How Badly has your addiction affected your health

Went to the hospital yesterday , it’s pretty obvious that the lifestyle I’m living is deeply affecting my health and I’m sick of it. I mean I’ve been Hospitalized 4 times in two years so if I don’t make change I don’t think I’m going to make it past 40. I’ve had Pancreatitis in Dec 2019, Gallstones Dec 2020{mind you that I was 24 at the time} , Inflammation of Liver&Appendix May 2021 and Gastritis(the precursor to Ulcers and ACID Reflux) Aug 2021. So in other words, I’m F*cked if I continue drinking. What’s your story? Please share with me if you can

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The more important question is what are you willing to do to turn your life around, heed the signs your body is giving you and run with them towards a better life?

Welcome to the forum. Have a read around here. There is loads of wisdom and experiences and help on here for you to benefit from.

Have you considered AA? I’ve not gone through the program myself but learned a lot about it from folks here. There is a way for everyone. You can do it. Your body can heal. I’m in better shape now almost two years sober than ever. A lot of folks on here will say the same.

Good luck!

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So did you eventually leave alcohol all together or did you gradually reduce until you stopped? It’s actually crazy but you reminded me of a family Christmas party that I went to in 2018 where I drank one full bottle of Vodka by myself… Needless to say my mother was far from impressed that I could do that and still function throughout the night.

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Well I really think I could do it without AA, after my first alcohol indused hospitalization i was told by my doctors that I should not take a sip of alcohol for atleast 6 to 8 months, and that was easy. The problem started again when I went back to booze after almost a year. I’d hydrate regularly between beers, eat before sessions you know the whole shabang but I still found myself in the hospital again December the next year for something else (the gallstones) one again I swore off alchol for a couple months only to return with even smaller doses alcohol but getting sick. The pattern seems to repeat itself, I have actually decided to leave alcohol all together. Thank you for taking your time out of your life to advise me. I actually got this app for motivation and advise more than anything and your already helping me out :pray:t6:

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Drinking for me gave me a bad time health wise , drinking to extremes will be bad for your health and well being

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Hey there! Yes, I suffered from some health issues, but fortunately nothing long term. Why wouldn’t you want to try AA or other support communities. TS is a huge support for the, but I also need AA and The Luckiest Club meetings for support. Based on your story, and the health implications you’ve experienced, you can’t go back to drinking. Get some support, meet other sober people, and start living a better life.

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I have had alcohol poisining when I was 15 off of crown royal

They kept me in the hospital for weeks after because it messed with my heart and gave me a irregular heartbeat

I was so dehydrated that my hands got cramped up and stiff. Very very freaky for me

Thank God my mom was at home otherwise I would have tried to ride it through lol

My legs were tingling and I was wobbly when I walked into the emergency room that day too

Very freaky

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What have you got to lose by trying AA or another program? The programs are out there to show us the way and we get to learn from those that have done it successfully. Having a network of people that understand and I can call on has been key to my sobriety. Here’s a link with lots of suggestions.
Resources for our recovery

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Welcome Chuck.

Maybe you can do it without AA.
But it really helped me to get support.
Looks like you’re already bargaining here with the devil. That trick never works.

Whether you do AA or not check out the first 3 steps. It’s fucking gold.
:pray:t2::heart:

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I admitted myself to hospital about 6 months ago following a binge. I was 3 days into recovery and in sleep deprivation and suffering psychosis which consisted of orbs yes that’s right, orbs entering me internally so they could take blood :drop_of_blood: yes I know it’s fucked up. So with this actually happening I thought I’d try to get some out of hours sleeping tablets from my local A&E. they kept me in over night run loads of tests and thankfully I left with a clean bill of health at 42. I’ve been an alcoholic probably since the day it passed my lips as a teenager. My binges reached to 4 days consisting of 4 x large bottles for of gin, 3 bottles of wine and what ever left overs I could find. Sober 5 months from alcohol now. I w by to rehab twice last year in the space of 4 months. Psychosis hit me April 20 just before lock down here in the uk. The reason I think was me taking up weed 3 years ago. Never suffered phsycosis in the whole of my alcoholic career untill weed. The two together are frightening. At first I thought all the phsycosis was real, well it was to me. I have since rationalised this from research but no doctor helped me come to that conclusion. Failed terribly by the health system. Thank god for the internet otherwise I’d still be calling for a priest now. At this point I’m still hearing voices and hoping that with quitting weed this will soon lapse. I do hope so, but I do worry about my health all the time especially my heart :heart:. We all need to be kinder to ourselves. Addiction takes your soul :pray:t3:

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I felt like I could do it without AA too, but after a relapse I decided what the hell, I’ll try a meeting. I was fortunate to find a really good meeting on the first try, and a community of people who really wanted me to succeed as much as I wanted to succeed at quitting drinking. It’s been a game changer. It doesn’t have to be AA, but I would definitely recommend some other kind of local support meetings that are available every day. It doesn’t matter what it is, as long as it’s getting you into community and giving you tools to stay sober.

