Alcoholic Mum - need urgent advice about medical help (Scotland)

[AlcohollyNC]

NC'ed for this.

Alcoholic Mum went missing last night. Long story short she got caught drink driving (almost 4x over the limit) so she is , but very, very unwell.

She has finally admitted she needs help after decades of alcohol abuse. She called the GP as she can't quit cold turkey - her body is that dependent on it (we are talking 1ltr vodka and a couple of bottles of wine a night). The GP have said that there is a 4 week wait and she is basically on her to try and cut down until then.

The problem is that it's been a few hours and she is becoming shaky, aggressive and sick (which are all symptoms of withdrawal). We have no idea how we are meant to help her manage it, how much alcohol to allow her to have safely etc. I am actually in England and it's my little sister up there with her so I am trying my best to relay info to her to help but I am pretty lost myself.

DSis has gone and got 3 small cans of G&T but is that enough to stave off any horrific symptoms like delirium etc?

And the most important question, is there any other way to get her more immediate help outside of the GP?

Take her to A&E if you think that her life could be in danger?

I would take her to A&E. Many of the hospitals will admit straight away as alcohol withdrawal can be life threatening.

I would take her to A&E, she will possibly start to have seizures due to withdrawal. How very upsetting for you and your sister. I think to try to dry out without medical assistance would be too dangerous in your DM’s case.

Echoing what’s been said. Take her to A&E she probably needs to be admitted at that level.

Echoing take her to ED. If she is that dependent on it then she may start seizing, the GP should not have told you to cut down without any proper info.

Take her to A&E if she can't keep booze down. It should be very slow reduction.

Definitely A&E. She will have seizures if she cuts back too quickly. It has to be managed correctly.

Definitely take her to A&E, this happened to my ex partner's mum, she went cold turkey and had a really bad seizure at a train station. For the next 2 years until she died, she had no short term memory, couldn't recognise her grandchildren and still thought her kids (between 40s and 50s) we still at school. The only good thing to come out of it was she didn't remember that she used to drink or smoke and never touched another drink or cigarette again

Sorry, she didn't die because of the seizures, she died from something completely unrelated

Sorry to hear. A&E is the right call. Sometimes they are reluctant to admit for alcohol withdrawal without other medical reasons but NICE CLinical guideline 100 states you can consider it if there’s a history of seizures.

If she isn’t admitted she needs to cut down more slowly. So calculate what the units are in what she’s drinking - eg 30 units in 75cl vodka and then reduce by no more than 10% every couple of days. So 6 units (3 G&Ts) is too big a jump. Someone needs to stay with her and supervise it, giving it out in measured amounts enough to keep her comfortable and she will need dosing during the night as alcohol is cleared very rapidly by the body. I really hope they admit her however from the amount she is drinking it sounds like she suffers from severe dependence.

I'm in Scotland. I took my DGM to A&E when she was going through severe withdrawals from alcohol
She'd taken not well with her liver (didn't see a doctor) which had her laid up on the couch unable to get to the kitchen to feed her addiction which caused the withdrawals.
She was dying in front of me when I phoned the ambulance. I'm sure of it.

Take her to A&E if the shaky, aggressive and sick symptoms get worse.

She needs medical attention. A few cans of G&T will not help here. I agree that A&E is needed or call an ambulance if they cannot move her.

She shouldn't really be cutting down alone if she drinks that much, she's in withdrawal and would need Librium to detox safely. Careful she doesn't start to fit, sounds like she's trying to cut down too quickly xx

And no 3 cans of gin and tonic will not be enough if she drinks a litre of spirits a day, she will need a lot more to stay safe, detoxing from alcohol needs to be done medically assisted please don't try and do this alone at home with no guidance, it's not safe xx

Try ringing Drinkline Scotland a free helpline