BASEjumper

In the last year or two I would drink a couple of bottles of wine in the morning, drink 3 to 6 beers in the early afternoon, and then pass out for a few hours. Wake up before my wife got home, and drink maybe a fifth of gin. I would repeat this for 3 or 4 days straight per week, then be so sick I couldn't drink water and have blood in my vomit. It amazes me still I kept my job while doing this claiming health problems, and more amazing still no permanent health effects, beyond gaining maybe 20-30lbs.

Supercrew

I drank alcoholically Thursday-Monday normally, I rested on Tuesday and Thursday for about 3.5 years. I drank about 3 cases of Miller Lite and 3 Liters of Absolute Vodka a week. I had binged for 23 years previously about 2 times a week.

I think I got away pretty clean as far as the health goes, because I seemed to be healthier now than I was in my early twenties. I was about 30 lbs overweight when I quit, which I have lost, I had terrible heartburn, which is gone now, I was having panic/detox attacks which are gone, and I always seemed to have aches and pains if I wasn't drinking, and they all basically disappeared.

Strangely enough I don't have hangovers anymore!

So I guess I got lucky because at 43 I have a clean bill of health.

Soberpotamus

At the end, I was drinking about 2 bottles of Chardonnay or Pinot Grigio per night. I'd throw in a Merlot of Pinot Noir sometimes... but tended to go for the white to try to avoid staining my teeth My dental hygienist really thought I was nuts once when she asked what I was drinking... I told her (I don't try to hide things typically) and she said, please... switch to white wine. I asked her if I could just drink the red through a straw... she looked at me as if I must be insane.

There were some nights I'd manage to drink 2.5 and some days I'd go without any. Just resting up. But typically I'd do 1 to 2 every other night or so. Sometimes I'd start in the morning or day, but not always. I was never physically dependent.

Problems? I gained an extra 15 lbs from the time I turned 29. So, I've been carrying an extra 15-20 lbs around since then, not sure if it's the age/metabolism thing, or the alcohol, or both. But, I've recently been eating low carb/paleo diet and I've dropped about 5 lbs so far. Inches are starting to melt off now. And I don't really exercise all that much, it's just a change in my diet that's doing it. So that's a really good motivator for me lately.

I did have some dull pain in the upper right side under my ribcage... might have been liver or gallbladder, not sure. It's gone away for the most part... it acts up when I drink too much diet coke. I do think it must be my liver.

Other than that, no problems. I've just turned 35, been drinking since the age of 15, and somewhat heavily since the age of 19 when I was in college. The worst drinking was from 28-34. So, guess I was a heavy drinker for 6 years out of the 15 years of problem drinking.

I have noticed that my skin, hair, nails, eyes... all look really good now. The shine is coming back in my hair, nails... color in my skin, my eyes are clear again. I'm ready to leap out of bed most mornings now. There's the occasional lethargic morning. My moods are what I'd consider "normal" now, and it's my 46th day I think.

Songtx

I was drinking about 6 beers (high life's) during the week. Maybe around 10 on weekends. When I went out, over the course of the night probably more, since we'd always continue drinking at home in the wee hours, resulting in my blackouts. The drinking was alwaus accompnied by weed.

Drinking has definitely not helped with depression/social anxiety issues. As for my physical health, Like Soberjennie, I also have this weird pain under my right rib cage. It started a year ago. I have no insurance, but I was scared and had it checked. My immediate thought was that it was from the drinking. I had blood work and an ultrasound and everything normal. The pain got better, I kept drinking. The pain is back now and it's in my back now, not really the front. I know I need to get it checked again.

I think the drinking may have also exacerbated an acid reflux GERD issue also, and this may be related to the pain. In any case, it feels lousy and I want it gone.

Gained about 25 pounds, walking day and night.

Songtx

sorry. Looks like I gained weight from walking day and night lol. Y'all know what I mean!

juliwuli

I drank for 20 years, after all the alcohol abuse i was left with a fatty liver,
i was lucky, good genetics and especially being female who are supposed to get damage sooner,
it feels great to be sober, i'm as fit as a fiddle now, i used to wake up feeling so tired, now i have so much energy i dont know what to do with it all,
i also had neuropathy but that recovered too,

Mad4Chaos

I had been a alcoholic for 26 years. After my divorce, I was drinking 12 to 16 beers a night. Then when I got remarried, I cut back to 3 nights a week to keep my 2nd wife from stressing out about my health. So settled into a pint of vodka & 3 beers. It was enough to get me numb & I usually didn't feel like shite the following morning. But if I had the house to myself for a day, I would drink far more than that.

I realize a pint & 3 beers is very little compared to what some members drank, but it was taking it's toll. My liver was always swollen the next day & I had to stay close to the bathroom most of the next day because my body would always need to flush out... anyway. And as I've said before, my liver enzyme tests were alarming, even though I gave my liver a 2 week rest before the blood test (and that was a hard 2 weeks). I had an ultrasound on my liver 2 years ago & was told it was enlarged & fatty. On top of all that, last year my bad cholesterol was 391. That's 242 points past the high point. My doctor told me I wasn't just speeding, I was racing down the highway to heart disease. Looks like he may be right. I'm having a heart stress test next week because I've had chest pains that have gotten worse over the last few months.

