alcoholism

[kia cat]

A friend of mine has a serious drink problem. He knows the route he has to take; but out of curiousity, does an alcoholic go from reasonably lucid to very drunk after a couple of glasses of wine?

He stayed recently, while trying to talk things through with him, he seemed to get ratted very quickly. Not sure if he had something stronger stowed away or would this just be topping up? Thanks

[ummmm]

Probably did. It's not unknown for alcoholic to have a secret stash.

[daffy654]

Maybe he was actually quite drunk when he arrived at your house and the two glasses of wine put him over the edge.

[ladyalex]

I think if they are seriously alcoholic, they can get drunk very quickly on a small amount....something to do with liver damage, possibly.
Not sure , though, wait for better qualified answers.

[ummmm]

From what ladyalex says...because they barely sober up.

[sandyRoe]

Alcoholics reach a stage where even a couple of drinks are enough to make them drunk. They lose their tolerance for it.

[ladyalex]

I'm afraid my memory was right....doesn't look too good.

http://www.about-alco...lcoholism_Stages.html

[kia cat]

Thanks all, especially Lady Alex for a superb link. I'll print this out and put it in his hand. If it gets posted, it'll never arrive! I thought he had a stash of booze packed away somewhere, but on re-reading the various stages it looks unlikely. Ultimately there's not a lot more we can do to help, advice goes in one ear and out the other. Hopefully the GP will start something off, though I'm not sure if it's too late. Thanks one and all

[ladyalex]

Hi Kia Cat
Glad you found the link helpful.
You're quite right when you say that there is little you can do...any change has to come from him.
All you can do is not support him in his drinking and encourage him to take any help offered.
Good luck.

[chrissa1]

I'm posting having lost my 60 year old husband just 8 weeks ago through alcohol abuse. He was too young to have died but left it too late to stop the damage that that horrible poison did to his liver.
Try to persuade your friend to seek help from his GP please.

[kia cat]

Thanks LadyAlex. Chissa, thankyou too, I'm so sorry about your husband.

We have done everything we can, he left us [last Friday] with the promise he'd make a GP appt first thing Monday. Needless to say nothing heard so far [now Thursday].

He should be going to the GP tomorrow for his blood test result, which should have [this time] been tested for liver function. This was a result of a separate incident not entirely unrelated to alcohol, and a very switched on A&E Doctor. I'm hoping this shock of the result will be the intial step off the slippery slope that he's currently on.

[chrissa1]

Very, very sadly I totally agree with redhelen.

[kia cat]

Thanks again, for your thoughts and support, I realise that he's got to get the help he clearly needs. He does also know it 's him who has to do this. Whether it happens or not is another thing. If there's any news I'll post it on here