Functioning Alcoholic

[_Kate_ 2,224]

Blair - You are such an inspiration to me. Always have been and always will. My husband has been my rock, hes working with me to beat this. Its a blip, a massive one but just a blip. Thank you so much xx

[_Kate_ 2,224]

44 minutes ago, Creekimp13 said:

Really brave post, Kate. Thanks for trusting us with it to help others.

Thank You xx

[JT2002TJ 170]

Thank you for sharing your story. I know it was hard. It is important that others see what can happen.

I haven't had any drinks since my surgery 5 months ago, and am not in a rust to start drinking again. I think I might just be done.

Thank you. I wish you all the best in your lifelong recovery.

[Apple203 1,314]

You are pretty brave to reach out to your doctor and to post your experience here! I worry about slipping back to daily drinking myself, and after reading your experience, maybe the best approach (for me) is to just not start again.

[dreamingsmall 1,125]

I am going to keep this short (If I can!); I’m English and English people tend to keep things to ourselves with strangers, especially if it is a point of failure so I am nervous about posting this.
I had a gastric sleeve on 23^rd July 2015, so 2 years and 7 months ago and it has been easy peasy with regards to food. I used to think that I couldn’t really support other people as I never had issues with the operation, or the months that followed nor with the huge weight loss. I felt fantastic, healthy and was going to the gym 3 or 4 times a week, swimming a couple or more times a week and walking my lovely Labrador a couple of hours a day. I could walk up steep mountains and still have breath to talk non-stop. Life was great.
My second son got married at the end of Feb 2016 and I had a glass of champagne and a couple of small glasses of wine at the reception. The three drinks lasted 9 hours. For the rest of the year the drinks increased. I would have a couple of glasses of wine at the weekends. Then after a rough day at work (I have a very stressful job) I would have maybe one gin and tonic. That became a glass of wine and a gin and tonic and so on. I would have odd weeks where I didn’t drink at all so I never really saw it as an issue. I enjoyed it but did not really crave it.
Jump to January 2017 and I had skin surgery. Tummy Tuck lower and upper eyelids and a breast reduction and uplift. The first four weeks were perfect and then I started having the wounds split on my tummy and breasts. I was very ill and had to go to the hospital every day to have the wounds redressed and packed (they were black and absolutely stank at this point) initially I had three open wounds and as one started healing another would appear. In all I had 17 wounds along the scars and had to have additional surgery in June to clean 2 of them out and re-stitch them. In 2017 I had a total of 6 months off work because of this and slept in a riser recliner for 4 months.
So, I started drinking heavily around May last year (that’s not an excuse its just the reality). I did it in secret, I hid bottles all over the house where I knew my husband or sons wouldn’t go (like the washing machine lol). I hid them in wellington boots, in old handbags, in my laptop workbag, in the garden, the car, behind furniture. I tried a few times to stop but just couldn’t. I spoke to a gentleman on here who had the same issue in the past, he said he had never posted about it because it would just get backlash and I felt the same. I told three close friends, I stopped drinking and lasted 3 weeks then started to drink more than before. I would get alcohol at different shops daily, so they wouldn’t judge me! Once I bought two ltr bottles of gin and the woman behind the counter said, “watch out, you will become an alcoholic with all that”. I nearly burst out crying, I felt so ashamed. It got worse and worse then a lot worse.
I was drinking 4 pints of beer and half a ltr of gin a day. I functioned well in my job and no one suspected a thing. Even the friends I had told before didn’t know I was back on the booze. Then one night, I was driving home from work, stopped to buy some gin, and thought I’d get some ready made up ones too which come in cans. I drank 3 whilst I was driving home. That was my wake up call. Im an ex policewoman and have been to many accidents where the drivers have been drunk and I was ashamed of myself. I saw the Doctor the next morning and whilst I was telling him what I had been doing and sobbing my heart out, I had a panic attack and ended up passing out. He was so good with me and signed me off work for a month and referred me to a drink and drug support group. He then put me on a 10 day detox at home where I have to take a ton of tablets. This is my last day. Tomorrow I only have to take 6 tablets a day of one medication and the other one has stopped.
I have my first appointment next week with the support group. Once they have seen me I will again change medication and will need to stay on that between 6-12 months. I am so lucky to have had the guts to see the GP and tell him the truth. I feel so embarrassed and ashamed. Throughout all of this I have kept to my eating plan, stuck to drinking 64oz Water, and taken all my Vitamins. I cant believe that I have had the control over that yet not over the alcohol. On the day I saw the GP my Blood Pressure was 202/147 so I have to go every day and its now normal.
I am now 176llb so have put 40llbs on, not through food but through drinking calories. I haven’t read through this after typing it as I might just lose nerve and delete the lot so if it sounds odd or the grammar is poor please excuse that.
I am still having withdrawal symptoms (just the tremors) but at least I wake up in the mornings and can remember what I did the night before.
I know people here who have a glass of wine every night after work. Some people can, I obviously can’t. Just be careful. Please.

