mimir

Hi,

I think this is the most important forum on the net in terms of the help and support it gives to its participants. I am not an alcoholic, my brother is, so I hope you dont mind my asking questions on his behalf.

We are in a country where alcohol is illegal but widely and easily available, however, there are no detox centers. He's 42 and has been drinking for some 20 years. He's detoxed before outside of the country but has relapsed and its gotten worse. Sometimes disaster strikes, like a dui car accident or some crisis at work where he gets a warning. There have been 2 such incidents in the last 6 months where it has prompted him to quit cold turkey and he pulled through out of sheer will, but both occasions lasted about 2 weeks (the last time about 4 months ago). He's been drinking ever since, heavily on weekends.

He's been called upon to travel internationally for some work next week, so he's decided to detox himself on some valiums before he goes. His BP is high so the valiums are needed and he can travel with them.

Problem is, the long flights (first one about 8 hours) to his destination. He reckons if he can sleep by taking a valium he will be OK. He gets off the flight, waits about 2 hours for a connecting flight that will last another 4-5 hours. On all these flights, booze will be freely available.

How do alcoholics handle such situations? Especially coming off of a week of self-detoxing, would their be vulnerability to relapse be especially high? Of course the valiums can reduce his anxiety when not drinking, but would that be helpful (or advisable) to keep one off of drink while traveling? He knows that drinking while on valiums is a big no-no.

Sorry, for asking such difficult questions, I realize no two people are alike and everyone can react differently, but I hope to at least hear some views on this.

Thanks,
mimir