Expert: Rebos - 1/23/2008

Question
I'm 54 years old & drank for the last 32 years, the last 25 years daily. I consumed (beer) at a rate of about 12-15 per day the last 5 years and about 6- 12 per day 20 years prior. I fell down a flight of stairs a month ago and received 6 fractures (2 skull) & was knocked unconscious. I was admitted to the hospital & returned home after 2 days. At my wifes bequest I have stopped drinking since the accident 5 weeks ago and I don't really have any desire to. I took vicodine for the 1st 2.5 weeks and I wonder if that is why I didn't suffer withdrawal symptoms. I feel great not drinking but I realize that 5 weeks is nothing especially when compared to how long and how much alcohol I consumed over the years. Am I just lucky that I feel no need to drink to this point or am I in for some sort of a suprise down the road??

Answer
Good afternoon Jim and thank you for your question.

It really shouldn’t come to you as a surprise, unless you are one of those poor souls that can’t get honest with the truth about their situation. There is an old saying in the trade, “Once you make a cucumber into a pickle you can never change it back to a cucumber again!” As to the Vicadine… all that you have done is to start “chewing your booze”! In other words you have just substituted your drinking by taking pain medication. If you are hooked on pain medications then you will have a dual problem to contend with. Does your doctor, who prescribed the pain meds, know how much and how long you had been drinking alcohol? If in fact you have been drinking 12 to 15 cans of beer a day (assuming that they are 12 oz cans) If I told you... you are drinking the equivalent of more than 16 ounces of 80 proof hard liquor each and every day. That adds up to almost 4 quarts of 80 proof hard liquor every week! I can’t imagine what it is doing to you liver and other of you organs. If I knew you better I would say that you are an alcoholic, but you are the only one that can say that to be meaningful. If alcohol is so important in your life… you have a drinking problem! Alcoholism is a disease of denial. It tells you that you are OK when you are really not! I would say that you are killing yourself by the drink. You may say that you are not hurting anyone… but what about you? If you have any family, including kids… just think of all the lost years and what kind of a roll model you have been.


I would recommend that you talk to your doctor and explain your history of alcohol abuse and if it is possible for you to taper-off from the Vicadine to something not quite as strong. Don’t, under any circumstances, stop your meds without getting your doctor’s OK! Don’t think for one second that you have gotten off with a free ride. Unless you start to attend a program like Alcoholics Anonymous you will go back to your 12 to 15 beers a day plus more of something else. No one can scare a drunk into stopping drinking. Just because you fell down the steps and survived won’t stop you from eventually going back to heavy drinking.

It is not my intention to preach to you, but you did ask for my input and I am happy to accommodate your request. If I can help you any further please send me a follow-up question. Thank you Rebos