Thank you thank you thank you. For being so open and honest. This will really help people who are dealing through the same. I wish you the best with your recovery.

Sent from my Vivo 5R using Tapatalk

[L. Knight 36]

@Kate thank you for having the courage to share your story, experience and wisdom with us. Your story touched me in more ways than you will ever know. I pray that the good Lord remove the alcohol taste from your mouth and that you heal properly. We are all here to up lift one another.

Take care!!!!

Ta

[_Kate_ 2,224]

On 3/11/2018 at 11:12 AM, L. Knight said:

@Kate thank you for having the courage to share your story, experience and wisdom with us. Your story touched me in more ways than you will ever know. I pray that the good Lord remove the alcohol taste from your mouth and that you heal properly. We are all here to up lift one another.

Take care!!!!

Ta

It's really helped me posting here and thank you for your words xxx

An update is that I have detoxed for nearly three weeks now (at home) and other than the shakes and a little anxiety I have daily, I am feeling good. They messed up my appointment at the drug and alcohol detox place because they changed the initial appointment and forgot to tell me or my GP that it had changed, so I won't be seeing them until next Monday. Every day has had its struggles but I am getting there.

Kate

It made me laugh when I looked at my old profile pic. I am holding a massive birthday cake and a glass of champagne, neither of which I had!! I ate the blueberries off the top of the cake and the family ate and drank the rest. lol.

[KatFight 207]

It's really helped me posting here and thank you for your words xxx
An update is that I have detoxed for nearly three weeks now (at home) and other than the shakes and a little anxiety I have daily, I am feeling good. They messed up my appointment at the drug and alcohol detox place because they changed the initial appointment and forgot to tell me or my GP that it had changed, so I won't be seeing them until next Monday. Every day has had its struggles but I am getting there.
Kate
It made me laugh when I looked at my old profile pic. I am holding a massive birthday cake and a glass of champagne, neither of which I had!! I ate the blueberries off the top of the cake and the family ate and drank the rest. lol.

Thank you for the update Kate. It’s great to hear that you have detoxed for nearly 3 weeks and that you’re feeling better. lol Pictures cannot always be trusted, can they? You were def following your food plan...”Oh, yes, that cake looks delicious but I’ll just have the blueberries please.” lol

One Day At A Time, my friend.

[DaleCruse 756]

7 hours ago, _Kate_ said:

It made me laugh when I looked at my old profile pic. I am holding a massive birthday cake and a glass of champagne, neither of which I had!! I ate the blueberries off the top of the cake and the family ate and drank the rest. lol.

Maybe it's time to change that old profile pic, @_Kate_, so it reflects who you are now.

[jenondaway 33]

My surgeon has a very strong aversion to drinking alcohol. He spoke at one of our support group meetings about how it has been proven that weight loss surgery patients have a significantly increased risk of developing other addictions. If you've "medicated" yourself with food and can no longer do that, it's natural for some people to look for new "medication", be it alcohol, drugs, shopping, etc. It has kind of made me hyper-aware.

You are so incredibly strong to share your story and it's inspirational that you chose to do this in an effort to help other people who may be facing the same struggle. THIS is what a support group page should be. Thank you and very best wishes for full recovery!