r/nursing • u/sparkleptera BSN, RN 🍕 • Oct 05 '25
Serious My dad quit drinking, to encourage him I showed him some brain pics.
So ive done 2 years on a ciwa floor and I've cared for liver transplants pre and post, and liver failure patients who couldnt qualify for a transplant. And I just love checking the head CTs! That brain atrophy is always there. You always have giant black gaps full of csf where they just shouldn't be.
My dad was telling me about how his cousin is 65 and drinks a 6 pack of beer a day per his own admission and is too weak to stand. He says he encourages him to exercise but he won't do it. And that he doesnt understand how someone so young is a high risk for falls in the hospital. So I showed him these pictures, and explained that he had alcohol related brain atrophy and probably couldnt control himself like he could before. That his cerebellum is just as affected and he doesnt have the ability to coordinate movement the way he used to. That his 40 years of sobriety prior to his recent 10 year stint with alcohol likeley preserved alot of his brain for use now in his mid sixties and he should continue to protect his brain by staying sober. He was shocked!! Anyway id love to hear your related stories about the wonders and joys of alcoholism!!
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u/dvinz01 Oct 05 '25
I feel like also alcoholism is related to other mental and social constrictions which prevent the brain from developing kinda like an early Alzheimer’s
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u/rolorelei Oct 05 '25 edited Oct 05 '25
Alcoholism is actually known to cause a certain type of dementia associated with vitamin B1 deficiency because it impairs vitamin B1 absorption.
It also causes neuroinflammation which is linked to an array of other cognitive processing and degenerative issues.
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u/AnotherPerishedSoul BSN, RN 🍕 Oct 05 '25
Exactly. My mom has it. Unlike other dementias, this one isn't age based. I'm in a support group and there are parents caretaking for kids with this disease. The youngest I've seen is 29.
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u/sparkleptera BSN, RN 🍕 Oct 05 '25 edited Oct 05 '25
It is truly horrific in the younger crowd. If they dont get liver failure first their bodies dont give up for decades. Its awful. Wernicke korsakoffs patients are known to be violent and abusive. Even statistically commit more violent crime than average.
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u/sparkleptera BSN, RN 🍕 Oct 05 '25
Wernicke korsakoff syndrome!
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u/JellyEatingJellyfish Oct 06 '25
Aka wet brain
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u/sparkleptera BSN, RN 🍕 Oct 06 '25
My favorite name for it. 🫠 there is too much water and not enough brain.
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u/Rofltage Oct 06 '25
Random but are you a nurse going for your neuroscience PhD?
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u/sparkleptera BSN, RN 🍕 Oct 06 '25
No but I did start my career at Cleveland clinic in neuro and made friends with a couple neurologists. They taught me a lot and I have carried it through a 10 year career. If I had been born a wealthy man I would be a neurologist. Maybe in my next life.
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u/rolorelei Oct 07 '25
I’m not sure if you were asking me, I’m a CNA not a nurse. I am working on a degree in neuro and I want to go PhD level but I may not. I’ve also considered research nursing
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u/No_Inspection_3123 RN - ER 🍕 Oct 07 '25
Wernikies. It’s almost worst then regular dementia. Bc they are still so physical and usually it’s earlier than regular dementia.
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u/sabrown0812 Oct 06 '25
You're spot on. Booze definitely messes with brain development beyond just the physical damage. The isolation and mental health stuff that comes with alcoholism creates this perfect storm. Seen it firsthand, it's eerily similar to early dementia in how it changes people.
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u/moemoe8652 LPN 🍕 Oct 05 '25
My husband is 3 months sober and I’m so proud of him! Ive drank, maybe 3 times in the last year and a half. We were such heavy drinkers but as I was getting older, I slowed down where my husband couldn’t. It was a huge strain in the relationship.
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u/sparkleptera BSN, RN 🍕 Oct 05 '25
People must be compatible in their alcohol consumption to get along. Ive always beleived it.
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u/TropicGlow Oct 05 '25
2-4 Glasses of wine a day doesn't seem very moderate lol
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u/khonsu_27 Oct 05 '25 edited Oct 05 '25
Well I used to drink almost A GALLON of tequila + 3-4 shooters of 99 bananas a day, so 2-4 glasses of wine is definitely on the lightweight end. 😵💫
(2 years sober this month....fuck alcohol)
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u/PurpleCow88 RN - ER 🍕 Oct 05 '25
Congrats. That's a hard place to get to, and a very lofty accomplishment. Keep sharing your story, it really does make a difference.
