Alcoholics - Will I go through serious withdrawal if I quit?

Terror Zone said:
It's all a haze now, I had put like 10 days together before I started drinking again. Then one night I got hammered and met some crackhead black chick in front of a liquor store when I was already fucked up, ended up spending several hundy smoking crack with her while getting shitfaced. Don't really remember the specifics, ran over a curb and popped a tire in front of a cop. Last clear memory is telling a guy in front of the phone at jail, "move, motherfucker" and getting thrown into a single small cell for disruptive inmates. Been sober for the last few weeks and training every day, I actually feel like I'm in better shape than I have been in over 3 years. Haven't even considered drinking since all that went down, although I did smoke crack twice more in the days following the arrest. I just ignore my phone at this point, seems to be working.
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Damn. I could relate to your alcohol problem but I know nothing about smoking crack.
 
TheNinja said:
I might have to indeed :( - Sucks if I'm going to have the flu the whole time. It's not going to be fair to the rest of my family and people I'm visiting.

Does anyone know if it's good or bad to have 1 drink during a detox? Will that help me avoid some of the major symptoms or does it just delay the process from starting? Like if I have 1 drink tonight and 1 tomorrow (I'm talking 1 shot of vodka) will my body still be detoxing somewhat but with lesser symptoms or will it just delay the start of the whole process?

Thanks also to everyone for keeping this thread on topic and very civil. I'm impressed Sherdoggers :)
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Read the link that I posted. That is the preferred method if you can't get valium.
 
QTdd said:
Dude, get help.
You're destroying yourself. You have more to worry about than a vacation.
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I know man. I feel like crap most of the time and started to have chest/body pains and can feel my liver and kidneys being sore sometimes. I'm trying to quit. I think this is my moment of clarity.

I just want to make sure that quitting now won't ruin my family's vacation. If so I'll wait another 10 days.

I'm getting into a Dr. for a physical, bloodwork and chest X-Ray when I get back too.
 
Charles Brown said:
Read the link that I posted. That is the preferred method if you can't get valium.
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I read the link but I understood that to be aimed at people so they can avoid becoming physically addicted in the first place. What if you haven't had any abstinance days and have more than 4 drinks? Then you start adding abstinence days in and cut down to 4?
 
TheNinja said:
I read the link but I understood that to be aimed at people so they can avoid becoming physically addicted in the first place. What if you haven't had any abstinance days and have more than 4 drinks? Then you start adding abstinence days in and cut down to 4?
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Scroll through all the links within this link:

http://hamsnetwork.org/taper/
 
Just logged back in and saw the posts. Damn. Some good stuff, Sherdoggers.

Terror Zone: You sound like guys I see at work every day - it's usually jail or the psych ward. Good on you for keeping clean lately. Keep training, man. That will help at least as much if not more than any drug or therapy.

Charles Brown: good links. That's solid advice in there written by someone who knows their shit.
http://hamsnetwork.org/preventwithdrawal/
Kindling is for real. We call those patients dry drunks - so, yeah, repeat cold turkey = not good.
http://hamsnetwork.org/taper/
If you're being honest about your amount, you're probably like 12 units/day ave. That's less than 20 units, which if that's you, don't do this shit by yourself. So, couple of (12 oz, regular) beers at lunch, beer in the afternoon, two beers at dinner, then 3 or less at night to start. Then see how you feel, and go for 1 at lunch & 2 in the eve. If you have shitty or no insurance, try to manage on your own as best as is safe. Treatment is expensive and doesn't look good on your insurance.

Acetominophen (or paracetamol if your U.K.) IS Tylenol. Best thing - just go to the local pharmacy and talk to the pharmacist - for the Ranitidine (for your stomach) and the Naproxen (for your aches). Get lots of Gatorade while you're there.
 
And if you can't really feasibly drink 8-10 beers a day w/ you family, then go for it cold turkey, but look out for the signs/symptoms. Hydrate, etc like everyone's saying; and you'll most likely be fine. Just don't fall off the fucking wagon when you get back home. All that 1 day at a time stuff is true, but it'll be a lot easier now than further down that slippery slope.

And the benzodiazepine stuff in here is true too, but you really don't want to get an Rx for that, unless you're really (really) miserable and on the road to DTs and want to avoid a trip to the ER. Then just take if for the 3-4 days, as directed, and that's it. Your brain will light up like a fucking christmas tree when it discovers benzos (all that GABA receptor stuff), so be careful. Detoxing heroin addicts is WAY easier than benzo addicts.
 
Terror Zone said:
Might be easier from a medical standpoint, but heroin withdrawals were much worse than anything else I've ever experienced.
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that's true. we say you'll just FEEL like you're going to die, but if it's just heroin, you won't. We use movies a lot to train medical students, and I often reference the heroin w/drawal scene from "Trainspotting." With booze, yours will suck, Ninja, but it won't be like that. Nothing is like that. Only opiate withdrawal.
 
Yardener said:
Just logged back in and saw the posts. Damn. Some good stuff, Sherdoggers.

Terror Zone: You sound like guys I see at work every day - it's usually jail or the psych ward. Good on you for keeping clean lately. Keep training, man. That will help at least as much if not more than any drug or therapy.

