Alcohol, hints, tips, advice etc.

[Indaparkside]

At Sainsbury’s you can get 18 cans of Stella for £16 other supermarkets as well, £1 pound odd a can, no wonder liver disease is on the increase

 

[crublue1]

My Uncle is in Hospital with Liver Cirrhosis - he has sat in his bedroom drinking all through lockdown - We hadn’t seen him at all as he lives with my Nan who’s vunreable- so wasn’t aware how bad his situation was.

eventually - he was in agonising pain and couldn’t breath - Ambulance took him where he stayed inside for 3 weeks - he got discharged the other day.

his legs purple and completely swollen, his skin is yellow, he has lost all his weight and looks totally disheveled and old. He can barely speak and just mumbles and in constant pain - he went outside to put washing up and collapsed, he is back in Hospital once again.

Christ that sounds horiffic mate. Hope he pulls through.

 

[Marklr]

My Uncle is in Hospital with Liver Cirrhosis - he has sat in his bedroom drinking all through lockdown - We hadn’t seen him at all as he lives with my Nan who’s vunreable- so wasn’t aware how bad his situation was.

eventually - he was in agonising pain and couldn’t breath - Ambulance took him where he stayed inside for 3 weeks - he got discharged the other day.

his legs purple and completely swollen, his skin is yellow, he has lost all his weight and looks totally disheveled and old. He can barely speak and just mumbles and in constant pain - he went outside to put washing up and collapsed, he is back in Hospital once again.

That was me, mate. I was drinking in bed! Until my liver swelled up and made me look pregnant and yellow.
Is your uncle getting help from an alcohol team?

 

[shackattack]

I know 'bumping' threads is not the done thing, but I hope an exception can be made as this is such an important subject. I have heard it said that if alcohol was invented tomorrow, it would be banned by Monday such is the harm it can cause and I have had issues similar to the OP. I can maintain my employment and function in life, but I also know that sometimes drink comes close to taking over.

Most recently I was drinking too much in the covid-19 lockdowns, especially in 2020. I did manage a month off it in January, but then it started again & each time I start after a break, I hit it harder than before. So I decided to stop drinking at the very start of the Euros. Thought I would enjoy the games more and I suppose I did - the fact they were on ITV and BBC helped. More recently it has been the Olympics that has kept me straight: avoiding booze so I can stay up till the early hours to watch horse jumping and skateboarding and other weird stuff! But its working for me.

The reason I was thinking about this today though was for the first time in ages I thought I would be entering a pub for a very long time - I generally only go Pub to see football. I actually breathed a sigh of relief when I clicked on the TV guide and saw the Charity Shield is on BBC2 - so the pub thing can be left to worry about on another day. I'm sure I will be fine - soft drinks and football will be OK when things really get going next weekend.

I have an app on my phone that helps - I'm close to the next target of 60 days now. If anyone else wants to discuss this - please do so. I have tried AA but it is not really for me as I struggle with the quasi-religious aspect to it, although hearing people share how bad things can get, or have got has helped me as indeed did reading this thread when it was first started.

AA works for some people as they require that pedantic 12 step approach and giving yourself up to a higher power. Most agencies tend to go down the reduction, harm minimisation, motivational interviewing route. Truth is that if alcohol was invented today it would be a Cat A drug. But it's socially acceptable and the government tends to put its funds into getting people off other drugs.
Personally I never have it in the house, so in order to drink I have to go out into a more social environment. Not against it per se but the damage it does to individuals and families is disturbing.

 

[Cheesy]

It's an evil fucking disease. I watched it destroy my Dad, both mentally & physically. It killed him in the end. It came close to destroying the whole family.

For anyone thinking "it could never happen to me", think on this.... there's not one single alcoholic out there who recognised the point at which they became addicted.

 

[Nebuchadnezzar]

Love hate relationship with alcohol. I would never say I've been an alcoholic but I have certainly been a problem drinker. I started fairly young, I think my parents had the view that they rathered I did things at home under the safety of their roof rather than go wild out on the streets. I can see what they intended but I'm not sure I'd do it myself if I ever had kids. Perhaps a continental approach where a drink is introduced as a part of a nice meal. I abused the privileges I had though, I'd raid the drinks stash and then by 15/16 I would always be around at my mate's house on the beer, as his Dad had an even more relaxed approach than my parents did.

I still drink now. I had a drink last night actually and have felt terrible mentally all day. Dunno why I do it to myself. Its an improvement from a few years ago, where I'd often argue with the mrs over how much I was drinking or not be able to be in the shop without going down the drinks aisle to "see if they had any new entries".

I've seen a friend's dad die of alcohol related illness, and been in public with him when people would be staring, laughing and pointing at how pissed he was. The last 5 years of my grandmother's life were better once she quit the drink but up until then, I watched her drink and medicate herself into a stupor with valium and painkillers. My aunty did the same when my grandad died, and some days I'd make the choice not to go to school so I could look after my pissed grandmother. My parents never knew and only found out when they got a letter from my school asking why my attendance was so bad. Alcohol turns my Mum into a volatile and emotional person, and it turns my Dad into an annoying slobbering knob.

Why do I bother?

 

[Craig]

AA works for some people as they require that pedantic 12 step approach and giving yourself up to a higher power. Most agencies tend to go down the reduction, harm minimisation, motivational interviewing route. Truth is that if alcohol was invented today it would be a Cat A drug. But it's socially acceptable and the government tends to put its funds into getting people off other drugs.
Personally I never have it in the house, so in order to drink I have to go out into a more social environment. Not against it per se but the damage it does to individuals and families is disturbing.

Agree it would be illegal if it was invented today but apart from tobacco governments have done an absolutely abysmal job where drugs are concerned. It’s a disgrace how they bury their heads and spend millions of police resources every year on catching drug gangs then presenting their haul to the press. When they know full well it is doing nothing to slow the supply of drugs or help the people in society that are the addicts buying off the twats on street corners.

 

[Two Gun Bob]

Its a pleasurable drug affording immense pleasure and sense of release from the mundane for millions, but moderation is the watchword. You want a pint have one, you want a pie have one, you want a fag have one, you want a biscuit have one .. just don't eat the packet. However like most drugs alcohol can become a highly addictive toxin.

 

[Zubrman]

Its a pleasurable drug affording immense pleasure and sense of release from the mundane for millions, but moderation is the watchword. You want a pint have one, you want a pie have one, you want a fag have one, you want a biscuit have one .. just don't eat the packet. However like most drugs alcohol can become a highly addictive toxin.

If you want a gun have one. Not two. ;)

 

[shackattack]

Agree it would be illegal if it was invented today but apart from tobacco governments have done an absolutely abysmal job where drugs are concerned. It’s a disgrace how they bury their heads and spend millions of police resources every year on catching drug gangs then presenting their haul to the press. When they know full well it is doing nothing to slow the supply of drugs or help the people in society that are the addicts buying off the twats on street corners.

In the charity I worked for we were told that we had to prioritise drug users on our waiting list. This meant someone who was attending triage and was just drinking alcohol could potentially never be seen on a 1-1 basis as long as there was cocaine/heroin users etc ahead of them on the waiting list. It was disheartening for both staff and customers alike. Am not sure if the situation is still the same but would imagine not much has changed. Alcohol in moderation can be a good thing but for your average person who misuses alcohol moderation will probably never be an achievable goal. For some to abstain totally is the only option and that is a hard thing to accept.