Who has experience with alcohol withdrawal?

[Fizzzzle]

I'm getting ready to go sober, at least for a little bit.

 

Right now, if I don't have anything to drink for longer than 8-10 hours I start to go into withdrawal. Really bad shakes, nausea, it's hard to talk, etc. I'm aware that going cold turkey can fucking kill you, but I wouldn't even know how to wean myself down. I hardly ever drink hard alcohol anymore, I feel like I'm just drinking to function at this point. It's like a ball and chain.

 

One of my best friends went cold turkey and he said it was about 3 days of absolute hell, followed by a couple weeks of being uncomfortable.

 

I don't think I want to give up drinking permanently, but at the very least I need a detox and reset. I do have a good support system and a couple friends who are going to do it with me.

[SuperSpreader]

I get weightlifting withdrawal after two days. Grumpy, aches, short temper (grumpy), I start daydreaming about it. 

[dualhunter]

My grandmother was on meds for alcohol withdrawal.

 

If you want to wean yourself, introduce structure. Plan ahead, schedule when you have a drink, measure any drinks that aren't fixed size. If you attend a special event where you'll be drinking plan ahead how many drinks you'll have. Watch out for people who give you drinks.

[best3444]

Yea, after I stopped drinking for years I had bad withdrawal for a while. I honestly can't remember how everything went down because I blocked it out. Good for you to try this and just be careful. I suggest going cold turkey because you don't seem so bad off with your drinking.

 

@stepee had real withdrawal and had to use the hospital if I'm not mistaken. But he was drinking so much vodka he had to go that route.

[Brian]

Looks like your soul mate is having a positive influence on you. Good luck bud. 
 

[elbobo]

if you are at the physical decency level you should definitely consult a professional as you mentioned the DTs can be fatal.

[Ominous]

Seek medical assistance.

Find a way to stop drinking.

 

I can't really remember the last time I drank alcohol at this point, and I don't miss it. 

[CastlevaniaNut18]

Gabapentin and lorazepam.

[Fizzzzle]

7 hours ago, dualhunter said:

My grandmother was on meds for alcohol withdrawal.

 

If you want to wean yourself, introduce structure. Plan ahead, schedule when you have a drink, measure any drinks that aren't fixed size. If you attend a special event where you'll be drinking plan ahead how many drinks you'll have. Watch out for people who give you drinks.

I'm going to try and work on a schedule. It's hard when I'm at a point where I basically have to have a drink when I wake up for my brain to function.

 

26 minutes ago, CastlevaniaNut18 said:

Gabapentin and lorazepam.

My friend who went through it took some kind of benzodiazepine. He said it helped in the short term but after like a week he just started craving them.

[SuperSpreader]

Seriously through weightlifting withdrawal is a real problem. I think the withdrawal symptoms would end in about half a year and I could begin the process of returning to a natural potato form. 

[CastlevaniaNut18]

5 minutes ago, Fizzzzle said:

 

 

My friend who went through it took some kind of benzodiazepine. He said it helped in the short term but after like a week he just started craving them.

Yes, benzos are addictive. Gabapentin isn't a benzo, though. We get a lot of patients in with alcohol withdrawl. They go on a gabapentin protocol and taper down. Ativan is used more PRN. I don't always have to give it.

 

Basically, you should speak with a doctor.

[stepee]

Yes I have and ya basic what cnut said.

[DarkStar189]

Doing what cnut mentioned sounds like a great idea. I would steer clear of benzo's for sure. I imagine the changes your body is going to go through might feel scary but just stick with it. I can't speak to severe alcohol withdrawal but the changes my mind/body has gone through the last month and a half is pretty wild. I started some bad habits shortly before Covid. Like staying up late, binge eating till 1am,and drinking beer or mixed drinks each night. Getting 5 hours of sleep, I just said it was enough. Stopped buying alcohol and drank up what I had left. Ate a little less each night. So many aches/pains were popping up, bad mood, tiredness, some bad chest anxiety popped up which I never had before. After that first month all of that was gone. Im eating surprisingly clean and exercising on a schedule. Weight went from 196lbs to 182lbs. My mind feels clear. 

If you can start it and stick with it, you're going to feel so much better. 

[Fizzzzle]

Yeah, my friend who did it with benzos said he wishes he did it without them. He went cold turkey from like drinking 5 shots of whiskey before work in the morning, though, and said it was the worst 3 days of his life. He had hallucinations and everything. He probably needed all the help he could get. He's gonna be one of the ones helping me through it. Thankfully I have a pretty good network of friends that are willing to take turns babysitting me

 

I'm not sure how much your baseline operating BAC has to do with how severe your withdrawal is, or how fast it goes 0-60. That's something I'd be curious to ask a doctor about

[heydude93]

I don't think so, just hangovers. I don't drink often because how of much alcohol it takes for me to feel the benefits of drunk.

