Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I still drink a little bit, but I am a very light drinker. I have gradually lost interest in it over the years. The good feeling it brought has declined, my tolerance has declined, and the bad effects grew. It just isn't worth it anymore.
I still have a drink or two on occasion. I probably have 3-4 drinks per month. That's enough.
I've cut back from a nightly 5.00 cocktail to only on weekends and I find I'm sleeping better. Not losing any weight though because I seem to be substituting alcohol with dark chocolate.
Very light drinker here but over the last year I've gone to several AA open meetings with a friend I support who has a problem. Those AA meetings are enough to scare me 100% away from drinking. Some very sad stories about the abuse of alcohol.
As others have said, this can be a bigger issue for some people than for others. Personally, I noticed that drinking even 1 or 2 glasses of wine in the evening had the same effect that the OP mentioned: falling asleep easily, but waking up at 3 or so in the morning. After I started measuring my blood pressure at home, I noticed that it would measure high on days after I had even had just 1-2 glasses and normal if I had not. So, at least for me, some of the effects of alcohol are pretty clear.
Edit: I want to add that, as the son of a medical doctor, I would have thought that the effects on me would have been generally known. Despite that, I had to figure it out on my own after years of wondering why I didn't sleep well anymore.
The OP stated her husband drinks > 2 Manhattans daily, and Manhattans are 100% alcohol so I would consider that a significant amount of daily alcohol consumption. How much is too much alcohol that one person can drink and not cause issues with their liver, heart as another poster brought up, or other major organ I really can't say because each person is different. Right now I have a patient who is 27 years old and is dying of end stage liver disease. His daily drinking consisted of a few shots of Jack followed by a 4-6 beers 7 days a week for the past 7 years. Maybe another could drink the same amount and not end up with liver disease as quickly as this poor guy, but eventually heavy daily drinking will have some form of negative physical and or mental impact.
It brings tears to my eyes when this young patient comes into the clinic who is now wheelchair bound. He is the color of a Cheetos, has an abdomen bloated larger than a basketball which periodically has to be tapped with a large needle to relieve his ascites/fluid overload. To eliminate the ammonia from his body that his liver can no longer filter he has to take a solution called Lactulose which causes pretty much non stop diarrhea allowing the ammonia to be excreted through his bowels which causes him to be incontinent which he has to wear a diaper. His mother usually brings him in and she said to me I never imagined that my beautiful baby boy that I used to change his diapers I would be doing the same for him at 27 years old. If he lives much past the New Year I will be very surprised.
The OP or anyone else for that matter can choose to daily drink alcohol and that is their business. And yes I have read the studies of the health benefits of certain wines that contain large quantities of resveratrol that can have positive health benefits, and some beers also fall into that category but none of these studies promote drinking large quantities of either. And I have yet to come across of study that proves daily drinking of large quantities of hard alcohol which is the drink of choice for the OP and her husband having any positive health benefits.
still, you said "large amounts" and the OP just said >2 manhattans but it seems you extrapolated that out. however, as you know, liver damage is going to vary from person to person even if two people drank the same amount of alcohol. just as you have a 27yo pt who reports 4-6 beers and a few shots of jack there are those who drink much more than that and live longer. you just never know. still, best not to overdo it.
i'm sure you're aware of the rule of thumb that somewhat jokingly suggests you double the amount your patients report they consume for a more accurate picture of their consumption.
Never cared for the taste of alcohol and after working nights, can't figure out when to drink anything anyway. An occasional glass of wine with dinner out. Hard liquor makes me feel like I can feel the brain cells dying.
Never enjoyed pot either, although I gave it a fair try.
So why am I moving to a town famous for microbrew and legal MJ? No, I don't ski either. Hmmm.
still, you said "large amounts" and the OP just said >2 manhattans but it seems you extrapolated that out. however, as you know, liver damage is going to vary from person to person even if two people drank the same amount of alcohol. just as you have a 27yo pt who reports 4-6 beers and a few shots of jack there are those who drink much more than that and live longer. you just never know. still, best not to overdo it.
i'm sure you're aware of the rule of thumb that somewhat jokingly suggests you double the amount your patients report they consume for a more accurate picture of their consumption.
are they no longer using lactulose enemas?
Of course you can't predict exactly how daily drinking of alcohol will impact one person from the next, but even people who in their opinion are drinking what they think are safe quantities of daily alcohol many are unaware of adding on top of their alcohol consumption other hepatic toxic substances such as Tylenol which some take like candy for their aches and pains and prescribed statin medications and even OTC red rice yeast which some take to reduce their cholesterol as they believe this is safer than statins, combining those substances with drinking lesser quantities of alcohol can have just as negative effect as the heavy daily alcohol drinker.
With regards to the use of Lactulose enemas, the goal of the use of Lactulose is to produce 2-4 loose stools a day which is sufficient in most cases to rid the body of continued buildup of ammonia which the liver can no longer do as a result of it's compromised state. The use of Lactulose enemas is not the preferred method of administration unless the person is comatose and obviously can't take Lactulose orally or have some other issues such as Esophageal Varies that administration via a nasogastric tube could potentiate bleeding which is extremely difficult to control. As with any retention enema the ability to retain and absorb what is contained in the enema solution is what is needed to produce the desired outcome, and for most people retaining an enema for even a short length of time is difficult. And additionally someone having to receive 2-4 enemas a day is continuous traumatization to the fragile tissue in that area which would significantly increase the chance of tissue perforation.
I don't drink either; ever since a drunk driver killed my husband and child and nearly killed me. I don't like to be around drunk people. It makes me uncomfortable and I worry about being on the road where and when they are.
I am so sorry. My deepest condolences.
I echo so many of the same responses here. I go many months without a real drink, except a single apple cider maybe once a month. Just don’t have a taste for it, especially beer and hard liquor. Maybe 4 times a year a Cosmo, at home for a celebration. Puts me to sleep. Got vomit drunk once at a frat party (1977) for the usual stupid reasons. Last time.
More than two Manhattans every night before dinner is heavy drinking.
OP does not say how many above two drinks her husband consumes nightly.
He has 3. He’s a big guy, and really doesn’t seem too affected by it. He has semi annual physicals, and checks out fine.
As others have said, I have nothing against social drinking for those who enjoy it, and have no ill affects. I noticed I was having some, so I gave it up.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
