My alcoholism has cured itself. AIBU to worry about HOW I have suddenly become intolerant?

[Tliev]

I have always had a bit of a drink problem. As far back as I can remember I could never touch a drop without getting the urge to carry on until I physically couldn't drink anymore.

At 15 I remember being on the floor of a pub toilet completely intoxicated and the pub landlord trying to get me up and out after hours.

There have been numerous occasions where I have shown myself up in front of family and friends by getting absolutely wrecked and needing help getting up/home.

Last year DH and I went to Leeds to see a band and I drank so much I fell over in the street and couldn't get up. DH and some young medical student was trying to get me up and then I was sick all over myself. I remember hearing the young lad say "has she ever been like this before??" And DH replying " errr yes, unfortunately".

Too many examples to mention.

The worst one being my wedding where I was passed out in bed by 10pm.

Anyway about 6 months ago I sat down to my usual weekly Friday binge, had my first drink and felt sick and dizzy so didn't drink anymore. I remember saying to DH "wow, Friday night and I've had one drink!"

Since then I seem to have developed an intolerance to alcohol completely. Whenever I start, I begin to feel sick and dizzy so stop. Recently we had a BBQ party and everyone was drunk - I tried and physically couldn't do it. Good job really as I ended up having to help two very intoxicated guests.

DH and I went away to York for his birthday last weekend. Normally I'd have a drink before we set off, a drink on arrival at the hotel and at least 2 during our evening meal. This time I didn't start until our evening meal and then could only manage half a pint.

So aibu to worry that something is wrong with my liver? Why would someone suddenly become intolerant to alcohol? On another point - I have been trying to stop drinking for years so surely if it was psychological, it would have happened before now? Why now all of a sudden has my body decided enough is enough?

In one way, I'm delighted that my alcoholism has been stopped without any effort from myself but on the other hand, I'm worrying it's something medical?

I think it's unlikely to be a liver issue caused by drinking- it's not dismissive to point out that millions of young people drink in a binge-drinking out of it way and most don't have liver damage. It's actually hard to damage your liver, about 1 in 10 very heavy drinkers get cirrhosis and that's usually after heavy drinking for ten years or more. The OP is nowhere near this.

That doesn't mean her use of alcohol is not problematic, it clearly is, but some of the 'you've got liver damage' is really overstating it and extremely unlikely, and if everyone who passed out a few times at weddings and evenings out, sought help from a liver consultant, the NHS would be swamped unnecessarily. The liver consultant I know said that most of the damage he sees is caused by daily cheap spirit drinking over the long term (even drinking cider everyday isn't always enough to damage the liver).

It's more likely, IMO, that you have just become intolerant to alcohol or something in alcoholic drinks, which is common in women of middle years!

If you are concerned, pop to the drs and ask them to run the tests, but there is an over-reaction on this thread concerning the actual likelihood of liver damage in a youngish person.

The word alcoholic shouldn't be used, but alcohol dependence which is what the OP is. She can't control her drinking and couldn't stop (before this episode)

Doctors and therapists use the word alcohol dependence because alcoholic has connotations of lying in a gutter with a bottle in a brown paper bag.

It shouldn't be minimised or dismissed as 'binge drinking'.

Are you on any medication, such as Metronidazole?

I know someone under 30 who binged all the time and ended up with a liver issue - it wasnt permanent but she had to not drink for a good period of time to give it time to recover.

You can be a binge drinker and not be an alcoholic

Yes if you can stop the binge-drinking when you recognise it's having negative effects which outweight any fun you have when hammered. The OP was unhappy with her drinking but was unable to stop until it became physically impossible (and, yes, some people continue drinking through that but just because the OP is not actively harming herself like this doesn't mean there's no issue).

It really isn't the time to be splitting hairs about how binge-drinking doesn't automatically equate a drinking problem. This isn't an abstract discussion about terminology: it's about the OP and how she describes her habits. It's incredibly unhelpful (and almost cruel) to respond to someone saying 'I think I have a drinking problem' with 'yeah, but you're not an alcoholic, come on' or its equivalent.

I appreciate that someone already unhappy about their drinking and nervous about their health may well feel pressured or panicked back into denial by a rush of responses saying LIVER FAILURE and ALCOHOLIC, but I also think the more likely risk is that they'll read 99 posts saying 'this is an issue' and 1 saying 'oh, these people are so hysterical, just ignore them', and it's be the latter voice they'll choose to hear.

It's actually hard to damage your liver, about 1 in 10 very heavy drinkers get cirrhosis and that's usually after heavy drinking for ten years or more.

The OP is nowhere near this.

We don't know that. She was talking about being scraped off a pub floor when she was 15.

See a gp asap for peace of mind. Best of luck op.

I have no idea if it's anything serious or not OP and although it wasn't an addiction to alcohol but my mum smoked heavily - probably 40 a day - for about thirty years. One day she just woke up and said, 'That's it, I don't feel like doing this any more!'
Didn't touch another cigarette again.
She sadly died from cancer anyway about eight years later.
It was just that lightbulb moment

I'm afraid JK is correct - for an alcoholic to stop drinking can be dangerous. (I'm not diagnosing you as one OP).

Stopping drinking can result in Delirium tremens - or the DT's which can be really dangerous.

I think alcoholic liver damage can happen a lot quicker than some on this thread think.

