Help! I have alcohol poisoning!

boron · Jan 2, 2012

I have alcohol poisoning! Something what you can die from.

Now, erm, where was I...how can someone "have" alcohol poisoning? In another (serious) American article they say If you have alcoholism...

This is something what you can "have?"

Fallen · Jan 2, 2012

You can have alcohol poisoning from one bad drinking session (due to type of drink/rate consumed etc), you don't have to be an addict.

So I have alcohol poisoning seems fine to me.

blacbird · Jan 2, 2012

Alcohol poisoning is not alcoholism. It is an overdose of alcohol. Which can kill, and very likely the person who has drunk enough alcohol fast enough to be in danger will either already be unconscious, or far enough along not to be cognizant of the danger. Bon Scott, the original screaming front man for AC/DC drank himself to death one night at the age of 27. Amy Winehouse just last year was found to have died from alcohol poisoning. It's a big problem with binge-drinking for college students, in hazing rites, among other things.

But it isn't alcoholism, which is a chronic addiction problem.

A better way to phrase it might be "suffering from alcohol poisoning".

caw

Jamesaritchie · Jan 2, 2012

Once upon a time, several decades ago, when I accepted a drinking challenge, I had alcohol poisoning. I also had the worst three day hangover in the history of hangovers, and spending pretty much an entire day in the hospital did nothing to improve it. Neither did the hospital bill.

Snick · Jan 2, 2012

Yes, alcohol poisoning is an acute condition caused by the consumption of much too much alcohol. Alcoholism is a chronic condition that seems to be caused by genetic factors that lead to an unbalanced body chemistry that leads people to consume more alcohol than they should.

Thus one would be and alcoholic, but one might have alcohol poisoning.

backslashbaby · Jan 2, 2012

I think you can 'have' either one, but it does sound less formal to me. Keep in mind I'm not a grammar guru.

'Suffer from' is probably what you'd say in more formal writing, imho. I believe you could use 'experience' with alcohol poisoning: Teenagers who experience alcohol poisoning show symptoms such as...

Btw, I really had a stupid and dangerous experience with alcohol poisoning once caused by using a big glass, where I judged the amount of alcohol very poorly.

boron · Jan 2, 2012

For me, one question was if you can "have" an event or a processs, which poisoning is. I understand that the end condition after excessive drinking is also called poisoning, but to "have" poisoning still sounds strange to me ...will see...

Also, in my language, you simply cannot "have" alcoholism. For me, the word alcoholism denotes a phenomenon, which summarizes typical problems that drinkers and people around them encounter. I think a single person cannot owe a phenomenon, so you cannot "have" alcoholism. You cannot live alone on a farm and "have" alcoholism.

IceCreamEmpress · Jan 2, 2012

"I have alcohol poisoning" and "I have food poisoning" are idiomatic US usages. It may be because alcohol and food aren't inherently poisons, so saying "I was poisoned by food" or "I was poisoned by alcohol" sound funny to us, whereas "I was poisoned by cyanide" doesn't.

US usage is generally "I am/you are/she is an alcoholic" but "I have/you have/he has alcoholism" is also acceptable. Other disease processes ending in "-ism" can have the same usage; "He has Parkinson's disease" is usual, but "She has Parkinsonism" is not unheard of.

Alcoholism is often conceptualized as a disease process, rather than a description of behaviors, in US medical and public policy writing. There are quite a few reasons for this, but one of the largest is the influence that Alcoholics Anonymous has had in this culture.

Charles Farley · Jan 2, 2012

I am a severe Alcoholic to the point where my nervous system has shut down. I take anti-seizure meds to help with the imbalance. Alcohol poisoning happens when the liver cannot filter the substance being consumed.

A mild case where an unfamiliar person drinks way too much will cause severe nausea while the body rejects the unwanted booze

boron · Jan 2, 2012

IceCreamEmpress said:
It may be because alcohol and food aren't inherently poisons...

Still, only few people "have" water poisoning.

US usage...he "has alcoholism" is also acceptable...the influence that Alcoholics Anonymous has had in this culture.

OK, now I see.

Ketzel · Jan 2, 2012

Still, only few people "have" water poisoning.

In English, at least, you wouldn't use "water poisoning." Someone suffering/dying from taking in more water than the body could process would be described as suffering or dying from water intoxication. Another idiomatic use.

boron · Jan 3, 2012

I meant "water poisoning" like "food poisoning," so poisoning with microbes in water.