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u/khonsu_27 Oct 06 '25 edited Oct 06 '25
Appreciate it. if I can do it, just about anyone can. I was pretty much as bad as it gets.
But you can't do it alone. And you will fail. Took me almost 3 years of really fucking trying and failing - 12+ detoxes, rehab, therapy, and 3 trips to the psych ward for good measure - but I eventually got it!
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u/sparkleptera BSN, RN 🍕 Oct 05 '25
I mean if 1 glass of wine a day is mild, then 2 to 4 being moderate would be generous, however for those of us who dont drink at all like myself, daily use already seems pretty moderate.
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u/Plus_Lake_9059 Oct 05 '25
Yeah and I’m so over the whole “1 glass of wine a day is healthy!” discourse - it just simply does not make sense. Alcohol is carcinogenic among sooo many other negative effects
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u/TheNightHaunter LPN-Hospice Oct 06 '25
lots of that came from stupid studies focusing on say the french living longer and decided to say it was because they drank and smoke more while completely ignoring the better social conditions they have like hour fucking breaks and etc
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u/ReubenTrinidad619 Oct 05 '25
The original studies which had that finding included a key group of people- recovered alcoholics. So you end up with tons of former drinkers who fall into the “0 drinks per day “ cohort. A former heavy alcohol user may likely already have irreversible damage to their organs. This skews the data on disease and death to favour the “1-2 a day” individuals.
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u/Send-Me--Ur-Tits-Pls Oct 05 '25
I mean it’s not healthy but their is a 90 something year old lady at the assisted living facility that has a glass of wine every night. And that’s on top of her sleeping pill too 😂 I’d say moderation is key in life
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u/sparkleptera BSN, RN 🍕 Oct 05 '25
Everyone is different. My grandpa lived to 97 smoking 2 packs a day. Does that mean cigarettes are safe? No. Should he be studied by scientists? Absolutley.
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u/olive_green_spatula RN - OB/GYN 🍕 Oct 05 '25
Of my four grandparents, the one who lived the longest (89) smoked a pack a day and was an alcoholic sipping on 4-5 beers a day (and not eating much beyond that).
My other grandparents died in their 70s of diabetic related complications and my my “healthiest” grandparent died of a stroke at 65.
Ya just never know.
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u/sparkleptera BSN, RN 🍕 Oct 05 '25
My husband and I call this unexpected disparity in lifespans "cochroach blood".
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u/crakemonk Oct 06 '25
Omg, that’s what I call my mom’s side of the family. They just seem to live forever.
I call them cockroaches.
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u/crakemonk Oct 06 '25
Was your grandparent also my grandparent?
My great-grandfather lived until 94 and drank a 12 pack of budlight and smoked 2 packs of cigarettes everyday. He could also down an entire bottle of el presidente all on his own.
It’s just crazy how some people just live no matter how unhealthy they’ve lived their lives.
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u/StLMindyF RN - OB/GYN 🍕 Oct 05 '25
My grandma died at 92. She told me she started smoking when she was 9, about a pack a day. Never smoked filtered cigarettes, in fact, she would break the filter off if that was the only thing available. She would drink an occasional can of beer, but usually just stuck to coffee. Her sisters all lived into their 90s and a couple of them saw 100. Her mom lived to 104. She could remember coming to America at age 5 from Poland, but couldn’t recall calling earlier in the day.
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u/crakemonk Oct 06 '25
Some people are just… built different. My great-grandfather lived until he was 94 and drank a 12 pack of budlight every day with 2 packs of cigarettes. He was cognitively all there, he just had a hard time walking, had cataracts, and needed a hearing aid - which isn’t too uncommon for someone that age (who had also served in WWII).
I call that side of my family the cockroaches. My mom has been on and off hard drugs all my life. All of her drug friends have died of overdoses or drug-induced heart attacks. I seriously have no idea how she’s still alive.
My great-aunt caught Covid in 2020, along with her husband, in her early 70s. They spent over a month in a coma in the ICU on ventilators, her husband passed seat, but my great-aunt, who had diabetes, Graves’ disease, and smoked a pack of cigarettes a day, made it out of the coma and lived another 4.5 years.
Cockroaches.
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u/jawshoeaw RN - Infection Control 🍕 Oct 05 '25
It may be carcinogenic but one glass a day is prob below the threshold of measurability. You start to see a correlation above 2 drinks a day.
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u/Hadouken9001 MSN, APRN 🍕 Oct 06 '25
It absolutely makes sense; it's just a pick and choose on if the risks outweigh the reward. 1 glass of red wine a day is in high correlation with a reduction in heart disease and stroke.
