alcoholic cardiomyopathy

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matty wardle

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have drank heavily for 25 yrs,always have a pounding heart and anxiety the next day after a decent drink,suffer from panic and anxiety,if i had a dollar for every time i thought i was going to die i,d be a millionaire,well anyway i go to bed the other night with about 6 to 7 beers in me and a stomach full of asian,wake up about 2;30 in the morning pretty dazed and panicky,go outside to get freshair and try to take some deep breaths,go for a short walk feeling absoloutly terrable,actually praying to god to save me from dropping dead on the spot,scared to death with chest pain ect,cant seem to get a deep breath,so i walk myself up to the emergency dept and tell them ive got chest pain and feel like i,m going to die,they keep me in for 12 hours run all the tests,put me on a traedmill and give me a stress test,everything checks out ok,i admitted to them that i drink 6 to 12 beers a day and have drunk hard for 25 yrs,they suspect my heart pains i always get,my feelings of stiff and swollen legs ,my pounding heart,my fatigue and tiredness,numbness in feet and legs is all related to alcohol abuse,they send a toxicology specialist to talk to me about detox and rehab and aa meetings,gave me some literature,which they said i better take heed of or they,ll be seeing alot more of me in there in the future,they said the numbness in my feet will come back if i stay off the grog,i havnt had a drink for 3 days and am to scared to,my drinking days are over and i,m going back to aa,my own research says that i have what they call alcoholic cardiomyopathy,i seem to have all the symtoms and its freaking scary,i,ve never been so scared as the other night,i really thought i was a goner,just wondering if anybody else on here or anyone they know has given up the booze cause they knew it was killing them,restoring mopars and drinking booze has always gone hand in hand for me,but i gotta learn to do resto work without the reward of a beer or 20 at the end of the day,i,m entering a new and unknown chapter of my life!!!!!!!!!
 
Geez, dude.....at least you DO have a chance to turn things around, thank God! You treat your cars like royalty, it's time you start treating yourself right! At age 24, I started having that massively pounding heartbeat the morning after a full-on alky annihilation, so I knew I didn't want to go too crazy with it anymore or do hard liquor. It would scare the heck outta me too. That was almost 30 years ago. I haven't quit drinking, but just 2 or 3 on certain occasions. You'll figure it out, man.......good luck. Glad you're here to talk about it!
 
I have been a drinker and seems like in the last couple years worse and heavier because
it just made me feel better, so with that said I have seen a good doctor and learned allot about myself, he said the only thing that has been saving me is my good eating habbits :glasses7:
and staying busy and active, and having a happy out look :D But.. well I won't go in to that the But part...:coffee2:
I drank at least a couple of light beers a day along with a shot of Tequila and when I worked/played outside burning wind fall \ working and cleaning on my car I could go threw a 12 pack in just a few hours and do this 3 times a week if the weather permitted ;) then I brought it inside :D
I was told to quit the beer and enjoy a couple classes of red wine after I eat at night and I must say I miss my cold frosted mugs and watching NHRA and NASCAR this season.......... I have drank for well over 35 years but not like I have for the last 3 years, I have not bought a beer and brought it home to drink in 3 weeks but I did enjoy ONE at the restaurant a couple days ago... my drinking days are over and it's time to move forward with a smile on my face and stand tall for my family and friends.
I just thought of a new problem :banghead: I won't have 6 trash bags full of cans to give to my nephew every other month ;)
 
3 years ago a friend of mine was told it was going to die due to the damage drinking caused to his stomach and throat. They told him even if he stopped drinking the damage was done but quitting would give him a little more time. He stopped drinking, made peace with those he felt he wronged and became a sponsor for others in AA. He helped a few others we know that got caught up in to much partying.

Ryan passed away in his sleep 2 months ago at the age of 36. I had been friends with him since 5th grade.

I wish you all the best in your recovery.
 
No drinking = more $ for car parts! Seriously though, I hope you are happy and find your way in this new chapter of your life. I quit drinking because if I ever got caught driving again I would lose everything. I did not do AA, just willpower and the knowledge of what would happen to me as motivators. The first thing I realized was I did not enjoy being around drunk people so socially I needed new friends. I really don't miss it as it was mostly a social activity for me and not a daily habit. Good luck to you and take care of yourself.
 
I lot of us have gotten these wake up calls, mine came in a doctor's office in 1989, it was clear as a bell, I remember thinking "life is going to change now." The damage had been done but I couldn't dwell on that, just moved forward taking much better care of not just my body, but spiritually as well. Church has never been the answer for me but I found inner peace through books and teachers. Once I got on a good path, good people came into my life.

