Assuming a woman has given up alcohol, to which she was strongly attached for 15 years, and has also given up cocaine and ecstasy (MDMA), which she used regularly, and she is now drink and drug free: could this past of substance-abuse affect her pregnancy in any way? And if so, what could she do to minimise the effects? For clarity: she's not pregnant at the moment, but would like to have a baby. [more inside]
posted by londongeezer on Jun 4, 2008 - 16 answers

From the age of 17 until about 30, I was doing alot of 'partying', enough binge drinking and bong tokes to have surely killed a lot of brain cells. Currently I may go out hard like once every two months. I always partied like a rockstar, and have probably 'forgotten' more wild nights than my tamer aquaintances have probably ever experienced. I am not exactly proud of this. And now, after all these years of neurological irresponsibility, I seem to be walking around in a constant cognitive haze. Some days are better than others, but for the most part, I feel like I just woke up, feeling groggy, all day long. A kind of perma-fog. All of my cognitive functions seem to be a little numbed. My question for all the neurologists out there is what is causing this post-hangover fog on my brain, will it ever go away, and what can I do to lift it away. Do I need to get a B12 injection, eat lots of fish, lay off the sauce, or am I simply going to be in this purple haze forever.....
posted by jasondigitized on Oct 3, 2006 - 30 answers

So, I need to stop drinking. I'm used to drinking 8-12 beers every night, more on the weekends, so this will be a significant lifestyle change for me. I'm not interested in AA and would prefer to do this on my own. Any Mefites been through this process? Insights?
posted by anonymous on Dec 6, 2004 - 28 answers