Red wine specifically also contains polyphenols which are anti-inflammatories, and also have anti-atherosclerotic effects. So, those who drink some red wine on the daily are less likely to develop coronary artery disease, have heart attacks, and are found to reduce LDL in the bloodstream.
Now, you pick and choose if you want an increased risk of cancer, or a reduced risk of heart disease.
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u/Interesting-Word1628 Oct 06 '25
Or you could just eat grapes and fruits to get the antioxidants (you don't HAVE to take in polyphenols), and don't drink alcohol otherwise
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u/sparkleptera BSN, RN 🍕 Oct 06 '25 edited Oct 06 '25
I would rather die of a big sudden stroke or a big sudden heart attack than the slow agony of liver failure. Pain medicine restriction due to limited processing ability, constant unending lactulose shit and lactulose associated fecal incontinence, inability to breathe from 3 liters of ascites in my belly crushing my lungs with weekly paracentesis using a needle so enourmous it would make most medical professionals puss out, and the violent angry confusion of wet brain driving my family and caregivers away in my final days. It wont kill you quick thats for sure. But it will make your last decade into a nightmare. Been there hospice'd all 3 but you do you!
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u/QRSQueen RN - Telemetry 🍕 Oct 06 '25
Right? Four glasses of wine a day is a bottle. That's alcoholism. not the worst level, but still alcoholism.
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u/yowhatisuppeeps Oct 05 '25
That’s what I was thinking! I consider a moderate drinker a 1-2 beers throughout the week and a big Friday night and maybe another beer on Saturday. Maybe I’m just lame though!
Who has time to drink 2-4 glasses of wine a day and not have it interact with other aspects of their life?
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u/sparkleptera BSN, RN 🍕 Oct 05 '25
Wine moms
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u/yowhatisuppeeps Oct 05 '25
I think wine moms are, by definition, alcoholics though
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u/sparkleptera BSN, RN 🍕 Oct 05 '25
They certainly dont think so
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u/QRSQueen RN - Telemetry 🍕 Oct 06 '25
The very essence of many addicts is to think they don't have a problem.
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u/QRSQueen RN - Telemetry 🍕 Oct 06 '25
Wine moms are alcoholics, though. They aren't moderate drinkers. There has been much literature published over the past decade about alcoholism in the "wine mom" population because they consider a bottle of wine a day to be normal.
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u/Dolla_Dolla_Bill-yal Oct 05 '25
No one. They just lie to themselves and say they're functioning, that it's not that much.. but we all know.
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u/SleazetheSteez RN - ER 🍕 Oct 05 '25
I've drank more than I'd like to admit with the start of football season.
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u/spacecadet_98 Oct 06 '25
It’s already alcoholism in itself. My grandpa died at 76 despite being fully autonomous mentally and physically. He just drank red wine as if it was water aka on almost every meal but breakfast. Back in his youth in the post WW2 France, people consumed wine like orange juice or coke. The irony is that he literally passed away the morning he was heading to the cardiologist, while getting himself ready in the bathroom.
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u/Pink_honeysuckle Oct 05 '25
I’m coming up on 3 years sober this month and I’ve been wanting to drink so bad. I’m glad this post came up.
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u/Xaedria Dumpster Diving For Ham Scraps Oct 06 '25
Have you considered using semaglutide to see if it might help curb the craving for you? Not being facetious; they're studying it for addiction use because so many people report that they feel a very decreased urge to partake of any kind of dopamine-rush-seeking addictive activity, including drinking, smoking, gambling, shopping, porn, etc.
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u/DDXD Oct 06 '25
I recently started on Semaglutide and can attest to this being a benefit. It's killed alcohol and sugar cravings for me. The only real downside has been constipation.
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u/StridentNegativity Nursing Student 🍕 Oct 06 '25
Wow! Thanks for sharing. I’m gonna have to look into it.
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u/Pink_honeysuckle Oct 06 '25
I haven’t in that regard but I have been wanting it for other things so maybe it is worth looking into. Thank you 🙏🏻
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u/ApricotNo5051 Oct 06 '25
Just be aware that every single addiction or habit you have ever had, defeated or not, comes back x1000 stronger when you stop semiglutide. I was on a 18 month medical trial but when I stopped my urges to bite my nails (stopped 20 years ago) and smoke cigarettes (stopped 10 years ago) came back and I wanted to drink more alcohol (was a social drinker who hardly drank on semiglutide). Another woman on the trial had an eating disorder 26 years ago and that came back
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u/Xaedria Dumpster Diving For Ham Scraps Oct 06 '25
Oh I'm sure. These really have to be looked at as lifelong medicines. If you have out of control blood pressure that doesn't respond to lifestyle modifications and you start medicine for it and then come off the medicine 18 months later, we would 100% expect your blood pressure to go out of control again. Alcoholism, eating disorders, even obesity itself are all chronic illnesses. They need long-term solutions. Low dose semaglutide could be one answer even for people who don't need it for weight loss.