Charles Brown: good links. That's solid advice in there written by someone who knows their shit.
http://hamsnetwork.org/preventwithdrawal/
Kindling is for real. We call those patients dry drunks - so, yeah, repeat cold turkey = not good.
http://hamsnetwork.org/taper/
If you're being honest about your amount, you're probably like 12 units/day ave. That's less than 20 units, which if that's you, don't do this shit by yourself. So, couple of (12 oz, regular) beers at lunch, beer in the afternoon, two beers at dinner, then 3 or less at night to start. Then see how you feel, and go for 1 at lunch & 2 in the eve. If you have shitty or no insurance, try to manage on your own as best as is safe. Treatment is expensive and doesn't look good on your insurance.

Acetominophen (or paracetamol if your U.K.) IS Tylenol. Best thing - just go to the local pharmacy and talk to the pharmacist - for the Ranitidine (for your stomach) and the Naproxen (for your aches). Get lots of Gatorade while you're there.
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Thanks for checking back in! The good thing for me is that I don't go around all day drunk. I don't need a drink in the morning or at noon. I never drink at work. My drinking typically starts at 4pm and goes on from there.

And you are right, I'm probably averaging 10-12 units a day, everyday. I will probably have 2 units around 5pm today, then 1 unit around 5pm tomorrow and see what happens. I just wanted to ensure that tapering wasn't delaying the whole process. If it's going to be a crappy 2-4 days I'd rather do it here and now rather than on an airplane and at my in-laws ;) But if my "detox" days can start while having 1-2 drinks and it will reduce symptoms and cravings then that sounds even better :)

I'm just going to have to avoid social gatherings when I get back as well. Every single gathering I go to has wine, beer, or drinks. Whether I'm with my buddies or families my parents' age everyone typically serves a drink of some sort.

I'm also going to find an online forum for support as I don't have much of a support group here right now for this kind of thing.
 
TheNinja said:
Nope, just a family vacation and staying with in-laws and parents who don't typically have booze in the house and don't typically serve it.

I have a medical cannabis card......I wonder if I should switch habits?
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Well there's your answer. Cannabis always helps me curb my cravings for alcohol.
 
How big are you?

It depends on alot of factors really. Every person is different.

Lemme put it this way: If you do get withdrawal symptoms, you should scale back the drinking ASAP.
 
TheNinja said:
I know man. I feel like crap most of the time and started to have chest/body pains and can feel my liver and kidneys being sore sometimes. I'm trying to quit. I think this is my moment of clarity.

I just want to make sure that quitting now won't ruin my family's vacation. If so I'll wait another 10 days.

I'm getting into a Dr. for a physical, bloodwork and chest X-Ray when I get back too.
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See a gastroenterologist. They will probably want to do liver function blood tests (ALT, AST, bilirubin. etc) and maybe an abdominal ultrasound (chest x-ray won't tell you anything about your liver).

The reason I quit drinking alcohol is because I noticed my body reacting differently to it. I could feel that upper right quadrant (liver ache) after drinking and the hangovers suddenly got much worse. For me at least it was easy to quit cold turkey, but I know it can be different for other people. The results turned out pretty good for me, not perfect but nothing that overly concerned the doctors, but I knew that my body was telling me that it was time to quit.

The "sore" feeling in the upper right quadrant could be due to the liver swelling or fatty liver. Most heavy drinkers develop fatty liver and that is completely reversible.
Unfortunately, chronic damage often does not show many warning signs until there is extensive damage done. If you are getting a sore feeling in your upper right quadrant I would take it seriously as a warning sign. I don't mean to scare you, well maybe a little, but if you start seeing clay colored stools accompanied by dark urine, yellowing in the whites of your eyes, nausea accompanied with throwing up blood, these can be some late signs. That's not an all inclusive list, but you really do not want to get to that point.
 
It depends. Have you ever had anxiety or any sort of psychological/physiological reactions when you haven't consumed your daily dosage?
 
The schedule recommendation is more about maintaining a steady, slowly tapering, blood alcohol level (BAL), so your GABA receptors can safely adjust. That's a positive you don't (usually) have to drink until late afternoon, but still start w/ the beer or two at lunch. You don't want your GABA receptors unoccupied for so many hours during daytime and then get hit by like 3+ beers before dinner. That pattern reinforces craving and addiction neurologically (Dopamine and Nucleus Accumbens). Like that link says, think of each unit of alcohol as medicine, and take the correct dosage at the right time till your done w/ the treatment course. Then no more booze. It's then willpower and working on dealing w/ your cravings

weed is immeasurably safer than booze, and weed could also help alleviate a lot of your upcoming withdrawal symptoms. But, only you know how addictive your personality is - so be vigilant about getting carried away w/ the herb.

Desdinova makes some great points - but your regular primary care doc can run the blood work, since your insurance probably won't want to cover a referral initially. And if your bilirubin or ammonia is elevated, they'll get you an abdominal CT and also look at your gallbladder. If your AST is elevated (AST goes up more w/ booze, while ALT goes up more w/ other med toxicity), but less than 3x upper limit of normal (120-130ish), they'll probably just recheck it before referring you to a GI doc unless you have other worrying symptoms.

You'll be okay man, just nip this shit in the bud before it gets too out of hand.
 
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True about seeing the PCP, with my insurance it doesn't matter and I don't need a referral to see a specialist, so I just did that.
 
Eyepokesftw said:
Yes. You will have cold sweats and feel like shit for your entire vacation.. I suggest continuing to drink or sneak drinks in from time to time.
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i drink quite a lot, most days.. when i decide to have a few nights off i never get cold sweats..

you should be fine ts, just don't think about it.. also i take some strong painkillers before i go to sleep, works a treat.
 
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