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Turning 21...

Fri, 02/03/2017 - 00:32
I turn 21 next month and something that has been bothering me lately is the fact that I now get to drink (legally). I keep feeling like I will be left out of social events with my friends. Even now I tell them I cant drink more than like 1-2 drinks but I dont think they understand the risk if i do it more and i feel like they want me to. Im just nervous I wont get invited out places. My neurologist told me no more than 3 drinks. I only take Keppra and I actually havent had a grand mal seizure since september 2015. If I pushed myself to even 4 drinks, could I really put myself at risk? I do want to have fun and experience these things but I just do not want to hurt myself. I just keep getting bad thoughts like "Will my friends still want to hang out with me?" Any advice or what anyone can tell me from personal experiences?

Comments

I'm now 22 and in university

Submitted by Morgan Baxter on Fri, 2017-02-03 - 19:21
I'm now 22 and in university so I understand that push. What I found is that most people don't want to feel like the sober person is judging them. When I go out I'd have one drink but drink it slowly and every few sips add some water to make it take longer. Also alternating between alcoholic and non alcoholic is a good thing too. As long as you're having fun and not acting too worried or "parental" most people don't care. Also plenty of dance breaks help because it's a very normal reason to have a break from drinking while still having fun. My friends have now accepted that I don't need to be having alcohol to still have fun going out with them. 

Hey, just thought I'd jump on

Submitted by emkalina on Thu, 2017-02-23 - 13:08
Hey, just thought I'd jump on the conversation here. I also got diagnosed officially and put on meds when I was 20 and I can't lie, it definitely sucked. It's funny because I think most of the push I felt to drink came more from me being so sensitive to what other people thought about what I was doing, rather than them really caring that much. If that makes sense. . . I sometimes pushed it with the alcohol probably a little more than I should have and I have to say, it didn't make anything easier. That age is a time when you're figuring out who and how you want to be and I think what someone said previously about people not feeling like they are being judged really important. I heard this saying, "don't judge your insides by someone else's outsides." It might sound trite, but I think it's really true.

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