Canuckleman45

So I figured I should see my Doctor. I feel fine but just wanted to talk about some issues I'm experiencing. BP is good, bloodwork is good, all tests are good. So? Apparently I need to lose a bunch of weight. 50lbs. at least. My drinking? I was honest. Used to be waaaaaaaayyyyy too much. Now very very little. Good days bad days. Some are really bad, but I'm trying. He doesn't think I'm an alcoholic, just a guy with a bad habit. Well that doesn't sit right with me. I think I am one. Now I'm pissed off. angry as all hell.

JK130

Angry because? Good for you that the medical tests all showed good results! I hope you feel better soon.

Canuckleman45

Tests are great! yay. But to tell me that I just have a "habit". I think thats terrible. I frigging know I have a bad problem. A quick. check up and a blood test doesn't do shite!

Forward12

Most GP's are not well educated in alcoholism from my experience. If you have a problem, you have a problem, and need the steps to recovery. Alcoholism only gets worse with time, and don't get too caught up that you think you have this under control, as before you know it, the alcoholism will be back in full force.
Try AA, call back and ask them to refer you to an addiction specialist, google "addiction center" and give them a call,.. There are countless resources out there, you just need to put the rubber to the road.

Dee74

Very few people who don't suffer from addiction know anything much about it.

For him the pertinent facts are probably the drinks you've had recently, whereas we take in the wider picture.

For what its worth I think you belong here with all us other alcoholics - and fair play on the reduction of drinks, but I hope you can start a totally alcohol free lifestyle this year.

D

Soberween

Well there is no definitive medical examination that diagnoses one as testing positive or negative for the disease of alcoholism so I'm not sure why your doctor gave you this prognosis. People who don't think they are alcoholic die all the time whether it be an accident, alcoholic poisoning, etc. on one of their "bad days." I hope you aren't subconsciously giving yourself permission to continue on with your drinking pattern of good days and bad days because you never know what may happen as this a very progressive disease and it will escalate.

DontRemember

Think about it like this; Maybe your doctor has a drinking problem too. I know plenty and lawyers too. You're getting all over the place,man. Do YOU think drinking isn't the right path for you?

scottynz

I have a friend who has a problem with alcohol (funny how I could see it in him, but not myself). After a sort of intervention he was persuaded to see his Dr and be honest ahout his drinking. He wasn’t completely, he said he drank a bottle a night when it was usually 2 sometimes 3. The Dr told him ‘oh that’s not so bad, try to have a couple of sober days a week’. He came home feeling completely vindicated in his drinking and got much worse. It was only when he seriously injured his elderly father by falling on him when his Dad tried to help him up when he was blind drunk that he got proper help.

I’m sorry your Dr was not more supportive, it takes courage to talk to a professional about a drinking problem, you deserved a better response. In my experience the bad days eventually become more frequent until they just become every day.

Nonsensical

I don't think I'd let that doctor be in charge of your emotions anymore. He doesn't seem to be very good at it.

What's the plan to lose the weight? 50lbs? I thought Canada was all metric and stuff.

August252015

So, go see another dr. Or, start with quitting and focusing on staying quit, and losing weight. 50 lbs is a LOT. But being overweight is likely to kill you slower than drinking. Better, perhaps do what I did, and while not overweight, quit drinking and went to my psych and a liver dr. Sober, we could get a baseline for more tests- note, I didn't see you mention liver?- and also have help from someone who DOES specialize in addiction.

IME - we "fudge" when we relay our situations to our drs. Alcoholics play with the truth for, well, possibly forever - at least til we quit drinking or die.

Am I being harsh? I don't think so because alcohol KILLS. And prolonged drinking can kill us because it leads to something like....pancreatic cancer or heart attacks or other things that alcohol can greatly contribute to as COD.

My hope is that you quit- everything in your body will benefit. I believe that everything in our whole lives benefits. The answers we don't want to hear can be just the ones that change our lives when we accept them.

Best to you.

