Aspies and Alcohol - do they mix??

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I suppose this depends on the type of Aspie - the famous quote being "when you've met one person on the spectrum, you've met one person on the spectrum. As a high-functioning Aspie adult, I am not a big consumer of alcohol and haven't been since my late 20s...I do remember well from my early to mid 20s, that I went out to bars and drank quite a bit, even drank at home before hand, and that would loosen me up enough to socialize with the females more comfortably...and it led to something every now and then...but I did have a couple of embarrassing episodes of alcohol, and almost got into a fight once.

I found that it exacerbates certain symptoms like talking too close or loud to people, but in a club/bar these are more accepted given the context the clumsiness comes with it too, so maybe that masks those Aspie symptoms of mine (I am somewhat motor-skill challenged due to my ASD). So maybe people, particularly young women, overlooked those and didn't write me off as weird. I was also more accepted by male peers who I'd chat with and joke around with.

As for tolerance level, I found mine was about average (I had a handful of puking moments...) but it got higher when I was in my mid-20s, because I gained more weight and became more experienced. So I guess I was "normal" in that regard.

Of course, I don't recommend using this as an "escape drug"...I always had willpower not to get addicted, even though I had some crappy moments in my 20s but I never succumbed...I wish the same for others on this forum...and I am curious to hear your stories on whether alcohol made a difference for you (either positive or negative).

Alcohol, I can give or take. I mean I'm drinking so e beer right now before a party with more beer but, ehhhh. It feels dirty. Compared to something like, saaay, ecstasy of course. It's ok for what it does but too many negatives to be "great"

I can't drink due to my medication for epilepsy. I used to have a few drinks when I was a teenager because it was the illegal thing to do, the adreinalin not getting caught and the in thing to do my friends drank so did I but when I turned 18 the fun wasn't there anymore so I gave up. My hobbies and Interests are my drink now I am more interested in my hobbies and interests than anything else.

I used to hang out at a bar but mostly just drank Millers and had bar food.

Eventually I backed off that scene and now I prefer to go to specialty beer stores. I'd rather have a few top notch beers then a case of miller. I really enjoy trying premium stouts or bocks.

If anything I have better conversations start up with beer and wine connoisseurs at tastings.

Alcohol can be fun, but like you said it can exacerbates certain negative traits. Take the good with the bad I guess.

I like to drink...and I think I am in control of my drinking though I have not tried to quit drinking so I don't know...I don't drink as much as I used to though there are things I prefer such as cannabis.

I like to drink... but I have a rule about not drinking alone... so only in social settings.

It helps loosen up social situations, but I can't use public restrooms and I couldn't get drunk enough to enjoy a bar anyway, I absolutely hate that type of noisy crowd. So that leaves socializing with small groups in intimate settings like somebody's home.

I find hard liquors can exacerbate the Aspergian tendency to pounce on a particular subject and hammer it to death until everybody else is bored hearing about it, but I usually only socialized with a small group of like-minded people, several of whom were probably on the spectrum too, so it wasn't that big a problem.

Beer does not cause that problem (and since I don't have anybody to socialize with at present, I'm only talking to myself anyway) and it helps me turn off the nonstop internal monologue so I can get to sleep at night. Personally, I'd rather use that than a pharmaceutical that could cause sleepwalking, lethargy and weight gain. Beer doesn't keep me from working out, but I've seen the overweight slugs that Ambien and sleep aids like it turn people into.

I don't like drinking alcohol. I don't like the taste and this weird feeling of heat from inside.

I just had a very bad drinking experience and now am swearing off the stuff. For years I have drunk very moderately but find when I use it socially, even in moderation, I get too ramped up on a favorite subject, blab on and on and then feel like crap about myself afterwords. So no more drinking for me now. Ice water, I love ice water.

I'm a social drinker.. I only drink alone when I can't sleep..

I don't think alcohol affects me or my A.S. negatively or positively. Unless I'm unaware of it.

I used to drink socially when I was younger. I found it helped me get over the awkwardness I felt on social occasions and made me more confident so in that way it helped. It did exacerbate my innate tendency to bang on and on and interrupt and repeat myself though, although I think the people I was with were more forgiving because they put it down to me being intoxicated rather than to some inherent flaw in my personality (and they were drinking too). The thing I did find was that for the first time in my life I felt like I was being myself and people seemed to be accepting me as I was (although it is entirely possible I just completely misread things!). I drink very little these days but that period in my life did work wonders for my confidence and I have been a lot more thinck-skinned and social ever since.

I drink often and too much and I don't aplologize for it.