afraid of withdrawals-new here

[reece]

hi
i am not an alcoholic, but I have gotten into a bad habit that i'd like to stop.
I have been enjoying my life too much lately i had breast cancer 5 years ago, and since i ended treatment for that, i felt so overjoyed to be alive, that i started to drink wine or beer whenever i felt like it
i started having a couple of beers at the pool over the summer, then in the fall, a couple of glasses of wine on my deck, etc.
So, fastforward a few years. Now, i've been doing this pretty much every night for a few years. I drink every night. I do not like to get drunk. I don't miss work or anything like that. I ususally drink 1 beer and one glass of wine during the weeknights, then on the weekends, i usually have 3 drinks(occassionally 4, but not normally).
So, i want to stop drinking during the week. unless i want to have one beer at the pool this summer or something.
The thing is......i'm an anxiety freak(yes, i'm in therapy for that) I have a little OCD and some hypochondria. These 2 things are scaring me that if i stop drinking I will have major withdrawals. I had a colonoscopy last month, and of course didn't drinkt he night before and had only one beer the night after, and nothing happened. However, my anxiety lead me to google alcohol withdrawals and it said that if you have been drinking continuously for a long period of time, that you could have serious withdrawals. Obvisouly, i'm not going to go to AA or a rehab and i don't want to make a dr's appt just for this(plus most normal GP's don't know enough about alcohol withdrawals anyway, so i'd have to go to a specialist). I have talked with my therapist a little and she just reassures me, but I need some proof. Proof that if i stop cold turkey during the week that it won't send me into a seizure or something.


reece

[indigo]

If you have any concerns I might first call your doctor and get some advice, if you are worried it's best to nip it in the bud.
All my best wishes and welcome to SR.

[reece]

hi - thanks. i'm not "worried" about it, I just don't want to keep up this habit.
In my original post i said "i don't like to get drunk". i want to clarify that. I meant that I don't drink to get drunk. I don't like that feeling and I will stop drinking before I get to that point.


I really just want to get out of the habit and my fear of withdrawals is messing that up!

i just wish i could have proof that the amount that I'm drinking will not lead to serious withdrawals if i stop.

reece

[Anna]

Hi Reece,

Welcome to the women's forum!

The best thing is to talk to your dr because we don't deal with medical issues like that on these forums.

My suggestion, other than that, is to just stop and, though you may experience some anxiety, I think you will get through it.

To be honest, it sounds to me like you're being a bit defensive about your position, but maybe you're just worried about it. I do understand that it's scary to stop drinking because you don't know what to expect physically and emotionally, but it's worth it. And, we're here to offer support.

Personally, I found it impossible to control my drinking and moderate it, but you may be able to do that. Let us know how you do.

[reece]

hi
thanks for the encouragement. yes, i realize that i sound defensive, and i totally understand. my main problem is that i worry over things that i shouldn't.
that is why it's hard to deferentiate between a real worry(alcoholism)and an overreaction/ocd type worry(withdrawals). does that make sense?

anyway, i guess i came here looking for someone who drank the same level as me(or more)and stopped without experiencing life-threatening withdrawals to reassure my ocd level of worry.

hope i'm making sense. - thanks again for your support.
reece

[Anna]

You are making a lot of sense.

I have anxiety too, always have had to deal with that. It's one of the reasons I started drinking, because coping with every day life was so difficult. And, I prone to obsessing over things, most definitely. Give me a problem and I'll make it bigger.

The thing is, no one can say, just because they drank the same amount as you, that you'll experience the same withdrawl symptoms. We are all different and we all react differently to drugs and alcohol.

[reece]

i knew you were gonna say that



sigh.

i am just gonna have to chance it, aren't i?
i'm not gonna drink tonight. see if i live.

[Anna]

Let us know how you're doing!

[Wizard]

anyway, i guess i came here looking for someone who drank the same level as me(or more)and stopped without experiencing life-threatening withdrawals to reassure my ocd level of worry.

