is supposed to I by
(17:32):
per week.
I know that they have differentranges for different genders.
Your weight plays a role, likeall of these other factors come
into play, but for the mostpart, one should not be
exceeding.
A certain number of drinks perweek.
Right?
And so as someone who drankheavily almost daily, depending
on the time in my life aroundthe time that I quit drinking
(17:55):
permanently, when I got sober, Iwas drinking prior to that every
day.
And so my question to you is,how does that impact the brain?
I know that you mentioned.
More than just the brain, it'sthe mind body, soul connection.
And you also mentioned socialcurrency and things of that
nature.
But in general, what happenswhen one binge drinks in excess
(18:20):
on a consistent basis to maybeeven the point of a blackout?
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dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-2 (20:09):
Yeah.
Short answer.
it doesn't do well on the brain.
It, it's not good because if youthink about it, you know when
you are sanitizing your handsand getting rid of all those
germs on your, in your hands,you're killing them with
alcohol.
Right.
And now you're putting that intoyour body.
So while your liver is healthyand young and you have good,
(20:33):
strong metabolism, your bodydoes its best to get it out.
But then when you start to drinkfaster than your body can clear
it out, you start to have thetoxins of the alcohol build up
in your body.
And so that's why at thebeginning, alcohol feels.
Happy.
But then as you keep drinkingand drinking and the speed at
(20:55):
which you're putting alcoholinto your body becomes more than
how fast your body can clearthings out.
The toxic stuff starts to buildup and it starts to damage your
body And if you do it every daychronically or a, a frequent
basis, then it starts to makemore lasting damages.
And to permanent changes.
(21:16):
And so once again, going back tothat concept of homeostasis,
that's where it comes to ourbody is built with a range that
it can operate in per optimally.
when you start to fall out ofthat range, it starts to break
down and it starts tomalfunction.
And our, our body is so smart,it starts to reset the threshold
(21:38):
so it doesn't keep like, youknow, sending you fire like
alarms, like all the badfeelings you get.
That's basically your body'salarm system trying to.
Alert you that it's not doingwell, it needs help, et cetera.
But you know, I don't know ifyou've ever set your fire alarm
off because you're cooking likesomething and it's burning and
(21:58):
really there's no fire.
It's just the alarm beingstupid.
the-sober-butterfly_15_04 (22:01):
Yeah.
Yeah.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22-2 (22:03):
we do sometimes is we go and we
take the battery out.
I hope no fire fighterslistening to this, but we put it
back, right?
But, but until we have like allthe smoke clears out and stuff,
we take it off.
So your body kind of like resetsthe threshold for alarming you.
That doesn't mean that thedamage stops.
(22:23):
So over time it starts to shiftand towards the damaged process.
And so what happens is when youdon't have this offending agent
there anymore you know, thealcohol isn't there anymore to
cause disturbance.
All of a sudden your body startsto.
Find itself in a wrong position.
It, it's off balance when thealcohol is no longer there or
(22:46):
other drugs as well.
And so it's then it starts togive you the withdrawal symptoms
as an alert that it's hurting,it's in danger, it needs
support.
And normally people take that aslike, I'm just miserable without
alcohol.
Alcohol just will make it alldisappear.
So they drank more or otherdrugs as well.
And so that, stops that thatfills that chemical gap.
(23:09):
However, further along, peopleare drinking more because they
have other reasons why they gotinto alcohol in the first place.
And in my patient population, ittends to be a lot of unaddressed
trauma, like rape or abuse oryou know, systemic
discrimination, whatever it is.
You know, things that they'retrying to get away from.
(23:32):
So they keep drinking, you know,the drive is to keep drinking
to.
Run away from the probleminstead of solving it, which
doesn't make the problemdisappear.
so, people will drink more thanthey need.
And then that just makes thesituation even worse.
So it's like pushing and pushinguntil you fall off the cliff and
(23:52):
whatnot.
So I'm actually gonna share myscreen if it's okay with you.
