Alcohol, hints, tips, advice etc.

[ob]

My mate messaged me Monday night. Not heard from him for while, he says he's been laying low, been told by GP if doesn't stop drinking he'll be dead in months. Joined AA and been sober for 3 months. We chatted for ages, says he was scared to tell me as I might not be his friend anymore and to quote 'want to bother with him anymore'. Told him our friendship is deeper than that. He said it's so tough. Told him I understand but not to look back he isn't going that way. Keep looking forward, said he's got 2 young daughters who are his pride n joy. His focus is to stay sober to watch them grow up, get jobs, get married etc. My mate Bryce stay strong mucker I got your back

 

[crublue1]

My mate messaged me Monday night. Not heard from him for while, he says he's been laying low, been told by GP if doesn't stop drinking he'll be dead in months. Joined AA and been sober for 3 months. We chatted for ages, says he was scared to tell me as I might not be his friend anymore and to quote 'want to bother with him anymore'. Told him our friendship is deeper than that. He said it's so tough. Told him I understand but not to look back he isn't going that way. Keep looking forward, said he's got 2 young daughters who are his pride n joy. His focus is to stay sober to watch them grow up, get jobs, get married etc. My mate Bryce stay strong mucker I got your back

Top man, he will be empowered by your support mate. Good luck to him.

 

[Pedestrian]

I stopped drinking in Jan after 25yrs of initially social drinking which turned into ‘it’s what I do’. I was doing 8-10 pints a day. Never shorts and never ended up in the gutter. The gutter part is why I think I couldn’t see I had a problem. When I worked in A&E I’d see the gutter drinkers and because I’d never been there I wrongly assumed I was ok. Drinking took my mum and dad when I was young. I was in care most of my childhood because of that. I’ve got a 7yr old and that’s what finally made me see my problem. I need to see her grow up because she’s ace fun.

 

[hammocity]

I carried the coffin of I guy I joined up with. He was in his late 30's and drank himself to death. He was on terminal leave when he died. Missed a medical appointment and was found dead a week later by his sister when she went to his house to find out where he was. He'd been dead over a week when he was found.

Our paths didn't really cross that much, but every time we met up he always seemed happy with life. He never really struck me as an alcoholic, although he could shift a pint or two. It was vodka that did him in the end. His sister said he was drinking 2-3 litres a day before he died.

A woman I worked with (let's call her Julie) was married to a guy who was high up in the GMP Pension department. He was in his early forties, they owned their own house and an investment apartment near the Etihad. He used to go for a few beers every Thursday with his male friends, the rest of his spare time was spent with his wife and two kids.

He started to change, became disheveled, no time for his family and acted violently towards Julie, I was very close to her as I'd known her since we were kids. I went in the Office just the two of us shared one morning and she was sat on the floor so no one could see her, sobbing her heart out. Her husband, blind drunk had raped and beaten her.

He had started "secret" drinking in his shed, Julie had found loads of empty vodka bottles but of course she knew he was drinking heavily.

After a few months and a catalogue of neglect towards his family Julie moved out with the kids. Her husband lost his well paid job and two Alcoholics moved in with him which helped with his bills. He carried on drinking Vodka, no idea how much per day but after a while his lower legs and feet turned black amd he passed away in his late forties, his kids had disowned him. It all happened in the space of 5/6 years, really sad, that was around 2009 when he died. Shocking how the booze grabbed him and devastated his life.

Julie survived it all, physically and mentally and is now happily married again.

 

[SWP's back]

I stopped drinking in Jan after 25yrs of initially social drinking which turned into ‘it’s what I do’. I was doing 8-10 pints a day. Never shorts and never ended up in the gutter. The gutter part is why I think I couldn’t see I had a problem. When I worked in A&E I’d see the gutter drinkers and because I’d never been there I wrongly assumed I was ok. Drinking took my mum and dad when I was young. I was in care most of my childhood because of that. I’ve got a 7yr old and that’s what finally made me see my problem. I need to see her grow up because she’s ace fun.

Jesus mate. Well done.

 

[GaudinoMotors]

One of the saddest and worst deterioration's of anyone I've ever known was due to two of the off topic discussions working in tandem, alcohol and gambling.

 

[Trevor Morley's Tache]

I stopped drinking in Jan after 25yrs of initially social drinking which turned into ‘it’s what I do’. I was doing 8-10 pints a day. Never shorts and never ended up in the gutter. The gutter part is why I think I couldn’t see I had a problem. When I worked in A&E I’d see the gutter drinkers and because I’d never been there I wrongly assumed I was ok. Drinking took my mum and dad when I was young. I was in care most of my childhood because of that. I’ve got a 7yr old and that’s what finally made me see my problem. I need to see her grow up because she’s ace fun.

