End-stage Alcoholic
Most alcoholics
never reach end-stage. They drink and they fall victim to an alcohol
related death such as a car accident, a fall down the stairs, foul play,
accidental drug/alcohol combination overdose, undiagnosed conditions,
or many other situations.
An end-stage alcoholic is one that has the advantage of avoiding the previous mentioned downfalls either by luck or a very astute caretaker.
This could be an enabler such as yourself or somebody else that is in denial about a persons addiction.
Are you helping someone into an early grave by ignoring what your see and know?
An end-stage alcoholic is one that has the advantage of avoiding the previous mentioned downfalls either by luck or a very astute caretaker.
This could be an enabler such as yourself or somebody else that is in denial about a persons addiction.
Are you helping someone into an early grave by ignoring what your see and know?
An end-stage
alcoholic is an alcoholic whose body and mind have degenerated to the
point where the detox process is just as dangerous as continuing to
drink. That’s a quick and simple answer to a complicated question that
is asked frequently.
If a medical professional tells you to continue to
give the alcoholic booze because to be without it, outside a hospital
environment, would mean certain death – that’s end-stage. Here are other
factors in making the determination.
Most end-stage
alcoholics have already been through the detox and rehab process
several times. The end result is often a return to the bottle within a
short time – sometimes just days after discharge.
On the good side,
sometimes the alcoholic will wait months before getting drunk. That is
good – the longer the time between detox and drinking the more of a
chance the body has had to recover. But even then, a return to an
end-stage condition, after post-detox drinking, will happen at a more
rapid rate than it did previously.
I want to
stress here that some end-stage alcoholics never get into detox or
rehab. They are so adamant about drinking that they never entertain the
thought of a possible better life. They like things the way they are and
refuse to change. Riley, even after numerous rehab and detox, has
stated that if he has to choose between sober or dead – he chooses dead.
There are a
host of alcohol related diseases that also contribute to the
determination. How far advanced these diseases are can give you an idea
of how much time an alcoholic has left.
But, in true end-stage, that
really doesn’t matter because the only way to recover from any of the
diseases is to quit drinking. That is not likely with end-stage
alcoholics.
An end-stage
alcoholic will drink anything containing alcohol if traditional sources
are not available. This can include, Listerine, vanilla extract, cough
syrup or even perfume. Anything else that contains the word alcohol in
the list of ingredients is a potential beverage for the end-stage
alcoholic.
Because of the
amount of alcohol saturating the frontal lobe of the brain, the
end-stage alcoholic personality, most often, is not the same as the
personality of the same person without the alcohol.
Some traits may include: easily angered; unrealistic demands; lack of determining appropriateness of actions; loss of short-term memory; highly emotional; easily confused, and; inability to determine night from day.
Some traits may include: easily angered; unrealistic demands; lack of determining appropriateness of actions; loss of short-term memory; highly emotional; easily confused, and; inability to determine night from day.
Alcoholics
are subjective – what’s important to them revolves around drinking.
At
end-stage this is magnified and the end-stage truly wants everyone to “mind their own business” and let him/her do whatever they want – even if it impacts on other people’s lives.
(This is what a person has told me many times when I tried to talk with them about their alcohol addiction. I was told that it was their business and that they would do want they wanted to and did not want to talk about it.)
Stomach issues
are very common at end-stage. The end-stage alcoholic may demand dinner
at a certain time, but will probably not eat much, if any. Often,
whatever is eaten will be vomited. Because of that the alcoholic becomes
malnourished and will often become very thin. But, this isn’t always
true because sometimes the alcoholic will appear to gain weight.
Unfortunately the weight gain is usually a result of advancing
cirrhosis.
At end-stage
the alcoholic has worn away large amounts of the mucus membrane lining
the esophagus as well as the entire digestive system. The esophagus will
split and bleeding will occur. Sometimes the esophagus will actually
“blow out” and can cause almost immediate death.
The force of vomiting
alone is enough to cause a bleed in the esophagus or stomach. Alcohol is
a natural blood-thinner. At end-stage the blood doesn’t coagulate. I’ve
seen a bleeding cut or sore on Riley’s last for hours and even a whole
day before the bleeding stops. Anything bleeding becomes a potential
life-threatening occurrence.
The stomach
may develop bleeding ulcers – a painful hole in the tummy. Imagine
having a cut finger and pouring isopropyl alcohol directly onto it. It
would be the same thing for an alcoholic to drink when he has a bleeding
ulcer. And that condition, added to the lack of food and proper
nutrients, as well as the inability to coagulate, can be fatal. Diarrhea
occurs almost daily and the further along the alcoholic the more
explosive the pooping.
Some physical
traits of the alcoholic are the yellowing of the eyes and spider-like
veins in the fact. At end-stage the skin may turn a fluorescent
yellow/green, the nose becomes something like Rudolph’s, the scalp is
itchy and flaky, and fingernails have a tendency to split.
If you are
afraid to leave the alcoholic in your house alone because you don’t know
what he will do – you’re probably in end-stage. The loss of memory can
mean leaving a stove burner on under an empty pot. The lack of judgment
could mean lighting a candle and placing it next to the curtain. The
loss of balance can mean a fall and combined with a hit on the head –
the results can be fatal.
||||||||||||||||||| Editor Note: |||||||||||||||||||||
I know a person who is an alcoholic. Everytime I see her she has a drink of wine or beer in herr hand.
This person recently got their first DUI after driving with an open container in their car for 15 years and never caught doing it until now. This was amazing to me how this person got by with it. The container was a cup or glass with alcohol in it in the form of beer or wine.
After getting their first DUI this person swore they had learned their lesson and would not drink and drive again. It was a lie.
The same week she drove a car drinking with and open container.
Her court date is in Mar 2019 for the DUI.
She still drinks alcohol all the time, except at work. She works 5 or 6 days a week and is a hard worker.
I would call her a working alcoholic in denial.
Her daughter says she has cut down a lot on her drinking wine and beer.
Her daughter is also in denial about what is doing.
I pray for her daily. I know God can help her stop drinking beer and wine and stay sober.
I know because I used to drink alcohol and God delivered me from this addiction when I prayed and asked for help to stop drinking alcohol.
I have been sober for several years and have no desire to drink any alcohol at all.
I think a rehab can help but I know the real answer to the question if asked, how can I stop drinking is:
(1) Having a desire to quit.
(2) Asking God for the help needed to overcome the addiction and desire to drink alcohol in any form.
People always say you have go to want to quit drinking first before you can become sober and not be a drunk.
This is true but I know by the Grace of God that prayer helps people and has helped me stop drinking alcohol.
I was a drunk for a long time but no more.
Praise the Lord. Thank you Jesus for delivering me from becoming an end stage alcoholic or a sudden quick death because of an alcohol addiction.