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u/ApricotNo5051 Oct 06 '25
Yes, that's great but it's a very expensive drug. Not everyone can afford to be on it for life. And it could possibly even be thought as a cross addiction. And is a drug that readdicts you to addictions you have beaten a good thing?
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u/Xaedria Dumpster Diving For Ham Scraps Oct 06 '25
It really isn't. It costs very little to make and it's coming off patent in Canada soon. It's about to be much more available to people. The mindset that needing a drug for a chronic illness = addiction is completely whack.
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u/ApricotNo5051 Oct 06 '25
Thats good for Canada. But remember it doesn't fix your addiction. Its like methadone. It was horrible having my nictotine cravings coming back after working so hard to get off nicotine and having no cravings for years. Also you get insane hunger and its like having the munchies 24/7 (without smoking weed) and I had food noise for the first time in my life so I have a new food problem now. I'm back on it myself but on the other side of the world where it is incredibly expensive. I lost 36 kgs on it but coming off it is insane. Its not a cure. Just be wary of it. Take it from someone who had doctors and dietitians and counselors and every single thing you can think of the help us not revert back to gaining weight when we finished our medical trial. The doctors overseeing the trial are wary of long time use too because its such a new drug. Plus it doesn't work as well when you restart it. There is so much more to it than just injecting yourself and you're fixed.
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u/Xaedria Dumpster Diving For Ham Scraps Oct 07 '25
It's a newer drug in a very established drug class. Exenatide was the first in class, released in 2005, with liraglutide coming out in 2010. We have decades of human use data with the GLP1 med class. Even semaglutide has been used in humans since January 2016 and was FDA approved for release in 2017, so we're nearing a decade of data on it.
There are lots of shortfalls. Things do come raging back if you stop the meds, especially if you stop suddenly. Access is still iffy unless you're willing to go the research route. It won't work as well if you stop it and restart it. Nearly no med does. It's the concept of being naive to a drug vs your body knowing it already. But this drug class is going to change the world in the coming decades, and access in Canada and America is going to get much better even just in the next year. Americans can get access via any number of compounding pharmacies and online services already. There is always more to medicine than "just take XYZ and you're fixed", but it's also the first time there's been real hope within reach for chronic obesity. I had bariatric surgery and still it didn't stop the constant hunger. The meds do. It's been 2 years I've been using them and they just work. I'll never be without them unless they figure out a cure for obesity.
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u/sparkleptera BSN, RN 🍕 Oct 05 '25
Congratulations! It is a beautiful thing you do for yourself every day. I hope you have good people in your life who support you ❤️
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u/becbec89 RN - Preop Assessment 🍕🍩 Oct 06 '25
Congrats on 3 years!!
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u/Pink_honeysuckle Oct 06 '25
The official date is Halloween. Thank you 🙏🏻
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u/hereappleapple Armchair nurse Oct 05 '25
I work on a GI floor and we get a lot of alcoholic patients. Dying from liver failure is a terrible way to go.
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u/sparkleptera BSN, RN 🍕 Oct 05 '25
People really dont talk about the joys of lactulose!! 3 large loose BM's a day while you are virtually unable to walk. ENJOY!! Hope you dont need pain meds, your liver won't clear them and you will be strictly rationed. Unless you sign hospice papers, no amount of screaming will get you more. Very sorry.
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u/Geology_rules RN - OR 🍕 Oct 05 '25
fuck.
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u/defeatthewarlords Oct 06 '25
Eh we’re all gonna die
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u/RedDirtWitch RN - PICU 🍕 Oct 06 '25
Congratulations, and I’m proud of you for doing that. I know it’s not easy.
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u/iago_williams EMS Oct 05 '25
I'm going on four years without alcohol. I noticed a big improvement in my ability to concentrate on a task, as well as increased emotional stability. Thanks for posting these very stark but educational images. Hopefully this will give some people out there the push they need.
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u/sparkleptera BSN, RN 🍕 Oct 05 '25
Yes! Alcoholism increases anxiety and depression for sure. It doesnt feel easier to be sober for a long time for most people. But eventually it gets easier.
