Must admit I liked the occassional drink before my illness.My drink of choice was Red or White wine and the occassional spirit,No beers or lagers I gave then up a long time ago as they irritated my condition of Ulcerative Colitis.

Now I have absolutely no desire for a drink.I cannot face wine,port or spirits due to the incredible sensitivity my tongue has to them the taste.I have had about two pints of the Guinness since last October.

Thing is I do not miss drinking at all

Good for you Robert.Rob is drinking three pints of lager and half a bottle of wine every day and i remember hoping and praying that after his radiotherapy he too would have lost the taste and desire to drink alcohol.However it didnt happen and now the booze takes up all the space in his now very small stomach and he isnt hungry so doesnt take his tube feeds.

Liz
Drinking wine and beer to that ammount every day will lead rob into a depressed state of mind and will do nothing for his well being ie Dry mouth

It could lead him into drinking more

Regards
Dave and Sue

Liz

My non drinking choice has been made for me.I would never had made such a choice on my own.Therefore giving up was easy.As I said I enjoyed a drink.Sitting is the garden on a summers day with a glass of wine was a simple pleasure.As for your Rob then he may not have the reaction that I have to alcohol.

I also agree with David and Sue.Even the couple of Guinesse's I have had has left me with really dry mouth

I never used to drink a lot, just a couple of glasses of wine two or three times a week, but I really missed being able to have a "normal" drink with everybody else. I have found that I can drink Magners, as it doesn't seem to have any of the acidity that other drinks have. At 4.5% it's not very alcoholic, and as I drink it with masses of ice, I would have to drink loads for it to have much of an effect. Strangely I still can't drink tea, coffee, milk or soft drinks, so I think I just appreciate the change from the mineral water that I drink in copious amounts during the day.

Hi All,
I was never much of driker and even if I did have one it would be just few swigs of beer. Its not that I disliked alcohol , but the idea of smashing up a Mercedes Benz and with liquor in your breath would not go very well down with my collegues at Daimlerchrysler and never wanted to work free for the rest of my life to pay off for any damages!!!.
Today its been seven years since I last even thought of having a swig or drinking away to make up for all these seven years but its no fun if one cannot taste what one is having and its worse still if you got some realy expensive wine, wiskey etc and you have to pour it down your peg tube. However, I did make a mistake once when I crept to the kitchen and took out a bottle of dark liquid that looked like grape juice and poured it down my peg - well it was grape juice alright but fermented!!! I had a high and then a hangover that nobody lets me forget till date.
Cheers!
Ananth

Hello all

The news on Sunday was that alcoholic drinks will carry new health warning labels by the end of 2008 under a voluntary agreement between ministers and the drinks industry. Apparently, what the labels will say is not decided but the warnings will not be as strong as for cigarettes. I feel this is a great opportunity for drawing attention the not so well known fact that alcohol is one of the most well established causes of cancer!

Alcohol increases the risk of mouth and oesophageal cancers. International health organisations like the World Health Organisation agree that alcohol can cause a range of cancers. This is based on the consistent results of many different studies all around the world. A large number of studies have identified a clear link between drinking alcohol and increased risks of cancers of the mouth. The International Agency for Cancer Research says that heavy drinking increases risks of these cancers by 5 to 10 times. And one study found that 90% of all patients with these cancers drank more than twice the average amount of alcohol. Even small amounts of alcohol – as little as one unit a day – can increase the risk of mouth cancer . The Oxford Textbook of Medicine estimates that 6% of cancer deaths in the UK are caused by alcohol. And all of these deaths could be avoided.
(facts sourced from Cancer Resarch UK’s website)

An international study has concluded that smoking and alcohol each independently increase risk of developing head and neck cancer. This study appeared in the May 16, 2007 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

• Among never drinkers, smoking was linked with an increased risk of head and neck cancer. Risk of head and neck cancer increased with the frequency and duration of smoking. Smoking was estimated to account for roughly 24% of cases of head and neck cancer that occur among nondrinkers.
• Among never smokers, heavy alcohol consumption was linked with an increased risk of certain types of head and neck cancer. Risk was increased among people who consumed three or more drinks per day. Heavy alcohol consumption was estimated to account for roughly 7% of cases of head and neck cancer that occur among nonsmokers.

At the recent International Academy of Oral Oncology Congress in Amsterdam that we attended, we heard Dr Peter Boyle, Director of the International Agency for Research on Cancer, deliver his keynote address on “Oral cancer: a global problem”. He stated that alcohol is the culprit in the the increase in oral cancer seen in many European contries. For exampe, over a 34-year period from 1955 there has been a 2-fold increase in oral cancer revealed in several countries of Central and Eastern Europe. This increase has principally involved males under 45 years of age.

The MCF intends to issue a media statement that states that we should not miss this opportunity for prevention of mouth cancers by alerting the public of the risk of alcohol and mouth cancers on these labels.

Best wishes
Vinod

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Dr Vinod K Joshi,

My husband did drink very heavily up until a few years ago but never smoked. He has tongue, throat and tonsil cancer.

Having said that, I used to smoke for England and joined my husband on quite a few drinking sessions.

I drank and smoked very heavily from teens to diagnosis,aged 28. About 50 fags a day and about 20ish pints a week and a drop of JD's. I always say I deserved what I got at 28,serves me right for taking the pi**. Over it now though,quite healthy. Probably drink a tiny bit more than I should. Only the recommended amount but that's probably more than I should given my history. Good on anyone who doesn't drink at all.

I didn't drink at all through treatment. & before i only drank socially a couple of times a month.

For a while i couldn't 'do bubbles' so beer, cider, champaign was out. Wine too acidic & spirits don't even go there!
Now, i can have a little beer, and a little red wine but it does dry my mouth & i get sore after a couple of glasses so leave it there. I've only tried it probably 4times since i finnished treatment.
I've never smoked, so the occasional drink is probably my only vice. Cuz i eat organic.
When i couldn't eat i had a week where i fantasized about a cold shandy. So my partnmer made me one. I took half a sip & it had me in tears cuz its hurt so much! & it was 3/4lemonade!

6 weeks post RT
mouth full of ulcersstill

would love to have a half pint of cider
maybe in a few months
Dave and Sue

Chelle

I was like you after R/T, but got back into drinking via "bubbles". Beer/lager first, managed a glass of champagne at Christmas & was surprised that it was fine, then white wine, last of all red (the tanin took some getting used to). I now drink red wine or beer.

Having read the post above from Dr Joshi, I think I'll keep things in moderation!

200,
As they say - everything in moderation
Went to a local cocktail bar last night & i had a 'Mad Monk Milkshake' Hazelnut liquer, Baileys, Tia Maria, Lots of cream & milk. OH MY! VERY delicious! & smoothe on the throat. Just had the one mind!

Hi Michelle
Did it make your mouth dry those who have had RT

Just wondering

Dave and Sue

Hi Dave,
My mouth's really dry anyway so it didn't make it any worse. I find it's the driest at night & when i'm talking too much. That's the only way to shut me up!