I'm not that close with either of my 2 brothers (for no good reason), but we're working on it as my parents health is beginning to fail and we're starting to pull together a bit. Anyhow, my younger brother who I pretty much see only on holidays, has been living with a woman for about 25 years now that is/was without question a raging alcoholic. I don't think I've ever seen her not drunk. My brother has admitted she gets drunk every day. She has some other issues along with the drinking, and in my mind she was pretty much a hopeless case. The kind that wouldn't even consider sobriety as a way of life.
About 8 or 9 months ago she had some surgery, and around the same time had a drunken accident. My brother has been telling me that she stopped drinking around that time, and I didn't really question him, as I didn't entirely believe him. I figured it meant she's just drinking less, but I spent 2 days with her, xmas eve and day - and what he said is true. She's not drinking. I didn't talk much with her because we're sort of on different planets, but I questioned my brother afterwards. I will absolutely question her now that he's told me what he has.
Basically, she bought some 115 proof alcohol, and was getting toasted on it a few nights in a row. On the final night, she slipped, hit her head on the refrigerator or something, and was out cold for what my brother says seemed like an hour but then admitted was probably less than a minute. He claims, and I believe him now, that she never had another drink after that.
We got together today as he helped me wax a new Kia Soul I just purchased (YAY!
), and I asked him lots of questions. As I said, she's got a lot of other issues going on, she's under several doctors care, and she has her neurologist concerned. She hasn't undergone any major personality change, but my brother says there are certain foods she won't eat any more (ones she used to love), and there are a few other differences in her interests, likes and dislikes going on.
Bottom line in all this, as insane as it sounds, is that a trauma to her head seems to have destroyed her desire to drink. I was hesitant to post this because I myself am having a difficult time believing it, but I'm not in the habit of BSing, and there would be no point in my doing it with this story. I haven't googled it yet, but I'm curious if anyone here has every heard anything of the sort before.
While I didn't see this (I would have probably intervened), my brother said she actually tried to have a glass of wine at one point during dinner. She smelled it and said she couldn't. The smell nauseated her. Wasn't like an, "I don't want to drink thing". Was more like an I can't drink, the idea makes me sick.
That's all I got here. Thoughts?