I rarely get drunk, but have this habit of drinking everyday. I need at least 1 beer every single day. I do consider myself an alcoholic. I guess that's because of the fact that I need a drink just about, if not every day and the fact that I don't feel like I have any control over it. I won't get drunk, but my life seems to be much to centered around it.

Maybe part of it is how much of a need you feel for it? Not sure, but I hope you find whatever support you feel you need.

[reece]

hi
that's just it. I don't feel like I need to drink. I do like to have a drink, but i don't NEED to. that's not really my worry.
i'm worried that if i do stop cold turkey, that i will have withdrawals - like seizures or dt's.
i am not worried about the smaller withdrawals, like headache or irritability. I've just worked myself into a frenzy of worry about seizures and dt's. I'm trying to find out if my level of drinking is enough to cause either of those dangerous symptoms.

every time i say i'm not gonna drink THAT fear is what makes me have a drink. not the NEED of having a drink. it's hard to explain.

reece

[Anna]

Well, once you get through tonight, you'll be fine, then.

Keep posting and let us know how things are going.

[Greeneyes2008]

You know, I am an alcoholic and I thought the same way as you are when I quit drinking during the week. I had drank every night for so long but a lot more than you do and I was so afraid that I would have a seizure or something the first night that I quit but I never did. The worst that happened was night sweats and a bit of insomnia but not bad at all. Nothing like I thought. After about the 3 night I started sleeping better. I just should not have taken another drink again after that.

[reece]

Thanks ladies - y'all are some strong women!

i did not have a drink and, i did NOT have a seizure
lol

reece

[ethereal girl]

Originally Posted by reece

hi - thanks. i'm not "worried" about it, I just don't want to keep up this habit.
In my original post i said "i don't like to get drunk". i want to clarify that. I meant that I don't drink to get drunk. I don't like that feeling and I will stop drinking before I get to that point.


I really just want to get out of the habit and my fear of withdrawals is messing that up!

i just wish i could have proof that the amount that I'm drinking will not lead to serious withdrawals if i stop.

reece

Hmmm......
If you don't drink to get drunk, how do you know what that feeling is like?
If you weren't worried, you wouldn"t be posting.
Sounds like a classic case of denial to me. I could be wrong, and my intention is not to offend, just pointing out what i picked up on.
I wish you the best.

[reece]

erethreal girl-
well, i have been drunk before. I'm 43 years old. i've been drunk several times, especially in college. i grew out of that. I don't drink to get drunk. I usually have 2 drinks. then i stop. i don't want to get drunk. on the weekends, i will have 3, but it's over a longer period of time.

I understand that it might seem like denial. I'm not denying that I'd like to cut back. personally, i don't think that having a glass of wine every night makes you an alcoholic. i just feel like i'm having more than is healthy for me and I'm cutting back.

i have ocd which causes me to worry or overreact to something that may be worrysome. This lead to my wondering that if I stopped drinking, that perhaps i would have withdrawals because i've been having 1-3 drinks pretty much every night(which again, i think is too much for me, I admit that). So, i googled alcohol withdrawal. well pretty much the worst thing an ocd-er can do is to google something. It never reassures you and it always makes things worse. So, of course, i found that you can have not only the headaches, etc that I already knew were possible symptoms of alcohol withdrawal because, well, it's just common knowlegde, but i also found that you could have seizures and dt's. That panicked me. as much as i tried to find that the withdrawal is equal to the amount consumed over time, i could not find an answer that satisfied me enough to squash my ocd fear. instead, i became so worried that if i stopped drinking, i would have a seizure or dt's. that's what lead me here. I googled and googled about alcohol withdrawal, read all the scary stories, and found this forum. that's why i posted here. I wanted to find real people who could tell me the truth about withdrawals.

i didn't come here to downplay what you are all going through. I know that alcoholism is a tricky disease and I'm not here to make light of it or to be self-righteous about it.
obviously, i feel that drinking too much is concerning, or i wouldn't want to cut back.

anyway, that's my story. I may not be an alcoholic, but i have other issues, believe me

reece

[Anna]

I'm glad you're seeking answers, Reece!