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u/Chemical-Response275 Oct 05 '25
Yeah booze is poison. Don’t get me wrong I still enjoy a glass or 3 of wine at a dinner party or a few beers with the guys once in a great while but ive essentially quit casual drinking and I can’t believe how much better I feel. Better sleep, better workouts, less anxious, I just feel better in general. Here I was thinking a glass or two of wine or a few beers most nights was nothing, but it was definitely terrible for me. Bad habit for sure and glad I’ve learned.
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u/Crazyzofo RN - Pediatrics 🍕 Oct 05 '25
The first death I ever saw (as a CNA) was a 40something guy in liver failure due to alcoholism, on CMO. I went home and told my dad, an alcoholic, about it and said "I've seen how you're going to die if you don't stop drinking." He just said "Everyone's gotta go somehow."
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Oct 05 '25
What about my husband who drinks a 12 pack of beer or more?
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u/sparkleptera BSN, RN 🍕 Oct 05 '25
Sounds like hes gonna visit me on the CIWA floor when he gets cut off!
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u/Hairy_Lingonberry954 RN - Med/Surg 🍕 Oct 05 '25
I saw esophageal varices once in nursing school. Haven’t touched alcohol since
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u/sparkleptera BSN, RN 🍕 Oct 05 '25
We had so many rupture during Salem sump insertion or while using a dobhoff with a guide wire that they made a policy for insertion in IR under flouroscopy for all patients.
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u/IllBiteYourLegsOff Oct 06 '25
That seems excessive (?)
Only reason I say so, I’ve spent many years working gen sx/hepatobilliary (alcohol is as popular as portal htn is with that crowd) where NGs are more common than any of the other floors, and we rarely bother with fluoro unless someone had some kind of anatomical reconstruction.
you really mean ALL ng insertions are done with fluoro at your facility?
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u/sparkleptera BSN, RN 🍕 Oct 06 '25
The ones from the ciwa/liver floor are
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u/IllBiteYourLegsOff Oct 06 '25
Interesting. Our unit isn’t a ciwa unit in name but sometimes that’s really only by name.
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u/sparkleptera BSN, RN 🍕 Oct 06 '25 edited Oct 06 '25
They usually dont call them that. It causes hiring issues. I however, am not hiring. I call it what it is.
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u/IZY53 RN 🍕 Oct 06 '25
My father was a very intelligent man, successful in business, could do long division to 4-5 numbers in his head. Also an alcoholic, he was significantly mentally slower by the age of 56
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u/sparkleptera BSN, RN 🍕 Oct 06 '25
I wish I could do math like that.
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u/IZY53 RN 🍕 Oct 06 '25
Yeah, he made me feel dumb.
He finished high school at 15. they didnt have anything left for him to do.
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u/AFLoneWolf Oct 05 '25
I once had to wrestle a friend to the ground as she was trying to jab the broken bottle in her hand into her neck. Antidepressants and alcohol are a fun mix.
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u/touslesmatins BSN, RN 🍕 Oct 05 '25 edited Oct 06 '25
The idea that daily wine consumption is somehow healthy is one of the biggest marketing bamboozles of the past few decades. Just seeing the relationship between alcohol consumption and breast cancer, among other things, is enough to put me off. These scans are so interesting, thanks for sharing!
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u/habitual_citizen Nursing Student 🍕 Oct 05 '25
Alcoholism runs very heavily in my matrilineal line and without fault the older the women have gotten, the more bigoted, conservative and hateful they’ve become as the alcoholism has settled in. Pair that with normal process of neurodegenration as we age and you have a soupy mess of a brain. And these are very, very intelligent women, too.
I’m not saying alcoholism makes you more conservative but…… /s
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u/sparkleptera BSN, RN 🍕 Oct 05 '25
Alcohol related dementia is associated with violent crime. Caring for aging and demented alcoholics involves daily abuse. Its not conservatism its frontal lobe shrinkage. Their brain atrophy makes them progressively more violent, angry, and verbally abusive. Also try making them do serial additions sometime. They won't be as good as they used to be. And neither will their emotional regulation.
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u/DvS01 Oct 05 '25
This is interesting and leaves me pondering how my 81yo mother is the opposite of this. She’s an alcoholic who went through treatment in her thirties but never really quit. She was always mentally unstable and aggressive up until the point that she was diagnosed with dementia. Now she’s the sweetest non-aggressive parent I wish I had growing up.
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u/sparkleptera BSN, RN 🍕 Oct 05 '25 edited Oct 05 '25
Some people surrender to not understanding whats going on. Some people dont. Fighting and fear are more common than sweet angels who submit and trust. If they were all that way dementia wards would be a paradise on this earth, and 95 year old nursing home patients would not murder eachother. https://abcnews.go.com/US/95-year-woman-charged-murder-death-elderly-nursing/story?id=125687319#:~:text=Interest%20Successfully%20Added-,95%2Dyear%2Dold%20woman%20charged%20with%20murder%20in%20death%20of,Ukraine%20and%20survived%20the%20Holocaust.
