New here, stopped drink a while ago
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 1
New here, stopped drink a while ago
Hello,
So here I am, not sure why but I am here. I didn't make a big deal out of stopping the boozing and I'm not sure I'm really done with it all I know is I’m not doing it now. Because of that I don't know exactly when I stopped but it's been around two months since I've had any alcohol. It's still around me, I actually wiped the dust from the wine bottles on my racks as I cleaned the house today and I have enough booze to stock a bar but I haven't touched any.
If I remember right I started drinking regularly when I was around 17, I'm 39 almost 40 now. Right from the beginning it was a pretty much a daily thing unless I didn't have money for it or was too sick from overdoing it and had to take a break. I've never been shy about it and I've owned up when it has caused me problems. Considering much and how long I've been drinking I feel lucky it's I haven't had serious problems, only two alcohol related arrests and a few ruined relationships.
Just over a year ago I decided to get healthy. I was 70 pounds overweight and felt real bad so I started eating healthy and cutting calories. The booze was put on the shelf with the fatty foods and I avoided all of it for several months. When the holidays came I allowed wine and cookies to creep back into my life but not as a daily thing. At first is was every other weekend and honestly all seemed fine, the worst of it was getting the munchies if I had to much wine and blowing my diet over the weekend. Still there were no consequences, I maintained my exercise routine and the weight came off fast, I lost 55 pounds in just a few months. It was like I had it licked, I felt invincible.
Well like I said I'm no stranger to drink. At my worst it was a daily habit and I was downing a 1.75 of Smirnoff a night. I've suffered though as the usual embarrassing moments being drunk for half your life gets you. A few times I've felt worse for the wear but I've never been hospitalized or anything so it came as a surprise when I started having abdominal discomfort in late spring. It's not the first time, I've lived through the rough days of dull pain in my right side after pouring 80 proof down my throat for weeks without a break but usually it went away. This time it felt different.
I'm still not sure what happened but I had a funny feeling where my liver should be, at the time it felt like I was being poked from the inside or that sharp objects we passing through my innards. But mostly like I was aware of my liver, it felt like it was detaching from my body like it had it own pains and movement, it was a strange sensation. It may have been the sweet stuff I was drinking at the beginning of summer. I sold and bought a house and the stress had me downing this awful cherry wine, Kijafa, and Young’s Double Chocolate Stout as a daily routine. After a real hard Sunday of drinking the afore mentioned sweet stuff and introducing margaritas into the mix I woke up on Mon and it felt like someone stuff a melon into my belly. I was bloated feeling and the area under my ribs was sore to the touch. I put the booze down but I didn't see a doctor. A the time I as updating my life insurance policy and switching health insurance carriers so I didn't want the pre-existing condition thing to bite me in the ass. I feel fine now so I'm not sure what to do. Other than the anxiety, I've always suffered from that self medication was a big part of fighting that. But like I said I've been able to avoid alcohol because it does't work with a low cal diet and I really am committed to that and have been for over a year. I just hit it hard when the pressure and stress of buying a house nearly derailed me.
Well that was enough for me. After reading a few horror stories on the web about liver disease and how people die from it I stopped drinking. At first the idea was just until I felt better but I started feeling better a long time ago and I still haven't touched it. But the anxiety is starting to get to me and a drink is starting to sound pretty good so I need a plan B. Not sure what that is yet but I know I'd like to stay clean.
So here I am, not sure why but I am here. I didn't make a big deal out of stopping the boozing and I'm not sure I'm really done with it all I know is I’m not doing it now. Because of that I don't know exactly when I stopped but it's been around two months since I've had any alcohol. It's still around me, I actually wiped the dust from the wine bottles on my racks as I cleaned the house today and I have enough booze to stock a bar but I haven't touched any.
If I remember right I started drinking regularly when I was around 17, I'm 39 almost 40 now. Right from the beginning it was a pretty much a daily thing unless I didn't have money for it or was too sick from overdoing it and had to take a break. I've never been shy about it and I've owned up when it has caused me problems. Considering much and how long I've been drinking I feel lucky it's I haven't had serious problems, only two alcohol related arrests and a few ruined relationships.
Just over a year ago I decided to get healthy. I was 70 pounds overweight and felt real bad so I started eating healthy and cutting calories. The booze was put on the shelf with the fatty foods and I avoided all of it for several months. When the holidays came I allowed wine and cookies to creep back into my life but not as a daily thing. At first is was every other weekend and honestly all seemed fine, the worst of it was getting the munchies if I had to much wine and blowing my diet over the weekend. Still there were no consequences, I maintained my exercise routine and the weight came off fast, I lost 55 pounds in just a few months. It was like I had it licked, I felt invincible.
