my detox was pretty horrific.
i don't doubt your dad's claims on the amount so much either. i was almost always in a constant state of withdrawal. to what varying degree depended on how much i drank...or didn't drink.
it effects everyone differently. i'll also say this. i found out that even if i didn't drink for a period of time (maybe 3-4 days) and i even drank a little bit...i would get virtually the same withdrawal symptoms as if i had been binging for days at a time. i was a bottom of the barrel drunk at the end of my drinking career...sometimes drinking a half a gallon of whiskey a night.
i detoxed from booze the same time as i did from benzos, sleep aids and painkillers and the detox from those, would exacerbate the alcohol withdrawal and vise versa. it was a horrible, vicious cycle. most alcohol withdrawal detoxes last about 3-7 days. mine was a month long because of the pill addiction.
when you mix drugs and alcohol...even just painkillers into the equasion, it makes detox very complicated and very dangerous. i almost lost my life from my last detox.
i hope you and your father find your way to a happy sober life. my life is 1000 times better now than it was 18 months ago.