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I'm all over the place

Posted , 13 users are following.

taplow
taplow

Hi, I'm a new person here. Just asking for some advice really. 

I drink at least two bottles of strong wine every night, a lot of time it's more - I'm on my 3rd one now.   I'm 54, I live on my own.  For me, what else is there?  Nothing really I suppose.  Even so, I don't want this. I've tried quitting myself but I've never had any success.  I've never had any kind of medical help. I'm just wondering if anyone thinks there's anything the NHS can really do for some like me. I think that only I can do anything - I can't of course.  But what can doctors really do. What kind of practical help can they offer?  

Is it really worth going to my doctor?  

 

2 likes, 37 replies

37 Replies

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  • Robin2015
    Robin2015 taplow

    Posted

    HI Taplow. Like you, I used to drink A LOT!! had to stop after many many years and I think that your GP could help but first of all find out what you really want. are you ready for a change?? have you reached rock bottom like I did and had too much to loose?? I am not certain and you simply need to sit down and think hard....pls look at other replies that mine and whatever you do...do NOT suddenly stop drinking suddenly without medicine or medical help...can be dangerous..Best of luck to you. Robin
  • RHGB
    RHGB taplow

    Posted

    You are unlikely to get any help from the NHS, unless you were almost dying and brought in by ambulance.

    Your GP, may be able to help, or he may push you towards an alcohol recovery charity. It's all a postcode lottery.

    But certainly medication can help you. The alcohol will have changed your system, which is why it is so hard to quit, medication helps put this right.

    It's probably two stages for you, a detox to get you off the alcohol, so that you don't suffer withdrawal symptoms and then follow up medication to help you moderate your drinking, or abstain, whichever is your preference.

    Would it be fair to say it's really about three bottles of wine day? You don't get judged, it just helps evalute your true situation.

  • ADEfree
    ADEfree taplow

    Posted

    Yes, there is something the NHS can do. Check Joanna's article here:

    https://patient.info/health/sinclair-method-for-alcohol-use-disorder

    I suggest you get with your GP asap and get the ball rolling. The steps to getting the medication will vary by the area you're in. I'm using the method outlined in the link and over 3 months have cut my drinking from around 84 US drinks per week to about 17 drinks, so it's well worth looking into. 

  • h1954
    h1954 taplow

    Posted

    Hi Taplow, the fact that you're asking for advice suggests that you know you can't go on like this, so well done. Going it alone is extremely tough, but in this forum you are not alone.

    Ade is right not to try to stop just like that, because it can be extremely harmful, even lethal, so if you want to try a day off the booze make sure you can easily get hold of some in case the withdrawal (shakes, flushes etc) become too much.

    Cutting down is also difficult because your brain probably gets so much pleasure from the drink that it keeps wanting more. One thing that helped me was not to think about drinking less,but to restrict the hours I drank, eg start an hour later, finish an hour earlier. As regards medical help, at your level of drinking you need to be protected by vitamin b and thiamine, so you should see your doc for that if nothing else and to get your liver tested for damage.

    If you Google alcohol use disorder and the sinclair method you will vet lots of info to yake to your gp to discuss the best approach for you

    And stick with this forum,there are lots of people here with all sorts of experiences who will offer helpful info for you

    Good luck

  • taplow
    taplow

    Posted

    I'm really all or nothing as regards drinking.  I stopped drinking for seven years after being in hospital for a month in 2004.  But now I' m firmly back on it.  The reason I'm wondering what doctors can really do is that I've got epilepsy and when I went for my neurology appointment, I told the doctor at the hospital about how I was drinking and how that would affect my fits.  He said that for a start it would interfere with my medication. 

    Just after that I got a letter from my GP.  It said that she'd like to talk to me after she'd got a letter from my neurologist.  Now it's obvious that he must have wrote about my drinking as that was pretty much all we spoke about.  

    So I'm guessing that the appointment will be about my drinking. The thing is I don't want to go into it if there's nothing they can really do.  I don't want to waste a lot of time if the NHS can't do anything.  So I was wondering whether to play it down.  

    • RHGB
      RHGB taplow

      Posted

      That's quite normal for hospitals to write to your GP, and I know that neuro consultants/surgeons love nothing better that to document drinking habits, believe me, I've been there and got quite annoyed with them and told the neuro people (at the stroke hospital) to look after my head and the gastroenterologists at the normal hospital will look after my liver.

      I would see your GP, there are some that will help, and your epilepsy may act in your favour. Most GPs will not like to get involved in dealing with alcohol and would prefer to push you off to an alcohol recovery centre.

      Don't get me wrong, the NHS could do something, it is more they won't. They could book you into the gastroenterology ward at the local hospital, detox you. Then put you on a course of anti-craving medication, send you home and send a letter to your GP asking him to keep prescribing the medication and monitoring you.

       

    • h1954
      h1954 taplow

      Posted

      I would say don't play it down. Ask for help. You've done it before and well done. But it's harder each time. And there are meds that can help. Go armed with info from the things we point you to on here and say you really need help, if that's really the case. I only say that because I know what it's like to think I need to change but don't really want to have to. Hope it goes well.
    • Misssy2
      Misssy2 taplow

      Posted

      Hi taplow..did you have that appt with your GP yet?

       

    • taplow
      taplow Misssy2

      Posted

      I've got blood tests and things on the 5th and then the GP on the 11th.  I haven't drank since Tuesday though - early days.  If I'm still not drinking by then I think I'd like to carry on without medical help.

