Alcohol the Great Poison

I began drinking alcohol from a very young age, and consumed it on a daily basis, for the best part of forty years, before deciding to give it a break for a while, I rarely suffered with hangovers or got seriously drunk, I drank to socialize, and drunk in hundreds of establishments, in different countries, met hundreds of people along the way, making many friends in the process. I decided to give it all a break having been on a bit of a bender, and what I experienced was pretty frighting to say the least, I didn't suffer with hallucinations or anything like that, but the actual pain I went through was unreal. I suffered with bowel issues, among other things, serious chest pains. I went back on the drink on a number of occasions, but changed the mixer to see what difference it might make, I wouldn't eat for days when I drank and could shed pounds in a couple of weeks, but put it back on again when abstaining.