It is shocking to see how long ago i was on here!?
Through the last year i carried on drinking, didnt stop, issues at work with a spesific client and stress from that issue made me drink even more then i thought possible. I didnt live a day sober. Everything was done just to keep alkohol in my system. “Whens the next drink, where can i get the next bottle.” Morning till night really.
However also over this last year my partner caught me at hiding my booze bottles in my wardrobe and that the bottles where changing every day.
Long story short it kickstarted me trying to actually get help from the outside world.
A&E, gp appointments, hospital visits, blood tests, i got past onto an Addicitons Help Centre which was petrifying even to just have the initial phonecall appointment!
It to them HALF A YEAR to get back to me with a face to face appointment - all the while i was drinking heavily. I could have died in that time.
Meetings with them became more and more regular…they want to arrange a detox. I wussed out of the april one.
Me and my parter stopped drinking for 2 weeks last year when he found all the bottles. However quickly slipped into normal routeen - think he fell into denial and i buried my head in the sand. I didnt want change. Was scared of it!
I finally had an abdominal scan for my liver 2 weeks ago. Doctor called me 2 days afterwards and scared the crap out of me by saying how bad the results where! I didnt have a cyst on my liver. I have bad tissue scaring and sirrhousis. He couldnt believe the state of it for a 34 year old. He said if i dont stop i wont to live 40.
I finally got brave enough to speak to my partner about it last weekend and here we are, 5& a half days in.
I try and keep a journal of an evening, i have 2 apps on my phone (one which shows the benefits to my body as the hours not drank go by) and ive never drank so much herbal tea and juices in my life🤣
Glad you are here again Ania, welcome back!
That outcome is scary indeed! A huge drive to stay on the sober path.
This app helped me a lot to stay sober. I was (and still am) here a lot to read and write.
I learned a lot about my addiction and how to beat it. So be here much, it’s a great tool in recovery!
Welcome back. Glad you returned and hope you will find the app(s) helpful…there are certainly plenty of threads, old and new, to read to help you in your journey. Taking it day by day was key for me in early days.
That first paragraph you wrote was me. I planned my life around my next drink. Congratulations on making healthy changes, I’m sure all of us would agree how hard it is to imagine life without our best friends (DOC)
Although I’ve been sober almost 30 days I woke up a few weeks ago looking like a banana. I’m itchy, bloated and have almost no energy. I know I need to go to the hospital but I’m very scared to hear what’s going on and hoping all of these symptoms will resolve on their own if I keep eating healthy. What gave you the strength and bravery to go get tests done? I could stand to borrow a bit!
To be honest i never wanted testes for years (nearly had a scan 10 years ago in my 20s but didnt want to know the damage. I KNEW there was damage!)
But once the bowl got rolling and i started being honest with the addiciton centre councellor (the only place i admitted how much i drank and that it was all day despite working etc) he sent referrals to my GP for me to get the blood tests and scans done.
Luckily appointments where like every 1-3 months wait so gave me time to get my head around it.
Next deep liver scan the doctor at hospital wants as he was horified! That one is next month.
Go to you GP and be honest how much you drink, how often, when and what
And that you would like an abdominal/liver ultrasound. Its the first step. Takes not even 15 mins.x
A friend of mine said the same. She stuggled for years to get any kind of support or help but she lives different part of the country so different systems in place. Thanks
I avoided it many years even i had some really really bad liver enzyme results. I finally did the ultrasound, after 1 year without alcohol and with milk thistle pills. Luckily for me it was fine, but hadn’t I stopped I would have slowly killed myself.
@Cek51084, You need to go to the GP for testing as a first step. So you can plan further steps of medication and treatment.
Did you ever find out what was wrong? My husband was just diagnosed with high enzymes to the point of scarring. He feels hopeless and is scared. He started librium today. Sounds like from what Ive read you and your husband are similar to us. I hopre you are both ok. Today is my 3rd day sober.
I just had tests too and my doctor told me I had a cyst in my left kidney, cyst in my spleen and my gallbladder is acting abnormal. Scared the crap out of me!! So, i hear you. I just drink moderately now but i will go to sobriety soon.
Sorry to hear about your husband diagnosis.
How is he doing now? Hope all is well!
I also have high level enzymes as well. Luckily they went down a significant amount) . Last Thursday they were quite high levels, surprisedly on Tuesday my doctor informed me that the went down and things are are getting better !
Unfortunately I am extremely scared about another health issue that the doctors believe it due to my prior baby drinking. I had swollen feet about 2 weeks ago, it was barley noticeable. Then last Wednesday I feel like I did too much walking , plus i was standing in same place for over sn hour waiting for someone. Sitting and standing for too long of amounts of time can cause edema of the feet and ankle etc.
So the next opening my feet and ankles were severely swollen . My doctor put me on lasix 40 MG per day. I have been taking it since last Thursday. So I have been taking lasix 40 mg for 9 days . The night before last night I feel asleep on my couch in a “ sitting” position. When I woke up my neck hurt and my feet were hurting so much.
My feet and lower legs gonna extreme swelling!
Scary looking… so I went to my doctors urgent care office and the doctor I saw told me that I needed to go to hospital asap and have the ER do a ultrasound of my lower extremity edema( feet , ankles and lower legs) to see if I had an blood clots
I got a chest X-ray done
An EKG
The ultrasound on my lower extremity edema
Bloodwork
The ER doctor I saw told my all my tests came back normal ( NO blood clots )
He told me that usually older people get swollen feet and lower legs swelling. That I don’t have anything wrong my kidney , no heart issues and confirmed that if a patient had cirrhosis that he would understand them having lower extremity edema . However don’t have cirrhosis.
So , he said unfortunately he couldn’t tell me what is the cause of my lower extremity edema ( swelling in feet and lower legs) I asked him is this something that could be a chronic condition or last forever. He said it definitely wouldn’t last s lifetime.
Hmm, up I think I’m screwed . My paperwork from urgent care it lists a ton of information about lymphedema , which has no cure .
I am wearing compression stocking as advised to wear all the time expect when sleeping. Plus I need to walk more every day for at least mins to get the circulation back in my feet area. I have been drinking alot of water . Staying away from salt, still I fear that the swelling will never go away , can any one please advise me about this . Any feedback I would greatly appreciate!
The one thing you need to take to heart is “no person, thing, event, nothing MAKES you drink”!!
I know that you probably didn’t mean that, but the words we choose matter. That didn’t make me drink, only I made me drink. It isn’t that I can’t drink, it’s that I don’t drink.
Those words you say inside your head become your reality so make those words positive. As P!nk says “Change those voices inside your head. Make them like you instead.”
I have minor lymphedema in my right arm, but that’s because of my breast cancer and having to remove 15 lymph nodes from that arm. I’m so glad you took care of yourself and went to ER. Hopefully you can find easy ways to get that under control.
My husband was just diagnosed with high enzymes to the point of scarring. He feels hopeless and is scared. He started librium today. Sounds like from what Ive read you and your husband are similar to us. I hopre you are both ok. Today is my 3rd day sober.
