General Chat

Well, I got my comeuppance today. I had an appointment at the cardio clinic, annual follow up after my by-pass. The doctor told me that my last blood test shows that I have raised levels of an enzyme in my liver associated with drinking too much alcohol. It is not at a dangerous level, but will be if I don't cut down to a more reasonable level. I shall start counting the units from today. Watch this space.

That must have been a shock!

If you are drinking down the pub, swap to a half instead of a pint and make it last. When you choose a low or non-alcoholic drink, your friends, if they are genuine, will support you.
<3

Well didnt want to say maybe you are drinking a wee bit too much but the results speak for themselves

At least you know that its is affecting your liver so you can take steps, before its got to be an addictive problem, to cut down

;-)

Bob

I presume.... you have to take medication to prevent the problems that you had leading to your by pass operation........ such as statins, these also can raise the enzymes level in your liver...... if your alcohol intake is on the high side this too will increase the chances of having a high reading.

Obviously you need the medication ..... so cutting down on the drinks is definitely the answer.

All best wishes, take care.

Jo

My friend Bill ignored this warning you've had and now it's too late for him. You'll still be able to drink, just cut it right down to allow your liver to rejuvenate itself.

My gran used to make me laugh about her drinking. She drank gin and tonic. The first drink of the evening was a G and T. Everyone saw her drink several more but still be totally sober. What they didn't know was all the other drinks were just tonic. She always said once she'd had a G and T all the other drinks of tonic tasted as though there was gin in it, so why waste her money (or anyone buying her a drink)on buying more gin. :-D

Good luck in sorting this out. :-)

Just saw this on another site :-D

The average human walks 900 miles per year and drinks 360 pints of beer. That works out at 45 MPG. ;-)

The average human does not drink 360 pints.

2014
'The country that consumes the most beer per head is the Czech Republic with 143 litres of the stuff consumed per person.'
(About 250 pints)


As long as you drink less than your GP, you should be fine.

.....trust me to have a teetotal GP :-|

When I was a child aged about 5-6 we lived with my Grandparents.

Every Sunday morning, just before lunch,my Nan would give me a tot glass of milk stout to build me up.......Would probably be reported to social services today :-D

Chris

Chris, my doctor 'advised' me to drink a bottle of stout every evening.
Why? Because I was pregnant and weighed 7 stone!!!
This was not 7 stone anorexia, this was 7 stone lifting half hundredweight of potatoes, many times, every day, this was 7 stone of agricultural labourer who was all muscle!!

So, I'd go to the pub and drink grapefruit and lemonade, then go home and drink a bottle of stout :-S

The baby turned out okay :-D

Maggie ~ many years ago a doc recommended I drink stout every night. My iron count was really low.

I couldn't stand the stuff! It was like drinking mud.

Told the doc and he said........ have a glass of port instead!

No problem.......... iron level got better, and I slept really well :-D

360 pints a year? That's not even one pint a day!

Bob


I'm going to be very blunt with you, and you (and others) may not like it ...............


Hard lines, 'cos I'm going to continue!!




the question becomes ........


do you want to live or die??


do you want to drink excessively and die?


or live longer with your loved ones and friends?





I had an oesophageal ulcer which healed, but left me with Barrett's Syndrome, which is a pre-pre-cancerous syndrome


The only thing I can do is to take 2 medications a day for the rest of my life to prevent gastric reflux


I didn't drink at all heavily, usually just 1 drink on Saturday and 1 on Sunday, and no more than 2 drinks in total on any day ................

I was not told to stop drinking although I know other people with the same problem who were told to stop


but I begin to get gastric reflux after a quarter of a glass ............... and to be honest wine and any alcohol tasted acid-y



I decided I did not want to develop oesophageal cancer, with all that implies



and stopped drinking




do you want to die of liver failure?



not only do you want to die of that ....................... but do you want to subject your family and friends to the horrible sight of you dying of it?



The choice is yours ............ you have been given a chance



do you take it, or are you going to be stupid?

I don't myself find the never ending wailing about this and that will ruin yr health / cause the end of civilisation (if any) as we know it credible and in particular the crusade against having a drink or two.

Binge drinking till you drop on a Friday night is pretty obviously a bad idea though largely a UK thing thank goodness.

The real danger to the health from alcohol is that is has no end of sugar in it so that quite small amounts can make you fat and then there are all sorts of consequences. The amount of sugar most people eat in fixxy drinks, ready meals, tea & coffee with sugar, chocolate and so on is astounding.

As well as cutting out sugary food the problem is easily fixed by doing some exercise - not a lot it doesn't need an hour down the gym going nuts. I play squash twice a week and run 2-3 miles most days but that is prob. a bit more than average. Regular exercise increases yr metabolic rate and thus it is easier to eat/drink what you fancy. By keeping alcohol intake/exercise in balance there is no need to have any hang up about units unless of course you are driving. Not a good idea when skiing either.

Our ancestors drank very large quantities of beer and wine well beyond what is regarded as excessive today yet with out much in the way of ill affects. They managed to do this because they were very active even the well off. Try riding a horse ten miles there for lunch and ten miles back again afterwards and you'll see.

Children also drank beer right into the C20 - it was the only source of water which could be sure not to be tainted with cholera.

What is destroying people's health is far too much time sat down mouse / telecommand in hand plus driving everywhere not a glass or two of malt whisky.

I haven't had a drink since Tuesday evening. All this talk of booze is making me thirsty.

Rollo


I'm not "wailing about this and that will cause ruin your health"


I'm talking about an individual facing up to the fact that a drink WILL ruin their health even more than it currently is



I don't give a damn what you do ......................


and I'm not warning anyone to stop drinking or they will develop what I have or what Bob's got



but both I and Bob have developed a health problem that will not miraculously go away ................ there's nowt either of us can do about it NOW


however we can live longer with it IF we do stop drinking, or at the very least, greatly curb it.



My oesophageal ulcer was not caused by drinking ............... it was caused by ignoring the fact that I had gastric acid reflux and treating it for far too long with Tums and Rolaids before going to the doctor.


however, I do not go around counselling people about it




I mentioned it on this thread only because I see Bob and I having health problems that can be helped, but not cured, by NOT drinking.

I just don't like the taste of alcohol, wine just tastes like vinegar to me, so it's difficult to understand the attraction.

However, I don't mind others enjoying a drink, but I was shocked to listen to the tv programme featured recently about the damage done to unborn babies through the mother drinking. It sounds as if the advice may be about to change. In America and Canada they said all alcohol in pregnancy should be avoided, that advice given about 18 years ago, if I remember correctly.

A wild girly night last night .
3 bottles of beer was all I could manage.

:-D :-D :-D

we also had a great night out ......................


a fund raising dinner dance


ticket for 1 free drink

free wine with dinner

cash bar open from 6:30 pm until end of dance



My free drink was cranberry juice.

Most people had no more than 3 glasses of wine ................. certainly no-one was staggering around.




I have noticed that there is a noticeable decrease in the amount of alcohol drunk by older people here .................... it's the young ones who get drunk, binge drink etc


could be something to do with the stringent drink drive laws we have had in effect for about 20 years :-)


Plus the fact that one's metabolism changs with age

Saw Bill this week. He was in a short sleeved shirt. On his right arm he had what looked like 3 large bruises. Close up I realised that it was areas where he was bleeding under the skin. I wonder how long he has?

I'm with you Sylvia, you've had the warning Bob, now it's up to you to decide whether drink is more important than your life. Ball's in your court Bob !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!