'cause I think sometimes visualsare, more easier to remember and
I'll share the,
the-sober-butterfly (24:02):
Absolutely.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_0 (24:02):
question you had asked about the
drinking, how many servings ofdrinking is good and not good.
the-sober-butterfly_15_04-2 (24:09):
I'm not a doctor, but I feel like no
traces or amounts of alcohol aregood for you.
Is that a fair assertion?
I.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22- (24:18):
the best, that's the best way to go.
And actually that's ourspiritual practice as well.
And you know, if time permits,maybe I can go into My faith.
Because, you know, I think faithhas such a powerful.
in how we heal and stuff.
But let me quickly go throughwhat the standard drinks are
because depending on what you'redrinking, that also impacts how
(24:41):
fast you become intoxicated,right?
So normal.
the-sober-butterfly_ (24:46):
Absolutely like the A BV, the amount of
ethanol present in alcohol.
That make sense?
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22 (24:51):
Yes.
It makes sense that you'retalking about what's the amount
of or concentration of alcohol
the-sober-butter (24:56):
Concentration,
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04 (24:57):
varies, right?
So, the standard drink, what isa standard drink?
All this a standard drink.
Okay, so, the 12 ounce ofregular beer has the lowest
amount of alcohol on the market,and then a shot of.
Distilled spirits like tequila,vodka, whiskey, which is 40%
(25:19):
alcohol.
So almost half of what you'reputting in a sip is alcohol.
Basically.
You just need a shot of it,right?
And that's enough.
So normally, what is thestandard for men?
It tends to be two drinks ofwine equivalent.
And
the-sober-butterfly_15_04- (25:34):
wow.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22- (25:35):
for women it tends to be one drink a
day.
And then if you're talking abouthow much are you drinking in a
week, you know, if you do themath, a man shouldn't be
drinking more than 14 drinks ina week.
And that's basically thedefinition of binge drinking as
well.
So the equivalence of drinking.
14 drinks in one sitting or forwomen, if you're drinking more
(25:57):
than seven drinks in onesitting, that tends to make you
go to binge.
And once again, I'm talkingabout drink, like, you know, the
table wine and less when I'mtalking about seven to 14
drinks.
the-sober-butterfly_15_04 (26:08):
Wait, so can I ask a clarifying
question, doctor, so as a woman,I should not be drinking.
According to this table or thestandard, more than seven drinks
of, say, a wine or beer in onesitting or for the week, is it
seven?
Oh, for the week.
(26:28):
Okay.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22- (26:29):
And
the-sober-butterfly_15_04 (26:29):
Okay.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04 (26:30):
sitting is just one drink.
the-sober-butterfly_15_04-2 (26:31):
Oh,
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22 (26:33):
Yes.
But then when people arebinging.
You
the-sober-butterfly_15_04- (26:36):
yes.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22 (26:37):
tend to go, like that's
the-sober-butterfly_15_ (26:39):
Beyond.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22 (26:39):
they end up drinking.
So, that's what next thing comesin is binge drinking is how much
do you need to drink to raiseyour blood alcohol concentration
to 0.08% or up.
the-sober-butterfly_15_04-2 (26:52):
And that's the DWI level.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22 (26:55):
yes, that's the one that they check
for.
That's the legal level of beingunder influence
the-sober-butterfly_15_04-2 (27:03):
Got
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-2 (27:03):
Yeah.
the-sober-butterfly_15_04- (27:04):
Yes.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22- (27:05):
And so next thing I wanna show,
'cause you were talking aboutthe, Blacking out.
So I wanna show you a cutepicture.
Not really cute, but I, I like,it's, you know, it's, it's easy
to see, but quickly the, thecritical signs and symptoms of
alcohol overdose because if youdrink too much, this is what it
looks like.
You can, I.
Be very confused.
(27:26):
You'll have difficulty stayingconscious.
Un arousable.
You might find yourself vomitingtoo much.
Drinking can go to seizures.
Shallow, slow breathing.
So that's less than eightbreaths per minute.
So if you're with somebody andthey're exhibiting the signs,
here's the number.
Maybe we'll test you on it atthe end of the day.
Right.
the-sober-butterfly_15_04- (27:46):
Stay tuned, guys.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22 (27:47):
Yes, focus.
