Alcoholic mother... is she lying?

[Strawbsss]

My mum has been an alcoholic for as long as I can remember - I'm 32 and remember her heavy drinking from the age of 7/8.

She has been to rehab twice, back drinking within 3 weeks both times and hospitalised in ICU with seriously low potassium.

She goes through stints of claiming she's not touched alcohol for 10 days etc, I praise her but deep down I know she'll be drinking within the week again.

Part of me doesn't believe she isn't drinking because the level of withdrawal she has experienced previously has been to the point where she was hallucinating and hearing things. She didn't get out of bed for days.

She's a compulsive liar and made mine and my siblings lives he'll growing up. My siblings can't really stand her now and avoid her but I feel like I need to try and stand by her even though I can't help but dislike her.

One of the lies she tells plays on my mind all the time, she says every blood test she's ever had has shown her liver etc are all fine, no problems.

Is this really possible when at the very least, I know she drinks a 70cl of vodka per day, a lot of time more?

I did a short stint on a placement in a detox ward at my local hospital and the states I saw patients in there haunts me forever... I guess I'm wondering at what stage do I start preparing for her to have cirrhosis of the liver, ascites etc?

I think she's done at least a bottle of vodka per day AT LEAST for the last 20 years.

Sorry for the random post, I was just so traumatised by the people I cared for that I'm just sat here hoping she'll never get in that state... but maybe I'm just being naive x

You have my sympathy, OP: my mother was an alcoholic journalist on a national daily newspaper, and to some extent, sacrificed her liver to her trade. I felt nothing but relief when she finally died, in her early 60s. She wasn't a bad mother when I was a small child, but her alcoholism advanced as time went on. It's an addiction and it isn't your fault.
For what it's worth, several decades later, I can think of my mother with what is almost sympathy.

I am so sorry for you. I wish you could detach yourself. I was wondering whether your sister feels lonely as she has detached and you are obviously still involved. I wouldn't believe a word that came out of your mother's mouth. I doubt she's gone anywhere near a scanner. She would be worried in case they told her to stop drinking. I don't think she stopped drinking at all. She might have changed what she's drinking or stopped for half a day. Alcoholics will do anything to avoid the truth.

All you can do is protect yourself. What exactly is she adding to your life? I’m NC with a family member. I have peace. They can’t mess with you if you don’t have contact.

Have you heard the line “how do you know an alcoholic is lying? …. Their lips are moving”. She is very possibly lying, quite possibly believes own lies, maybe telling the truth … but shouldn’t expect to be believed even if she is.

I am having similar with my ex just now. He went to rehab with in Jan (with jaundice), came out in May. Maintains he was 9 months
clean and then his therapist “wanted him to go back to rehab” in Sept, so off we went and is still there, was supposed to be out by Xmas. It was for a health check apparently and his liver started to go into failure recently whilst in there, but nothing to do with drinking, it’s prescribed medication affecting liver. And his latest is that he needs to stay until February because “they want to keep tweaking medication, and liver will make a full recovery”. I suspect it’s all bullshit. What sober person (with no money) needs 6months in private rehab, and is sicker now than when they went in. I don’t care for any of his drama, but we have children together and so I can’t go NC.