Alcoholic with hemochromatosis! I'm going to stop !!!!

First off, I am no doctor. If you are really worried talk to one.
But I am an alcoholic. And I take an AA meeting into a local detox every week. Most of us, us being alcoholics, use the classic American detox, the toilette. We go through the sweats, the shakes, the sleeplessness, the anxiety of quitting without medical intervention.

That being said, some alcoholics do require medical attention while detoxing. It rarely happens, but people have died from quitting. It is usually someone who is drinking something like two quarts of Vodka or more every day for years.

Drying out for someone like that can be rough. But, you said you were putting down a sixer or so a night, I don’t think you will die if you stop.

A better question than “will it be safe for me to just stop??” is “how will I stay stopped?”

Quitting is easy, I have done it as much as twice in one day.
Staying stopped, now that is another question entirely.

Richard

Thank you for writing me ..and yes i ask myself the same question ..how am i going to stay sober. It has become a routine for me at night to drink and relax and then eat dinner and go to bed. It will be hard but i am determened and i am going to look for classes !! THANK YOU AGAIN for replying!!

Here is a little bit of advice. I had to quit smoking. It was impossibly hard and I tried several times. Once I was successful for almost three years, but then I started again. I can't have "just one" because it always leads to more and more. The way I finally stopped was I started to develop a picture of a new me. I kept telling myself "I don't smoke. I am a non-smoker" etc. The more i told myself that, the more it felt strange to do it. I kept telling myself "I am a runner, and I can't run if I smoke". The mroe I told myself this, the less likely I was to smoke. I finally came to believe that I was healthy and that I was a non-smoker and a runner. It took a lot of convincing. But it worked. Now I am a runner and a nonsmoker. I can't even remember the last time I craved a cigarette. I had always thought I couldn't be in a social situation without smoking. Two weeks ago I ran in my second 10K race. It felt so good to be able to live the vision I had created for myself. So try creating a vision for yourself of who you want to be. Never lose sight of it. If you falter, just get back up again the next day and start over with your vision. remind yourself how wonderful a mother you can be without drinking. Remind yourself that you will live longer and see your grandchildren grow up to have kids of their own if you do this. Create a new, healthy vision of yourself and then live it.

I wish you the best of luck

Mommy… my pleasure.

I have two kids myself. Of all the things I am grateful for concerning my sobriety, the fact that my kids don’t see me as some fall down drunk, joke of a father is way up on the list.

The lives of everyone that loves you will be better if you get and stay sober. But you already know that.

But like I stated before, getting sober and staying sober are two entirely different things. Do some research on recovery rates for alcoholics. That alone can be sobering. This disease has many tools at it’s disposal to talk us back out. Tools like “Just one won’t hurt me” or “I think I was to hasty in quitting, things weren’t that bad” or my favorite “I’m not really an alcoholic”. Any one of these can get us drunk again.

My favorite “Class” is Alcoholics Anonymous. It saved my marriage, it saved my family, involving myself in AA recovery saved every thing that means anything to me.

I recommend it.

Richard

Hi, I am sober 13 days off of a two month relapse. I am the mother of 2 awesome kids and I am an alcoholic. I used to drink more than anyone could imagine that someone my size(5'2" 140 pounds) could drink. I shocked my husband when he would find the empty jug of wine and I drank pretty much the whole thing in a day. Hemachromatosis runs in my family, so I know a bit about it myself. I get tested every year. For your health, STOP DRINKING. You are young and should keep in top shape because the blood disease is also something that will never go away. It's scary to think that drinking and the extra iron can just kill your liver, kidneys, all your major organs. I believe you can stop. You can get help. I am not a doctor either, but I think if you just don't pick up for today, it's a start. You may wake up feeling like crap, but you should. You need to start over and get your senses back. The hardest part for me was that I thought I was alone. I thought I HAD to be alone and get help ALONE, but I didn't. I started here. Then I found sobermoms.com and Women for Sobriety. I reached out to the online communities and they were my support the first couple of days. I had help from my husband. HE called the therapist and I was really close to going to inpatient rehab. I detoxed myself by buying chamomile tea and drinking water(tap, propel, whatever). I take a multivitamin everyday along with a B complex. DO NOT TAKE IRON!(duh!)I had the shakes, 2 sleepless sweaty nights and bouts of crying mixed with dry heaves. But you know what? I made it through. And only 13 days sober, I am physically and mentally more alert and available to my kids and husband, not to mention, work. I'm here if you need it. I don't know what my settings are on, but if you need to send a private mail or an email, please do. I am a mother and I am an alcoholic and I get tested every year for hemachromatosis and I know how difficult it is to find other mother's in similar situations. Take care. PghMom
And ShadowWalker has been extremely helpful and supportive for me as well(thanks!)

I read your kind advice to others. May I ask you something if you know the answer to my query please pm me.
My husband is a heavy drinker and has been for years!!!(he drinks 2 qts plus some Cane spirit about 5-6 metric tot measures every night whithout fail however recently I have noticed the sweating at night HEAVY!! and the bed sheets are stained somewhere between a Yellow/light Brown stain presumably beer coming out through the skin. I am concerned if it is Cirrhosis as he does appear to have Jaundice like skin around the eyes above the cheekbone, and the whites of his eyes are browish tinged FAR FROM WHITE anyway. Please can you enlighten me, and no he wont go to a doctor(if only there was a home test kit for blood/liver malfunctions. Barbara-and keep up the good work giving hope and inspiration