Any of these unhealthy behaviors we do holds us back from being all we can be and receiving all that life can be for us.

Prayers going out to you, from now on your life will be so much better!
 
AA works. I've known MANY people who have gotten sober and stayed sober. It takes work. You need to come to the realization that you are powerless over alcohol. Many have tried to get sober with "willpower" and some have succeeded, but you need a support system of people who know what you are going through - AA. Go to a lot of meetings, they recommend 90 in 90 days. Daily. Get a sponsor, work the steps. Trust me, I work as a mental health therapist for a living. The people who try to "quit on my own" 90% of the time they go back to booze. This is your life we are talking about. You CAN do it!
 
About 25 years ago I had reached the point where if I wasn't getting drunk, I wasn't having a good time. At a pre 4th of July party I got hammered. Spent the next three days in bed and really didn't feel like getting out on the 4th day but I couldn't stand the smell of me any more. During that time laying in bed I did a lot of thinking. My fraternal grandmother died of liver failure (alcoholic) and my dad is an alcoholic (he has since quit due to Adult On-Set Diabetes). My future didn't look all that rosy.

I have not had an alcoholic drink since. It hasn't always been easy. Refusing the drinks has never been hard for me (turning down something that the very smell of makes you want to hurl is pretty easy), it was the friends whom I thought would understand (not the partiers) who made it tough at times. They didn't or couldn't get it. No matter how long you've known he or she, a friend who encourages you to drink is not really a friend. You have friends for a reason, a season, or a life-time. This will sort out who is who. Try not to be surprised by the results.

Something that helped social scenes immensely was suggested, ironically by a bar-keep, have a drink in your hand. Does not need to be alcoholic, obviously it shouldn't be. For me a cranberry juice and club soda, with a wedge of lime in it, made all of the drinkers immediately assume that I had a cocktail in my hand and their awkwardness of being around a non-drinker disappeared. Frequently, by declaring my friends the "designated drinkers" to the bar-keep, my drinks are on the house.

Luck is when opportunity meets preparation. Here's your opportunity, make your luck.
 
The thing about alcoholism is that you can't frighten it away. All the horror stories in the world won't do that. You can't reason with it and you can't make bargains. Anyone that thinks an alcoholic drinks the way they do because he lacks will power is dead wrong. Alcoholism has one simple definition. It's the simple fact that the person can not stop drinking once they start. There's some genetic makeup that causes a person to need more once they have any alcohol in their system. Not want more, but need more. Assuming you do go to AA. Remember that AA is a program of action and not simply a place to go. There's work involved. There really isn't any words or secret that those in AA are keeping to themselves that makes quitting easy. Plan on spending a lot of time sitting on your hands in early sobriety.
 
Alcohol problem aside, what you described is exactly
what sleep apnea can do to a person as their O2 levels
drop too low and they wake up panicky and heart hammering.
Might want to have that looked at while your at it.
Good luck getting things together.
 
Did they do any blood work on you while you were in there? That will tell you how bad or damaged your liver is, have you talk to your Doctor about what's going on.

Roger
 
I don't now,nor have I ever drank. but I do have heart trouble.
I feel for you. All I can do is say good luck, and take good care of your self.
 
Alcohol, no matter how much or how little, you are literally pissing your money away. Simple as that.
 
thanks everyone for the well wish,s been to the doc,s had all the tests ect,got some multi vitamins ect,feeling much better mentally and physically already,the sleep apnea thing is something i,m going to investigate further because i do have interrupted sleep,lots of dreaming and scary nightmares all the time,whether the alcohol is affecting my mental state as i try to sleep not sure ,but the nightmares scare the **** outa me
 
matty wardle said:
thanks everyone for the well wish,s been to the doc,s had all the tests ect,got some multi vitamins ect,feeling much better mentally and physically already,the sleep apnea thing is something i,m going to investigate further because i do have interrupted sleep,lots of dreaming and scary nightmares all the time,whether the alcohol is affecting my mental state as i try to sleep not sure ,but the nightmares scare the **** outa me
Click to expand...

Best of luck in your recovery. About the sleep apnea...just went thru a sleep study...and have a cpap now. I also had some pretty wild dreams thanks to being bi-polar. Have been on the cpap for a month or so...dreams have subsided somewhat. Now instead of waking up nightly, several times with a panic attack I am able to sleep thru the dreams. Only have a panic attack every few days now....and normally I am able to go back to sleep after waking up from it...You ever need to chat just pm me....
 
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