I was at University with a lad who was a pretty heavy beer drinker; but between y2 and y3, he went to the GP and was diagnosed with the first stages of alcoholic liver disease. So by Y3, he was a teetotaller. He was 22. If he'd carried on the way he was going, the doc warned him he could be dead before he was 30. I doubt he'd been drinking heavily for at least 10 years - 4, possibly 6, but not 10.

My DF was an alcoholic... until one day, in the '80s, he suddenly wasn't. His reaction to alcohol - which started suddenly from what I've been told - sounds incredibly like yours. If he even so much as smells alcohol, he feels sick, gets dizzy, breaks out in a cold sweat.

If you're anything like my DF, then it's not a sign of liver failure but a severe allergic reaction. Be grateful for it, because it might just be a sign of your body/mind combining in an effort to prevent you from drinking yourself to death. I know my DF was well on the way to death (or divorce) being the next option until he developed this allergy.

Speak to your GP, OP. They'll run tests, refer you to a psychologist, perhaps, where you can discuss why you feel the need to drink yourself into such a horrendous state on a weekly (although I suspect it's probably more like daily) basis. You need help, which an Internet forum cannot give or provide you with, for your sake (and that of any children you may have).

I was a bit like you OP, less extreme binges, didn't usually vomit or pass out but used to drink a lot. Can't anymore and I'm pretty sure I don't have liver failure! Stomach just feels a bit more fragile. I feel the effects more. Used to love cider and drink pint after pint, that makes me feel sick straight away now. Used to love red wine but that gives me terrible heartburn now. I can manage a glass of white wine or a g&t but usually don't feel like more than one.

Fine, she can go to the doctor, get a liver function test and it will show if there's any issues. I still think it exceptionally unlikely, as even if she had the first stage of fatty liver disease, it is reversible by not drinking for two weeks!

what about stomach issue? ulcer maybe caused from acidity of alcohol?

Yes, I genuinely wonder if I've missed the bit where the OP says how old she is. Can someone point it out? Or is it known from other threads?

Because, without that, we have no idea how long the 'usual weekly Friday binge' has been going on. And, again, this thread is about the OP, so what's the point in talking about how 'if everyone who passed out a few times at weddings or evenings out sought out help [...] the NHS would be swamped'.

This is someone who describes drinking to the point of being unable to walk, unable to enjoy her own wedding reception, unable to adjust her behaviour despite feeling repeatedly humiliated.

No-one is saying that the OP shouldn't see the GP.

What people ARE saying is that health anxiety, which can be extremely acute between the time that an appointment is booked and the actual appointment, can be a terribly damaging thing. (It is actually something that is considered a very definite 'harm' when it comes to the analysis of NHS programmes like screening, where false positive results can occur). While the OP should get herself checked out, she shouldn't be scared witless that she is imminently going to die on the basis of no evidence whatsoever apart from a very vague internet post.

She needs to be seen by a proper medical professional, who is fully qualified and armed with the data that is required to analyse her case and until then, she needs not to worry too much because it's unlikely to be anything massively serious, though it may be a useful wake-up call to change her habits in the future.

My BIL had an inflamed liver by the time he was 30, he didn't have cirrhosis though. At that point it was reversible by stopping alcohol altogether.

FFS, why are people so determined to minimise the effects of binge drinking?
The OP clearly stated she binge drank every Friday, that is 52 times a year, starting at 15. That is not just getting pissed at the odd wedding, it is much much more.
She also doesn't state that she is alcohol free on the other 6 nights of the week, either. I would be surprised if she was, tbh.

Thumb, none of that comes as a surprise to me. An immature liver (as in not fully developed yet) is very vulnerable to the effects of alcohol. I read about a 15 year old who developed cirrhosis after 2 years of heavy drinking. There's also the highly publicised story of Stacey Rhymes, who began drinking problematically at 17, and was dead at 24.

Just have a bit of common sense, really, before telling someone they are almost certainly seriously unwell, when you don't have any tangible evidence to back that up!

Health anxiety isn't remotely as damaging as excessive consumption alcohol.

And the idea that the OP will fear dying 'imminently' on the basis of one thread is bizarre.

Fine, she can go to the doctor, get a liver function test and it will show if there's any issues. I still think it exceptionally unlikely, as even if she had the first stage of fatty liver disease, it is reversible by not drinking for two weeks!

Jesus Christ bounty, you need to check your facts!

1. LFTs frequently DON'T pick up significant issues. It's common to have advanced liver disease and still have all your enzymes within normal ranges. If LFTs come back normal, but alcoholic liver damage is still suspected, then an ultrasound, fibroscan, HIDA scan or liver biopsy can be ordered.

1. Two weeks is NOT long enough to reverse fatty liver. In a 'normal' drinker who's had a heavier week than usual, yes. In a problem drinker, it's more like one month for every YEAR you've been drinking. That's assuming you DON'T have liver disease.

shovetheholly and you did the exact opposite.
Some of us do have experience of these issues. I worked in the NHS and detoxed patients, along with nursing people with liver failure, pancreatitis, alcoholic related dementia, oesophageal varices,etc etc. People coming along and posting things like 'no need to worry. you're not an alcoholic because you don't drink every day' really piss me off, tbh.
On a personal level I know 2 women who died of alcohol related illnesses in their 40's. They didn't drink that much either, by some people's standards. It was just too much for them.

I think the OP is right to be concerned about her problematic use of alcohol, a really good website for women who are worried about their drinking is Soberistas where she'll find lots of similar stories soberistas.com/. It looks like nature has found a way to curb her excessive drinking anyway.