Hey guys, I am going to talk about the five most shocking reasons why older men should quit alcohol today.
Now I have been sober for over 13 years. I got sober when I was 36. I almost died from a heart attack when I was 32 from alcohol.
I got thrown in jail several times, broke up with several girlfriends, lost tons of jobs and left a tornado in my wake – hurt my family, etc, etc, all with alcohol.
So we are going to talk about the five reasons you should stop drinking today.
Number Five – Exacerbates Pre-Conditions
Number five is it can exacerbate already pre-illnesses, pre conditions, it can exacerbate diabetes, it could raise your blood pressure, it can increase memory loss in older drinkers.
Now when I was drinking, I got to the point where I could hardly eat food. I couldn’t hold it down, I was throwing up yogurt.
My eyes were blurry and I couldn’t focus. I was just constantly looking around, like I was confused, my head hurt – and I was scared, I was definitely scared.
I was literally starving to death, and that all started because I thought food would ruin my buzz.
So I cut back on food, to the point where my stomach was so swollen and inflamed that I couldn’t hold food down. My diaphragm was swollen and I just couldn’t hold anything down so it was very scary.
I was literally starving to death. Even though I was gaining a lot of weight, just from the empty calories of beer, it’s very dangerous, and my blood pressure was just skyrocketing. My heart hurt. I didn’t know if I was gonna have another heart attack – and that’s not even including your liver and your kidneys and everything else.
All your organs will be compromised by the alcohol. I mean, they literally kill bacteria with alcohol, they sterilize instruments with alcohol. So, you’re killing your organs with alcohol. It’s definitely a poison.
My mom’s dad died when he was only 40. My cousin died when he was only 32 from alcohol. So you can literally die from alcohol.
Number Four – You’re going to have more injuries
If you’re drinking every night, you’re going to have trouble, you’re going to get beat up, you’re gonna fall, you’re going to hurt yourself.
There was one morning, I woke up and I had like a one inch gash in my knee, I could see the bone. I couldn’t even feel it, I didn’t even know what happened. Later on, I discovered I probably fell on the outside step, leading up to the door. So I had to go get stitches.
There were many times I went to urgent care, because I thought I was having a heart attack or I hurt myself or I broke my ankle or whatever, you know, there were always more injuries when I was drinking.
That’s not even a lot, because I stayed home. I mean I was getting injured staying at home. I had other friends that were getting beat up or they’re beating people up and they had broken knuckles and all sorts of crazy injuries.
Injuries are more prone for guys than women so if you’re drinking every night, you’re gonna have trouble, you’re going to start hurting yourself especially when you get up in age.
You’re not as flexible as you used to be. And, you know, if you take a wrong step and fall off your porch, you can be breaking your back, your neck, your legs, and it can get very costly.
Number Three – Decreased Serotonin
Now serotonin regulates your mood, your digestion, your eating habits, your sleeping habits, and when you have less serotonin it’s harder to sleep.
That’s why I was drinking around the clock. If I woke up at 3am with the shakes, I would have to take a drink of my malt liquor just to go back to bed.
I was very irritable, it was to the point where I didn’t feel good at all. I was drinking just to get by. I mean, not even normal, like I was drinking to get to a subnormal level, just so I didn’t have aches and pains and I wasn’t shaking, and so I didn’t have a ton of paranoia and anxiety.
So, alcohol definitely decreases serotonin, which you know basically controls your sleep and your eating, and once that’s all out of whack, you’re not going to eat, you’re not going to sleep you’re going to be irritated, you’re going to snap at people.
I worked with a chef one time, and he drank whiskey every night after work or even during his shift, the last hour of his shift, and he was so mean to the waitresses and the waiters. He was just not a happy camper.
I could tell that he was working, and just dreading every minute, until he got to the point where he could have his shift drink, but he was just not a happy person and I got there, I got there myself.
There is one time I was so irritated at work I was just ready, I was a ticking time bomb. All I was waiting for was that drink. I didn’t care about my life anymore. I didn’t care about my job, I didn’t care about my girlfriend, I didn’t care about my family or friends.
Just leave me alone and get me a drink. And that’s all due to alcohol depleting your serotonin, and your dopamine, which is number two.
Number Two – Depletes Dopamine
It depletes your dopamine, so if you want to feel good from alcohol, you want to feel that buzz – well guess what?
The more you feel that buzz and the more you drink, the less you’re going to get that buzz, the less you’re going to feel that dopamine.
Dopamine affects your mood and makes you irritable, you’re not going to have any sense of reward anymore, even if you do other things.
If you’re drinking and you’re either drunk or hungover, those daily activities that used to make you feel good, and that you had fun with, doesn’t matter anymore.
I used to play music, but when I was drinking heavily, it didn’t matter if I played my drum set or not. I hated it, you know, alcohol took away my hobbies, it took away my passion. It took away anything that made me feel good.