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Ive dealt with being delusional psychotic and paranoid locked up in psychiatric wards, in hospitals for severe dehydration, alcohol poisoning incarcerated several times but with my last check up or inpatient treatment blood tests came back ok. Im lucky to have another chance to recover. AA’s working for me when all else failed to get me on track, its a life or death situation we dont have many hands to play. I wish you well, God bless.:pray:

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Hey there, I’m a little confused by the post. Are you looking for stories to scare you enough to stop drinking? Or more asking for help with quitting?

There comes a point where the damage becomes irreversible. Most of us that came here and/or joined a program for help had mild to severe health issues due to their drinking. Knowing what can happen if you continue really won’t do the trick. Perhaps it will help for a short while, but this is an addiction. At some point, we end up manipulating ourselves into believing we can moderate and that crap won’t happen to is. Until it does.

I think the most important question is, do you have a desire to quit? You already know that it will kill your organs, and that includes your brain. If you want to quit and just don’t know where to start, I would scroll around on this forum. There are so many ways, programs, books, support, zooms, you name it.

The one thing that I am 100% positive of, is that recovery is a very individual journey. You need to find what is going to work for you. Talk to your doctor about your concerns as well and see what he/she has to say.

I wish you all the luck in the world. It sounds like you’re fairly young, you have so much life yet to live. Sober life is actually a really happy place. That was hard for me to believe for a very long time. But I’m glad I know now. Welcome to TS :blush::hugs:

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I relate . I’m 32 . Been drinking vodka daily for 12 years with some small sobriety here and there . I can’t count how many times I been to the hospital for seizures and alcohol withdrawal. The main concern is the nerve damage which makes my legs and arms feel like electric currents are running through . My liver is only a fatty stage but they tell me in a couple years it’s going to get bad . I have maybe 4 weeks sober this time and I had a friend die at 26 from cirrhosis so I know what that looks like . What scares me the most is the dts, the 3am wake up and I have no alcohol and the store doesn’t open for 3 hours and beer won’t cut it … 10am for liquor . My body rejects it but I need a 750ml to even talk, walk , eat half a cookie , not sweat or shake uncontrollably. What’s humbling is calling the ambulance for yourself because you know you’re going to have a seizure alone. That’s what I have to be reminded of . What ever your doc is it’s Poison. God bless

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And how’s that working for you so far?

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I hated to hear this question when I was struggling. It was a clear signal from my friends in sobriety that I was trying to fix my broken thinking with my broken thinker, that I was still running the show. My best thinking got me a seat in a recovery meeting and a date with a judge.

Consequences can propel us closer and closer to recovery, or we can, as I did, just consider them “the cost of doing business”. But for everyone in recovery, one day that price got too high and we decided to try something different. For most of us, that meant ceding control to someone or something else - to a rehab, to the Department of Corrections, to AA, to a counselor.

Let us know when you are ready to get take actions and we can tell you what worked for us.

My own list of health consequences includes shakes and alcoholic neuropathy and hangovers that felt like I’d had a stroke, and whatever the name is for having to sit on the toilet while drinking my first coffee of the day because it immediately went through me, but I needed some caffeine to try to straighten out my head. I didn’t have a solid, reliable bowel movement for 18 months after I got sober. Hey, you asked!

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I used 1 substance or another(or a bunch at once) for 28yrs. I didnt know there was a way out. Forced into treatment in 2008, (state probation officer, I had a “HOT” test.) I was amazed how the literature talked about me. There is a way out. Anyway, after getting sober, a couple yrs later, I found out I have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, osteoarthritis, all sorts of problems. My Doc said alot of them could stem from the 20yrs I did and cooked meth. My joints ache daily. She did treat me with pain meds. I dont recommend this early on in sobriety. I was 10 yrs clean. I didn’t abuse them, but, I stopped meetings, sponsor calling and said f’ it. Got high. Been going off and on for 9 months. Got cut off pain meds, zanax, Adderall, couple more. I figured it a GOD thing. Been tough. Researched and discovered long term meth use can lead to autoimmune diseases such as, MS, Parkinson disease and others. The osteoarthritis eats your cartridge from your joints. Man I wish I had been nicer to my bidy.

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I’ve done so much to my body I honestly think I have a liver problems but I’m terrified to go to the doctors.

How you doing?

My memory is shot to bits. Thats a big one for me. Scary stuff.