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Alcoholism, Prescription Drugs, And A Sedentary Lifestyle

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naomi24 | 06:57 Mon 18th Apr 2016 | Body & Soul
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An almost totally reclusive, overweight 66 year old woman who has never suffered a serious physical illness, taking prescription drugs (for the past 40 years) for panic attacks, drinking a bottle of vodka a day, and rarely moving from a lying position on the sofa. How long do you think that can continue before it has serious repercussions upon her physical health?
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not long for sure !
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How long is long?
you need a proper medical assessment for that Naomi..my guess..only a guess would be couple of years tops ???
Who can say? She might be like one of those centenarians who put their longevity down to 40cigarettes a day and their drink.
But I doubt it.
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murraymints, She sees her doctor to get her repeat prescriptions - he knows she drinks - but all the help she has been offered has either been rejected or ignored, so we can't help thinking she will just lie there and die. It's just a question of when really.
If her choice is to just lie there nothing can be done. You can't force her to get up and moved around. She could live months or go on for another 20 years and more no way to predict it. From your description I would imagine she does not care if she has weeks or another 25 years left she just does not care!
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Eddie, //If her choice is to just lie there nothing can be done. You can't force her to get up and moved around. //

We know that.
Her liver should be cirrhotic by now, surely?

How come the meds/alcohol combination has not proved fatal, so far?

It's really hard to tell, Naomi, or pot luck.

I've encountered many alcoholics over the years and many many moderate drinkers. They are both equally dead and equally alive.

In the last 20 years of my grand fathers life he moved as little as possible, you wouldn't believe it unless you witnessed it. He died at the age of 87.
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Hypognosis, she's been taking the prescription drugs for 40 years, but the excessive drinking and the reclusive, sedentary lifestyle began only a few years ago. I have no idea how long it takes for a bottle of vodka a day to seriously affect the liver.
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ummmm, I'm assuming he hadn't been taking prescription drugs with his alcohol though?
Cirrhosis of the liver does not always follow heavy drinking. Some people seem to be almost immune from it and drink for many years with no permanent effect. Others are less lucky and get irreparable damage in just a year or two!
40 years of prescription drugs. What are the drugs ? Is she deffinately drinking a full bottle of vodka a day? If she attends gp for repeat prescriptions. Surely he/she monitors her LFT,s (liver function test)..
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anneasquith, I've no idea what the drugs are but her husband tells me some of them are 'Class A'. I don't understand drugs - but I assume that's not good. She's never been for tests on her liver. She was asked to go for an MRI scan on her brain, but she won't go. She only leaves the house to attend appointments with her doctor to get repeat prescriptions - or to walk a couple of minutes to the local off licence for her booze, which her husband refuses to buy when he gets the household shopping. She does absolutely nothing at home. No housework, no cooking, no laundry, nothing at all. She just lies on the sofa all day watching television, playing about with Facebook, and sleeping. After much persuasion she recently agreed to allow a psychologist to visit her at home, but she says he's stupid so I don't know how long those visits will last. We've tried for a long time to help her and encourage her - but I think we're all rapidly reaching the conclusion that she doesn't want to be helped and is therefore beyond help. Awful! Such a waste of life!
@naomi

Well, this is the problem some depressives face: the people around them try and try and try again to get them interested in "life in general" but (a) the depressed person is so introspective as to not notice that efforts are being made to help them and (b) they are either unappreciative of help, when they do take notice or they may bewail that nobody ever comes round to cheer them up.

So that last part becomes the self-fulfilling prophesy as friends give up on them, cease inviting them to parties or getting in touch by phone, text or whatever. Facebook becomes the entirety of their social life and going out means tearing themselves away from it (the immediacy of it; and it scrolls so, if you miss it, it's gone). It is also like selective hearing; someone else posts but you can choose to not engage with the conversation or you can 'earwig' without being observed. Things which would be disconcerting to friends if you were in the same room.

It can save on petrol, hours sat in the car and/or prohibitive phone bills but it does, regrettably, feed that sedentary habit.

She's 66. Did she live a decent life before this descend into what sounds like depression?

I can't imagine what class A drugs she could be on if she only goes to the off license.

Prescription meds which are also Class A, B or C are listed here: -

https://www.evidence.nhs.uk/formulary/bnf/current/guidance-on-prescribing/controlled-drugs-and-drug-dependence

If I had the curiosity and the patience, I'd pick through the list to see why such things are prescribed at all. But I don't

Anti-depressants are going to be a real sticking point, if that's even a valid diagnosis because I can't think of any which are safe, in combination with the alcohol.

Yes, this yet is another blow to one's aspirations for something approaching a social life, once diagnosed and on the meds.
God Help the Husband!!!!
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Hypognosis, that‘s a pretty good summation – except she doesn’t bewail the fact that people stay away. People would willingly go to see her but she doesn’t want them to. All she seems to want is the sofa, the television, Facebook, and the drink.

Ummmm, She’s lived a very good life. No money worries, health worries, or family problems ever. She goes to the doctor for her medication and to the off license for her booze. This is not depression, but I'm not asking for a diagnosis - simply how long might it be before her body rebels?
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jennyjoan, he's mentally worn out with it all, but he continues to do his best for her.

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