Originally Posted by
Pete6256 
addictioncampuses.com/resources/addiction-campuses-blog/the-4-stages-of-alcoholism-for-the-functioning-alcoholic/
I just read this blog that really worried me, has anyone read this before?
Im really new to all this, but I honestly feel like 'Stage 4' might have been specifically written about me. The line: 'Men especially hang their hat on the fact they still go to work everyday...', that's what I ALWAYS say to myself and others to excuse my drinking. The changing appearance, the liver enzymes, the gradual neglection of family members, all that is absolutely happening in my life over the last few years.
I really have to turn this around, I had no idea I was so far gone.
I didn't read your link....because I have read many like it. I knew and ignored how close I was to the brink of death for quite awhile (years) as I got worse and worse- if there could be a stage 5 it would have been me.
At 39, last Feb, my brand new liver dr (where I got sent straight from my GP after yet another situation) told me I had a year, 18 mo to quit. By that point I was drinking a handle of vodka ever two days or less, after a good 7-8 years of alcohol abuse and too many hospital stays, injuries, and alcohol-related trauma to count. I was undernourished and underweight and very, very sick.
I went cold turkey. And now at 351 days, with clear and normal liver function (it was on the barest thread and brink of cirrohsis) - it is astonishing the physical, mental and emotional life I have.
I could tell you a lot more details or show you before an after pics - i will just leave it here: it is possible for anyone who is not dead to recover and have a sober life. Perfect? Nah. "Leftovers" from our abuse? Likely, to some degree. But living a real, sober life is possible and so (SO) much better.
I hope you stop drinking and take a chance on that kind of life. You deserve it, whoever you are.