My alcoholic son shows aggressive behavior and vomiting. Please help.

Question

Hello doctor,

My eldest son is 45 years old. For many years he has drunk heavily, but until seven weeks ago, he had come off alcohol for around four years.

His mother, who has died, had a history of manic depression. My son appears to have similar symptoms. For the past seven weeks, he has drunk bottles of whiskey, left the bottles around, been sick, and will not help or look after himself. My other son and I have visited him frequently, but he is aggressive and appears to be on another planet.

In the hope of getting help, we have made an appointment for his surgery (we will be there with him). The surgery has indicated that another route to follow is to call an ambulance. Would you please advise which route we should take and what happens on both routes? We do not want him to return to his flat right away, and he lives alone. We are at our wit's end to know what to do.

Answer 1

Hi,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

Thanks for your query.

Sorry to hear about the suffering of your son. Your son is an alcoholic with signs of alcohol intoxication (confusion, irritability, and aggressiveness). Alcohol in excessive amounts causes depleted thiamine and glucose in the blood, which causes severe symptoms.

My advice is to call the ambulance and bring him to the emergency room for immediate treatment. Gastritis is a common issue in alcoholics; has he vomited blood? It is my honor to follow up on his case and provide a second opinion whenever required. Please do not hesitate to contact me for further help.

Answer 2

Hi,

Welcome back to icliniq.com.

Thanks for your follow up.

Being pink means that, there could be blood from gastritis in it which require further investigations like endoscopy. I suggest he takes some medications like Pantoprazole or Omeprazole for his gastritis. Have you gone to the emergency room? What is his condition now? Is he alert? Please keep me updated.

Wish him all well being.