Old 07-10-2011, 02:39 AM
  # 23 (permalink)  
DoubtfulDebs
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this is a quote from wikipedia about kindling:-

Kindling due to substance withdrawal, refers to the neurological condition which results from repeated withdrawal episodes from sedative-hypnotic drugs such as alcohol or benzodiazepines. Each withdrawal leads to more severe withdrawal symptoms than the first withdrawal syndrome. Individuals who have had more withdrawal episodes are at an increased risk of very severe withdrawal symptoms, up to and including seizures.
<snip>
Repeated acute intoxication followed by acute withdrawal is associated with profound behavioural changes and neurobiological alterations in several brain regions. Much of the documented evidence of kindling due to multiple detoxifications regards increased seizure frequency.
Kindling (sedative-hypnotic withdrawal) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

i'm horrified that the big book and more up to date resources on quitting never mentioned this, yet they should because if i had known about it i wouldn't have treated quitting so lightly, and it is true that each time it gets harder physically and with the withdrawal symptoms.

this time i drank a little less each day over 3 days to stop that sudden slump from intoxicated brain to sober, and it's been a lot easier physically than the last attempt i made to stop.

this information is vital to all alcoholics/alcohol abusers and yet i only heard of it recently when i was reading non-recovery related webpages.

surely anyone promoting any kind of recovery should warn us that stopping dead and then resuming is incredibly dangerous, more so than weaning ourselves down or (even) continuing to drink until we're absolutely certain we have a method to stop? because in the past i used to think any few days without drinking were a victory, yet this and the related information seem to clearly indicate it's worse, and also potentially undermines serious future efforts to stop.

it would probably have helped motivate me to stay stopped if i'd know each time i was causing damage of this kind, so i wonder why no-one talks about this?

debs
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