How did he die?

[user1483018975]

My cousin was told 1 1/2 years ago he had liver problems due to alcohol ..he wasn't eating,lost weight,stomach swollen full of fluid and needed blood transfusions and he was yellow.
Anyway got ok again but told no more alcohol.
Within 4 months drinking again.
Seen him Christmas Eve,he was fine,came to ours for tea,then went on a two day drinking session (he is 34)
Boxing Day collapsed and died within a minute of getting out of bed dead.
How?
I thought liver failure was slow.
How did he just die so quick?
We are all confused
He wasn't yellow or anything

I can't answer your question but just wanted to say how sorry I am for your loss

Sorry for your loss. Maybe it was a different cause of death. Are they doing a post mortem?

You should be able to arrange a meeting with the hospital which should shed some light on this. Sending you hugs and sympathy.

Thankyou ..
It's how quick it was that's shocked us.
We told him not to drink but took no notice

Sorry about your cousin. It could have been a gastro intestinal bleed. I'm no medic but I understand this is what can make alcoholics die.

The pathologist has said liver failure.
We just can't comprehend how Christmas Day he is fine then the next he is dead.
We assumed when the day came he would need hospital treatment again ..no swollen stomach nothing just gone.

user

Sadly you can't stop an alcoholic from drinking. You did all you could.

Maybe his heart gave up ? Your body can only take so much . My friends cousin died in a similar way And bled out , apparently it was awful and slow so be grateful it was quick for him . X

It depends. My mother died of metastatic breast cancer that had spread to her liver. A week before she died she looked heavily pregnant. Hers was a rapid but steady deterioration in a hospital bed, and hypoxia was evident the night before she died. It wasn't alcohol related in any way.

Alcohol abuse over a long period can result in many things, from varices to severe damage to internal organs. It's a very difficult thing to comprehend but a post mortem will explain more how he died, and until then you're bound to have many questions, especially 'how?'

I'm sorry for your loss

Amy Winehouse died suddenly from respiratory arrest relating to her alcoholism.

He was told a year and a half ago he had liver problems, he has continued to contribute toward liver problems by drinking so it wasn't a quick thing at all. Sorry for your loss

It's my aunt and uncle I feel for.
My uncle was there and the moment he collapsed he was gone..he witnessed it.
As he fell he cut his head.
Maybe it was his heart caused by liver ..what a silly silly lad.
If only he had stopped
He was given a second chance and he didn't listen.
They said next time you will be leaving in a box...I don't think he realised

I think we all assumed when he got sick again he would be going yellow and swollen stomach etc.
He hadn't had any symptoms (even tho we knew his liver was a mess) he still had half of liver working.
I don't think we understood how quick it could happrn

It can result in the body being overdosed on potassium, which unfortunately causes heart failure. It was a contributing factor in my mothers death, which was in minutes, and very recently a friends sons death.

Didn't want to read and run. So sorry for your loss. Love to you and all of your family; thinking of you.

It's always a shock , my dad died from a heart attack a few years ago . He was poorly with all sorts of things and although we knew he was poorly and wouldn't get better , we all presumed it would be years . Ok sort of grateful he went like he did because he was in a lot of pain . Your poor cousin obviously couldn't shake his addiction . How sad that he risked drinking again.. exactly the same as my friends cousin .

I remember watching Louis therouxs programme about alcoholism and one chap was seeing his dr to have yet more fluid drained from his abdomen and he was told there and then he had 3 weeks
He didn't believe the Dr but it can happen very quickly.
Very very sad
I'm sorry for your loss
X

I was just going to say "liver failure", it was my first thought when I read your OP.

Am so sorry for your loss.

I have a friend who is a "functional alcoholic" in that he can hold down a job but drinks excessively. He definitely has liver damage but I gather that liver damage can be rapid or slow going. It's an awful illness and I'm so sorry fo your family. A horrible time to lose a family member.