To be kicking him into the doctors and hope that alcohol is the cause?

[gerardbutlersthighs]

Dp is a heavy drinker and recently started having various symptoms that are all linking together and looking at being signs of alcohol damage the most recent of which is acetone smelling breath which more people than just me have noticed.

Now diabetes runs in his family and that's how we've all convinced him to get checked over but really we all believe its the drink that's doing it as all the diabetics were diagnosed as children, and are secretly hoping this gives him a fright to cut down (because nothing else has worked) and hope that whatever it is is reversible.

Aibu to hope this?

I hope this trip to the Dr sets him on the right path op, good luck. My dad has just admitted alcoholism and definitely noticed that smell on him. The liver is probably ok, my dads Dr said his was not so badly damaged that it would be permanent so if his is ok with the amount he drinks, hopefully your Dps will be ok. And I hope its not diabetes on top of it all.

If he smells of ketones it means he is having to break down fats for energy instead of glucose. This could be due to diabetes, there is of course a chance he has pancreatitis, which is common in heavy drinkers, that is meaning he is not producing the insulin he needs to process glucose.

He is not deliberately following a low carb or very low calorie diet is he? This could cause these symptoms but the diet would have to be quite extreme.

He really needs to see a doctor. Ketoacidosis is a medical emergency in a diabetic. I have a feeling it could be related to his pancreas where insulin is produced. Pancreatitis can be acute or chronic. Acute pancreatitis is also a medical emergency. Does he have any pain in his abdomen or back?

Yeah been having a read, and reasly thinks your dp needs to see someone with some urgency, perhaps even a&e. the acetone smell on breath indicates ketiacidosis and whatever is causing this could be serious and need treating urgently.

Ketones produced by eating low-carb are not the same as the dangerous biological state in which diabetic can be found. They are different things.

I know this. Ketones on the breath can be caused by dieting but dies not indicate a pathological process going on, whereas ketiacidosis in the presence of a normal diet is worrying.

I was only asking the op to rule out a more benign cause.

Though effectively the cause is the same. The cells are not getting enough glucose. In dieting this is because intake is low. In diabetes there may be way too much glucose in the blood, but the cells can't take it up as there is not enough insulin or they are not responding properly to it. Either way the body starts breaking down fats to provide energy for the cells. However in ketoacidosis that is not caused by diet, it is a sign that some processes in the body are going seriously wrong somewhere. In op's dp's case I personally believe it could be the pancreas.

My dad was an alcoholic when I was younger. He gave up when I was about eleven. The thing which prompted him into action was medical signs that it was starting to damage him.
I was young at the time so don't remember specifics. But I'm fairly sure it was a sweet smelling breath and the whites of his eyes going yellow.

It wasn't easy but he did give up the drink and (other than an unfortunate period where his fourth wife encouraged him to drink again and he was drunk for about a month), he was off drink until he sadly died this year (cancer). That would have been about twenty years.

I hope your husband gets a shock and is similarly successful at staying off the booze

how are things, OP?