Amazing that you mention the alchohol question Kirk!  That was one of the first things that we asked the Doctor after all the obvious questions.  We asked because we enjoy drinking socially with friends from time to time and were concerned that if he rebelled and got drunk somewhere we would not know and he could become very ill.  I have heard CAH’ers say they could not drink or metabolise alcohol very well and other’s drink it and have no problems.  I think one or two social drinks taken sinsible with other non-alcololic drinks would be ok.  In fact I don’t think that CAH’ers and more importantly SWCAH’ers could take their drink the same as non cah’ers.    I gather that from studying the survey done here amongst CAH’ers and SWCAH’ers in NZ and thinking more in depth about fluid and salt replacement and what would happen when alcohol is added.  There is a tendency to get dehydrated after a large drinking session for normal folks and also hang over or vomiting if this is overdone.  With CAH or  SWCAH  this would be somewhat emphasised I felt if they over do things.  Quite easy for that scenario to turn into an adrenal crisis.    As I said they did do a survey here but I have it in the form of a pamphlet.  I’ll type it up later and post it here because I have posted it in the past but cannot remember when. Have reformatted since then and lost it off my machine. 

Other than the alcohol question, when they are looked after well and monitored regularly, kids can lead a normal, active life and grow well.  There can be problems, but for the most part, you will adapt and things will become quite normal after some time.  At least you can post here when there are problems and seek advice from other parents.

Regards

Anne-Marie