How does alcoholism kill people

[Old Verle Miller]

Sad to hear of the loss of your friend.
Alcohol is a poison. When consumed, it is delivered to almost every cell in the body through the bloodstream. The human body has to go into overload to try and get rid of it. Repeatedly poisoning yourself will eventually wear out the organs most affected by it, including the brain. Over time, the liver and kidneys sustain unrecoverable damage so they are no longer able to filter out other contaminants from the bloodstream.
We lost a dear friend some years ago who was a high-functioning closet alcoholic. She was able to hold down a job but her husband suspected she always had wine on her way home. He didn't know she drank continuously. One day her husband found her on the floor at home and got her to the hospital but in less than a week, her organs started shutting down and she died without ever regaining consciousness. He found empty boxes of wine in the trunk of her car. She had been refilling Gatorade and those green Sprite bottles with white wine and drinking from them almost continuously for a long, long time. She was clever enough about it to never buy it on a credit or debit card.
We quickly realized we had seen her with those damn bottles over the years but never thought she was drinking wine out of them.

 

[Toto'sDad]

I don't know about the rest of alcohol, but Jack Daniels got little bitty boxing gloves in it. You can't see 'em unless you hold a shot glass up to the light, but they're there. Them boxing gloves get in your body and go to pounding it from the inside, then they get up in your brain and pound on that thing too. I quit before they beat me to death, but I sure gave 'em a good shot at it.

 

[Trenchant63]

Sad to hear of the loss of your friend.
Alcohol is a poison. When consumed, it is delivered to almost every cell in the body through the bloodstream. The human body has to go into overload to try and get rid of it. Repeatedly poisoning yourself will eventually wear out the organs most affected by it, including the brain. Over time, the liver and kidneys sustain unrecoverable damage so they are no longer able to filter out other contaminants from the bloodstream.
We lost a dear friend some years ago who was a high-functioning closet alcoholic. She was able to hold down a job but her husband suspected she always had wine on her way home. He didn't know she drank continuously. One day her husband found her on the floor at home and got her to the hospital but in less than a week, her organs started shutting down and she died without ever regaining consciousness. He found empty boxes of wine in the trunk of her car. She had been refilling Gatorade and those green Sprite bottles with white wine and drinking from them almost continuously for a long, long time. She was clever enough about it to never buy it on a credit or debit card.
We quickly realized we had seen her with those damn bottles over the years but never thought she was drinking wine out of them.

I have a friend who after many years, recently got reacquainted through a mutual friend. I noticed he always has a sport drink bottle on him. Turns out he’s got some booze in it all day, everyday. His job keeps him outside and on the road a lot. He’s not visibly inebriated or impaired, but I’m told he like keeping a slight buzz going all of the time. Certainly over time it must take more and more booze to keep that buzz happening as he builds resistance up. Sad and dangerous.

 

[danielreid27]

Alcohol destroys you physically, emotionally & spiritually.
Each tentacle grips so deeply that many succumb to it's hold.
There are so many reasons people are overwhelmed by its tenacity.

Recovery & sobriety are the supreme rewards to the brave soul that fights for his/her own sanity & serenity.
Only the brave succeed.

I'm SOBER & Clean since August 1992 !
A Warrior against Drugs !
Look at all the Destruction from Booze: broken marriages,broken children, car wrecks, job losses, prison sentences, homelessness.....SUICIDES

 

[Jakedog]

It hits different people in different ways. You have to drink seemingly impossible amounts of it to get to that point, but when you’re an addict, it can definitely be done. And once you hit a certain point, no, it is not reversible. The damage is done.

I lost one of my dearest friends last year in September. All he had to do to live on was not drink. That’s it. He stayed sober for two years. Then went on one bender. He didn’t wake up.

Like many things, not everyone is able to do it in moderation. It’s all or nothing for a lot of folks.

 

[Nogoodnamesleft]

I'm very very sorry about your friend. Deepest sympathies to you and his family and friends.