I've worked with a lot of functioning alcoholics over the year, some of them barely functioning. With a lot of them it's been a cultural thing, others different reasons. I've been on the fringes of habitual drinking at times in my life. One particular time was over a 3 year period where I was pretty much solid drinking for practically 21 days out of 35 (my shift pattern) and pretty much every evening/night/weekend of those three weeks. When it started to creep into my 14 days off where I'd regularly be buying 2 bottles of wine and a crate of beer, and I'd be into the second bottle of wine before my missus had finished her first glass, I knew I was on the way. Massively cut back at that point, and now barely drink that much at all.

 

[Pedestrian]

I've worked with a lot of functioning alcoholics over the year, some of them barely functioning. With a lot of them it's been a cultural thing, others different reasons. I've been on the fringes of habitual drinking at times in my life. One particular time was over a 3 year period where I was pretty much solid drinking for practically 21 days out of 35 (my shift pattern) and pretty much every evening/night/weekend of those three weeks. When it started to creep into my 14 days off where I'd regularly be buying 2 bottles of wine and a crate of beer, and I'd be into the second bottle of wine before my missus had finished her first glass, I knew I was on the way. Massively cut back at that point, and now barely drink that much at all.

For me after it stopped being about ‘fun and enjoyment’ it started to be a reward after 12hr shifts. I started drinking young when I joined the army. I continued all the way through my nursing career. After a long hard shift I would ‘reward’ myself with 3 pints then 8 cans for home. Since I’ve stopped I’ve lost 25kg and finally finished my masters. My next target is an ultra-marathon and a holiday cottage in Northumberland. Im giving myself 2 years for that. I’ve found having targets helps me avoid drinking.

 

[hammocity]

I've worked with a lot of functioning alcoholics over the year, some of them barely functioning. With a lot of them it's been a cultural thing, others different reasons. I've been on the fringes of habitual drinking at times in my life. One particular time was over a 3 year period where I was pretty much solid drinking for practically 21 days out of 35 (my shift pattern) and every pretty much every evening/night/weekend of those three weeks. When it started to creep into my 14 days off where I'd regularly be buying 2 bottles of wine and a crate of beer, and I'd be into the second bottle of wine before my missus had finished her first glass, I knew I was on the way. Massively cut back at that point, and now barely drink that much at all.

I have a golfing mate who's just turned 60, if he's not working he's drinking with a bit of golf thrown in. He also annually does an open water swim in the Lake District for charity with very little training (the bit he does is usually about a month before at Salford Keys). When he's on nights he takes 4 cans of Stella up to Hartshead Pike at the end of his shift, about 6am but then drinks when he gets home. I've never seen anyone drink as much as him. Here's the kicker though, he recently had a medical, physical and blood tests. All the results led to the Doctor telling him he was in tip top shape with no underlying kidney, liver, diabetes, heart, blood disorders, etc.

Im sure he's just a freak of nature, about 10 days ago I had a golf weekend away with the lads (my mate included) and I'm just about getting back to normal and feeling healthy after three days of decent sessions. Think I'm going to have a couple of months off the ale now.

 

[Thorin Oakenshield]

A woman I worked with (let's call her Julie) was married to a guy who was high up in the GMP Pension department. He was in his early forties, they owned their own house and an investment apartment near the Etihad. He used to go for a few beers every Thursday with his male friends, the rest of his spare time was spent with his wife and two kids.

He started to change, became disheveled, no time for his family and acted violently towards Julie, I was very close to her as I'd known her since we were kids. I went in the Office just the two of us shared one morning and she was sat on the floor so no one could see her, sobbing her heart out. Her husband, blind drunk had raped and beaten her.

He had started "secret" drinking in his shed, Julie had found loads of empty vodka bottles but of course she knew he was drinking heavily.

After a few months and a catalogue of neglect towards his family Julie moved out with the kids. Her husband lost his well paid job and two Alcoholics moved in with him which helped with his bills. He carried on drinking Vodka, no idea how much per day but after a while his lower legs and feet turned black amd he passed away in his late forties, his kids had disowned him. It all happened in the space of 5/6 years, really sad, that was around 2009 when he died. Shocking how the booze grabbed him and devastated his life.

Julie survived it all, physically and mentally and is now happily married again.

Why exactly did his legs turn black?