JJ991

Interesting how doctor views differ. When I told my GP I was drinking a bottle of wine every night she immediately referred me to an addiction counsellor!
My GP admitted she was not qualified to help, she didn't know enough about it.
Sounds like the key is finding a doctor to take these things seriously.

JJ991

I can see how 50lbs seems loads to August just by looking at the photo! I lost that amount of weight 2 years ago, it is perfectly doable. (I'm 5 foot 10 inches but even my height didn't disguise the extra weight!)

Canuckleman45

Just quitting drinking alone the weight falls off

2ndhandrose

I have never had an official "alcoholic" diagnosis from a professional despite coming clean with doctors and psychologists.

I, too, have had the advice to just cut back. Sure, as if

I know I am an alcoholic and that is all the evidence I need.

BreezyFe

My Dr. knows about my drinking problem. Like August mentioned-I did "fudge a little". But he knew about my real bad episodes(ie. ER visit). He never used the word "alcoholic" because I think he would have felt as if he were labeling me. I know I'm an alcoholic & that's all I need to know. He knows I have a drinking problem & that's fine with me.

btw-I need to lose about 40 lbs (I'm setting a goal of 30) due to so much beer/vodka drinking last year which is preventing me from making an apt with him-don't want him scolding me (lol)!

entropy1964

Alcoholism is self diagnosed. You don't 'need' a drs opinion. And sadly most in the medical field don't know jack about addiction. And with alcohol being a 350+Billion dollar biz in the US alone (just think of the tax dollars) I don't think the 'powers that be' are particularly motivated to see anyone become 'wise' to the true nature of alcohol any time soon. The news reports 'in shock' about the opiate epidemic. And it is bad. But it is a drop in the bucket compared to the devastation that alcohol leaves in its path.

Soooo, why the anger? I have seen people have the same reaction when friends or family say, 'hey, you're not that bad, you just have to 'control' it a bit better'. The poster is usually 'offended' then relapses shortly after.

Caution: If you're like me your addiction is loving this and is formulating a reason to justify alcoholism. Just a thought.

tomsteve

welp, thats what happens with someone that doesnt understand alcoholism/addiction. most doctors arent trained to understand alcoholism, but the effects they understand- when they come up.
i think ive read a few times on here a persons doctor just said,"stop drinking."
because they dont understand.

think of it this way:
i know a little about alcoholism. id say ya have a pretty big problem with some denial and rationalizing of it at times.

but i dont think you have to lose weight.
because i dont know anything about what your proper weight should be.

going to a doctor for help with alcoholism can be like going to a plumber for help with brake problems on my car. i might find a plumber that knows about brakes and how to fix them, but highly unlikely.

EliL

Of course booze has empty calories but my weight gain was mostly the junk food I craved st the end of the night and next day which when you are drinking 8 dats a week is everyday! The medical profession doesn’t really use the term alcoholic in my experience so you might have to take the advice you’ve been given and then find a support group that supports you as an alcoholic, possibly AA

Canuckleman45

Ya. I’m an alcoholic as well. I know it, my wife and kids know it. And to have a dr say no kinda bugged me. Maybe it’s just me. Doctors and I don’t get along at the best of times.

MyLittleHorsie

I wouldn't be angry with the doctor.

I look at it this way, when I first quit smoking way back before I relapsed, my counsellor said to me, if you could pin point the cigarette that led to addiction, would you ever smoke it, the same as if you knew which cig or that the next would give you cancer, would you smoke it. Of course no one would.

So for me, with drinking, I've never missed work, never drove intoxicated - ever, never spent too much because of booze, never been drunk with my kids... So if I went to my doctor and was looking for an alcoholic diagnosis, I might not get it, but how do I know that next glass of wine isn't going to be the one, that makes me an alcoholic, how do I know that next glass won't be the one that ruins my life. I love my life too much to find out. So I am pulling out now, teetotaller, sober, whatever, I am not finding out. I am not ruining mine or other people's lives for alcohol.