 

[itstooloudMike]

Interesting subject. I don’t know if I’m alcoholic, but possibly. I am almost 71 years old, and never drank alcohol until a couple years ago. My wife was diagnosed with early Alzheimer’s, and as a byproduct, Capgras syndrome. Her cognitive ability has been on a sharp decline, and she doesn’t know who I am after being married for 52 years. I am her primary caregiver, and it takes a huge toll on me. So, to escape some of the pain and depression, I started drinking at night after she goes to bed. I usually drink from about 7:00pm until I go to bed ( or pass out). I do this 4 or 5 nights per week. I drink 100 proof vodka, probably 8 to 12 ounces in a sitting. I’m always at home, and don’t go out. I would never drive. But these few hours of getting wasted allows me to not think about my awful situation. So far I don’t think my health has been impacted. I do get regular checkups. Is there such a thing as “safe drinking”, in a bad situation? I can’t think of good options. I don’t want to do drugs. I read that vodka did the least damage? If you’ve not experienced a spouse with dementia, you may not be able to understand. But is there some pain where alcohol is the best answer?

 

[omahaaudio]

I'm curious how people die from alcoholism.

Cirrhosis of the liver.

 

[Fendereedo]

Breaks down the enzymes in the liver that keep your blood purified and healthy. It breaks down the stomach lining and can make you get ulcers which in time makes you vomit blood clots. How do I know? It was happening to me before I gave up booze for good.

 

[Dan German]

How can it not?

 

[LeftFinger]

Sucks the very life out of you
and then the soul

But what do I know
I only have 39 or 40 yrs sober

 

[danielreid27]

 

[Happy Enchilada]

I never really got to know my Dad's father (my grandfather).
He died when I was in gradeschool.
Which made him in his early 60s.
He was a good Irish drunk - mostly whiskey.
Caused him to develop bladder cancer, and that was it.
Guess that's why they call it "rotgut."
I only remember my Dad taking a drink a couple times, once at my first wedding.
One of the jobs I had working my way through college was as a bouncer.
Saw the same people night after night throwing their $$$ down the toilet and their lives right along with it.
Between that and Granddad, you'd think I'd avoid the stuff like it's on fire.
I stopped drinking to excess when I left college, and only have a beer now and again.
Guess that's the curse of genetics.

 

[ndcaster]

next door neighbor of my best friend died of cirrhosis of the liver

we lived two streets over and saw the progression, which was obvious and horrifying

Ben remained an affable guy right up to the end when his eyeballs were a weird color, you could smell acetone from four feet away, and he turned a strange combination of green and yellow

before it got really bad, we'd ask him, and he'd say there was no way, it was a physical grip that never let go

RIP Ben

his wife, too, not long after

 

[aging_rocker]

I've experienced several people who I've cared about drink and/or drug themselves to death over the decades. It's a terrible way to commit long-term suicide, and it's horrible to have to watch it happening. I've had to disengage from a few, after a final falling-out, prior to the end.

No judgement, I don't know what drives folks to that point, despite trying to understand and help. The ones I've known were all, at one time, great people.

My heart goes out to anyone in your position, @Big_Bend, and to anyone dealing with the fallout from substance abuse

 

[Toto'sDad]

In all seriousness. Alcohol is addictive for one simple reason it makes you feel better. You get to the point where when you drink enough, you drink and you don't feel as good as you once did when you didn't drink at all, but you feel better than you did when you sobered up with a hangover.

Another odd thing at least for me, my mind was as clear as it has ever been when I was about halfway into a quart of Jack. Sometimes it went downhill from there, but at that sweet spot of not too drunk but drunk enough my mind was quiet, clear, and I felt at piece with the world.

I have been off the juice for almost twenty-five years, and will never go back, but if I could drink, and always just be in that sweet spot, I'd drive to the store, and buy a case right now. The reality is, that is impossible, so I don't go to the store.

I've written before, coming from the background I did, there have been quite a few of my old pals that died from alcohol abuse. Two guys that I knew, that did not know each other were given a death sentence of 90 days if they didn't quit. They didn't quit, and they died right on target only a few days apart.

 

[E5RSY]

 

[Kandinskyesque]

Sorry to hear about your friend BB.

Alcoholism is rarely mentioned on death certificates but there's an almost infinite number of ways it can kill as has already been mentioned.

