Alcohol addiction is a disease. I didn’t believe that or I didn’t want to believe it. A disease is Lupus, Hepatitis, or Cancer, my uncanny choice to over drink is not. I do it to myself, right? I am responsible for the actions and the amount of alcohol I consume. Wrong! I finally understand it’s not just my mind that is the problem. I have a physical craving caused by an allergy to alcohol.
The word disease is actually des-ease meaning lack of ease. If you have a disease your body is not normal, not like others. Indeed alcoholism is a disease. The obsession caused by the mind starts the drinking but it’s not what causes the need to continue perpetually. That is caused by the allergy.
I am allergic to a certain antibiotic. If I had an infection the doctor would intend to treat the primary cause of my illness by giving me this medication. Within an hour of taking it, my entire body will be covered in hives. This counteraction isn’t a choice, this is a reaction to what I have placed in my body. Alcohol consumption also causes a medically proven reaction beyond my original intent of enjoying a single drink.
The body makes an enzyme that breaks down alcohol when it is consumed. A normal person without the disease of alcoholism has plenty of these enzymes, this is where our bodies are different. When alcohol is metabolized it goes through multiple stages. First, the enzyme breaks the alcohol down into acetaldehyde, then diacidic acid, then onto acetone. From there it is broken down into simple carbohydrates and released from the body. It’s at the acetone level that my body reacts differently. With less of these enzymes in my system, there is a slower break down causing my acetone level to remain elevated. This is what causes the physical craving. This is what makes me an alcoholic. The only way to fight this allergy is to not have the first drink.
A journey to sobriety