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My Ahusband was a highly functional alcoholic for about 25 years. Over the last 10 years, he started drinking at work (this is a bad sign) ... and making sure I didn't find out about it except for strange rambling phone conversations at different times that he would have an assortment of excuses for - he was tired, stressed ...etc. He frequently had glazed eyes as well. He then actually stopped drinking for 2 years and joined AA about seven years ago and returned to peak form as a highly productive and energetic person. However when he relapsed, he fell hard .. he did his best to keep his secret from me .. but all the signs returned except he was much more hostile and angrier than he had ever been in his life and within a few months he started developing health problems. He was in denial .. and kept trying to convince me he wasn't drinking .. but the truth was later revealed. As the months passed by, his health grew worse and he missed his first day of work in 22 years of owning a business. He blamed all his problems on everything else but his drinking .. within a year his vision began to fail and he was told by his doctor he had to stop drinking to recover his vision... but he couldn't stop. During this time his memory lapses became severe ... at times he couldn't remember large periods of time on a frequent basis. It was scary to witness someone I had known my entire adult life that had an incredible memory in the years before ... eventually decline so much he couldn't remember what day of the week it was. He entire body grew weaker and he eventually developed significant liver disease .... and he lost his life to alcoholism just a few months ago. This severe downward spiral took place in about 3 years ... after almost 30 years of drinking ..most of which he was very functional.
I gained a wealth of information from this website and from doing internet searches on alcohol related health problems. Make sure you do searches on memory loss and alcohol ... it can be a dangerous progressive condition if the alcoholic cannot stop drinking. When my husband's health began to fail ... the toxic long term effects of alcohol destroyed his body and mind within a short period of time. Personality changes such a agitation can also be part of this stage.
The best thing you can do is read and research as much as you can so you understand what you are dealing with ... and you come to a good place to start. Go back and read the many wonderful posts especially at the top of the page. There may not be much you can do to alter his progression other than to encourage him to seek help ... and prepare and protect yourself for what the future may hold.