In my family alone there have been several alcohol related deaths from my grandfather's gastro-intestinal ruptures to my uncle's multiple seizures brought about from withdrawal. They've all had different causes of death on their certificates but there appears to be a common denominator. Suicide in instalments IMHO.

I've just heard this week that that a former close friend has late-stage throat cancer, he's been on a half-litre of vodka plus beers daily for decades, so the likelihood of a connection between the two is not out of the question. He's only 62 and a non-smoker.
It's a pity I had to cut him out of my life, but he was the one who objected the most to me quitting.

As for Mary-Jane not causing problems, my experience is that it's a bit of a myth. I was a heavy user until rehab 10 years ago and went through 2 years treatment for a heart arrythmia after quitting. The cardiologist told me it was a common symptom.

 

[wulfenganck]

I'm a lawyer and have specialised for the last 5 years in being legal guardian providing conservatorship for people who can't look after their own business. Yep, pretty much that thing Britney Spears had been ordered to back in 2009 - but, frankly, 99,99% of the cases aren't anywhere near to glamourous celebrities. Due to mental issues like schizophrenia, elderly people with dementia or Alzheimer's disease. Also people with years of addiction -drugs as well as alcohol. Most of the people I deal with have already reached rockbottom, before conservatorship is installed. Sadly, most of the time I get to act, it's all about gathering the remains and try to fix it to a point, they have a couple more decent years.
Alcohol is awfully dangerous, it kills your brain cells - also your liver. There is a "point of no return", where your face certain issues from loss of memory, neuropathological issues, organ failure.
When I got my driver's licence back in 1986, the general consent was a blood/alcohol level of 3,5 per thousand will kill you, due to alcohol intoxication and circulatory collapse.
Since the last couple of years I have seen alcohol addicted people in hospital with a level of 4,5 per thousand - screaming, shouting and viciously attacking hospital staff.

I had one conservatorship where the man suffered from severe depression.
Now, some mental illnesses can be treated with medication to get people to a state where they accept - people with paranoid schizophrenia can be "brought down" to a level where they can acknowöedge their irratic behaviour. People with depression have to decide to get out. YOu can offer them help, but they have to be willing to accept it.
This guy wasn't. He started drinking instead. Three years later he shot down a bottle of wodka within an hour, collapsed, went into coma and died in the ER.

It's true, cannabis doesn't have these grave physical consequences.
But I have seen my share of people who literally blasted their brains into psychosis due to smoking weed on a regular basis when they were teenagers. I'm all for legalizing certain stuff - but only for adults.

I'm very sorry for your friend, but the best thing for you maybe is keeping the memories of the good times you had.

 

[TheFuzzDog]

Interesting subject. I don’t know if I’m alcoholic, but possibly. I am almost 71 years old, and never drank alcohol until a couple years ago. My wife was diagnosed with early Alzheimer’s, and as a byproduct, Capgras syndrome. Her cognitive ability has been on a sharp decline, and she doesn’t know who I am after being married for 52 years. I am her primary caregiver, and it takes a huge toll on me. So, to escape some of the pain and depression, I started drinking at night after she goes to bed. I usually drink from about 7:00pm until I go to bed ( or pass out). I do this 4 or 5 nights per week. I drink 100 proof vodka, probably 8 to 12 ounces in a sitting. I’m always at home, and don’t go out. I would never drive. But these few hours of getting wasted allows me to not think about my awful situation. So far I don’t think my health has been impacted. I do get regular checkups. Is there such a thing as “safe drinking”, in a bad situation? I can’t think of good options. I don’t want to do drugs. I read that vodka did the least damage? If you’ve not experienced a spouse with dementia, you may not be able to understand. But is there some pain where alcohol is the best answer?

The short answer to all your questions is no. I totally understand why you have turned to this drug to cope, but it is not helping you, and it is hurting you.

I strongly urge you to seek out a mental health professional and tell him or her what you have been doing and why. An anti depressant, or anti anxiety med, would be a safer and more effective way of helping yourself and your wife.

If nothing else, consider this:

If you drink till you pass out, there are two incapacitated people in the house, and no one who can respond effectively to an emergency.