Oh Liver, Please Forgive Me.

If my liver could scream, I think I would be wearing my bedside earplugs all day long at the moment. I keep wondering; if I hadn't started drinking alcohol at the age of 16 (OK 15 and a half) would my liver be putting up this fight with the devil's juice at the tender age of 22?

Almost two weeks ago I threw myself a birthday party with every intention of acting responsible, classy and sophisticated. This foolish notion of mine culminated with a pretty accurate depiction of the following picture:

The night started off well enough, with everyone arriving so fashionably late that me and my best friend had already drunk a copious amount of the delicious punch we had prepared earlier in the evening.

I wish I could say I left the rollers in all night!

 I was wrong to think that because it didn't taste very alcoholic I would be capable of following the punch with some sparkling Rosé wine. Needless to say, the moment we finally left the flat to stumble onto the first bar, the fresh air got straight to work helping to make the night a memorable one. Unfortunately for me the only memories I have are of the flashback variety whenever someone mentions my antics or shows me a photograph. 

The next morning I awoke to find myself in my pyjamas, not knowing how I got in them, with my friend next to me instead of my boyfriend. Apparently I had told him to F*** Off quite a few times while I was vomiting and he decided to follow my friendly advice.

The main reason I am going into all this elaborate detail is to make a point. I was really lucky to be surrounded by my friends that night, who I know would never have let me come to any serious harm. But what scares me the most is what could have happened if they were not there to look after me. I was in no position to fight off any sort of attacker, and consequently Devon and Cornwall Police have warned women that alcohol is in fact the most common date rape drug, while the drugs GHB and Rohypnol no longer need to be used, as women are effectively "spiking" themselves by drinking too much.

Of course being attacked seems like the worst scenario to come out of a few too many drinks, but people always seem to forget what they are actually doing to their bodies. Liver disease, breast cancer, heart disease, osteoporosis, pancreatitis and even death, are cited by the BBC as some of the possible effects that can result from young women binge drinking. 

I don't want to lecture anyone about their drinking habits. As you can all read, I've certainly had some adventures involving alcohol. I simply think that it's about time I started to cut down on the units. If I'm [attempting to] count calories to better my health, maybe I should start counting my alcohol units too.