      Should I fail again I'll see what she says.  She's a good GP though.  .  

    • Misssy2
      Misssy2 taplow

      Posted

      Thats wonderful that you haven't drank since Tuesday...congratulations!

      ​Its really hard to do when you are so addicted to alcohol....and then feeling crappy....or sad...or mad...or happy...you know.

      ​I'm happy for you....

  • Sober_As
    Sober_As taplow

    Posted

    Hello Taplow,

    It really is worth going to your doctor.  The thing is PREPARATION... just write down ALL of your concerns, prior to appointment.  

    If I don't have "notes" with me...  I always forget something important.

    Many of us, here,  are " all over the place "... by that , I mean that we are experiencing the ups and downs of Alcohol Use Disorder.

    I am glad that you have joined this Forum.

    It is "saving me", for the last month.

    I am a 60 year old... I HATE that number.

    I drink a life- threatening amount of wine every day. I am on the Reduction Medication.   

    Where are you?  U.K.?

    Good Luck in your struggle.

    Alonangel 🎇

     

  • Misssy2
    Misssy2 taplow

    Posted

    Hi there!

    ​I'm wondering ..(oh, hi...I am an alcoholic..have always been and hope not to always be)....I'm not presently drinking.

    ​But, I am wondering...what do you want the Drs to do for you?  I wanted them to just FIX me...love me, care for me until I felt ok..and that is not what they do....they LECTURE, act like  you are the most dispicable person on the planet...give you suggestions...like go to AA....smile.....Um the US is better at this than the UK...they have started to do all these things with a twinch of compassion.

    ​But do you want to be helped? I always wanted to hear...your not that bad....I've seen worse..and I did hear that in my early years...so I kept going...then I stopped hearing that.

    ​Then hospital stays became a necessity for me...now I can't just drink 1 day..I carry every time I drink into...weeks and sometimes over a month.  And when I do this...I am unable to do any self care, such as eating, bathing...etc.

    ​I want to ask....at 54...how are you alone at home? How do you finance your home? who is enabling you to drink (who pays you...the UK)?  Because I know for ME...my future is relying on me not drinking...I am going to have to be available for all state appointments if I want to get disability...and if I'm not I will lose that income and will be forced to find some sort of employment.

    To be honest...when a decision is made on my disability...if I'm approved...I'm scared for my life...that I will just drink as you are ...home and alone...and I know for ME..I will die that way.

    ​If I were your Dr...I would ask....what is to stop you?  Do you have any goals for yourself?  For your family? Do you care about your health?  Is your health being affected by the drinking?

    • Joanna-SMUKLtd
      Joanna-SMUKLtd Misssy2

      Posted

      You reply concerns me, Misssy, because it seems to confirm what I have been wondering over the past few days, but I really, really hope I am wrong and that you will be able to tell me with conviction that I am wrong.

      Recently, it seems to me that your being sober has all resolved around the disability payment, which is of course absolutely understandable and as it should be with this pending so soon.

      But then from some of your recent postings (and this one seems to confirm it when you mention that you are scared for your life) that you are virtually giving yourself 'permission' to drink once the decision has been made.  You seem almost resigned to it.

      You pose good questions - what are your truthful answers to them?  Do you have any goals?  Do you care about your health?

      I will add one additional question for you - Are you telling us that you are a lost cause, and that you are going to die drunk?  Because if that what you believe, then that is what is likely to happen sad

    • Misssy2
      Misssy2 Joanna-SMUKLtd

      Posted

      You are correct Joanna..I AM afraid of the same...very insightful lady sad...I'm sure my therapy team is thinking the same cause I talk just let me I do here.
    • ADEfree
      ADEfree Misssy2

      Posted

      I can get you a copy of the book, Misssy, just let me know. It's different when you know you're going to win. 
    • Misssy2
      Misssy2 ADEfree

      Posted

      smile..and I need to TELL myself I'm going to win and get my mind out of the gutter....
    • taplow
      taplow Misssy2

      Posted

      Hi Misssy2, to answer you, yes I do live alone now.  I own my own small place in the east midlands and to support myself I have a job.

      I think that your problem is a bit of a concern because you see yourself as having two options and you can't decide which is the worst. You're worried that you'll lose your disability benefit and be forced to work and on the other hand you're worried that you'll be approved for benefit and then be free to drink all the time.  I can see why you might see yourself as in a trap.  

      Like most of us, you'd be okay if drink wasn't a feature in your life.  That's what's causing the problem.  

      I wish you all the best.    

    • Misssy2
      Misssy2 taplow

      Posted

      You hit the nail on the head...I'm afraid of both....

      sad.

      ​Its good you have a job...or your drinking could possibly be worse...although I know mine was pretty bad....years ago before I stopped and I was working.

    • emma84640
      emma84640 Misssy2

      Posted

      Aw missy try not to think this way. I sometimes go through periods where I believe oh well this is how it's going to end but I try to keep going and hope things will get better. Please don't feel you will die home and alone. I've got three little dogs they are my life. They keep me going. Do you have any close little companion? I know dogs aren't for everyone and I didn't know I was a dog person til I got my little Toby but looking back my dogs are who keep me going, keep me hoping. My mom is 58 divorced and alone, drinks wine but not to the level I do. She has her little dog and now thinks, who needs a man lol. Xxx
    • Misssy2
      Misssy2 emma84640

      Posted

      Ok emma...if I'm ever alone I may try a little dog too smile

      ​Thank you.

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