Drinking problem

[screamadelica]

Good people of NSC,

I have a "Friend" who is a triffle worried about his drinking. "He" is so bored with his life that drinking every night has become the normal thing to do, a way of numbing the, well Normal.

This "Friend" is mid fourties, overweight, f***ed achillies tendon and smokes heavily.

Any advice?

You need a hobby mate, one that you can do in the evenings.Summers coming have you thought about taking up golf,9 holes is doable after work so is time on the range.Fishing and or shooting is another one there is a good range on Brighton seafront they welcome new members and are all very friendly.

 

[edna krabappel]

Go to your GP. Accepting it's not healthy is the first thing.

They can refer you to support services. No shame in that. Or ring AA.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Your "friend" "probably" won't be able to do it on "his" own or do it immediately, which is why "he" should seek professional help. However the fact "he" has realised "he" has a problem is a start.
http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/alcohol/Pages/Alcoholsupport.aspx

 

[spongy]

I'm 34 and was in a similar situation. Up the pub straight from work to have a few, heading home at closing pissed, wake up feeling ok and do it all again the next day.

I was living at home with my folks at the time and felt like I had no one to turn to. Can you not sit down and talk to the wife about it?

Cutting down drinking is important but not as much as much as the lifestyle change.

Is there always something you've wanted to do but never have? Or something you've both wanted to do together that can work toward or do?

If it wasn't for my missus I wouldn't have cut down and I'd be in a casket now.

I still want to drink and sometimes I fall off the wagon but its less frequent now.

My self set limits now are Friday evening after work til I want to go home, but less if we have a game on Saturday, hangovers going to football are shit.

Match days are a piss up that I allow myself, and one evening during the week if I really feel I need to. But any more than a 3 day day break from it and I get very twitchy and ancy for a drink so its normally a tues or weds for me.

Waking up without a hangover is fantastic, you feel so much fresher, when you next wake up after a drink you only then realise how rough you feel, you get too used to it.

Saying this I feel I should update my signature it used to be my life motto.

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

Get it sorted , think of the missus, kids and the grandkids. Once you accept having a drink problem there is bundles of support available. Start off by seeing your GP as they will be able to set the ball rolling.

 

[TheMajor]

Good people of NSC,

I have a "Friend" who is a triffle worried about his drinking. "He" is so bored with his life that drinking every night has become the normal thing to do, a way of numbing the, well Normal.

This "Friend" is mid fourties, overweight, f***ed achillies tendon and smokes heavily.

Any advice?

Yeah - go on BBS and crawl up their arse.

 

[Butch Willykins]

5 pints minimum plus several cans monday through to Thursday, Friday gets to about 9 or 10, Saturday/Sunday much more.

That's £200+ a week on booze. Just think what you could spend that on! £10,000 a year.

 

[Fur Cough]

Yeah - go on BBS and crawl up their arse.

Well I suppose I could do, what do you think the attendance on the thread would be?

 

[TheMajor]

Well I suppose I could do, what do you think the attendance on the thread would be?

I don't know - I'm too pissed to care

 

[Benson]

Write a drink diary. how much and the amount of units. You can't judge the scale of you problem without knowing exactly how many units you drink and what you drink.
Go to your doctor although this may not be a good idea if you need to go for a medical for work/ health ins. etc.
These will help and are more hands on/ practical than AA : Addaction 01903 237038
Take thiamin and vit b1 tablets.

Get your friend to pm me if he needs to.

And good luck to him!

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

5 pints minimum plus several cans monday through to Thursday, Friday gets to about 9 or 10, Saturday/Sunday much more.

That is around 150 units a week. Some people can carry on like that for years but most people will not see 60. Heavy lifetime drinkers normally die between 50 or 60 if they do not stop. He needs to try and cut down. The worst thing he can do is go Cold Turkey as his body could go into shock. As long as he has not reached stage 4 liver disease he can get back on track at his age. Anything up to 40-50 units week will normally have no major life affecting consequences for a healthy adult male, despite the 21 units limit but anything over that and long term you are taking risks.

 

[Kumquat]

What do you most enjoy? Apart from drinking. And I'm not being flippant. I have a friend and an actual friend not someone i'm pretending isn't me, who had a a gambling problem. He loves music and football and got over the problem of gambling by obsessing on them in the short term. Have a think about something you like that you can load in on until you break the habit, Because it sounds like a habit at the moment from what you say. Professional advice say it takes around 21 days to break a habit so set yourself a month on something you really like and do it every day when you're not working. All the best too.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

Wean down and then try and have 2-3 alcohol free days a week. Baby steps. Have a liver function test and bloods for enzyeme levels to show how the liver is functioning. The liver is a brute of an organ and can take a huge amount of abuse but when it gets past fatty liver, hepatitis onto cirrhosis and end stage liver disease the game is up. Do not let it get this far.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

The units guide thing is absolute bollocks, it's misleading and causes anyone who likes a drink to ignore it altogether.

If you had two glasses of red wine with a meal every evening, you would be consuming around 40 units a week, but instead of causing your body damage you'll be getting health benefits.

Agreed is is something the BMA plucked out of the air with no medical evidence under pressure from the goverment. 21 units for a social guy who likes a drink is ridiculously low. Other studies have shown up to 60 units a weak has not long term health risks and infact drinking a lot of alcohol does infact protect the heart.

 

[jevs]

Whatever you do mate, you've got to want to give up the booze. Give it a go for a week,,,,then see if you can make it to a fortnight and so on. Ive been a heavy drinker for 15 years and at the age of 46, i really needed to sort myself out.

Not had a beer now since new years eve. I still go to the pub and have a pint of diet coke or lime and soda. Saves me an absolute fortune and im not piling on the calories either. Ive lost a stone, im sleeping better and staying awake until 10 or 11 at night (im up at 5 each morning) and i have a lot more energy.

If i can do it, believe me, anyone can. I really wish you the best of luck fella,

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

The " problem drinker " myth of being a guy in a raincoat swigging spirits on bench ala " the lost weekend " is far from the truth. The heaviest drinkers in the country are middle aged , professionals who often cane down up to 100 units a week. Around 4 million of them. They function, go to work and live a normal life. The problem is once the bar is set at this level for a long period of time it is very hard to lower it.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

Famous alcoholics like Best drank 6 bottles of wine a day, over 400 units a week, Gascoigne 4 bottles of whisky a day, 700 units a week and Hurt 7 bottles of wine a day, 500 units a week. Now that is drinking but it is at such a stage then that totally obliteration is almost certain and quite quickly.

 

[BadFish]

Friend my arse. Just give it up.

Spoken like someone who has never experienced addiction.

 

[Ulloa]

Of course it's not my "Friend" hence the reason I put Friend in " "

Tried to give it up, can't. Asked for advice on here knowing there would be others.

It's harder than people think giving up the booze. I'm a secret drinker.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

Sir Winston Churchill. " I have taken far more out of alcohol, than alcohol has taken from me " This guy caned the brandy and port every single night and lived to 90 and was the best PM this country has ever had.