AnWulf · Jan 3, 2012

water poisoning

Ketzel said:
In English, at least, you wouldn't use "water poisoning." Someone suffering/dying from taking in more water than the body could process would be described as suffering or dying from water intoxication. Another idiomatic use.

It can be either one:

Water intoxication, also known as water poisoning, is a potentially fatal disturbance in brain functions that results when the normal balance of electrolytes in the body is pushed outside of safe limits (e.g.,hyponatremia) by overhydration, i.e., over-consumption of water.

Not that the topic has come up much, but when I am asked (and I hav been) can someone die from drinking too much water, I answer, "Yes, it's called water poisoning."

To me, calling it water intoxication is befuddling. Did the person get drunk and become silly from drinking too much water? If yu benote intoxication then yu must explain that yu don't mean drunkenness but poisoning. I skip the intermediate step and go right to poisoning.

The real frain is whether one can one hav attorneyism? Maybe so! lol

kuwisdelu · Jan 3, 2012

I only came here because I saw "Help! I have alcohol..." in the thread title.

I was disappointed.

Alpha Echo · Jan 3, 2012

Interesting thread.

I agree that saying "I have alcohol poisoning" sounds funny. I think I may say, "I had alcohol poisoning." For some reason, past tense doesn't sound as funny to me as present.

"Suffering from" sounds much better, though. I guess it depends who the narrator is and about whom he/she is speaking.

Devil Ledbetter · Jan 3, 2012

I don't think "I have alcohol poisoning" sounds funny at all. It's no different from "I have food poisoning" or "I have sun poisoning."

The only thing technically problematic that I can see is that someone who had alcohol poisoning would have a hard time uttering a coherent sentence.

ETA: I agree it has nothing to do with alcoholism.

boron · Jan 3, 2012

AnWulf said:
To me, calling it water intoxication is befuddling. Did the person get drunk and become silly from drinking too much water? If yu benote intoxication then yu must explain that yu don't mean drunkenness but poisoning. I skip the intermediate step and go right to poisoning
attorneyism? Maybe so! lol

By definition (modified from online Webster):

Poison is a substance which, after being absorbed in the body, causes harm by chemically reacting with the substances in the body.

Toxin is a poison produced by living organisms, such as bacteria.

There is no "water poisoning" or "water intoxication" after excessive water drinking, because water does not cause harm through a "chemical reaction," but through the shift of water into the brain.

buz · Jan 3, 2012

The only thing technically problematic that I can see is that someone who had alcohol poisoning would have a hard time uttering a coherent sentence.

Yes.

Don't think "I have alcohol poisoning" is grammatically incorrect, but it's...incorrect...because you'd generally either be unconscious or puking...in no state to say "Help, I have alcohol poisoning." 'S like saying "Help, I've ripped out part of my tongue because I'm delusional and I think I'm a neon smog monster; by Jove I might need to go to a psychiatric ward of some sort."

(Okay I exaggerate but...y'know

)

AnWulf · Jan 4, 2012

water poisoning

boron said:
By definition (modified from online Webster):

Poison is a substance which, after being absorbed in the body, causes harm by chemically reacting with the substances in the body.

Toxin is a poison produced by living organisms, such as bacteria.

There is no "water poisoning" or "water intoxication" after excessive water drinking, because water does not cause harm through a "chemical reaction," but through the shift of water into the brain.

From the OED:

poison |ˈpoizən|
noun
a substance that, when introduced into or absorbed by a living organism, causes death or injury ...

A poison does NOT have to cause a chemical reaction. However, even by that definition, water can be a poison because too much causes the electrolytes to become unbalanced ... thus, it causes a chemical reaction. Therefore, even water meets yur definition.

Also from the OED:

intoxicate |inˈtäksikāt|
verb [ with obj. ] (usu. as adj. intoxicated)
1 (of alcoholic drink or a drug) cause (someone) to lose control of their faculties or behavior.
• excite or exhilarate: the team was intoxicated by the prospect of another victorious season.
2 archaic poison (someone).

emphasis mine

When we speak of intoxication we are normally referring to someone who is in a state of not being in control of themselves ... not in a state of being poisoned.

A toxin may be a poison but a person who is intoxicated is not normally thought of as a person poisoned but rather one who is out of control. Thus someone who is intoxicated by water actually makes little sense unless yu'r speaking of their lack of ability to control their urination!

