MrTWS

For the benefit of alcoholics

In case anyone ever has any doubts about the safety of long term alcohol abuse, I would like to point out some disturbing and not so nice points. The information below is based on real-life experiences and recent events that have been deeply disturbing.

We all (maybe not all) may enjoy drinking. However, drinking to excess can be a danger for any of us, and even more so, when that excess becomes an addiction. As we become more reliant on alcohol, the dangers can become so frightening, that not only can the intoxicated person end “their day” with a drink, but also “start a new day” with more drink. Before people realise they have become alcoholics and totally dependant upon drink.

As the addiction grows, they may suffer epileptic fits (resulting in seizures) and these seizures can be brought on by drinking too much, or by sudden drops in alcohol levels, by stress, by severe anxiety, lack of sleep or tiredness, irregular meals and other factors. The seizures can last from 30 seconds to 3 to 4 minutes, sometimes even longer in severe cases, and during this time, the person who is having the seizure may severely injure themselves, bite their tongue, damage their head as they fall and generally end up in a very bad way.

Looking at the 2 sides of the coin, so to speak the person having the seizure will probably have no warning at all that they are about to enter a fit. It has been suggested that some may experience warning symptoms for a short while before a seizure. This is called an ‘aura’. The aura can take various forms. For example, odd movements, odd sensations, or intense emotions. However, many people do not have auras, and a seizure commonly occurs without any warning. A tonic-clonic seizure is the most common type of generalised seizure. The following gives a typical description -

Your body becomes rigid due to strong muscular contractions (the ‘tonic’ part). You lose consciousness and fall. Your chest muscles contract and force air out of your mouth, often with a grunt. Your jaw muscles contract and you may bite your tongue. Saliva may escape from your mouth. Your bladder may contract and you may pass urine. This stiff or tonic phase soon passes into the clonic (shaking or convulsive) phase. This is when the muscles repeatedly contract and relax. Your whole body appears to shake. This may last anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes.

When the seizure has stopped, you gradually regain consciousness, but you may be confused and dazed for a while. The time taken to recover varies. You may have some soreness due to the muscular contractions. You may have a headache and want to sleep after a seizure.

From the prospective of the onlooker (especially family members) all they can do is try their best to prevent you from injuring yourself by supporting your head, and re-assuringly talking to you, and hoping that you will eventually come to. If you have bitten your tongue several times during the seizure, they will notice blood trickling from your mouth, and they will hear your breathing being deep and laboured, then suddenly shallow and almost as if you are just asleep. It may take up to 10 minutes before YOU wake up, but even then you’re still not really awake, and your eyes will look vacant, and be staring widely because of the seizure that has occurred within your brain. Even when they can begin to sit up, they will be confused, disorientated and completely unbalanced in their movements and walking. This is because the brain has had a burst of abnormal electrical activity, and the only warning an onlooker may get is the person shrieking before they go into the seizure, and literally that is a second, maybe two.

It is not a pleasant nor desirable thing to witness, or have happen to you, but the true measure of an alcoholic is someone who knows they have fits, but just because they cannot see what is happening, or because their addiction is stronger than their will to get better, the results are pretty awful, and quite frankly, unbearable.