All I was doing was just barely getting by, by drinking 24/7. I stopped showering, I stopped clipping my nails. I didn’t want to see people, I didn’t even want to listen to music. That’s how irritable I was, and I loved music.
Number One – Sexual Dysfunction
Now, if you don’t want Manboobs, I would definitely stop drinking today because it can inflame your chest area, and you can start getting extra tissue around your chest, which will eventually lead to Manboobs.
Drinking will destroy your testosterone. It will also interfere with the function of your testes, and you will eventually become impotent, you’ll have erectile dysfunction, and it’ll also lead to infertility.
So there will be a time when you’ll have manboobs, and you won’t get aroused anymore. You won’t get an erection anymore, you will just be a blob sitting there depressed, anxious, weak and terrified and trembling from alcohol withdrawals and that’s where I left drinking 13 years ago when I was 36. I was finally done.
Alright so here’s a bonus. It will also deplete your finances and it will destroy your family.
If you ever have watched the show Intervention, every single family on that show every single episode, the family is torn apart. You think that it’s just you and the alcohol. Think again, everyone in your life is very upset, they’re stressed out, they might be crying without you even knowing it because of your alcohol.
Okay, or any other addiction, it’s a very self centered, downward spiral into hell. When you’re drinking, finances, you could easily spend $20 a day, if you’re drinking hard liquor. If you’re smoking cigarettes, if you’re smoking pot, whatever – you’re spending 20 to $40 a day on those things.
Even more, you know, what if you go out and drink it could be $100 a day and then you’re spending up to $3,000 a month on your alcohol. It’s crazy.
It’s going to destroy your family, it’s destroying your finances, you’ll get to the point where you can’t pay rent, or your mortgage anymore and you will be homeless.
You’re one step away from being homeless. You have to take accountability, look around, assess the situation and you have to humble yourself.
When are you going to hit rock bottom? Because, if you’re still thinking that it’s good times, or that you romanticize it or it looks cool, or you just like the taste, you have to look around, how are you doing at your job, how’s your spouse dealing with your drinking?
You have to really look in the mirror this time. There’s nothing cool about drinking, you know, maybe it was cool in your 20s but it’s not cool in your 40s or 50s.
People think you’re pathetic when you drink, you can’t tell when you’re drunk, but everyone else around you can tell, and they think you’re really acting foolish and ridiculous. You’re being immature, you’re being self centered, and that’s no way to live.
There’s only three options for you if you keep drinking: There’s prison, insanity, or death. That’s it. I already had a heart attack. Family members have already died from alcohol.
It’s a life or death situation so you have to stop today. Now I’ll leave a link under this video/article for my resources to addiction, you can check that out.
According to the National Survey of Drug Use and Health 45% of adults have underlying issues, mental illnesses with their drinking.
So we’ve self medicated by drinking, we’re trying to cover up deeper wounds. So definitely look into your childhood trauma. Maybe your dad was abusive. Maybe you got in a huge fight, maybe you almost died. Maybe you have PTSD from fighting in the war, whatever.
You have to address those underlying issues because it’s not just the drinking – the drinking is just a band aid, it’s self medicating, that’s what I did, you know, my dad was abusive, I was scared of my dad, my friends picked on me, school teachers picked on me, it seemed like the whole world was against me.
So I turned to alcohol, and it was great for a couple years but then it turned against me, and it became a super big lie. And I didn’t want to address the lie because I didn’t want to stop drinking until I finally hit rock bottom.
After hundreds of relapses I finally was like, I’m done. This is pathetic. I’m shaking in bed naked, and I’m defenseless, you know, little skater punks were beating me up at the bar.
Older Men Should Quit Drinking Alcohol
I used to be a respectable person, went to college, you know, was always in great shape, good looking, and here I am pissing myself every night, wetting my bed, I didn’t even have bed sheets on my bed anymore because I pissed my bed every night in a blackout.
People were beating me up, even my girlfriend beat me up. She went to jail. And it was pathetic. I had empty beer cans all over my car, all over my room, and I hated myself every morning.
I didn’t want to look in the mirror to brush my teeth because I hated myself. I had so much guilt and shame. So you have to get to the point where you’re like, enough is enough and you can’t have any what ifs.
There can’t be any reservations, you have to go all the way and get rid of it. You can’t switch to near beer or non alcoholic beer. You can’t hang out with the old friends.
You might have to even leave the town you live in you have to get rid of all the triggers that make you want to drink, it’s life or death, you have to move out of that town, switch friends stay single for two years like I did, and get your stuff together and really start introspecting on your life, start journaling every single day, and every single day that you are sober, congratulate yourself because you made it. I hope this Older Men Should Quit Drinking Alcohol, click that subscribe button. I will talk to you soon.
