Did a Doctor Ever Discuss Your Drinking?
 

For those of you who have regular medical care, did a doctor ever bring up your drinking?

The reason I ask is that there is protocol for doctors to screen patients for alcohol abuse, yet it seems they are not successful in doing so. The rate I saw was doctors fail to diagnose 50 to 90% of alcohol problems, even those who are admitted to the ER. Besides the medical questionnaire (which many heavy drinkers will fudge), there are also clinical signs that raise a red flag.

If a doctor suspects alcohol abuse, there are more questionnaires that are recommended, but I have never been asked these questions.

In my case, this was all overlooked. I knew that I drank a lot, but because I answered the questions in such a way to raise a red flag (daily drinking, 3 to 5 a day, female), this should have caught the attention of doctors. I had erratic blood pressure, going from my normal 110/60 to hypertensive and I complained about this to doctors. I also began to have neurological problems (numbness and tingling in my hands, bugs crawling up my legs, vision problems and balance problems just to name a few).

I did not know that these problems could be alcohol related. I saw several neurologists and MRI confirmed that indeed something was happening to my brain. One neurologists notes include that I drank “three to four drinks of Rum daily”, but she never made a connection between my health issues and alcohol.

The first neurologist I saw 10 years ago does not even mention my drinking in his notes. While I’m not trying to blame doctors for what has happened to me, I was not aware that alcohol could be causing my problems and it seems that I gave enough information for them to consider it a possibility.

So did a doctor ever bring up your drinking, and why?

I've been directly asked about my drinking many times by doctors and hospitals when I've been having tests/treatment. Afraid to say, I've flatly denied having an issue with alcohol.
Docs can only go on the information they're given. I was totally in denial, and it could have caused me some serious health problems.

When I had a Physical some 18 years ago the Dr. told me, based on Liver Enzyme count, "you are an alcoholic!"

I changed Doctors, luckily 5 years later I made the decision I was an alcoholic and I called a friend who I knew went to AA and the rest is history. If I had listened to the Doc. I would be celebrating 18 years instead of 13. Oh well, better late than never in my case.

Jon

Were you really only drinking 3-5 units per day?

Was it alcohol related, those changes?

For the most part, yes...1.75 litres of rum over 10 days.

Mark:

I think that's the conclusion we have to come to. I have cerebral atrophy which is consistent with alcohol abuse and lesions that do not fit the criteria of MS.

I meet with my PCP on Wednesday to go over the MRI results; local neurologists have declined to see me due to my "complex history".

Out of hundreds of reasons why you could have cerebral atrophy, why do you say that that's the conclusion we have to come to?

It seems odd that a neurologist would see you because your case is "complex", they all are.

I see your quit date is tomorrow. I wish you success!!

My primary docs never said anything or caught on. I'm sure I wasn't honest with them or myself about how much I drank. I'm honest about the prior alcoholism issue now which makes it very hard for me to get medication that works instantly for anxiety issues - most of them are habit forming.

And come to think of it, in the 15 years of private therapy I had, none of them ever said anything or questioned about me having a drinking problem. There again, it really wasn't of much focus until I brought it up.

Thanks for tomorrow. I'm nervous but ready.

A second opinion from a neurologist at Yale suggested alcohol more than a year ago. I stopped drinking for a while, but picked it up again this spring after my mother died. He specializes in neuro-oncology.

I used to bruise easily, I asked my doctor why this was... he said it was nothing to worry about, a couple of years on, he was admitting me to hospital with liver disease! BTW I lied patently about the amount I drank, thats what we do isn't it?!... Saying that, there should definately be a checklist for symptoms I think.

Good luck for tomorrow :) Its a cliche, but if I can do it, YOU can :) x

The doctor's advice that I received in rehab, as best that i can remember

You're liver can only process so much alcohol. After it passes a limit the alcohol in your body turns in to poison.

[The doctor explained the effect that excessive amounts amounts of alcohol will have on a human body. He made a very good argument for stopping -- I can't remember all of his exact words.]

The doctor's final words to me

"If you keep drinking that amount [a bottle per day] then you will be dead in 5 years. If you're NOT dead in five years you will wish that you were dead."


The doctor's words really hit home. He had me convinced. A scientific argument with no mumbo jumbo.

Hi Slimslim,

To address your question, no. Not really.

Outside of a rehabilitation facility -- where it's already pretty obvious that i have an addiction problem, no. No doctor ever brought up my drinking.

After I brought up the subject, one doctor gave me advice on alcoholism. And in the course of the discussion the doctor revealed the fact that he, himself, was a recovering alcoholic. I very much appreciate him sharing this -- he was going way above what he was being paid to do.

There was another doctor that i went to. And after many years I began doing work for him. We became friends. Then I told him about my issues and he was very supportive of me trying to get my stuff together.

regards,

tacks

Do you have a plan for quitting for good this time?

My doctor has asked about it before. I lied.

Last visit was all about blood pressure and I told him I can't handle the meds anymore. Pressure was down around 100/dead. He asked what changed. I told him I quit drinking. But he has to have something to bitch about so he started with the smoking spiel...

I was honest with my doctor about my drinking years ago. It took them 2 years to connect my neurological problems with my alcohol abuse. Even though I asked them directly. One doctor even said that alcohol doesn't effect the nerves(?!). I thought I was going insane because I had all these weird pains and I was convinced it was all down to drinking but my doctors were very dismissive of it.

The good news is that most of my health problems have cleared up since I quit and the nerve problems are a hell of a lot better. What ever problems you have Slimslim, quitting drinking is definitely going to make stuff a whole lot better :) x

PaperDolls:

I fell off the last time a few months after my mother's death and my ex's cancer.

My plan:

I have told all of my family and asked them for support.
I am on Naltrexone and plan to stay on it for quite some time.
I have put in phone calls to LDCs recommended to me by a psychiatrist.
Books recommended here have been ordered and should arrive today.
Meeting with my PCP on Wednesday.
Will empty the bottle tonight and not have any liquor in the house.
Keep coming back here and start using chat.
Started a journal.
On FLMA from work so that I can concentrate on sobriety.

Getting in to see a counselor will be key for me and hopefully give me other tools to add to the plan.

Awesome plan Slim! WAY more detailed than mine ever was.

Looking forward to seeing you around here. :)

"I also began to have neurological problems (numbness and tingling in my hands, bugs crawling up my legs, vision problems and balance problems just to name a few). "

Let me add that to the list of problems i no longer have that yeah I guess it was alcohol related for me as well.

I had one doctor get a bit nosy The night prior i woke up and thought i was having a heart attack I freaked out called the doctor first thing in the AM. I refuse to go to a doctor unless i'm half dead and even then ... So i went he started getting a bit nosy about how much i drank. and then wanted to know what it was i drank. I'm noticing he's typeing everything i say into the computer so I was like oh i have a couple drinks a night. he asks what? Oh i like a little rum in my coke i have a couple of those. Oh so your a rum person was like umm yeah a little now and then.... I was not about to be honest he was documenting it all!! I' later realized what i thought was a heart attack was a panic attack from drinking too friggen much.

Another doc asked he seemed cool and wasnt writing anything down he asked. I said OH gee doc after a rough day at work i kick back 5 or 6 most nights. Another lie he said oh thats not so bad maybe try to cut that back a bit tho till this illness clears "Sure thing doc!"