Other than that, I'm pretty healthy. ; )

sugarbear1

I have no idea what you mean. Maybe it's still fuzzy brain at 88 days. ?

ImReadyToQuit

A liter of whiskey a day or more..

Health wise.. Liver panels were off the charts..Cholesterol over 350.. High blood pressure.. Unbearable anxiety and depression...

All have gone away except the cholesterol, its around 240 now..

sugarbear1

I need a cholesterol check, thanks!

beachlove

I'm 32, female, 120 lbs. and I used to drink 3 cases of beer a week. They would just go down like water. I remember always looking the next day to see how much I had drank. If it was 8 or 9 I was so happy and felt great, if it was 13 or more I was disgusted with and shocked at myself. Today I am 38 days sober. I had to quit (I'm pregnant). At first I was counting down the days until I could have a beer. Now, I don't want to go back to that life at all.
As for health issues.....major anxiety and panic attacks, but I think that is about all. I recently got alot of bloodwork done...all came back well (I just continue to pray that I don't have some problem lurking somewhere that hasn't surfaced yet).

iliveforyou

I drank for 2 1/2 years mixing it with pills. At the end I was drinking a gallon a day. Everyday. I am 6 ft tall and 145lbs at the time. I don't know how in the hell I didn't kill myself. I never had any tests done so I don't know what damage I did to my liver. Scared to death, which is stupid I know. Physically nothing changed really, just lost 5-6 lbs and no more redness in my face. I haven't drank in years with only 2 one day slips. Oh and I have a DUI as a result at the end.

I got lucky. I could be dead. Addiction kills.

-Jess

chicagoJ

Been drinking for around 13 years, but my habits have changed over time. It was heaviest when it started since I was in college and really hit my body hard. Had the most vicious hangovers imaginable. It was around this time that I had 1 episode of pancreatitis which put me in the hospital. I didn't tell anyone I was drinking so I think I was misdiagnosed as having kidney stones. But, I really think it was pancreatitis.

My pattern for the past 10 years or so have been to drink every other day. I never miss a drinking day and I never drink 2 days in a row. I have no idea why, but that is my pattern. So, every time I drink my body is fully recovered since it's been 48 hours since my first drink from the last time I got drunk. I've been at between 10-12 beers every other night for the past 3 years or so.

I had bloodwork done before and had high triglyceride levels from drinking. I also developed panic attacks although that has subsided. The panic attacks while hungover was worse than anything else I encountered. I also have relatively high blood pressure. Other than the symptoms listed I have developed no major health problems.

abc

I had 20 years of drinking with around 6 years of bona fide alcoholism. Last couple years involved a fifth of vodka (750mL) per day. Symptoms included peripheral neuropathy (numb toes), pains in abdomen, insomnia, etc. All symptoms subsided after I quit. I never went to a doctor, so I don't know what lurks below. Frankly I don't wanna know. If there is serious damage I will definitely find out, on my death bed. I'm on Day 43.

mathmajor

Luckily, the body begins to heal on day 1 of sobriety and gets even better from there. I have heard stories of people with major liver disease, etc, recover at least partially by quitting the booze. It's the people that don't...

Also, for those with anxiety about liver problems, if you had life threatening liver issues, you would know. There would be no question. You would feel like hell.

sugarbear1

6pack a night, more or less on occassion. Spent lots cause I drank what was there, so if I bought more, I'd get sick & then continue. I call it controlled drinking...

binarygymrat

For the last 5 months I have been drinking 8-12 beers a night. Sometimes even 2 bottles of red wine. I haven't noticed any problems with my health so far. Today it finally hit me that I am addicted. Today is the start of recovery.

newwings

I was drinking on average a bottle of chardonnay a night. I could crack into a second and finish that, too, but that would make me feel pretty grim the next day. I'd worked out that one bottle would be enough for me to function normally (!), so I could get up, get the kids to school and go the gym.

I didn't drink in the day - unless I went out for lunch and then I'd have two glasses of wine. I'd never drink vodka or hard liquor, cocktails, beer or anything other than white wine, which made me feel like I didn't have an issue for a very long time.

One bottle of white wine nearly killed me. I had my usual bottle, but no dinner...went to bed and vomited in my sleep. Nearly choked to death. That was on April 19th, 2011 and I haven't had a drop since.

In terms of health issues, I didn't have an awful lot of aches and pains when drinking (which allowed me to keep going). I worked out at the gym every day to 'offset' my bad habit. Sometimes I would have lower back pain in my kidneys (due to dehydration, I think), I'd have really orange urine (sorry if that's TMI), sometimes my liver would feel tender.

Since quitting, I have lost 9 lbs, my skin is clear, my face is no longer puffy, my eye bags aren't so huge, and I take less time to get up in the morning. I no longer wake in the night to guzzle water from the bathroom tap, I sleep solidly and I can process things quicker.

wheresthefun

Great binarygymrat (on the "start of recovery", that is), and welcome aboard!

sable1

I had some neuropathic symptoms, but I'm guessing it was just the beginning of neuropathy, because it actually went away after a longer period of sobriety. I didn't actually drink for very long, seven years or so, but I drank very heavily. Bottles and bottles of vodka/ whisky/ gin, and I'm also a very thin young woman, so my body probably didn't handle all that alcohol very well.