[silentbob]

My dad went through bad withdrawal one time. He had surgery to remove a pretty big chunk of his large intestine that had wrapped itself around his small intestine. So he didn’t deal well with hospitals since my grandma passed away. So the 2 days after this major surgery, we got a call from the hospital at 3am that he was missing. He walked out and went to a local restaurant for a coffee and cigarette and called my mom to take him home. Called the hospital and they picked him up with my mom. It was his DTs that was making him do this and my mom had him strapped to his bed for the remaining few days he was there recovering. 
 

 

so I wish you the best of luck, cause I know it isn’t going to be easy

[Nokra]

On 9/11/2021 at 11:33 AM, Ominous said:

Seek medical assistance.

Find a way to stop drinking.

 

I can't really remember the last time I drank alcohol at this point, and I don't miss it. 

I'm curious... If you don't mind, what made you stop? I have a picture of you in my mind, based on past posts, of being quite the beer connoisseur . What changed your mind? 

 

 

Good luck, @Fizzzzle! You've got this! 

[Ominous]

On 9/12/2021 at 4:46 PM, Nokra said:

I'm curious... If you don't mind, what made you stop? I have a picture of you in my mind, based on past posts, of being quite the beer connoisseur . What changed your mind? 

 

 

Good luck, @Fizzzzle! You've got this! 

 

When I decided I wanted to lose weight calories from beer didn't really fit in my daily "budget" so to speak.  I'd rather eat calories these days than drink them.  

[AlwaysDyingX]

Good luck Fizz! 

[Fizzzzle]

October 2 is the day. It's gonna suck. The plan is to do at least a month sober, but we'll see, I might go longer depending on how I feel.

 

I have some people to watch out for me. I might spend a day or two at my dad's house. I've been weaning myself down a bit. Hopefully it won't be too bad. Other than getting prescriptions for something, at this point... ain't nothing to it but to do it.

 

[best3444]

9 hours ago, Fizzzzle said:

October 2 is the day. It's gonna suck. The plan is to do at least a month sober, but we'll see, I might go longer depending on how I feel.

 

I have some people to watch out for me. I might spend a day or two at my dad's house. I've been weaning myself down a bit. Hopefully it won't be too bad. Other than getting prescriptions for something, at this point... ain't nothing to it but to do it.

 

 

Pretty much. Good luck, man!

[Fizzzzle]

I'm starting to understand how annoying people can be with alcoholism, and I'm not even planning on quitting permanently, at least yet. So many people have been dismissive. I'm like MOTHERFUCKER I COULD LITERALLY FUCKING DIE, THAT'S WHERE I'M AT.

 

So yes, it's kind of dominating my life right now. If you were about to go skydiving for the first time you'd make 47 Instagram posts about it because there's risk involved. I don't even have Instagram but this honestly feels scarier than skydiving did.

 

Even worse are the people who have been like "why wait two weeks, why not just quit now," to which I reply "because I literally need alcohol for my brain to function properly, you silly goose." I had to take time off work and everything. The shakes start after about 10 hours. 12 hours I kind of lose the ability to speak properly. 16 hours I can't even hold my phone. I don't know what happens much beyond that because I haven't let it get that far. It's not like I can just quit like a new diet.

 

Sorry. Rant.

 

Right now the plan is to be sober for a month or two. I'll probably move cities after a month depending on... relationship things that I stumbled into. After that I do want to introduce alcohol back in, but with a strict ban on drinking at home. I've already done that with hard alcohol, but this time no alcohol of any kind in the house. Shit only started to get unmanageable when the pandemic hit and I started drinking as soon as I woke up every day. Then, if I can maintain a healthy balance, great. If I can't, then alcohol needs to go entirely. We'll cross that bridge when we get there.

 

[Eggman76]

Sorry you're going through that.  Yea, alcohol addiction and withdrawl isn't easy for sure, especially while holding down a job.  I've gone through it, and I've known acquaintances who' went through what you're going through too and said similar things.  Gave into peer pressure, chose to go all in with living a hard life but had no idea what they were getting into and ended up taking on more payn because of it so they self-medicate, etc.  Addiction, like life,  can be brutal.  

 

Do you have access to a rehab treatment facility that can help you? One that's known for being more human-oriented instead of profit-based? If nothing else a professional treatment source you can contact online to receive personalized care (be sure to research questions to screen your therapist with so you know if their methodology aligns with your own values). Definitely worth prioritizing that over detoxing on your own imo. Unless you already know someone in your circle of friends with qualifications/credentials who can help you through it or somethin.

 

At the end of the day you gotta do what you gotta do, though keep in mind it's possible that every mental health decision you make without professional guidence can result in exacerbations/setbacks that take extra time and effort to work through, sometimes worse. Bad mental health choices that you make, even unintentionally, can add up over time, day by day.  It's also possible you might have a good reason to not talk to a therapist yet (financial, complex life situations that make it a lower priority, etc), things happen of course.