And then your heart slows downbecause you know the alcohol is
poisoning your body.
the-sober-butterfly_15_ (27:54):
Mm-hmm.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22 (27:55):
that the skin gets clammy, they're
sweating they're just reallydull who response.
Basically everything in theirbrain is just shutting down,
down, down, down.
And then that includes theirbody temperature starts to drop
because everything in the bodyis shutting down.
The heart is basically shuttingdown.
It's not pumping.
And if you have no bloodflowing.
(28:16):
You are not like you're movingto away from living.
So basically that's what theslow heart rate, the slow pulse,
all those are indicating aswell, right?
The brain is shutting down.
When you're not having goodresponses, your heart is
shutting down as a slowing down.
So, so many organs are beingimpacted.
(28:36):
And then when there's thevomiting happening, your GI
system, your gut system istrying to like purge it out to
protect you.
So all these things that yourbody's trying to do to keep you
alive while it's being damaged.
So owe it to our bodies to takegood care of it.
It's, it's such a, such an allyfor us.
the-sober-butterfly (28:57):
Absolutely.
I've experienced a lot of thosecritical signs, unfortunately in
my many years of drinking, bingedrinking to the point of
blackouts, how many drinks onaverage?
Would you say somebody wouldhave to ingest to start
experiencing some of thosecritical symptoms slash binge
(29:20):
drinking, or does it vary perperson
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22-2 (29:23):
it varies per person because it
depends how your body haschanged itself.
the-sober-butterfly_15_04- (29:28):
like tolerance?
Mm-hmm.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_ (29:30):
tolerance is one.
Genetics is one.
the-sober-butterfly_15_04 (29:33):
Okay.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04 (29:34):
because some people like you know, the
East Asian population, they tendto have, They don't tend to have
one of the enzymes,
the-sober-butterfly_15_04-22 (29:44):
to metabolize alcohol.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-2 (29:45):
yeah.
Exactly.
And so they are ready to tapout.
Like, you know, the jokingly inthis media, they say like, oh,
they can't hold their alcoholbasically.
So,
the-sober-butterfly_15_ (29:56):
Mm-hmm.
I wish I didn't have the enzymeor had the enzyme or whatever
that genetic factor is
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-2 (30:02):
Yeah, but you know, you're here,
you're on the other side.
Next question you asked is, howmany drinks do they need?
If you remember the picture thatI showed you, how the alcohol
concentration varies and
the-sober-butterfly_15_0 (30:14):
right.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04 (30:15):
drinks, that if I just give you a number
of how many drinks you, if I saylike, oh, you can have three
drinks of such and such, youknow, two drinks of the, of the
beer.
But then if you go and you drinktwo shots of vodka, your blood
alcohol concentration is gonnabe totally different.
the-sober-butterfly_15_04-2 (30:32):
Got it.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_0 (30:33):
question is more about.
At what blood alcoholconcentration do you see the
different types of changes inthe body rather than how many
drinks is safe as'cause?
As you said, zero drinks is thebest number to drink.
the-sober-butterfly (30:47):
Absolutely.
I understand that now, and itjust alarms me so much to think
about.
My past self and how much Ichronically been drank, and how
I'm still standing.
We're sitting here to talkbefore you today and to anyone
listening at home.
I think one of the main symptomsI.
I experienced after blackoutdrinking was the short term
(31:10):
memory loss.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04 (31:12):
Mm-hmm.
the-sober-butterfly_15_04-22- (31:13):
I know that one of the critical
symptoms you mentioned waslosing consciousness or
sometimes I wouldn't quiteliterally lose consciousness.
I would be, I.
Here awake, but there was noone, you know, the lights aren't
on, basically.
So I could be sitting here orslouching over or talking to
you, and then I have norecognition the following day as
(31:33):
to what happened, what wediscussed.
And so those moments I thinkwere the most jarring for me
when I'm being given feedbackabout what I did or my
behaviors.
And I have literally no ideawhat anyone is referring to or
talking about.
So.
In terms of how the brainfunctions, and I believe like
the hippocampus, am I making itup?
(31:55):
Or hypothalamus is responsiblepartly for short-term memory.
