Well - I guess it was too good to be true...

[masma]

My boy went 8 weeks with no alcohol then Mr M and I went on holiday for a week. He (son) rang me at least 6 times a day and I could tell something was wrong. We got home and he looked awful, blood shot eyes etc. After some talking he owned up to going and buying a 3 litre bottle of strong cider, he'd also had one or two other drinks - nothing in the grand scheme of things but too much for him. We got home Thursday and he's been really poorly - it's only today that he seems better (no alcohol since Thursday) He's been really ashamed of what he's done, spent the day on Friday crying. He's off to the doctor tomorrow. He say's he's learned his lesson but we'll see :-(

[jo1975]

Can i tell you my story relating to alcohol abuse. I have been open about it to family and friends because if it can help one person stop going through what i did, i'll be happy.

My partner is 32, and had been drinking for a number of years. As cash got low, he switched from lager onto cider. I had been on at him for ages to cut down his usage, but to no avail. We booked our first holiday for 5 years after being left some money from a deceased relative and i was determined not to let him spoil it, so i nagged and nagged for him to cut down.

One day i came home fom work, and he announced he was stopping. Knowing the dangers of just stopping drinking alcohol, i told him to have a little to ensure his own safety. The following day as i was at work, he hadn't had any alcohol all day and was starting to become withdrawn. He was being sick, sweating heavily and shaking. No sooner had i suggested half a can, he was on the floor fitting.

I called an ambulance and he was taken to the local hospital. He suffered a further fit in the a&e dept, o heyadmitted him to hospital.

The next 2 days he deteriated and became a state of dementia, not knowing who i was, becoming agressive to the other patients because he believed he was at home, didn't sleep for 2 days and was haloosinating(sp). This was due to thew lack of vitamins in his system, and because of him not acknowledging being ill, he kept ripping his drip out.

The hospital were unable to answer questions about how long it would take to recover, if infact he would. They said his was quite a bad reaction.

After a further 3 days, he started to come round. His appetite returned and an acknowlegement of his ilness was finally accepted.

Our holiday had to be cancelled and we were unable to claim on the insurance, due to it being self inflicted. His nerve endings were damaged and his balance was severley affected.

After 10 days in hospital he was discharged under the suprvision of myself and on the understanding he continued his treatment at the local drug abuse centre. Medication lasted a further 3 weeks.

I had to go back to work, after that and that is when the hard work started for him. He realised the cider had nearly killed him, so asked if he could try shandy. I found Asda did a shandy for 50p a bottle and contained less then .5% alcohol. This is all he drinks now. Yes i know some people still class as alcohol, but it was never about the drinking, it was about the amount. It is now 6 months since this happened and he is still on the shandy.

He will occasionally have a pint of lager in my company, but will not touch anything whilst on his own.

On a healthier side, he has since put on nearly 3 stone and about 4 inch on his waist size. He now weighs 11 stone and waist size 34. This show s the state his body wa in

My home life is now alot better, and like i say if one person can read this and thnk " i need to cut down on my alcohol intake", i'll be happy.

I'm sure your son is ok, but please make sure you let him see this story if you feel able too.

All the best

jo