 

Anywho, I'm not a mental health professional so take everything in this post with a grain of salt, just trying to offering some takes I haven't heard mentioned yet. Be well, man.

[Biggie]

Do what I do......over eat.

[best3444]

20 hours ago, Fizzzzle said:

I'm starting to understand how annoying people can be with alcoholism, and I'm not even planning on quitting permanently, at least yet. So many people have been dismissive. I'm like MOTHERFUCKER I COULD LITERALLY FUCKING DIE, THAT'S WHERE I'M AT.

 

So yes, it's kind of dominating my life right now. If you were about to go skydiving for the first time you'd make 47 Instagram posts about it because there's risk involved. I don't even have Instagram but this honestly feels scarier than skydiving did.

 

Even worse are the people who have been like "why wait two weeks, why not just quit now," to which I reply "because I literally need alcohol for my brain to function properly, you silly goose." I had to take time off work and everything. The shakes start after about 10 hours. 12 hours I kind of lose the ability to speak properly. 16 hours I can't even hold my phone. I don't know what happens much beyond that because I haven't let it get that far. It's not like I can just quit like a new diet.

 

Sorry. Rant.

 

Right now the plan is to be sober for a month or two. I'll probably move cities after a month depending on... relationship things that I stumbled into. After that I do want to introduce alcohol back in, but with a strict ban on drinking at home. I've already done that with hard alcohol, but this time no alcohol of any kind in the house. Shit only started to get unmanageable when the pandemic hit and I started drinking as soon as I woke up every day. Then, if I can maintain a healthy balance, great. If I can't, then alcohol needs to go entirely. We'll cross that bridge when we get there.

 

 

I didn't realize you were in that bad of condition. I suggest going the professional help route. The shaking and not being able to talk is serious shit. Don't do this on your own.

[Fizzzzle]

Drinking my last beer right now. Gonna feel like absolute garbage tomorrow. I got a prescription, but I'm going to try and not use it.

 

The goal is to not drink for the rest of the year. I'm taking the week off of work. I'm staying at my dad's for a few days.

 

It's gonna be fun.

[Bacon]

1 hour ago, Fizzzzle said:

Drinking my last beer right now. Gonna feel like absolute garbage tomorrow. I got a prescription, but I'm going to try and not use it.

 

The goal is to not drink for the rest of the year. I'm taking the week off of work. I'm staying at my dad's for a few days.

 

It's gonna be fun.

Hope you kick it. 

[best3444]

I've been struggling with marijuana use lately. I find it harder to stop marijuana than drinking. I have absolutely no desire to drink. Marijuana completely calms me down but the side effects are awful. Plus it costs so much money to buy medical marijuana and abuse it like I did. 

 

What I'm trying to say is, if I can kick alcohol, you can too. I wish you all the luck and I've been in your shoes. 

[Kamusha]

Good luck with everything. I haven't had a drink in two years but use to have bad issues with it. Definitely experienced some withdrawals at some point, especially in college. You may not wanna hear this, but if you're experiencing withdrawals you should consider quitting for good. They will come back again, even if you take a year off of drinking they will come back eventually.

[best3444]

1 hour ago, Rachel said:

What are the awful side effects for you?

 

Sweating, nausea, and anxiety. I don't think it mixes well with my medications. But I was binging on the marijuana not using it responsibly. All I know is I need to stay away from it. I can't do drugs or drink.

[stepee]

18 hours ago, Fizzzzle said:

Drinking my last beer right now. Gonna feel like absolute garbage tomorrow. I got a prescription, but I'm going to try and not use it.

 

The goal is to not drink for the rest of the year. I'm taking the week off of work. I'm staying at my dad's for a few days.

 

It's gonna be fun.

 

Good luck, yeah it’s probably pretty shitty atm. Usually some of the worst effects such as hallucinations are delayed so they may be in day two or day three, after you make it through day three it should be all downhill to feeling better.

[Fizzzzle]

I feel weirdly fine this morning. I was starting to get the shakes and sweats before I went to bed, getting hard to talk, etc. Still hasn't even been a whole day, though.

[stepee]

sounds like a good start, just take it chillllll as fuck and be kind to yourself

[Fizzzzle]

I hung out with people while completely sober tonight for the first time in probably a decade. I felt so goddamn awkward. Like I felt self conscious, awkward and fidgety, and I didn't know what to do with my hands.

[best3444]

58 minutes ago, Fizzzzle said:

I hung out with people while completely sober tonight for the first time in probably a decade. I felt so goddamn awkward. Like I felt self conscious, awkward and fidgety, and I didn't know what to do with my hands.

 

Yup. I remember being sober for the first time like that going to a strip club. Holy shit was it disgusting and I was a total mess. Just hang in there. It will get better believe me.