Can you explain to us a littlebit about what happens for
people who may be blacking out?
In terms of losing thatconsciousness or not being able
to recall what happens to them.
Because I so often think that'swhere the shame can come into
play, where it's like, you don'tknow what you did, you don't
(32:17):
know what you said.
You don't even know maybe howyou were affected or what
happened to you, but yet you'releft with the remnants of
dealing with, you know, theconsequences.
So yeah.
Can you talk to us a little bitabout the memory loss,
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22-2 (32:30):
of
the-sober-butterfly_15_04-22- (32:30):
I think that's the scariest part
of blackouts, at least for me.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22- (32:33):
For sure.
The brain area that you'rereferring to is hippocampus.
That's our
the-sober-butterfly_15_04 (32:39):
Okay.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04 (32:39):
center.
the-sober-butterfly_15_ (32:40):
Mm-hmm.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22- (32:41):
and you know, amygdala is with the
emotions and the emotion and thememory tend to go together.
So basically the more your bloodalcohol concentration increases,
the more different areas of yourbrain starts to shut down.
Because the way that the alcoholworks is it potentiates the
power of the inhibitory, hormonein our body known as gaba.
(33:04):
The GABA is basically aninhibition, like when you have
more of it, then things start toshut down.
And so what I'm gonna do is I'mgonna go through this arrow that
you're looking at because as theconcentration rises, the more
impaired you start to become.
And I can't imagine like.
Blackout sounds really scarywhere you don't remember like
(33:27):
what
the-sober-butterfly_15_04 (33:27):
Yeah.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2 (33:27):
transpired in your life, right?
So yeah, when you have zero2.05% of blood alcohol
concentration, so this isbasically I.
You are not legally drunk yet,right?
You start to see mildimpairment, like your speech can
be a little slurred.
You start to have a littlememory problem.
(33:48):
Your attention is like a littleunfocused.
You might have a littleuncoordination and you start to
feel that, relax.
And you feel sleepy.
So a lot of times people saylike, oh, I couldn't sleep.
I needed to relax, so I startedto drink.
You know, and that's normallywhere it starts when people are
self-medicating with alcohol.
then when you go up to the nextlevel, 0.06 to 0.15%, so you're
(34:13):
now in the legal alcohol youknow, intoxication limit.
You basically have moreimpairment you start to feel
more relaxed.
You know, this is also still inthat range where people drink
for the intended pur intendedpurpose.
But you are now entering therisky phase of alcohol where the
(34:34):
tolerance will start to develop.
The more you do it, you mightfind increased risk of
aggression because, you know, inthe center of the brain is the
primordial part of the brain.
There's prefrontal cortex in thebrain.
That's your judgment system.
This is where you are anddeciding and you're in control
(34:54):
of your body.
But anything more thatposterior, I'm like trying to
not use medical words here.
That's where the more, basicintuitive survival you know,
primal.
Survival instincts lie.
And so basically in this level,at the 0.06 to 0.15, the
(35:16):
connection between your judgmentcenter and your automated center
starts to kind of get morerelaxed.
So the connection starts toloosen up.
So that's why you're feelingrelaxed.
However, in some people who arejust, you know.
Do give it their best to not getaggressive.
You know, they become aggressivebecause now that fight or flight
(35:37):
aspect of the, the control overthat fight or flight is slowly
going away.
Right?
And so more is that speechmemory, attention coordination
balance is further impairedbecause this is happening all
the way in the back of your headin the cerebellum area.
The coordination.
So even those connectionsbetween the brain pathway are
(35:58):
now being impacted.
if you're driving, if you don'thave that good coordination and
you have impaired attentionspan, this is where drunk
driving and accidents happen.
So increased risk of injury toself and others, and memory
starts to go out.
you go to the next stage ofalcohol.
(36:19):
What's the word?
Impairment.
Intoxication.
Sorry, that's the word I'mlooking for.
Alcohol, intoxication.
Point one.
Six to 0.3.
This counts as severeimpairment.
This is where you basically havelost most of your control over
how you talk.
I.
you remember, how you move, whatyou're paying attention to, how
(36:40):
fast you can react.
