Dreaming123

I just watched a rerun of Dr. Phil where the woman is an alcoholic, and is now drinking hand sanitizer. I've heard of this before, and mouth wash, but I can't believe that it wouldn't tear up your stomach and make you sick! To even be able to keep either of them down is beyond me. My stomach turns just hearing about it.

Just my random thoughts tonight.

MelindaFlowers

I put it on almost every day at work and am never triggered. On a 1-100 of triggers it would be a zero.

SnoozyQ

Same here I put it on at least 10 times a day at work , I'm never triggered & it's quite potent . Makes the eyes water.
I remember people smuggled listening into rehab . I couldn't get my head around that and still can't.

Addiction is what it is tho & if nothing is available they will take what they can get.

Yet it wasn't abnormal for me to walk 3 miles in thunder & lightning when I'd run out of wine ! Go figure .

I gasp at the danger I constantly put myself in , in my drinking days .

Dee74

I never did it but I'm not surprised by stories like this either.

D

Soberwolf

In the uk this is well known and its truly heartbreaking really. Most uk hospitals wont put this anywhere else but wards now because of consumption ive heard of mouthwash too

Some in the uk esp the 60's 70's early 80's were solvent abusing Glues, Butane gas etc

I use these gels in hospitals when im there as i dont want to catch any bugs, my mouthwash is alcohol free

Thanks for posting this

Littlebear

This thread just reminded me of something hadn't thought about for an age...an uncle who used to babysit me was ''paid' by my parents with a large bottle of methylated spirits mixed with green limeade. I remember it's funny green colour, and once took a sip by mistake. Must have only been about 4 or 5 years old. In Glasgow (where i was brought up) mixing alcohol with meths, melted shoe polish and all sorts else was pretty common - in the are I stayed anyway. Gosh I never hear of it now even athough I do a weekly stint with the street homeless where I now live

JaneLane

I've heard about this and it really upsets me. During the height of my drinking I would have used this to justify more drinking, "Oh I don't drink hand sanitizer/mouthwash/perfume so I'm not an alcoholic" as that was my pattern. It's sad really.

There was an episode of Intervention where this guy was only about 22 years old and was an alcoholic. He had been hospitalised something like 12 times in 3 months from alcohol poisoning and he got out of the hospital bed and started drinking the hand sanitiser. It was so upsetting.

canguy

Incredible.

Reminds me of the 'advice' to keep a bottle of Listerine in the glovebox. Breathalyser? Take a swig to confuse the situation......


....and now you've got me wondering if I shouldn't stop using it daily. Surely it doesn't count as a drink. Does it?

Dee74

I don't think it's a relapse unless you're swallowing it.

It's a personal choice canguy. There are many non-alc mouthwashes around though....

JaneLane

If you're not drinking it I wouldn't worry, but I don't use mouthwash with alcohol in anymore. That's because I have sensitive gums though!

chickippo

yeah, i drank mouthwash. when i got to the stage where the hangovers started to become crippling, it came in useful.

believe it or not, i got a lot lower than that before i finally stopped. ugh.

PurpleKnight

Not something I personally did, but have heard of before!!

SoberCAH

Alcoholics drink things with alcohol, whether ethyl or methyl or whatever.

I used to gulp down Nyquil before going to bed.

When I was in treatment, we had a guy who was doing the same with Old Spice, which is my preferred scent, but you could smell this guy coming a mile away.

Kitty Dukakis, wife of Michael Dukakis, drank rubbing alcohol before getting sober.

Personally, I use hand sanitizer (for it's intended purpose), but I keep in mind while doing so that it is alcohol and I am very careful about letting it dry before I touch my mouth afterward.

Old habits die hard, which is okay with me when it comes to alcohol.

And I sure don't use mouthwash with alcohol in it.

TennantSmith

I remember a point about 2 years ago, I was wanting a drink so bad and I was broke until the next day. I really really wanted a drink. I googled drinking cooking wine. :-/ I didn't do it because the rational part of my brain spoke up and said "Really, girl, stop it!"

It doesn't surprise me what people will do to get alcohol. I put myself in dangerous and unhealthy situations if it meant I could drink. For a time period, I only dated to have my drinks paid for. It's a source of some shame for me now. But it's also a source of pride in how far I've come since then.