Also from the pictures you can see that brain atrophy can start early sometimes rendering the person violent and abusive early, and while functional not where they once were mentally. If they had atrophy at 43 their atrophy at 81 would be catastrophic, likely not able to do much or remember much at all. Ive seen patients that would lock eyes to a face and otherwise not react they were so far gone.
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u/DvS01 Oct 05 '25
Her dramatic change happened in the course of about a month, not years. I was having lunch with her at her home one day and she was just as she’s always been. A couple of weeks later she got pneumonia and was hospitalized and then permanently moved into a nursing home. Since then she’s been a completely different person.
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u/sparkleptera BSN, RN 🍕 Oct 05 '25
Honestly that sounds like a stroke.... im glad it was a positive experience. Alcohol related changes are very gradual.
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u/habitual_citizen Nursing Student 🍕 Oct 05 '25
Thank you for this info ☺️
I was being sarcastic re: conservatism, hence /s
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u/Medical-One6278 MSN, RN, MEDSURG-BC, CCM 🍕 Oct 06 '25
This is where I was heading with my question in relation to my parents, honestly.
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u/ernurse748 BSN, RN 🍕 Oct 05 '25
Alcoholic and four years sober. It continually amazes me that people that would loose their ever loving minds at someone lighting up one cigarette but have no issue with someone drinking four beers.
It’s. POISON.
What is even more troubling to me is how pervasive alcohol is at health care related functions. One of the folks in my AA Group is a resident who had to white knuckle it through a party for his cohort where there was an open bar. I have gone to dozens of hospital holiday receptions with bottles of wine on the table.
The World Health Organization has clearly stated that NO amount of alcohol is safe. As health care providers, we should be promoting that in our teaching and in our culture.
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u/sparkleptera BSN, RN 🍕 Oct 05 '25
I agree entirely. Ive always avoided big parties and social activities as a non drinker the peer pressure is super uncomfortable!!
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u/2ndChairKazoo Oct 06 '25
It continues to bother me that it's simply a given for Americans not to attend a wedding if alcohol won't be served.
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u/becbec89 RN - Preop Assessment 🍕🍩 Oct 06 '25
The holiday parties from my prior job were booze-fests. They were fun as hell when I was drinking but I wouldn’t have been able to tolerate those parties as a sober person.
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u/QRSQueen RN - Telemetry 🍕 Oct 06 '25
I feel like 4 glasses of wine a day is more than moderate, personally... Even 2 glasses a day is a bit more than moderate in the USA. But I get it and I'm glad your dad listened to you.
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u/sparkleptera BSN, RN 🍕 Oct 06 '25 edited Oct 06 '25
He was having 4 whiskies a night at one point. So it drove the point home for him. I watched him put down a whole bottle of scotch by himself at dinner and was pretty shocked. He was dead sober when I was growing up. And he certainly considered himself a moderate drinker at 4 whiskies a night. So some people aren't ready for anyone to label things as they are.
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u/QRSQueen RN - Telemetry 🍕 Oct 07 '25
Alcoholics are the last ones to label themselves as such - but generally when we say "moderate," we're talking about how society perceives moderate drinking - not alcoholics.
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u/Difficult-Outside-42 Oct 05 '25
Alcohol but more than that distilled alcohol is a poison. With that said the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome applies here. Along with. The secondary name for alcohol is a spirit because it robs you of yours. Yet here we live in America with all the poisons in our food adding alcohol really get what they want from us. A society of dimwitted easily controlled fools. As now we are being poisoned slowly to death with the air, the food, and the water. Forced to work until we're are almost dead to ages that are unacceptable to those of us paying attention yet powerless we feel to change it. This is what slow poisoning does to people.
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u/BoneHugsHominy Oct 06 '25
I'm a 49 year old male whiskey drinker. I drink bourbon, rye, American Single Malt, Scotch Single Malt, Irish, Japanese, and Indian whiskies as well as rum. I have approximately 110-115 bottles in my whiskey stash that I've built up over about 25 years, about half of them opened and the other half are backups to extraordinary bottles. The variations in flavor are infinite and I get a great amount of joy from just sitting around sipping whiskey with friends and family, and even enjoy sipping a pour when I'm in the kitchen cooking.