So like if you need to protectyourself, you lose it.
This is the blackout phase.
Okay, so blackout gaps inmemory.
Your judgment and decisionmaking are dangerously impaired.
You are basically, if your bodyis a.
Vehicle.
That's kind of how I use theexample of the body when I'm
talking with my patients, isthat your body is like a car and
(37:01):
your soul is the one that'sdriving it.
Your awareness, yourconsciousness that's driving it.
So now you're basically removingyou from your body, and now it's
like being behind a car and youare not holding the steering
wheels, you are not controllingthe brakes and the accelerator.
Right?
(37:22):
And now just the thought ofTesla and the automated
the-sober-butterfly_15_0 (37:24):
Right,
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22- (37:26):
But you know, even that haying right
the-sober-butterfly_15_0 (37:29):
right, exactly.
Stocks are plummeted anyway.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-2 (37:32):
Yeah, that's a different discussion we
can have on a different day.
But basically your automateddriving system is gone.
You are no longer at the wheels,and your body is just like, oh,
I guess it's time to like checkout,
the-sober-butterfly_15_0 (37:48):
Right.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22-2 (37:49):
So all this is happening, and this
is basically the level ofpoisoning, alcohol poisoning
because now the vomiting isstarting and slowly you move
towards what's called syncope orloss of consciousness, like
passing out.
It's not just blackout whereyou, you're not in connection
with your memory.
It's also that you actually passout, your whole body passes out
(38:11):
because the inhibition has likedepressed everything, like the
operation's so, so low.
The factory's shutting down andso then it, if you keep going
past that, you know, 0.31% to0.45% alcohol concentration in
your blood, you are
the-sober-butterfly_15_0 (38:31):
Fatal.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22 (38:32):
risk
the-sober-butterfly_15_0 (38:32):
Fatal.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-2 (38:33):
life.
Yes,
the-sober-butterfly_15_04 (38:34):
Yeah.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04 (38:34):
putting your life at danger.
So one, you lose consciousnessand overdosing and.
know, it says like, basicallyall of your vital life functions
are being impaired at this time.
this is not where your bodywants you to be.
Your body wants you to behealthy, living, thriving,
(38:54):
growing, taking care of it,
the-sober-butterfly_15_04 (38:57):
Yeah.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22 (38:58):
It's only one body that you get.
And so when they say your bodyis your temple, it's so much
more than that.
So much more than that.
the-sober-butterfly_15_0 (39:08):
That's been so helpful, Dr.
Sarah.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22-2 (39:11):
Of course.
the-sober-butterfly_15_04 (39:11):
Thank you so much for sharing that,
and I will drop everything inthe show notes for folks
listening at home.
This episode is also availableon YouTube.
However I wanted to go back tothis idea of homeostasis and the
body regenerating or repairingitself with time.
I'm imagining binge drinkingover the course of many years is
not good for you, but is there,you know, a silver lining at the
(39:34):
end.
Are we able to repair some ofthose damages that we've done
cognitively to our brain?
Because I know some people dosuffer from short to long-term
memory loss if they consistentlybinge drink, for many years.
So just wondering is it possiblefor the body to repair some of
those damages, rewire or reccircuit, some of those
(39:57):
neurological I guess.
Defects that we've created fromnot taking care of our bodies or
our vessels.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22 (40:05):
This answer applies not only to,
alcohol.
Dependence or substance usedisorder, it applies to
everything, like all chronicdiseases.
So that's
the-sober-butterfly_15_04 (40:16):
Yeah.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04 (40:17):
disease question.
Our body is is amazing if it hasthe resources, the right
resources it needs, and itdoesn't have the stress of
having to protect itself againsta threat because that's what
heavy alcohol use is doing.
It's threatening your body'sand, and ability to live.
(40:37):
Our body is constantly trying togo for the optimal, most
efficient route of being safeand growing.
So as soon as you stop puttingin offending agents in your
body, and I'm gonna sayoffending agents, because it's
not just alcohol, as Imentioned, it's also nicotine,
it's also
the-sober-butterfly_15_04-2 (40:54):
Mm.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_0 (40:55):
opioids, methamphetamine, cocaine,
the-sober-butterfly_15_ (40:58):
Mm-hmm.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22- (40:59):
I'm a visual person, so imagine that
there was a disaster and like awildfire.
