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Old 11-16-2011, 11:40 AM
  # 4 (permalink)  
pikkle69
Non-Zoroastrian
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Great State of Mitten
Posts: 183
1st week: lots of overwhelming anxiety, some mild depression, night sweats, unable to focus eyes and brain, shaking hands (eating soup was a challenge) twitching, very little appetite, weight loss, insomnia, fever-like nightmares when I could sleep, feeling of impending doom, cold clammy hands and feet, uncoordinated movements, in an extreme brain fog, lots of pain where I've had injuries/problems (L3, L4, L5 - bulged discs, torn rotator cuff, torn posterior cruciate ligament, bursitis in the hip) plus abdominal pain and swelling, extreme fatigue... many of these symptoms slowly tapered off as the week went by, first 3 days were by far the worst. Surprisingly though, I wasn't craving alcohol as I was blaming it for what I was going through thereby psyching myself out.

How I attempted to mitigate: Lots of water, forced myself to eat - lots of carbs at first as it's easier on the liver, lots of vitamins including extra thiamine and folic acid, fresh fruits and vegetables, acetyl L-carnitine for brain function, milk thistle to aid in liver health, valerian root to help with sleep, ibuprofen for pain and ranitidine for indigestion, forced myself to become active little by little, got out of the house, became more and more productive, talked to friends and family, spent a lot time on SR and other resources to better educate myself on how this disease is truly affecting me...

Slowly but surely my mind and body started getting back to normal: put some weight back on, my appetite came back with a vengeance, my sleep got more normal (6-7 hours a night vs 2-3,) able to better focus both mentally and physically, shaking stopped completely, still getting headaches in the evening but all other pain ceased, brain fog is slowly abating and a lot more energy in the day time.

Was it the toughest thing I ever had to go through? By far. Would I do it again. Never as I plan on never getting to such a point again in my life. There is no benefit to drinking, none and I proved to myself why by probably almost dying. As long as I never forget that, then I will never put myself through that again. I'm sure you feel the same, or you will once you go through the hell known as alcohol withdrawals. See a doctor if at all possible as you can end your life very quickly by suddenly stopping the consumption of alcohol.

Good luck with everything, I hope this helped a bit.
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