my mum (54) has been an alcoholic my whole life (i’m 31).
the past 6 years it’s got much much worse. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s to do with getting old, not meeting as many men? I know that sounds trivial but that’s a big thing for her. When I was very young she had lots of boyfriends/would sleep with lots of people. That’s not really happening anymore so I wonder if her ageing and not being as desirable/attractive is playing a role. When I was younger she would drink very heavily for a week but also have a week off inbetween. She wouldn’t get withdrawals.
for background, She had a traumatic childhood, lost my father when I was a baby, and has also had a lot of terrible things happen to her when she’s been very drunk. She puts herself in very dangerous situations when she’s drunk.
now it’s got really bad. She’s drinking for 6-8 weeks at a time non-stop with maybe 1 day off. She gets really severe withdrawals, violent vomiting, shaking etc. she’s had to be admitted into hospital because her withdrawals are so bad. Last time she was admitted was February this year. She came out and was sober for 2 weeks and is back on the booze.
on my birthday a few weeks ago she had been heavily drinking for weeks an weeks and then suddenly looked like she was having a heart attack. Dropped to the floor and started having seizures. I thought she was dying. Ambulance came within 5 mins because after the seizures we couldn’t find a pulse.
when they came she woke up but kept having seizures. She was in hospital for 3 days. They put on her drips and sedatives to help her through the withdrawals but she walked out after 3 days and has been drinking ever since. They said the seizures are most commonly associated with alcohol withdrawal but can also occur when someone is heavily drinking. The seizures have started again. She dropped to the floor and had them again today. Her cleaning lady called my older sister. She then said she was fine and wanted to go to sleep. Slept for hours. Woke up and started drinking again.
im worried she’s going to die very soon. I’m sick with worry. I live about an hour away and have two young kids, one at school etc a one baby so it’s not possible for me to go round there regularly. I also don’t want my kids being around her when she’s drinking. She’s a really horrible abusive drunk. I have to think about them. I don’t want them to see what I had to see as a child.
what can I do? Everyone says there’s nothing I can do. That she needs to want to change. That’s not enough for me. I can’t stand by whilst she kills herself. What can I do? Can I section her?
desperately hoping someone has knowledge/experience with this. My younger siblings are 21 and 19. They’re too young to lose their mum. I’ve got to try something.
thank you for reading