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Hi Austin:
So sorry about your wife. My mom was diagnosed 2 1/2 years ago. I think the urge to drink may be different for everyone but for my mother it really seems to have subsided completely. She does not ask for alcohol, does not look for it, etc. She lives in an assisted living facility. They have a happy hour sometimes and also occasionally serve wine with dinner. In the beginning she did go the happy hours but they would only serve her soft drinks so she stopped going. The aides would gently take her wine away at dinner and she put up no fuss. In fact, one of her dinner companions thought she was being treated unfairly and my mom said to her "Oh, before I came here, I used to be a big drunk." That was so suprising to me because a) she remembered and b) it was the first time she admitted having a problem. When we have dinners at home, she requests non alcoholic beverages even if there are others having wine.
Not only did she stop drinking but she also stopped smoking. It's the one instance where the memory loss has had a positive effect on her life. Physically, she is probably much healthier than she was.
I think that as long as your wife has 24 hour supervision you should be able to care for her at home. In the beginning, she may feel the urge to drink (more likely is that she will have no insight into her condition so doesn't realize that anything is wrong) but once enough time has passed the apathy and complacency that comes along with the diagnosis will replace the desire to obtain alcohol. That time can take up to a year.
I wish you well, you will find this group a good source of information and support, Take care, kathy-----Original Message-----
From: austin14_ra <austin14_ra@...>
To: wernicke_korsakoff_syndrome@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sun, 02 Oct 2005 01:16:06 -0000
Subject: [wernicke_korsakoff_syndrome] New to Korsacoff
My wife is 45 years old and has been drinking more than she should for many years now. Any efforts to convince her to stop were fruitless and she always insisted that she was drinking less than I thought.Also because she was self consceous of maintaining her weight she was always a light eater so consequently was not getting proper nutrition. About two weeks ago she started saying strange things and things that were out of context. I took her to our family doctor and later that night to emergency at the hospital. I couldn't convince either doctor to admit her to hospital so the next day I went again and told our family doctor that I wasn't going to take no for an answer and she was admitted. They now have determined that she has Wernicke Korsacoff Syndrome and have her taking B1, B12 and Folic acid as well as good nutrition. Her body is getting stronger every day but she has profound short term memory loss and is exhibiting the confabulation and other symptoms that are characteristic of Korsacoff's Syndrome. We are remaining hopefull that some of the syptoms will subside and that some of her memory will come back but either way soon she will need to be moved out of the hospital.I am wondering if it is feasible for me have her come home if I hire a live in care giver to watch her while I am at work? So far I don't mind the confabulation and short term memory loss and I know I could live with that but what I am really concerned about is that she will continue to be on the hunt for a drink. We have removed all the alcohol from the house and have taken away her car but I am afraid that she may go to any lengths to find a "little something" and that would mean she would walk out of the house and, based on how she is now, wouldn't be able to find her way back. Does anyone know if a person with Korsacoff's can be cured, or controlled, of the urge for alcohol? I just can't see putting her in a care facility right now unless it is a short term situation until she can get as healthy as she can and break the addiction before coming home. Is this a realistic expectation? ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> <FONT COLOR="#000099">AIDS in India: A "lurking bomb." Click and help stop AIDS now. </FONT><A HREF="http://us.click.yahoo.com/DGdbQD/lzNLAA/xGEGAA/VzSolB/TM"><B>Click Here!</B></A> --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To Post a message, send it to: wernicke_korsakoff_syndrome@eGroups.com To Unsubscribe, send a blank message to: wernicke_korsakoff_syndrome-unsubscribe@eGroups.com Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wernicke_korsakoff_syndrome/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: wernicke_korsakoff_syndrome-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
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