Toby Winson, a 36-year-old man from the United Kingdom, has described how he battled severe alcohol addiction for seven years, at one point drinking up to nine litres of cider a day, according to Need To Know.
Winson first tried alcohol at the age of 14. By 19 he was drinking every day in secret from his parents. At 21 he decided to quit because he needed to pass a medical examination, a decision he later called impulsive and mistaken, since it triggered a severe withdrawal syndrome.
Hallucinations and a hospital stay
Winson recalled seeing water running down the walls and ceiling, and said the carpet seemed to turn into a bed of spiders with webs wrapping around his legs. He said he thought he had lost his mind. In a panic he ran outside wearing only trousers, where police found him and took him to hospital.
Doctors warned that suddenly stopping drinking could be fatal for him given his condition. Winson kept drinking, and by the age of 24 he had hit rock bottom, without a job or money, and switched from vodka to cheap cider.
A diagnosis that changed everything
The turning point came in 2016, when Winson woke up one morning and saw in the mirror that the whites of his eyes had turned yellow. He said a chill ran down his spine, so he threw the remaining cider in the bin and called an ambulance. Doctors at the hospital diagnosed him with alcoholic liver disease. That was when Winson firmly decided to give up alcohol for good.
Life after addiction
Winson has now not had a drink for almost 10 years. He works as a journalist, makes documentary films about addiction and gives talks at schools. His liver has recovered and he avoided cirrhosis.
Winson said he had genuinely believed he would never overcome his addiction, but added that there is always a way out, and that he was proof of it.
Alcoholic liver disease is caused by heavy, prolonged drinking and can range from a fatty liver to cirrhosis, a severe scarring of the liver that can be life threatening if the damage progresses too far.
