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I know everyone's different, but is it possible for someone who has been drinking off and on (mostly ON) since he was 18 and he's now 59 to stop WITHOUT medical detox from a facility? He now admits that for the last couple of years he's been drinking huge amounts all at once and blacking out at times, unable to rouse himself up the next day. I'm just trying to get a realistic picture of things.....it sounds to me like he's past just stopping on his own, even if he's DETERMINED to do so. How did he have surgery last year and spend a week in the hospital without the shakes and throwing up? He didn't know he was going to the hospital, he went thru the ER and was admitted suddenly, without warning for a ruptured valve. So how did he go that long without drinking if he's near the end stages of alcoholism. He's now at day five again without drinking and I see his hand shake when he's eating/holidng things. Otherwise, I see nothing else, but sure there's more than that and it's just not visible. He burps and coughs ALL the time, and his body is never quiet, but he seems to be functioning. Can anyone enlighten me on their experiences with someone this far gone with alcoho?
When you go into surgery they use other drugs to anestitize you, keep you painless and keep you calm. That can mask the withdrawal affect from the alcohol. You've been around him for a long time so you have been a part of the progression of the disease. Someone else who might only get to see him from time to time could or would be horrified by the changes. In progression the term functioning takes on a completely different perspective. Compared to 5 or 10 years ago how is he functioning? I've known some alcoholics who have done the "white knuckle" stop for a while and I've seen many many relapses back into drinking. Quitting "cold turkey" is a possibility...more often a miracle and then that is what program is about...miracles. Keep coming back and be one yourself.
