Amy Winehouse

[gitsie007]

I remember a few months ago she was seen on a security camera downing a small bottle of vodka at a liquor store. It then was reported she was throwing up loudly in a beauty salon's bathroom a few minutes later. I thought to myself that this was one of the most extreme cases of alcoholism at such a young age and that she was not going to last much longer. So sad.

[Babycakes]

God knows it isn't even remotely funny, but I did snort when I heard her death was caused by "Misadventure". Wouldn't that be more suited to playing in traffic, or a bicycle stunt gone wrong?

[celerydunk]

Not really having much experience with being that drunk (I've never been much of a drinker), do you feel the effects of alcohol when you drink that much? I always thought that you would get to a point where you would get so drunk that you couldn't get any drunker - except to pass out. For example, once you drink 9 beers, does that 10th make you feel any drunker? I can actually see how a person could go out to a frat party and get alcohol poisoning (seen it happen) but a blood alcohol level that high is astonishing for someone that was supposedly at home most of the night. It seems like Amy wasn't trying to numb herself, she was trying to kill herself.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I can't imagine what she must have been feeling that would make her drink that much. RIP.

[Deleted]

If you drink a lot in a short time, you can definitely poison yourself. I'm guessing in Amy's case, she might have built up a tolerance to alcohol at one point, but maybe staying off drugs and drink for a while had reduced that tolerance? But with that kind of blood-alcohol level, it seems to me she was trying to at the very least put herself in a hospital, if not a grave. What a waste of talent. RIP Amy, and I feel so sorry for her family.

[Hamatron]

Yep, the tolerance drop is probably what screwed Amy over. Also, I don't know if she was trying to quit cold turkey with alcohol, but that can be a huge strain on the body.

Also, celerydrunk: Reactions and tolerance to alcohol really vary depending on the person and the circumstances. For me, 1-2 drinks might get me buzzed one night while 3-4 might do nothing (food and whether or not I have drank recently are huge factors for me).

With people I have known who have had drinking problems, often they get drunk, but they think they need to get MORE drunk. They keep drinking, then !BAM! suddenly they are throwing up/blacking out/getting alcohol poisoning. Alcoholics often drink until they pass out/fall asleep. They also often drink alone/when no one is looking, so her drinking a ton by herself in one evening doesn't surprise me.

[kostgard]

It sounds like she was alternating between weeks of staying dry and weeks of binging on the booze. That's gotta really be hell on the body.

[suekel]

When Tony Bennet was on The Daily show recently, the topic of Amy came up briefly (since they did a duet on the album he was promoting) and he made a remark about how she knew it was the alcohol that was going to do her in, and that she was in a pretty bad place at the time. It's all just so sad to me, and I was not even particularly a fan of her music.

[Julie]

suekel I heard him talking about her on NPR this morning. He was so sweet about her, and so sad. He really seemed to appreciate her talent and liked singing with her. They played a clip of their duet and there was no amount of production values that could hide what a mess she was at the time. Such a waste.

[Neurochick]

Oct 27, 2011 0:22:48 GMT -4 @mimmilina said:

If you drink a lot in a short time, you can definitely poison yourself. I'm guessing in Amy's case, she might have built up a tolerance to alcohol at one point, but maybe staying off drugs and drink for a while had reduced that tolerance? But with that kind of blood-alcohol level, it seems to me she was trying to at the very least put herself in a hospital, if not a grave. What a waste of talent. RIP Amy, and I feel so sorry for her family.

I don't think she was trying to put herself in the hospital or a grave. She was drinking so she didn't have to feel whatever she was feeling, or drinking to feel normal. The longer you drink, the more you need to crush the feelings, or feel normal. That's the problem, because your body can only take so much alcohol in the system before it completely shuts down.

[Deleted]

I know, I don't think she was necessarily trying to do it deliberately, just that when you're drinking those kinds of amounts, that's where you'll end up.

I was watching videos of her on YouTube, performing in Jools Holland in 2003. She sounds amazing and she looks great. Stronger than me, is my favourite. She had more talent and potential than so many other singers out there. Such a damn loss.