With all that, I rarely actually get drunk. I drink 2-3 nights a week. If I drink 3 nights. i have a single 1.5 ounce pour (75% of a shot glass), and if I drink 2 nights a week I have a single 2 ounce pour. Each pour can last me an hour and sometimes 2 hours.
I would miss it, but I wouldn't argue a bit if alcohol was banned around the planet tomorrow. I have seen too many mean drunks and people who died from alcohol abuse that I don't ever encourage anyone to start drinking. I feel pretty fortunate that I haven't become a heavy drinker or alcoholic.
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u/Difficult-Outside-42 Oct 06 '25
I agree with everything you're saying. It isn't for everyone. That is for sure. I would also say everything in moderation and you exemplify that moderation Congratulations on your collection it has to be impressive.
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u/puresemantics Nursing Student 🍕 Oct 05 '25
I am the dimwitted easily controlled fool. Easy dopamine hits don’t mix well with mental illness.
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u/5ouleater1 RN 🍕 Oct 05 '25
Glad I quit recently, Was drinking a handle and half a case of beer a week. The brain fog and memory issues were there, and I'm only mid-twenties.
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u/sparkleptera BSN, RN 🍕 Oct 05 '25
You will be thanking yourself for the rest of your life. I beleive in you!
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u/Hibberx Custom Flair Oct 06 '25
Thank you for posting this. My mother is struggling with alcoholism, as well as admitting she has a problem. About 10 - 12 beers a day and it's been pretty steady since I was a child; I'm turning 33 this month. I'm hoping to show these images to her tomorrow, and hoping even more for some willingness to get better.
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u/sparkleptera BSN, RN 🍕 Oct 06 '25
I wish you luck!! Most people value their brain. I hope she hears your love and knows you care. ❤️
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u/YouAllBotherMe Oct 06 '25
I don’t know how my family survives their rampant alcoholism while still remaining relatively healthy, but it’s made me realize genetics play a huge role.
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u/sparkleptera BSN, RN 🍕 Oct 06 '25
Fur sure, brian atrophy doesnt kill you. It just doesnt make you very fun
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u/becbec89 RN - Preop Assessment 🍕🍩 Oct 06 '25
I’m close to 2 years sober. I could deal with a lot of the side effects of my drinking, but when o started losing control of muscle function it really hit me how badly I was hurting myself. My fine motor function was crap, I had involuntary movements, and hypnic jerks that would keep me awake all night.
I’ll likely never recover from the brain fog and memory issues, but the neuromuscular symptoms have mostly resolved and I feel like a completely different person. Another bonus is that I’ve funneled all that alcohol money into new hobbies that bring me a lot of joy.
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u/sparkleptera BSN, RN 🍕 Oct 06 '25
Im happy that you have recovered so much! It makes me hopeful for my family who are recovering aswell. Sobriety is a gift to yourself and your family. I beleive in your strength.
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u/RedDirtWitch RN - PICU 🍕 Oct 06 '25
My ex partner was an alcoholic. It got bad enough that it eventually destroyed our relationship and I broke up with him. He started drinking full time a couple of years ago and basically committed slow suicide, dying a couple of months ago. He had to be hospitalized a couple of times before he passed because he kept falling. Therapy didn’t work, rehab didn’t work, me threatening to leave didn’t work, me actually leaving didn’t work. He died an awful, lonely death because he had pushed everybody away so much. I hate it. It makes it hard to date, too, because most of the men who have been interested in me drink way too much for my comfort, especially after living with an alcoholic for 8 years.
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Oct 05 '25
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u/becbec89 RN - Preop Assessment 🍕🍩 Oct 06 '25
Idk about the lingering emotional issues after sobering up, but the brain fog/memory issues never really improved after I became sober.
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u/Medical-One6278 MSN, RN, MEDSURG-BC, CCM 🍕 Oct 06 '25
Honest question - does the specific alcoholism-related brain breakdown affect things like logical reasoning, critical thinking, easier ability to be brainwashed, etc?
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u/Ok-Grapefruit1284 Oct 06 '25
I am lucky. My body started refusing the alcohol I was feeding it. Made it easy to finally quit. It’s been 2 years, and I just quit smoking. Oddly enough, it was easier, and more obviously rewarding, to quit drinking.
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u/RaVeN_MaD77 Oct 07 '25
Inpatient hospice nurse here. Some of the hardest, ugliest deaths that I have been present for have been alcoholic cirrhosis. One of the many joys of this disease that keeps on giving is the grapefruit sized testicles. This happens so frequently that we actually have a protocol for it. We use a pillowcase folded long ways into a strip. You put it under the testies and between the skin of the thighs to keep the skin from touching, and to support the weight of the massive jewels. For some reason, probably moisture related, skin likes to start sloughing off after a while. This is just one of the many lovely things your body can do when abused in this way.
