Heart damaged by alcohol

[LF87]

I wasn't triggered, and yes I obviously understand the risks of drinking. People do things to help sometimes, smoking, drinking, whatever, it's not the end of the world. If he'd said he was chugging a litre of vod a day obviously that's cause for intervention.
My doctor specifically said not to stop drinking point blank, actually, that's the point I'm making. She said cut down, which I did, and will continue to do, as stopping cold turkey is not a good idea, which is what you suggested. My issue was you saying 100% you will be ill. You don't know that. I know people who smoked like chimneys and died of old age, and people who never smoked and got cancer, as an example. You can't say 100% anything, so why scare someone when they're here for support 💁🏼*♀️

[ankietyjoe]

The only reason for a Doctor to suggest you don't just stop is if you are an engrained, fully fledged alcoholic. On the other hand, I did not suggest stopping cold turkey either, I just said stop.

Suggesting that drinking or smoking (whatever) helps is a misnomer. It may alleviate some symptoms for a little while, but it's doing the opposite of helping. You are not only just delaying the inevitable, but you are making your anxiety worse long term, and making it harder to deal with long term.

The thing to understand about alcohol is that it's a toxic, addictive drug. It just happens to be legal. A lot of new studies show there is no safe limit, every time you drink you do damage. This makes sense as (again) you are drinking a toxin.

The argument that 'you know' smokers that have lived to an old age is often rolled out in these cases, but isn't an argument at all. It's like saying you can run across a busy road with your eyes shut and might not get hit.

And as for causing more anxiety by being blunt about alcohol, well good. That's what anxiety is there for, to make us avoid danger. Anxiety isn't a problem, an anxiety disorder is a problem, and if you become anxious at the reality of daily heavy drinking then good news, your fight or flight system is doing it's job.

[LF87]

For crying aloud. At no point has anyone suggested I am an alcoholic, particularly not my doctor. She said it as a means of reducing the habit, as I had lengthy conversations with her about the fact I do not drink at all if I have work, but can fall into bad routines if I have free days and binge drink. Do you honestly think anything you have said in your daft posts about drinking and smoking and whatever the hell people indulge in for escapism is helpful? Obviously, obviously we know that, that it is counterproductive. Sometimes though, that's not how it goes and people fall into traps. As a self proclaimed ex self medicator I am astounded at your lack of insight, my god.
I'm glad I have some compassion for people with said issues involving alcohol than your farcical and frankly insulting posts telling people to just get over it and stop. Do you understand mental health? Do you understand what you're saying? Did you Google your factoid about fight or flight? Ancient news for most of us here. Sounds like you just speel things off for effect.

[Gary A]

The heart isn’t the main concern when it comes to alcohol abuse, although obviously if you’re drinking to extremes for lengthy periods then it has the potential to damage pretty much any organ.

At 32 you’d be hard pushed to have at this point caused any damage, but if you feel that you’re drinking more than you should it may be time to cut down.

I agree that worrying about your alcohol consumption isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it shows that you still have a form of control over it.

[LF87]

Amen GaryA x

[MyNameIsTerry]

I think leaving alcoholism aside it's best to consider that drinking alcohol is normal in life. When it is used to self medicate in an anxiety disorder you may be able to retrain yourself back to normal usage i.e. it is no longer a crutch. There are many crutches that are normal behaviours that have become obsessive because they are used to ward off anxiety, mitigate it or act as a compulsion in some other way.

Adaptove strategy is important, avoidance is leaving a fear behind. I say the same with Google because ideally you want to be able to Google a health concern and react the same way as a non HAer.

[Careful1]

You’re 32. The odds are practically 0 of any heart condition, especially one caused by booze.

I'm sorry, I know this is an anxiety forum and we encourage each other and try to reassure but this is just not true. Perhaps the part about damage to the heart from alcohol at the age of 32 being unlikely but the "0 chance of having a heart condition" is not true. I am 37 and was diagnosed with heart arrythmia's at 20. Some people are born with heart conditions and some people do acquire varying types of heart disease at 32 and younger. Perhaps not likely and probably not a heart attack but to say someone has 0 chance of any type of heart condition at 32 is wrong.
I'm not trying to feed anyone's anxiety or trigger anyone but I wouldn't want someone having symptoms of a heart condition to read that and think well I am only 32 or well I'm younger then 32 and so it cant be heart related. There is always a possibility no matter how small it is.

[LF87]

Totally agree Terry. It is normal in life, a big part of my social life is seeing friends and having a few drinks. It can spiral which I admit has happened to me, a tactic to reduce anxiety, which I am aware isn't helpful longterm and have reduced my intake. Anxiety Joe has gone from someone using alcohol intermittently, albeit as a crutch through bad times to an 'engrained, fully fledged alcoholic' 😂, again with the extremes.

Careful1, I think Terry was meaning specific to alcohol, at that age its probably unlikely to have serious affects on the heart, not that people of that age will never have heart defects in general maybe? Definitely agree always get checked out just to be safe though X

[Shadowhawk]

Careful1, I think Terry was meaning specific to alcohol, at that age its probably unlikely to have serious affects on the heart, not that people of that age will never have heart defects in general maybe? Definitely agree always get checked out just to be safe though X

So, while 30 might be young for alcohol damage, I had shared my previous story as an honest statement that 30s is not too young for lifestyle to damage the heart. In my case, my weight an apnea hurt me.. I know it was that since I never drink or smoke.

That said, our bodies are more resilient than we give credit for, and lifestyle changes can make a huge impact in our health. If you ARE damaging yourself from drinking, now is the time to make the change, before things get worse. While I am an example that damage at young age can happen, I am also an example that you can effect a change too. The first step though is acknowledging that you want to make the change.. and then going for it.

[LF87]

Shadowhawk that's mint that you have been able to change your lifestyle for the better, great to hear! It's only been the past year really for me that I've let the wheels fall off, I don't really know why. I was in the gym 4+ days a week plus playing netball before this happened.
I keep waiting for that day when you wake up and say today is the day! Totally unrealistic, I just need to bite the bullet as you did but it's so hard. X