So, it is clearer and less befuddling to say water poisoning than water intoxication. Water intoxication sounds like writer who is reaching for a 50-cent word when a 10-cent word is better.

boron · Jan 4, 2012

In the medical literature, "intoxication" often means a milder form of "poisoning," or they are just used as synonyms. So, you can usually find "vitamin D intoxication", and "arsenic poisoning". But when water is contaminated with arsenic, it may cause (only) "arsenic intoxication."

"Alcohol intoxication" usually means being heavily, but not necessary dangerously, affected by alcohol or, if you want, being out of control, and the term "alcohol poisoning" is reserved for a heavier, life-threatening condition, with greatly affected consciousness.

"Water intoxication" is an intentionally incorrect, fancy term to emphasize the life-threatening effect of drinking excessive amounts of water and it may be presented in the medical literature as "the so called water intoxication."

"Water poisoning" is sometimes used for "water intoxication" as above, but also for the infections with waterborne microbes, so like "food poisoning" or even for the poisoning with mercury or other poisons in water.

What I've written above is how the terms are used and there is not necessary much logic in it. But if I insist in explaining terms from the exact meaning of the "poison" and "toxin:"

To my understanding a poison is what Merriam-Webster says:

1: a substance that through its chemical action usually kills, injures, or impairs an organism
2: a substance that inhibits the activity of another substance or the course of a reaction or process <a catalyst poison>

Toxin, in biology means a poison produced by a living organism.

So, if "intoxication" comes from the "toxin" as defined above than "water intoxication" is incorrect, since there are no toxins involved. And "water poisoning" is also incorrect because a shift of electrolytes caused by excessive water drinking is not already a chemical reaction where two substances would react and produce other substances.

"Alcohol intoxication" and "alcohol poisoning" are also technically incorrect, because, in these cases, alcohol effects are due to release of certain substances in the brain and not due to any chemical reactions, which would make alcohol a poison.

Ketzel · Jan 4, 2012

But, as I mentioned above, "water intoxication" is an idiomatic use, not a scientifically accurate description. And I've never actually seen or heard the term "water poisoning" used when a person has been poisoned by a water-bourne toxic substance. If someone drinks a glass of water with a poison in it, they are poisoned by the poison, not the water.

Jamesaritchie · Jan 4, 2012

buzhidao said:
Yes.

Don't think "I have alcohol poisoning" is grammatically incorrect, but it's...incorrect...because you'd generally either be unconscious or puking...in no state to say "Help, I have alcohol poisoning." 'S like saying "Help, I've ripped out part of my tongue because I'm delusional and I think I'm a neon smog monster; by Jove I might need to go to a psychiatric ward of some sort."

(Okay I exaggerate but...y'know )

I'm sure my words were slurred more than they sounded to my own ears, but I was able to say it just fine. My alcohol blood level was way above the point where I should have been unconscious, and I was puking a lot, but I was still conscious, and I definitely had alcohol poisoning. An almost fatal dose.

But in my drinking days, I was one of those drunks who acts more and more sober with more and more alcohol. Right up to the point where I would pass out.

Jamesaritchie · Jan 4, 2012

Ketzel said:
But, as I mentioned above, "water intoxication" is an idiomatic use, not a scientifically accurate description. And I've never actually seen or heard the term "water poisoning" used when a person has been poisoned by a water-bourne toxic substance. If someone drinks a glass of water with a poison in it, they are poisoned by the poison, not the water.

Well, doctors sure the terms "water intoxication" and "water poisoning" when a person is suffering from, or dies from, drinking too much water. I'm not sure how else you would describe it, scientifically or otherwise.

Too much water kills, and it does cause chemical changes in the body.

They don't use the terms when some poison in the water kills a person, but definitely do when the water itself is the killer.

areteus · Jan 4, 2012

Well, as the old health and safety joke goes, Water does have an MSDS for the purposes of COSSH assessment. It reads: Do not drink.

IceCreamEmpress · Jan 4, 2012

boron said:
I meant "water poisoning" like "food poisoning," so poisoning with microbes in water.

That's not idiomatic US usage. "I am ill from contaminated water" or "I caught something from contaminated water" is how most US speakers would describe that.

"Water poisoning" is very rarely used as an idiomatic term for hyponatremia caused by overconsumption of water, but never for illnesses resulting from contaminated water.

boron, we're telling you what the usage is, so I am not sure why you're arguing with us that the usage is illogical. Lots of usages are illogical in every language.

Help! I have alcohol poisoning!

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