That's very common inCalifornia.
In New York, it's probably, youknow, the snow storms that just
really damage everything.
In some areas it might be floodor tornadoes, but basically any
natural disaster that happens,right?
(41:21):
It just destroys and decimateeverything.
And as soon as it stops.
The offending agent stopsincreasing in damage, that's
when the recovery and therebuilding starts.
So depending on how much or howbad the damage is, and if it has
destroyed something that'sirreplaceable, know, things that
(41:44):
are irreplaceable are not gonnacome back.
If it's something that can beput back on track with, you
know, now coming back to thebody's communication, diet,
exercise, lifestyle, and as wellas rehabilitation.
'cause if you think about astroke, when a person can suffer
a stroke and become paralyzed onpart of their body, sometimes
(42:06):
it, the d the damage is so baddepending on how, how big the
area is.
Right.
the-sober-butterfly_15_ (42:14):
Mm-hmm.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22-2 (42:15):
it dictates how much functionality
you can get back, but people getat least something back if they
try to go back and retrain theirbody.
Other factors that go into playis, know, how long have you been
using how old you are, becausethe longer you use, the more the
permanent damages tend to be, oryou don't have as much left.
(42:38):
To recover because the damage isso much more when you're older.
The natural process is that it'sharder to heal just naturally.
However, you know, people whoare really on top of it and they
go on these really you know,observant and strict lifestyle
to help them.
(42:59):
Heal and regain them, theirbodies, they can get a lot more
back than the average person whodoesn't.
For example, people who havereally bad heart disease,
plaques in their blood vessels.
If they strictly, you know, dothe low salt, high fiber
vegetarian diet, they tend toactually reverse the
(43:20):
atherosclerotic plaques.
On their blood vessels.
As well as diabetes, you know,if you create the lifestyle that
controls your blood sugar, butintensely adhere to it, it is
possible to reverse.
But sometimes the damages thatare done will persist if
the-sober-butterfly_15_ (43:38):
Mm-hmm.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_ (43:39):
permanent and unchangeable.
So it really depends.
But for the most part, as soonas you stop putting that poison
in the body.
the-sober-butterfly_15_ (43:47):
Mm-hmm.
dr-sarah-nasir--do_2_04-22 (43:48):
Your body starts to detox and heal
itself, and if you continue towork with it and help give it
what it needs, you'll probablyget more back than if you just
be like, I'm not drinkinganymore, I'm done.
the-sober-butterfly_3_05- (44:05):
Okay.
That was powerful.
And I wanna give a huge thankyou to Dr.
Sarah Nasir for dropping so muchwisdom, compassion, and science
back knowledge in today'sepisode.
Whether you're newly sober,sober, curious, or have years in
recovery, I hope this convo.
Left you feeling inspiredbecause your brain and body are
(44:25):
capable of healing, especiallywhen you stop numbing and start
nourishing or replenishing.
And if you've ever experienced ablackout like I have, I want you
to know it does not define you.
It is simply a wake up call, andyou just need to keep listening
to your body, right?
These are signs, these are noteven signs.
(44:45):
These are quite literallyalarms.
And so we have to tap into thatinner voice.
You guys know I love to talkabout my intuition.
We all have it.
Listen to that inner voice andstart taking steps, incremental
steps toward awareness andchange.
Don't forget part two of myinterview with Dr.
Nasir.
(45:07):
We'll be out Sunday, May 4th.
This is where we talk aboutfaith, healing and holistic
wellness.
So mark your calendar, or betteryet, just hit follow so you
don't miss it.
if you loved part one of thisconversation, please take a
screenshot.
Tag me on your stories onInstagram at the period Sober
Butterfly.
I love to see it.
I love to hear your feedback andsupport or if you have any aha
(45:30):
moments.
Also feel free to DM and sharethose with me Okay, butterflies.
I love you so much.
Stay soft, stay strong, and staysober.
I'll see you this Sunday forpart two of this convo.
Bye.
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