RubyRose

This might not be the right thread for this but I have a question that pertains to alcohol. I, myself, never abused or even used much alcohol but my youngest sister is a serious alcoholic. She is 47 yrs old and has drank heavily since she was about 15. She eats what seems to me to be quite a lot but she weighs less than 100 ibs. She looks terribly anorexic. She drinks every day and does not stop til she passes out. More and more often she has little or no memory of the evening before.

My question - she has no desire for help because she will not admit it is a problem. I have heard that it is dangerous to stop drinking alcohol c/t because of seizures. Now just the other day I heard that drinking too much can CAUSE a seizure? Is that right? Is this in her future?

Thanks...Ruby...

Dees

Ruby - I do know that quitting drinking can cause seizures and that it is actually extremely dangerous to quit drinking c/t if the person drinks a lot and for a very long time. If she decides to quit (which it doesn't sound like she wants to), she should really see a doctor.

Dees

bval

RR - yes, after 35 years of heavy drinking (esp. when that's like 75% of her life) ... a person needs a medical detox from alcohol ... particularly when it's a female, as females are more strongly negatively affected by alcohol than males (just in terms of the toxicity factor ... not behavior-wise).

It can kill a person to c/t off that level of alcohol abuse with no medical supervision.

I've never heard of seizures caused by alcohol, but anything's possible, esp. once you've done enough brain damage due to alcohol's toxic nature ... i.e. booze is not really a proper drug ... it's a poison. So ... probably anything COULD happen to you eventually if you abuse it long enough.

Dee74

I moved this to it's own thread.

Seizures are very possible -and despite prevalent myths gender is not a big factor - males and females are affected more or less equally per size and are equally at risk.

Having had a bad detox experience myself I always encourage people to see their Dr Ruby.

Of course your sister needs to want to do this for herself...and that's the hard bit for those of us watching...

I hope your sister will get the help she needs and be safe.

D

bval

I won't argue w/you over the gender thing Dee as it's not important ... but I have read numerous doctors opinion's that suggest that alcohol is generally more toxic to the female body than the male body ... could be bs though, I really wouldn't know.

Dee74

well we're both sorta right bval - like I said it's more on size, and women - statistically - are smaller....

NIAAA Publications

D

RubyRose

My sister weighs about 40 pounds less than me and I'm just average. She is SO thin but she eats.

My other big fear - she will go out and sit in the hot-tub and drink by herself after her husband goes to bed. I worry she could drown if she passes out - or would the breath of water she'd take be enough to wake a passed out drunk ?

I hate worrying about her, especially when she doesn't! Her 15 year old son has had to pull her off the toilet when she's passed out on it. She will phone me, make no sense (except that I'm the best person in the world - the only one who understands her ...blah...blah...blah crying in her beer) and then just disappear! I wonder where she wakes up!!?? I've called her the next day to make sure she is OK and she is the polar opposite from the night before. She's rude and obnoxious and I'm an idiot for waking her up!!

...Ruby...

Dee74

I think having a loved one who's that far gone in addiction must be one of the worst things in the world, Ruby.

Have you thought about posting in our Family and Friends forum? there's a lot of people down there who know exactly what you're feeling

D

Impurrfect

(((Ruby))) - I'm sorry you're going through all this. As far as would she wake up to a breath of water? Depending on how drunk she is, maybe not. I know that's not what you want to hear, but it's the truth. Alcohol is a depressant and that includes depressing your natural responses to breathe, get yourself out of a dangerous situation, etc.

As far as the seizures, I can just tell you my experience. I worked in a busy "indigent care" ER, and had numerous patients that came in "drunk and disorderly". The paramedic asked me, one night, if I had ticked someone off? I questioned why he asked this, and he said "because you've admitted the last 5 "drunk and seizing" patients". I hadn't ticked anyone off, it was just my night.

My experience is that seizures are more likely when someone is detoxing, but it's not unheard of to have seizures when someone is blotto.

I agree with posting on the F&F forum. I'm not only an RA, I have loved ones who are A's. Despite what I know about addiction, it has not prepared me for dealing with a loved one who's an A. I am very grateful to all the F&F (several who are also RA's) for helping me deal with it.

Hugs and prayers,

Amy