Alcohol and the elderly

Eat drink and be merry for tomorrow you die! When you get to a certain age you stop caring about what other people think. It is about enjoying what time you have left and doing what pleases you. To hell with everyone else let them be miserable they certainly wont die happy.

Shelflife

A glass of if wine with her evening meal - why not ?

We're very elderly. Usually a Stella at lunch and a wine at dinner - I can't begin to imagine that causing any concern.

A glass of if wine with her evening meal - why not ?

I can see where it could be problematic, if the person is a bit tiddly and has to then negotiate stairs, put the cat out, plump up the cushions, or whatever their night routine is.
Perhaps they could go to bed and have their last drink there?

No judgement from me!
I drink only very rarely and in very small quantities. I don’t really feel comfortable around alcohol and come from a family of non drinkers. However I can see no harm in having wine or whatever if someone wants it. It may help in all sorts of ways.

Let her enjoy her wine 🍷.
I'm going to enjoy mine !

Oh Marydoll, could you please backdate an order of Sweetheart Stout for me?
Thankyou ever so much!

Pat37 - thanks for popping back.

Do you know if her drugs are incompatible with alcohol or are you just being cautious?

I'd definitely want to know if it was safe to drink whilst on these meds - especially if there has been a change of medication.

Alternatively has there been an increase in quantity?
Some modern wine glasses are ginormous!

Over 90? Well, good luck to her, and I’m delighted that she still enjoys a tipple - it probably keeps her going.

There was a time when we were told it was beneficial to drink a glass of red wine in the evening wasn't there?

Personally, I don't see a problem for the lady choosing to drink wine and a liquer of an evening. As long as she not anticipating going for a drive, what's the harm?

Maybe it's not her ambition to be the most sober corpse in the mortuary?
Whenever someone in a care home reaches 100 they either ascribe their milestone as being due to "a tot of brandy every day" or "total abstinence" or "a full fry-up for breakfast every day" or "veganism" or " 100 cigarettes a day" and so on.
You got to go sometime. Just be kind, if you can, and make the most of it.

If I ever reach 90 I think I will eat and drink what I like, when I like. I have no wish to live forever even if I could.

ixion

How are you defining elderly, Pat37?
Just curious.

Over 90

Isn't it Witzend? Our nephew died of leukemia and DH joined the Anthony Nolan Bone Marrow Register. He was the nearest match they could find for a lady in France. She had young children and unfortunately didn't make it.

What a brilliant thing for your dh to do, Kate1949 👏.

My husband donated his bone marrow to a stranger in another country some years ago. It was done in The London Clinic. He was given a dinner menu each evening to choose his food and drink. The menu included wine and other alcohol drinks.

Bellanonna

When my father was recovering on a surgical ward many years ago he was given Guinness with his dinner. Good old days of the NHS.

After I graduated from university, I had a job in the local health board. Part of my remit was to pay the invoices for Guinness, Sweetheart Stout and spirits. It came out of the pharmacy budget.
There was a national contract for buying alcohol at special rates!

Is it still half term?

When my father was recovering on a surgical ward many years ago he was given Guinness with his dinner. Good old days of the NHS.

EkwaNimitee

I suppose it depends on whether it's a glass or two or a bottle or two with the evening meal. But she sounds like a woman with the right attitude to me! Good luck to her.
btw, a doctor recently told me that a glass of red wine was good for you. Not offering it on prescription though...

One Consultant did at Swindon hospital; his patients were prescribed a glass of red with their evening meal.

Witzend

nanna8

I think the late queen and queen mother used to enjoy a drink and they both lived to a ripe old age. I like a drink with my evening meal and why not ?

I remember an anecdote about the QM, some of whose domestic staff were gay men.

I don’t recall it word for word, but it was something like, ‘When are one of you old queens going to bring this old Queen her G&T?’ 😂

I remember that!

Let's see, what age did she reach?
Oh yes, 101.

My friend whom I saw yesterday is 86 like me.
Her Husband died 14 months ago.
He was very keen on fitness and diet, he watched everything they ate and particularly drank.
She invited me to watch the Coronation on TVwith her and amazed me when she produced a wine box for us to have a couple of glasses with our lunch.
She has since told me she has a glass every evening with her meal.
I know she is enjoying while feeling a “ bit naughty”

Wine with her dinner? Such debauchery.
I wonder if I’m a very elderly “one”. At 83 I’ve never thought of myself as old, let alone elderly. Off to the gym shortly and
a glass with my evening meal.
Pat37, you’re having a laugh, aren’t you?

We have a 93 year old over the road who lives alone. One day her bin rolled down the road in high winds. My DH retrieved it for her. He said it was full of wine and gin bottles. Her daughter visits her and when I ask how her mum is, she says 'She's absolutely fine'. Good on her.

Ah well, that’s me on the doomed list too😀