A MOTHER has opened up on becoming an alcoholic after liquid lunches at her “glamorous” job turned into her downing eight bottles of wine a day – with her first tipple at 5am.
But when she turned 21, she began working as a personal trainer before becoming a PA – and both jobs involved “lots of social drinking”.
5
5
5
5
Sarah Day, 46, started drinking wine at the age of 15 and would go on three nights out with her friends each week.
Rapidly, Sarah’s love for fun “liquid lunches” turned into an addiction – and she found herself needing to open a bottle of wine at 5am to start her day.
After spending £30k on rehab and numerous hospital trips to detox, Sarah was referred to Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) for free in 2013, at the age of 35.
She spent years struggling to attend sessions, but in 2019, decided to commit after a “particularly bad” detox.
Read more real life stories
Now, she’s six years sober and wants to show other female alcoholics recovery is possible.
Mum-of-one Sarah, who is currently unemployed, from Croydon, London, said: “My jobs involved lots of socialising and liquid lunches – it turned into drinking at 5am to get up in the morning and stop the shakes.
“Because of my lifestyle, taking millionaires out for lunch, I could say: ‘Yeah, this is just what I do.’
“But I struggled to hold down relationships, I lost all my hobbies and interest in anything that wasn’t alcohol.”
Despite her lifestyle “enabling” her drinking, Sarah believes alcoholism was always in her genetics.
Her dad, Bill, passed away in May 2011 at the age of 60, due to throat cancer.
He’d split up with Sarah’s mum when Sarah was just 10 – and continued drinking ever since.
Sarah claimed there wasn’t a single reason which caused her casual drinking to turn into an addiction – and believed it was always going to happen.
She continued: “Alcoholism is just in a person’s make-up, sometimes.
I’d attend multiple liquid lunches a day, thinking it was fine – it wasn’t
Sarah Day
“I felt very loved as a child – although I was quite quiet, and never really comfortable in my own skin.
“In my teens, I started to become very disinterested in everything apart from drinking and boys.
“I started drinking when I was around 15 or 16 – and it was like: ‘Wow, I’ve got this confidence now, to be the person I’ve always wanted to be.’
“It instantly had a hold on me.”
Although she said her academic scores suffered, Sarah finished school with nine GCSEs and two A-Levels – and went on to work as a personal trainer at the age of 21.
NHS guidelines on drinking alcohol
According to the NHS, regularly drinking more than 14 units of alcohol a week risks damaging your health.
To keep health risks from alcohol to a low level if you drink most weeks:
- men and women are advised not to drink more than 14 units a week on a regular basis
- spread your drinking over 3 or more days if you regularly drink as much as 14 units a week
- if you want to cut down, try to have several drink-free days each week
If you’re pregnant or think you could become pregnant, the safest approach is not to drink alcohol at all to keep risks to your baby to a minimum.
You read more on the NHS website.
But her drinking began to spill into her career – and Sarah often “went out partying” with clients.
Before long, she was employed as a PA for various CEOs and quickly adjusted to the lifestyle of taking millionaires out for lunch.
She recognised: “I was a PA for CEOs, managing directors – all sorts. These people lived such extravagant lives, they all had the same lifestyle.
“It would allow me to go under the radar, because they’d have one lunch each, and one opportunity to drink a lot.
“Whereas I’d attend multiple liquid lunches a day, thinking it was fine – it wasn’t.”
Sarah’s drinking then got worse – her boozy lunches turned into nights out, seven nights a week.
I wanted to get sober as quickly as possible – but only so I could get discharged and head to the off-license
Sarah Day
Eventually, she began drinking first thing in the morning – and by 30, she’d drink 80 units a day, just to stop “the tremors”.
After a binge, she’d detox in hospital – and although she spent £30,000 on rehab stays, nothing seemed to “stick”.
In 2019, at a child‘s birthday party thrown for a friend of her daughter’s, Sarah was spotted drinking and blacking out in the bathroom.
A parent phoned for an ambulance and Sarah was taken back to hospital to detox.
5
She recognised: “I wanted to get sober as quickly as possible – but only so I could get discharged and head to the off-license.
“But the next day, I couldn’t walk properly and I was still shaking.
“My doctor told me: ‘If you can prove to me that you can walk to the bathroom, we’ll let you go.’
“With determination, I did it – but when I looked in the mirror, I felt like I was seeing myself properly for the first time in 20 years.
“I was dangerously underweight, my skin was pale, and my eyes were glassy – just like my dad’s.
How to cut back on drinking
If you’re concerned about your drinking, a good first step is to see a GP.
They’ll be able to give advice and support on how to manage your drinking habits and cut back safely.
This might involve counselling, medicines or detox services.
There are many charities and support groups you can join or speak to, as well as helplines:
“I heard a voice in my head say: ‘This relationship is over’ – and I walked back to bed.”
From that moment, Sarah began to commit to sobriety – and has been attending AA sessions ever since.
She has learnt to cope with negative emotions, like anger, sadness and confrontation – and has been able to get back to her hobbies.
She admitted: “Everything’s starting to fall back into place again – I’m free.
“I’ve got my identity back – I know what I like to do, which colours I like, which music I like.
“I have so much to live for.”