thequest

Is an alcohol overdose always precipitated by throwing up? The alcoholic here says he'll know when he's had enough to drink because he'll start throwing up first-which he hasn't done in over a decade. Yet he's consumed over a dozen beers, wine and shots of whiskey in less than 10 hours. I thought I've heard/read besides the long term cumulative effects one can drink so much alcohol they can suppress their breathing.

He's gone through periods where his body has stunk like a dead animal/stale cologne from too much alcohol without throwing up.

Is excessive alcohol consumption always accompanied by throwing up?

Needabreak

How do you define "excessive drinking?" I think that once you come up with your own definition, then you can decide whether the drinking is excessive, regardless of how the drinker frames it.

At any rate, you can't control what they do / think / say. But personally, I know that if someone in my life "stank like a dead animal" due to their drinking, I'd hightail it out of that situation real quick. Even if they were family, I'd maintain a strong boundary to keep their actions from impacting me. Life is wayyyy to short.....

honeypig

thequest, I don't have an answer for your question. Can I ask you why you're asking?

I looked back through your previous posts to see what the history was, thinking that might help me understand the point of your question. I see that an awful lot of your posts are concerned with news stories about alcohol/alcoholics and addiction in general. I wonder if you may be spending a lot of effort looking out at what others are doing, comparing and categorizing, instead of looking in to see what you can change to have a life more like what you really want.

My life didn't change for the better until I started looking to myself as the person I needed to control and change in order to feel happier and more free.

trailmix

The answer is no.

If someone is telling you that they are quacking away.

thequest

The reason the topic came the alcoholic here who prides himself as a "professional" drinker who 'knows' what he is doing commented on the story of the soap opera star and other celebrities who passed from drinking some who choked on their own vomit. He says if he starts throwing up he knows he's had enough. That's THE sign.


But the volume he can drink at this point doesn't even send him to the bathroom too much extra. Personally I think he's fooling himself it vomit is his only warning system. He has diagnosed cardiovascular issues, diabetes and had a stroke and apparently that's not a warning sign to him.

Unfortunately I have to deal with him because of family issues and politics. For now he has to be tolerated. I look at it as diplomatic relations.

atalose

For him it is. It’s amazing the things they tell themselves and more importantly what they don’t tell themselves.

Needabreak

I had a look at your posting history too, and it seems that you've been aware of this person's alcoholism for a few years now. Not sure what you're looking for confirmation of here, but yes, it appears that he's an alcoholic with major quacking skills.

There isn't much more to say here. This is who he is, and any strategizing on your part (alone or with other family members) isn't going to change him. It doesn't seem like you're interested in changing anything about yourself so I'll leave that alone, but do understand that he is highly unlikely to change.

AnvilheadII

actually we always have a CHOICE in who we deal with and how....family politics that attempt to control the members are just another type of dysfunction.

dandylion

thequest….the simple answer is NO. He is a fool.
No point in arguing with a fool...….

PeacefulWater12

I drank very heavily daily for a very long time, I never threw up. Not all drinkers do.

I agree is pure quacking!

thequest

I think I get what you are saying but I'm just trying to stay out of poop storms and away from accidents waiting to happen. I can't control squat except sometimes I talk/vent to family when I shouldn't which circles back to the alcoholic in what ever form even if a casual mention. It was never an issue in the past but now it is.

The family politics currently has a senior family member validating the alcoholic's behavior, maybe it's because they're old and will always view them as a child or perhaps validating their own drinking behavior among other things. One of that seniors children is basically doing the samething. the alcoholic is very careful what he says to different people and goes out of their way to control their temper/behavior around them so those relationships might be highly compartmentalized of little consequence.

Some events and news involving the family should/probably will change things by the end of the year because it involves illness, people moving and/or changing jobs among other things. By this upcoming fall there will be enough changes that even the alcoholic will have to change some of their habits, not the drinking but things that probably make it easier for them when around.

Wamama48

In some way you may have to have contact with the A, but it's your choice under what circumstances. Unless someone is holding a gun to your head, YOU get to choose your boundaries, not someone else.

My husband didn't throw up. He could drink 18-24 beers a night and not throw up. A few times in the last year of his drinking, he did drink enough to stop breathing in his sleep. I stayed awake and when he didn't breath for 20 seconds or so, I'd shake him awake. And I wasn't gentle about it.

You can argue with the A in your family about the signs he exhibits when he's had too much to drink until you are blue in the face, and it won't matter to him. You will never convince him because you can't reason with the unreasonable. You have probably gone at it in every angle imaginable trying to convince him. Has it worked?