Alcohol for pain relief?? Ever heard of it?? Please help!

Hello all, I'm writing about a dear family member of mine, I'll call her "Dee." I don't care to be around this person any more because in the last year or so she has started drinking to excess at family functions. And I know she drinks alone. When she drinks, she gets very loud and shrill, repeats herself constantly, and then the next day doesn't remember anything she did or said.

Last night at Christmas Eve I had it with her and left a family function after she called me a "f*$%-ing little sh*t" in front of everyone, and today I guarantee she won't remember it.

Now, when I asked her about her drinking many months ago, Dee tells me it's all due to pain. She has a bad back, bad hips, bad knees, etc. and the only way to make it all stop hurting is to take some pain pills and have a few drinks. She has had 3 or 4 epidurals in the last year to address back pain, which seem to help for like 2-3 weeks and then it wears off. She has tried many pain medications, Neurontin, things for fibromyalgia, etc.

Also, Dee is the kind of person who does not like to be still. She is about 65 now, and up until about age 55 or 60 she was a nurse (on her feet alllll day), threw big dinner parties, loved to cook all day, loved to garden, loved to socialize, loved to do it all.

Now she drinks all day just to be able to stand at her stove and cook dinner. But by then she's so drunk nobody wants to be around her.

Dee is worried that to quit drinking means she'd essentially be an invalid. I'm worried her family will simply write her off.

Anybody heard of alcohol for medicating pain? Any advice?

Hi, anemone999! I've heard of medicinal marijuana being used that way. Could she get surgery to help her with the pain?

ya, Depending on your state, I would suggest medical MJ over alcohol if she truly needs pain relief. You make far fewer mistakes on MJ than alcohol. If she cant get surgery to fix it or anything, my personal opinion is medical MJ is the best option. Can always get the edibles so you don't have to worry about the smoke. I dont see the drinking as a form of pain relief working in the end for her. If she truly needs pain relief, its alot easier to be around a stoner than a drunk for everyone. The think with pain killers is I would be worried she would take one to many trying to deal with the pain and end up doing something serious on accident.

But ya I have. You can become so drunk you just cant feel/focus on the pain so it doesn't really bother you. You lose your ability to focus, so you kinda forget your in pain. Thats how alcohol + pain went for me at least.

anemone999 wrote:Also, Dee is the kind of person who does not like to be still. She is about 65 now, and up until about age 55 or 60 she was a nurse (on her feet alllll day), threw big dinner parties, loved to cook all day, loved to garden, loved to socialize, loved to do it all.

anemone999 wrote:Anybody heard of alcohol for medicating pain?

Mental mostly as excessive alcohol abuse does cause quite a bit of physical pain in itself. But that physical pain can be drank through very easily. Brain comes first as always. Other organs be damned...

anemone999 wrote:Any advice?

Maybe I'm a pessimist, but maybe you should remove yourself from the situation completely. Nothing you can really do at this point. Drunks come in so many different flavors and are very hard to predict. It is much more important to live your own life.

Best of luck.

W

Give this woman a break to her she has lost everything she once loved and this is the only way she knows how to cope. Has anyone tried to find her some help? Treat her with kindness not scorn. She has her pride. If she really knew what she was doing to herself, and the way others perceived her then maybe she would realize this has got to stop if she wants to live. Keep being her friend and gently get her help. There are many women in her position.

Interesting article on effects of mixing alcohol and painkillers:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lynn-r-go ... 53343.html