He seems to be more conscious, giving me a thumbs up when I move him and waving at my dog who seems equally concerned as me. I propped him to his side, but his legs are bent and he went back to sleep. He coughed a couple times. Pillows propping him on his side so he can't roll back over. I am not going to sleep tonight.

He cannot get up on his own, so doing so would mean calling the paramedics who are rather busy tonight. Again his breathing is normal and he is responsive when I wake him.

On edit: he also isn't letting me give him water, which worries me about the alcohol concentration worsening.

He already vomited more than once and will drink when he is wide awake. He will have nuclear dry mouth. And if he wants to get shit faced again I recommend beer because usually you vomit before you reach alcohol poison level. The hard alcohol is deadly.

He vomited 3 times i think. just noticed his skin is slightly cool to the touch, still breathing normally, same position on his side. Just staying up watching him until he gets up to drink some water...


Definitely gonna go with beer next time lol

Ensure the intoxicated individual is sleeping on their side with a pillow behind them to prevent them from rolling on their back. This will prevent them from choking on their vomit.

https://healthengine.com.au/info/alcohol-how-to-help-a-drunk-person#:~:text=Ensure%20the%20intoxicated%20individual%20is,swim%20or%20ride%20a%20bike.

He has been sleeping soundly but did vomit a couple times. but if one more person says call 911, I'm doing it.

Not doing so is playing games with his life.

There's likely to be a detox unit at a hospital and he may need meds to detox. This does sound like an emergency. Good luck!

But I suppose his judgement is obviously something that shouldn't be taken into consideration at this point.

I registered nothing when they tested me, though I had drank that day. I was grateful to be admitted mainly because I knew the worst part was coming, it's tough to detox without some kind of meds. That said, I've now been sober for 12 years, but I know lots of others that have gone through it and even with medication, I have never felt so awful in my life, so I'm speaking from experience - and it sounds like your friend is in much worse shape than I was...

My best recollection was that they 'pumped' his stomach.

Right away. This guy may have vomited, but it's still in his bloodstream and he's going to have a severe reaction when it starts to wear off.

He is sleeping normally in a safe recovery position and has vomited in his sleep a total of four times.... Im just sitting here watching him, but don't want to strain emergency services (who are very busy) unless it is absolutely necessary.

Shakes, heart racing, feeling like you're going to jump out of your skin. The reaction to make it stop might be to drink even more - which is obviously the worst idea since it'll definitely be worse the next time he stops.

To stop drinking entirely.

I have a close friend who is a nurse practitioner. I called him immediately but his availability at 3am was lacking. He will likely call me back as soon as he wakes up. But until that happens, I'm gonna just stay close to this guy until he wakes up and drinks some water...

And that requires medical supervision. I may sound like an alarmist, but the first time I went through withdrawal, even with medication, it was three days of hell, nothing helped. The second time, many years later, I was hospitalized, but it still took me awhile to quit entirely. It's not easy, but I had a lot of help, so I try to pay it forward.

Describe in detail how he was and how it made you feel.

Make it real to him.

(vomit covered shirt notwithstanding)

He is sleeping soundly. I put a blanket on him to help him with any lowered body temperature. His breathing continues to be normal and he continues to be responsive when I try to talk to him. I may head to sleep shortly if I don't see any more vomiting or deteriorating condition.

Thanks for the concern!

Do you know when "too long" is?

We have all heard about kids who die after hazing.
We were on the board of directors of a local youth orchestra. One of our scholarships was in memory of an extremely bright, exceptionally talented young man who died of alcohol poisoning after a hazing Incidentb at a very prestigious university.
Don't take chances.

I wonder if you could be held criminally responsible.

My neighbor had a classmate who died from drinking too much at once on graduation weekend. We hear more about drugs these days, but alcohol can kill as well.

I'm honestly glad I did it than not.

That would have been a real friend, rather than let him drink himself near death.

Just make sure he's on his side so if he's sick again, he won't breathe it in.

In alcohol poisoning, you can't wake them up. That's when you call 911. A call when he was incapable of getting out of the chair wouldn't have been out of place, although he'd have turned down the help since he was arousable.

Let him know he scared the hell out of you. He's probably not going to listen but it's something he needs to know.

Edit: I see you're planning on not drinking with him again. That's probably a good idea, it seems like he doesn't have an "off" switch. It's not a matter of protecting him from himself, which doesn't work, it's a matter of protecting yourself from liability.

Going to sleep now. Thanks for the concern and input!

Or is this just a rare night where he overindulged?

Most everyday, long term heavy drinkers usually learn to avoid taking in more than their body can handle having learned the hard way what will happen.

Hopefully he will have learned his lesson.