LittleSwimmer
Greenlighter
- Joined
- Oct 4, 2018
- Messages
- 3
Hello,
This is my first post, and it might seem like a simple question that's been answered many times before, but my dad's pattern of drinking is very unusual, which has made it difficult for me to research this problem on my own. Long story short, he's been drinking heavily for the past 3 years, and recently, he's developed some unusual physical symptoms that seem to be alleviated by alcohol. However, I'm worried that his drinking might actually the underlying cause of his symptoms. Of course, I don't want to jump to that conclusion, because what if he stops drinking and then his symptoms get worse? I don't want to put him through more hell than he's already enduring. That's why I came here to ask for advice. Now for a little more detail...
My dad has been taking methadone for chronic pain for over 20 years, but in 2014, new regulations placed significant limits on what pain management doctors were allowed to prescribe. About 3 years ago, he started drinking to help deal with his pain. Even though he didn't have a history of drinking, except for the rare social gathering, he seemed to have an instantly high tolerance. Within a couple months, I observed him drinking at least a half of liter of wine (12%) every afternoon/evening. He would get drunk almost every evening, but the next day, he wouldn't remember it. I would show him cell phone videos, and it upset him to see the way he was behaving, but since he had no way of realizing when he was getting drunk until it was too late, it just kept happening over and over again. However, this past March, I asked him to let me set a timer between each glass he drank, and he agreed to this without hesitation. After some tinkering, we were actually able to keep him from getting drunk. In fact, he started drinking each glass more slowly, and he even started to be able to tell when I was close to getting drunk, and he would stop until his head cleared up. For the next for months, it seemed like everything was going good. Then everything went to hell!
As of this past July, my dad was drinking 0.75 liter of wine every day. However, in August, he got sick, and he started drinking as soon as he got up in the morning. Even though he was still spacing out his drinks enough to avoid getting drunk, he was now drinking 1.5 liters every day. This sickness lasted about 2 weeks, but a couple of days before he got better, he started having a completely different set of symptoms that continue to this day. These new symptoms come and go throughout the day, and they seem to be partially alleviated by drinking wine. By the last week of August, he had begun having a couple of glasses between midnight and morning. In other words, he now drinks 1.5 liters slowly over a 24-hour period, without any significant pauses. During this time, he's been to several doctors and had several tests, but so far, they've found nothing to explain his symptoms. He's got more tests scheduled, but I'm beginning to worry that it's a lost cause.
I have deliberately avoided describing my dad's symptoms (yet), and there's a good reason for that. It's natural that people (me included) would be inclined to hastily attribute his symptoms to his drinking. So instead, I first want to find out what kind of symptoms (if any) one would expect from his pattern of drinking. There's 3 things I'm curious about in particular, all of which relate to the fact the he drinks slow and heavy without any significant pauses, even during bedtime. First of all, could he be experiencing physical withdrawal symptoms, caused by the continuous fluctuation of his blood alcohol? I imagine it's a bit like a sine wave. Secondly, how likely is it that his blood alcohol level ever reaches zero, and if it doesn't, would this have any particular effect? Last but not least, since his liver is constantly metabolizing alcohol, I reckon he probably has some level of acetaldehyde in his system most of the time. I know this can make a person sick, but since he avoids drinking fast enough to get drunk, I don't know if his acetaldehyde level would ever peak enough to affect him, unless it accumulates faster than it can be metabolized into acetic acid.
Thank you.
PS: I'm not using "dad" as a substitute for "SWIM". I'm actually talking about my real dad. I'm very worried about him, and I want to help him in any way that I can.
This is my first post, and it might seem like a simple question that's been answered many times before, but my dad's pattern of drinking is very unusual, which has made it difficult for me to research this problem on my own. Long story short, he's been drinking heavily for the past 3 years, and recently, he's developed some unusual physical symptoms that seem to be alleviated by alcohol. However, I'm worried that his drinking might actually the underlying cause of his symptoms. Of course, I don't want to jump to that conclusion, because what if he stops drinking and then his symptoms get worse? I don't want to put him through more hell than he's already enduring. That's why I came here to ask for advice. Now for a little more detail...
My dad has been taking methadone for chronic pain for over 20 years, but in 2014, new regulations placed significant limits on what pain management doctors were allowed to prescribe. About 3 years ago, he started drinking to help deal with his pain. Even though he didn't have a history of drinking, except for the rare social gathering, he seemed to have an instantly high tolerance. Within a couple months, I observed him drinking at least a half of liter of wine (12%) every afternoon/evening. He would get drunk almost every evening, but the next day, he wouldn't remember it. I would show him cell phone videos, and it upset him to see the way he was behaving, but since he had no way of realizing when he was getting drunk until it was too late, it just kept happening over and over again. However, this past March, I asked him to let me set a timer between each glass he drank, and he agreed to this without hesitation. After some tinkering, we were actually able to keep him from getting drunk. In fact, he started drinking each glass more slowly, and he even started to be able to tell when I was close to getting drunk, and he would stop until his head cleared up. For the next for months, it seemed like everything was going good. Then everything went to hell!
As of this past July, my dad was drinking 0.75 liter of wine every day. However, in August, he got sick, and he started drinking as soon as he got up in the morning. Even though he was still spacing out his drinks enough to avoid getting drunk, he was now drinking 1.5 liters every day. This sickness lasted about 2 weeks, but a couple of days before he got better, he started having a completely different set of symptoms that continue to this day. These new symptoms come and go throughout the day, and they seem to be partially alleviated by drinking wine. By the last week of August, he had begun having a couple of glasses between midnight and morning. In other words, he now drinks 1.5 liters slowly over a 24-hour period, without any significant pauses. During this time, he's been to several doctors and had several tests, but so far, they've found nothing to explain his symptoms. He's got more tests scheduled, but I'm beginning to worry that it's a lost cause.
I have deliberately avoided describing my dad's symptoms (yet), and there's a good reason for that. It's natural that people (me included) would be inclined to hastily attribute his symptoms to his drinking. So instead, I first want to find out what kind of symptoms (if any) one would expect from his pattern of drinking. There's 3 things I'm curious about in particular, all of which relate to the fact the he drinks slow and heavy without any significant pauses, even during bedtime. First of all, could he be experiencing physical withdrawal symptoms, caused by the continuous fluctuation of his blood alcohol? I imagine it's a bit like a sine wave. Secondly, how likely is it that his blood alcohol level ever reaches zero, and if it doesn't, would this have any particular effect? Last but not least, since his liver is constantly metabolizing alcohol, I reckon he probably has some level of acetaldehyde in his system most of the time. I know this can make a person sick, but since he avoids drinking fast enough to get drunk, I don't know if his acetaldehyde level would ever peak enough to affect him, unless it accumulates faster than it can be metabolized into acetic acid.
Thank you.
PS: I'm not using "dad" as a substitute for "SWIM". I'm actually talking about my real dad. I'm very worried about him, and I want to help him in any way that I can.