quote:

Originally posted by sigmonkey:
I do not see "alcoholism" as a "disease".

Maybe do some research on it.

Honestly, the complete cessation of alcohol for almost a week should have killed him. Only withdrawal from two classes of drugs will kill you when you're physically dependent and completely cease: benzodiazepines and alcohol. You cannot die from withdrawal from opiates, cocaine, or meth. But benzos and booze? Yes. ER's keep little airplane bottles of liquor or a few bottles of beer for this very reason.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
You quite correct. Abrupt cessation of either can cause seizures and worse. The withdrawal from benzos is very protracted and difficult.

As Para and others have stated, the OP does not want help......he wants sympathy!! He knows he is dying and is terrified thinking about it......so he takes another pill and another drink or two. He is not the only person that I know with these weaknesses. He wants folks to tell him how sorry they are for him and that makes him feel better. Only the OP can help himself, and he doesn't want to do that.

quote:

Originally posted by sigmonkey:
I do not see "alcoholism" as a "disease". It is a lifestyle choice one makes, no different than thrill seekers that splat themselves in a wingsuit into the hard earth, or any other choices that bring about a person's demise from foolish or intentional and needless behaviors.

Nope. I have a lot of respect for you, and usually, you're right. But you're wrong here. I could go on further, and started to, but we probably shouldn't do that here in this thread. The world medical community says you're wrong. Every sober alcoholic I know says you're wrong. My experience says you're wrong.

quote:

Originally posted by sigmonkey:
Regrettably, once a person has convinced themselves they have control over it all, they are correct, and no one, and no thing, can change that. Only that person can, but the first person to stop lying to, is themselves.

Nope, nope, and nope. Only God can. Active alcoholics are powerless over alcohol. Getting honest is a process, but I had to, have to ask my God to keep me from a drink. Not one fucking thing else has worked. RH cannot stop RH from going to get a drink.

quote:

Originally posted by P220 Smudge:

quote:

Originally posted by spunk639:
Rh, if you need to email feel free, a lot of us will listen.

It is my reasonably well-qualified opinion that unless you have extensive and/or professional experience in dealing with alcoholism and mental illness, that you do not seek to help. I believe to do otherwise would be enabling this man to continue drinking himself to death. I understand the good-hearted motivations being expressed here, but I don't think they come from a place of understanding the problem at hand.

If you are a sober alcoholic or addict, you may be able to help. May. I do not think he wants help.

Other than this post I have stopped posting because of exactly what P220 Smudge stated. This is a very delicate situation and only the proper people should be involved as to not mess anything up in my personal opinion. To me this not only goes to contact to Rh, but to posting a message to him in this thread. I know we all wish him the best and pray he gets the help he needs, but only people who have truly walked in his footsteps can have the best chance to help him.

quote:

Originally posted by sigmonkey:
Removed.

Was not intended as an argument.

For what it’s worth, I 100% agree with your post before you deleted it. Maybe we can have that conversation in another thread sometime. I’d be interested in reading the membership perspective; many/most of us have at least some experience with the topic. Whether it be friends, family, or even ourselves.

quote:

Originally posted by StorminNormin:
This is a very delicate situation and only the proper people should be involved as to not mess anything up in my personal opinion. To me this not only goes to contact to Rh, but to posting a message to him in this thread. I know we all wish him the best and pray he gets the help he needs, but only people who have truly walked in his footsteps can have the best chance to help him.

He's not going to take anyone's advice, good or bad.

As a Chaplain and Crisis Interventionist, though I have reservations to AA and personal opinions, I agree with most of what he's stated here.

I've not jumped in, because alcoholics are the worst crisis situations I tend to deal with. I don't want and won't beg for another one. I only get involved in certain situations, and I'm not on this forum to seek them out.

Smudge has eluded to "do gooders" doing more harm than good, and he's 100% correct. Good intentions can make situations much worse. I'm not giving professional opinions about RH and this thread.

Ya'll should listen to what smudge is saying.

Para, for what it's worth, reading through this morning at the office, great job handling this.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
It is not my intent to be cruel in my comments to you, and the members here will be nice to you as long as you wish to visit us. You could stop this if you wanted, but you've convinced yourself that it is not possible to do so.

It is not possible to receive competent medical care in rural Western Washington. That is a fact that I am reporting. That was once a secret. Even though Aberdeen successfully billed Medicare, I don't qualify for Medicare. That's a stressor.

Really, to understand this watch Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man. Free copy to anyone who wants one, but if I've scared off an Army Ranger, then I've scared off Internet. That film explains the situation as best an artist can do.

quote:

Originally posted by rh:
What else am I supposed to do?

Say you want it, and be willing to go to any length to get it. Surrender.
Do that, and I can offer you a program right here in West Virginia. Right now. No cost.

quote:

Originally posted by P220 Smudge:
I can do nothing more to help rh, but what I can do is point out that this man is dying, he knows it, and he insists that the solution is more alcohol. In four month’s time, I’ve come out on this forum as an alcoholic with cirrhosis, I talked about my father dying of alcoholism, and now we have another member with cirrhosis and who is dying of alcoholism. This isn’t unheard of. It isn’t unusual. It’s more common than you’d want to believe.

I didn’t think I had a problem. My father insisted he didn’t have a problem. Rh insists it’s the doctors

I realized that I had a problem in Seiku, WA. It took 3 mg of Xanax to take me down. Now it would take 10 mg of Xanax mixed with 50 mg of Ambien to take me down. (The sleep psychiatrist in Bellevue would have known best, but I broke Zocdoc. They were perplexed.)

If your tolerance is that high you are one strung out dude. You will either die from the massive mix or you will go thru a long dry out period that will super suck. No soft landings for you. Good luck.

Booze has been a demon for me all my life - enormous capacity and an unstoppable desire once I start. I haven't had so much as a sip of booze in over 24 years but I'm confidant that if I started I'd pick up where I left off. It was hard to quit but you just do it if you're tough enough and you're not too proud to ask for God's help.

Good Luck.

quote:

Originally posted by rh:

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
I don't know what to do to help you.

Sleep and dream well Para, I need you happy and alive and well. No one needs me.

I disagree--you do. Please find competent medical help.

flashguy

quote:

Originally posted by VictimNoMore:

quote:

Originally posted by rh:
What else am I supposed to do?

Say you want it, and be willing to go to any length to get it. Surrender.
Do that, and I can offer you a program right here in West Virginia. Right now. No cost.

Bang. There it is. I’ll go even better: get your friend who you said you could get a ride from to take you part way, and I’ll take you the rest of the way to Seatac. I'll carry your bags for you. I’ll walk you all the way to security, and all you have to do is not get too hammered to get on the plane.

This is go time. No more bullshit about bladder problems and your feet, this is “do you want it bad enough?” The help is being offered. You get to choose, right now: live or die?

Ed, you’ve got mail…

SigForum is not a gun forum. It is a community. This is yet another thread that makes it abundantly clear. Good l wish you luck RH.

What a fucking "pity party".

Best of luck to you.

RH I know you probably won't take our advice but I wish you the best. I pray that you can find it in your self to accept help, wean your self from alcohol, and hopefully make a full recovery. I also pray for healing, strength and recovery. We are always here to lend an ear when you need it.

RH, I’m praying for you buddy. Life is a gift. How we live it is our gift back. I pray that you can find the strength to get off the path you are going down and choose the path that will allow you to make the most of your remaining years.

Had a ex-coworker / friend of mine very similar. Way to much booze and diabetes issues.

When they found him he had been dead for days. Had a heart attack while in a diabetic coma. Took them a few weeks to even track his family down after they found him to notify. Was super sad.