Well like I said I'm no stranger to drink. At my worst it was a daily habit and I was downing a 1.75 of Smirnoff a night. I've suffered though as the usual embarrassing moments being drunk for half your life gets you. A few times I've felt worse for the wear but I've never been hospitalized or anything so it came as a surprise when I started having abdominal discomfort in late spring. It's not the first time, I've lived through the rough days of dull pain in my right side after pouring 80 proof down my throat for weeks without a break but usually it went away. This time it felt different.
I'm still not sure what happened but I had a funny feeling where my liver should be, at the time it felt like I was being poked from the inside or that sharp objects we passing through my innards. But mostly like I was aware of my liver, it felt like it was detaching from my body like it had it own pains and movement, it was a strange sensation. It may have been the sweet stuff I was drinking at the beginning of summer. I sold and bought a house and the stress had me downing this awful cherry wine, Kijafa, and Young’s Double Chocolate Stout as a daily routine. After a real hard Sunday of drinking the afore mentioned sweet stuff and introducing margaritas into the mix I woke up on Mon and it felt like someone stuff a melon into my belly. I was bloated feeling and the area under my ribs was sore to the touch. I put the booze down but I didn't see a doctor. A the time I as updating my life insurance policy and switching health insurance carriers so I didn't want the pre-existing condition thing to bite me in the ass. I feel fine now so I'm not sure what to do. Other than the anxiety, I've always suffered from that self medication was a big part of fighting that. But like I said I've been able to avoid alcohol because it does't work with a low cal diet and I really am committed to that and have been for over a year. I just hit it hard when the pressure and stress of buying a house nearly derailed me.
Well that was enough for me. After reading a few horror stories on the web about liver disease and how people die from it I stopped drinking. At first the idea was just until I felt better but I started feeling better a long time ago and I still haven't touched it. But the anxiety is starting to get to me and a drink is starting to sound pretty good so I need a plan B. Not sure what that is yet but I know I'd like to stay clean.
Forward we go...side by side-Rest In Peace
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Serene In Dixie
Posts: 36,740
Welcome to SR and our Alcoholism Forum...
Here is something you might find interesting
about alcoholism.
http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...influence.html
Congratulations on your new healthy life..
You might want to see a doctor for your anxiety
Here is something you might find interesting
about alcoholism.
http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...influence.html
Congratulations on your new healthy life..
You might want to see a doctor for your anxiety
4
judge only yourself
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: osaka, japan
Posts: 67
i started to get the pain in my sides too near the end of my drinking. It went away about 2 days after my last drink. I never did find out what it was exactly but I am sure it was not good and a warning sign that i was severely damaging my body.
Follow Directions!
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Fredericksburg, Va.
Posts: 9,730
Welcome to SR reissue, what you describe is what I felt for many years, I had a physical and they diagnosed me with a "Tender" liver!!!! They did blood work and all my liver enzymes looked good then, but I did not tell them how much I was drinking then.... I was 28 at the time.
At the age of 52 when I went into detox they checked my liver enzymes again, my liver was still tender as it had been since I was 28. They diagnosed me with a "Fatty" liver which is a precursor to "Cirrosis" of the liver. The tenderness of my liver went away in no time at all once I quit drinking, I had my enzymes checked after 90 days alcohol free and all the levels were within the normal range, all the swelling of my liver was gone within 6 months. The funny thing is what I had thought for years was a beer gut was mostly swollen liver!
It would be a good idea to see your doctor and get things checked out, people with cirrosis of the liver feel a lot better after they quit drinking, some of them live normal lives for many years as long as they do not drink again, those that start again can wind up dead in just a few months.
Why not be on the safe side and see your doctor. Oh yea and maybe check out some long term recovery programs to help you stay away from the drink and be happy about not drinking.
At the age of 52 when I went into detox they checked my liver enzymes again, my liver was still tender as it had been since I was 28. They diagnosed me with a "Fatty" liver which is a precursor to "Cirrosis" of the liver. The tenderness of my liver went away in no time at all once I quit drinking, I had my enzymes checked after 90 days alcohol free and all the levels were within the normal range, all the swelling of my liver was gone within 6 months. The funny thing is what I had thought for years was a beer gut was mostly swollen liver!
It would be a good idea to see your doctor and get things checked out, people with cirrosis of the liver feel a lot better after they quit drinking, some of them live normal lives for many years as long as they do not drink again, those that start again can wind up dead in just a few months.
Why not be on the safe side and see your doctor. Oh yea and maybe check out some long term recovery programs to help you stay away from the drink and be happy about not drinking.
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