Tolerance
 

Recently I've noticed by AH is getting drunk on smaller amounts of alcohol. Most days he drinks 18-20oz of hard liquor and shows no outward signs of being drunk but in the last 3-4 months I've seen a change. There have been several incidents where he has drunk less than his usual amount and it leaves him glassy eyed, staggering around and falling out of bed. Has anyone else experienced this? He already has physical problems due to alcohol, I'm worried this is a symptom of another one. I want him to see the doctor but he gets mad when I mention it.

I'm afraid that it is either, as you suspect, a progression of his health problems or he is drinking in secret and so it seems to you that he is consuming less.

What help are you getting through all of this?

I've read about this....part of the progression. (seethe book: "Under the Influence" or do a search for the Jellinek Curve online). Evidently part of the progression. Seems there is usually a period that it totally unpredictable...could drink a little and get completely trashed or drink and drink and drink and still not be able to get a buzz..... Eventually they seem to loose their physical tolerance. (I think this is mostly due to the ongoing damage to the body.)

It is not a good sign,except that it might be a bottom that could lead to treatment.

p.s. the folks over on the "Alcoholism" forum could probably address this,too.

I agree with Minnie - he could now be secretly drinking. I couldn't figure out why we were having arguments at 11:30 in the morning that we usually had after he'd had a martini or two. Didn't dawn on me until after he was gone as a matter of fact. I can remember sitting in my office thinking, why are we having this argument, it's like he's been drinking or something. I NEVER made the connection, NEVER suspected. That's denial.

I went through this with my H, although he was drinking in front of me he seemed to be deteriorating quicker with less alcohol: then I found a cache of many many empty vodka bottles in his wardrobe (and I promise I wasn't snooping, I was playing hide and seek with my son).
This was a big shock to me and started a large chain of realisations, because of the circumstances we were in at the time. I'd found wine bottles and cans hidden everywhere before, so I don't know why this was worse.

I don't know what is happening with your A, but then I don't know what is happening with mine either - its all smoke and mirrors isn't it?

Ive heard too that in late stages this can happen.
However, when I didnt understand how he was smashed after 1 margarita..it was of course because he hadnt only had what I saw him consume.

An important question is how many years has he been drinking heavily. If he is already experiencing other physical symptoms, this could be another indication his health is going downhill. When an alcoholic goes from having a high tolerence to a low tolerance...he could definitely be experiencing some indications of disease due to alcohol abuse ... including liver disease.

Make sure and do some internet searches for alcohol tolerance. When my own husband's health began to fail, I learned a great deal from the internet sources. Many times I was able to pinpoint problems before his doctors could.

There are many problems that can result from long term alcohol abuse... malnutrition, neurological problems, memory problems, and numerous problems associated with liver disease. Strangely one symptom I was not expecting was my husband developed a very large stomach while eating very little, we thought it was weight gain due to inactivity and it turned out to be a symptom of advanced liver disease due to fluid retention.

Well I did a lot of secret drinking over the years, towards the end my tolerance did go haywire, one day I could drink all I could and not even get a buzz, the next day I would drink 6-8 beers and start slurring my speech and stumbling.

In other words it could be he is drinking in secret or like me he is in the last stage of alcoholism. Thank God my wife did what she did, because I was in the very early part of the final stage so I suffered no permanent liver damage.

Thank you all for taking the time to respond to my post. I wish I had the words to tell you all how much your wisdom and honesty has helped me over the last few months. Regarding my AH, I'm honestly at a loss as to what is going on. I make an effort not to comment on his alcohol intake so I don't know why he would try to hide it. Not saying he doesn't, I just don't understand why. To be honest, I hope that is what's going on because the alternative is too scary. I'm so afraid its liver disease. I saw my mother go through something similar just before she ended up in the hospital with cirrhosis. She's now being evaluated for a liver transplant. Just don't know if I can face it with my husband too. How did I ever let myself get into this mess...

Tazman,

Thank you so much for your post! I'm very glad to hear your health is good. I am overwhelmed by your honesty and courage in posting about your disease. You give me hope that my husband can still recover.

I don't know, but sometimes I think the hiding is shame.

Tess, I know it's hard to understand why heavy drinkers hide their drinking. Perhaps it might help if you understood that they aren't really hiding it from you, but really from themselves? If it's hidden, it isn't really happening......

Tess it is the progression. The liver is having trouble processing all the alcohol, so more of it is still in the sytem. If the alkie drinks his usual amount he will seem worse than ever, and the alkie now has to find what amount will be a 'maintenance amount' instead of raising the BAC.

You see we cannot let the BAC get too low, we will go into withdrawals, but with the liver not working as well we end up in 'trial and error' mode.

Hope that helps a bit.

Love and hugs,

laurie is right---once the liver gets bad--everything changes

hi tess - i have noticed this too with my A. with him, i think it is the liver not keeping up with the intake....scares me...he is only 37. i am still trying to have hope too - tho not sure why sometimes. very confusing disease....blessings....

Tess - Hi hunny....my XAH drank over a 12 pack a day and thats just what I "saw" ...all of his early morning drives....leads me to know alot more. But aside from that - the kids were the ones that actually noticed first that he would become very intoxicated with only having 3 beers after he came home instead of his usual 8-9..and he - I believe had pancreatic problems too due to the extra bad smell in the mornings from the bathroom. Because he left us at this point in time in his progression I have no idea what he may be experiencing at this point in time. I do know that he has graduated to hard liquor since that what his ho drinks.

And oh by the way he is 46 now and he was 44 when he was at this stage of the game....he started drinking when he was 15...and was in his first rehab and only rehab at 17.