Alcoholic cardiomyopathy

Hello
My husband has had his ICD with three leads put in 3 mths ago and was shocked for the first time New years Eve Morning while he was in the shower. He is having a hard time changing his whole life and wanted the ICD removed. He felt that he did not really need it and they should have tried other ways first. His question to all of you is why did you need to get a difibrillator? can any one encourage him and does it get better? He is having to change his life, drinking, smoking, and now living with a ICD
thank you
fmspsalms139

8 Comments

the hard facts

by jessie - 2009-01-30 01:01:55

for smoking i did not need a.a. i was able to finally quit cold turkey as there was for me no going back. as for alcohol if you have alcoholic cardiomyopathy then you might really want to look at a.a. it sounds like you need some help with both addictions. i come from a very addictive family. my mom died of alcoholism and so did all her brothers and her father. 2 of my brothers drink too much to the point of getting drunk. i left home geographically at 17 to begin nursing and i swore i would not end up like my siblings. well guess what? it is insidious and even tho the drinking never got me the smoking did. oh boy life isn't easy but one must take action or die. so psalms39 good luck. we are here for support. get the help you need one day at a time. jessie i just am grateful i got the help in time

Some would rather die than quit

by ted - 2009-01-30 07:01:43

As someone who used to smoke 4-5 packs a day and drink a 5th a deay, I can tell you that some of us would rather die than quit. I had the good fortune to quit 40 years ago but not before I had done damage to the only body that God gave me. It is well known that alcohol has damaging effects on the brain a can produce detectable impairments in memory after only a few drinks, and that heavy drinking may have extensive and far-reaching effects on the brain ranging from simple "slips" in memory to permanent and debilitating conditions that require lifetime custodial care. Alcohol ravages the body and causes cirrhosis, damage to the heart muscle, (i.e, cardiomyopathy) and nerve damage ( i.e. peripheral neuropathy). The deadly effects of smoking are too well known to need mention here.
To think about removing an ICD so one doesn't have to change his lifestyle is an act of insanity that requires medical or psychological assistance or help from the many 12th step programs which are available to support those who are truly sick and tired of the way they have destroyed their minds and bodies in the past and desire to live. I hope that you folks reach out and get the help you need

ted yes i agree

by jessie - 2009-01-30 09:01:22

i agree that at the drinking time and the smoking time it is foremost in that person's life. if it really has a chokehold on you you need a moment of reality to make a decision to hand your life over to a higher power. i admitted i am powerless over alcolol my life has become unmanageable hence i need help to follow thru on the 12 steps. out of this comes friendship support and a bit of meanness at times because it never did take that bit of meannes away but i will live with it lol it ain't so funny tho ted and i know what you mean and you have little sympathy for the people who don' follow thru. i just am glad we are okay because only a certain percentage gets sobriety ted. so we are the chosen few of god. not me but you and my hubbie for the drinking and me for the ciggies lol hugs you guys maureen

yewhew!

by jessie - 2009-01-30 10:01:43

hello i have a p.m. and i must say that i loved to smoke. oh yes it disgusted me at times but not enough to quit. it was hard becasue my whole family smoked but i had to say goodbye to my friend the cigarette. life isn't fair my husband quit in his fourties and he had bi-pass with little success so is life fair. i din't have to quit cigarettes but the writing was on the wall so it was easy for me. i slept for 3 months anyway after the implant i had been so ill. do i crave one now? yes once in awhile but the desire disappears in a moment. as for drinking i don't anymore. never did much only social but then again i don't now . i see it as choosing life over death. i have a pretty good old man i have been married to for 45 years and two great children and two awesome grandchildren i love to see and watch grow. i had forgotten the humour. keep encouraging him that is all you can do. the ultimate choice is his. it is an addiction tho so maybe the choice isn't his. maybe i had devine intervention because if you asked any of my friends if i would ever have quit smoking the answer would have been ney.also one day at a time prayers and concern jessie

Can you teach an old dog new tricks?

by BillMFl - 2009-01-30 11:01:56

I'll let others cover the ICD (as they already have). I waited to respond until after they did. So here's the hard facts. Smoking and alcohol are two of the leading causes of premature death. A person doesn't come by alcohol induced cardiomiopathy by accident. Sure, some folks can drink and smoke heavily and live to a ripe old age. But way too many pay a heavy price. I have relatives who are end stage COPD from smoking. I have others who died from cirrosis. If he doesn't already, your husband needs to get into AA or some other support system to help get through his dependecies. You need to get involved too. Otherwise he is in possible denial and you are possibly co dependent. I don't want to sound harsh, but you need to take this advice seriously. There is help out there, but you have to want it and seek it out.

We all go through it

by Rachel316 - 2009-01-31 01:01:04

I think most of us go through a period where we don't want our device, we are in denial, think we don't need it and want it out. I'll be 24 in 6 weeks and had mine put in at 19. At such a young age, I didn't want to believe that I was dependent on it. Only over the last year, have I come to be thankful that such technology exists that I may be giving a second chance at this life. I hope he feels better soon. It's definitely hard.

To everyone from Lakedolphin

by Lakedolphin - 2009-02-03 06:02:59

I just got mine and joined your club almost 3 months ago and I am so emotional. I was laid off twice thought of myself as someone an employer could not do without because I am smart, educating myself and losing weight and exercising and boom this happened. I am stop feeling sorry for myself and looking at life as God giving me another chance. I was pretty peaceful before I woke up and wasnt at all sure I wanted to come back to be honest. I think that is why the emotion. Anyway I am back in school and even though I will be here for awhile my goals have changed and I am going in a different direction even though I am not entirely sure which directions that totally is yet. Take care out there walking in faith your going to be ok isnt for sisseys even though you want to be sometimes. One day at a time and with people like you kind souls out there on this website we can all help one another and I will definitely help those that want help as well. Lake dolphin Lady

a huge thank you

by fmspsalms139 - 2009-02-06 08:02:31

Thank you so much for all of you responding, I loved reading them and printing them for my husband... it is nice to know your not the only one going through this and that your right it’s all on how you look at it having an ICD – “That it is saving your life”.
He has his first ICD read out in two weeks and I think this will help him understand that it truly is saving his life... He has taken it a lot more serious with stopping the drinking sense he was shocked – He wants that not to happen ever again – the Dr. told him his heart would not take it to stop all at once so now he is at 90%. He has told me it is hard to see how much his body depended on the alcohol. As for the smoking he is now wearing a patch. This site has really helped the both of us on how to live with a defibrillator, when all the Drs have told us so many different things... Now we know the type of questions to ask when we go back to the Drs.
As for me being a codependent, this is not who I am. I know my job is to love him and be by his side and the last thing I can do is change him, there has always been strong boundaries, and I know I can only change my self... I do know that the Father above has a huge rule in all of our lives and he has truly open doors for me to share the info I have found on this site.
Once again thank you
fmspsalms139

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