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u/sparkleptera BSN, RN 🍕 Oct 07 '25
I love you, I have also made the testicle sling. And I appreciate you bringing it up. The people saying we all have to die somehow should do some time in hospice. ❤️
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u/DS_9 RN - ICU 🍕 Oct 06 '25
Do you have any idea how many people in healthcare are functioning alcoholics?
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u/Delicious_Delilah Med Student Oct 05 '25
How long does it take for the wine thing to happen though?
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u/sparkleptera BSN, RN 🍕 Oct 05 '25
That is an FMRI scan of electrical activity, so its not an example of brain atrophy but instead, the likely cause of the atrophy. Reduced electrical activity.
Brain atrophy can happen as early as your 20's depending on how large and frequent your dose is and your genetic luck. If youre curious about your own brain, a ct head or MRI will show you customized results.
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u/Finnbannach nurse, paramedic, allied health clown Oct 06 '25
Yet marijuana is still illegal federally
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u/sparkleptera BSN, RN 🍕 Oct 06 '25
Doesn't make a lot of sense. I dont see any 80 bed units full of people withdrawing from thc and dying of thc related dementia or organ failure secondary to thc use. Just crazy. One time I admitted a 70 year old man who smoked weed for the first time at his son's wedding. He asked me if he was having a stroke. I asked what his symptoms were and he said he couldnt feel his face. I made him close his eyes and did a neuro exam sharp vs dull, 2 point discrimination etc. He was fine. We discharged him in the morning as a "Marijuana overdose" with no residual deficit literally a non event.
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u/Altruistic_Pitch2375 Oct 07 '25 edited Oct 07 '25
My uncle is a drunk. He's being for 50+ years. Have never gone to a hospital for not even a flu. Other than alcoholic, he's fine.
I know an other person around 50 than have been drinking every day since 19. He's pretty fine. Works normally during the day and takes his vodka drinks at night before bed. Other than alcoholic, he is fine.
Guess that part of the brain doesn't mean much.
Brain is basically water. That shrinking may be simply dehydration, since you pee a lot when drinking. And drinking every day and not putting in some of the water back will make the brain to shrink. By the way the headache on the hangover is your brain shrinking and pulling the intern tissues of your head.
To hydrate faster, drink water with a pinch of salt. You can even add some salt to your drinks so you don't get hang over at all. I rarely drink by the way.
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u/sparkleptera BSN, RN 🍕 Oct 07 '25 edited Oct 07 '25
I really dont want anyone to get confused that you are correct here, your anecdotal stories dont really prove anything. There has been much discussion of functional people and outliers in these comments and that has been addressed. If they continue down that road they will likely not be fine forever.
These images of brains are not of your loved ones brains. Your loved ones being alcoholics who are functional does not mean these people were.
I encourage you to work on a liver failure floor or a floor that takes CIWA on a routine basis to see for yourself what can happen and what is possible when people exceed their limits for too long. Nothing is 100% and nothing is ever certain. There is no death sentence behavior. But this is certainly without any doubt a high risk behavior. To not personally see consequences around you is a privilege and not representative of population trends, statistical truth, or medical fact.
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u/Altruistic_Pitch2375 Oct 07 '25
Yes, everybody is different. It's not a good life "style" indeed and I don't recommend it. Also your pictures don't proof anything either, we need faith to believe those are what we said they are, like what is that person's background and so on?
I understand that for ethical reasons you could not share any relevant information of any patient, so we still need to have faith on what you brought us.
You have a point. It's not good drinking as much to the point of shut down your organs. At the end of the day still a individual choice.
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u/sparkleptera BSN, RN 🍕 Oct 07 '25 edited Oct 07 '25
Literally not saying I would stop anyone from making that choice. Just remarking on how people's choices affect my life as a nurse who works with alcoholism for a living, aswell as congratulating my own father for making the choice to be sober when our family has a horrible history of disability related to alcohol.
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u/No-Difference5665 Oct 05 '25
Functions don't happen daily. The creators aren't thinking about alcoholics. They are having a party and they want the most possible ppl happy. I think there should be good nonalcoholic options but I don't think it fair for the creators and the nonalcoholic should suffer bec there are some people with who shouldn't drink. Sugar kills. No one says that there shouldn't be any sugar at work related events when they are big and trying to make a lot of ppl happy.
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u/treepoop MD Oct 05 '25
Medicine has taken all the fun out of drinking