Originally Posted by
MUDDCATT 
I think I will go to one. I have a friend who would take me if I asked. Reading up on quiting cold turkey has me a bit scared. I think they mean it is dangerouse for heavier drinkers than me. I hope so.
Hi MUDDCATT,
First, welcome to SR and thanks so much for posting! I wanted to touch on 2 subjects you've mentioned:
1. Quitting Cold Turkey - As others have mentioned, I highly, highly recommend that you consult your doctor before going cold turkey. When I quit, I saw a psychiatrist that specializes in alcohol abuse recovery and she was a huge blessing. Anyways, it's very important to realize that our bodies all respond differently to detox. My psych told me she has seen heavy drinkers that suffered no withdrawl symptoms and "light" drinkers that suffered from heavy symptoms. In short, the amount a person has consumed does not necessarily determine the severity of withdrawl symptoms. This is NOT meant to scare you but just something to consider.
For me, my psychiatrist put me on some very mild medications for 4 days as a 'just in case' type of thing. One of them also helped me to sleep at night (non-addictive med), which really helped me get back into a normal sleep cycle as well.
One last point on this subject. Please do NOT use this as an excuse to keep drinking. You can set up an appointment immediately with your doc. The important thing is to be honest with him or her about your intake and let them take it from there.
2. AA Meetings - They've saved my life. To me, nothing can take the place of the face-to-face talk therapy and I've met some wonderful people during my time with my home group. I'm obviously biased but, as others have pointed out, it's at least worth a try. The meetings were also very helpful for me during my first couple of weeks as it gave me something to do and a place to go during my normal 'drinking' hours. Anyways, I hope that you'll check it out.
God Bless!
RacerX