tomasz

Hi guys,
Im new to the board. My name is Tom, Im 25, and living in Melbourne Australia. For the past 5 or 6 days i have been drinking every single night quite a lot throughout the easter break. Ive been drinking roughly 400 - 450ml of jack daniels or scotch at night and on the weekend i drank probably 650ml for each night. I dont normally drink this much. I usually have 2 to 3 (maximum) glasses of red wine 3 or 4 times a week and thats it.
The reason im writing this post is because im really scared.
Ive never drank this heavily consecutively and whilst i know ill be able to control it i fear that i may get DT's or hallucinations or other horrible things that ive been reading about on the interent ( i do a lot of research about this stuff). How likely is it that ill experience those feelings? i can handle a rapid heartbeat, anxiety and sweating but i dont know if i should seek help for some pills or something. Are dt's and hallucinations usually experienced by much longer term drinkers or its irrelevant. I also suffer from panic attacks which occur mostly when im trying to sleep. Ill be extremely grateful and happy if you guys could offer me some support or ease of mind.

Peace

Tom.

Paulie

Hi Tom and Welcome to SR -

I cannot give you any answers to your questions regarding DT's or withdrawl symptoms. My opinion is that if you think you might be drinking to much and you think you might have a problem then you probably do.

I am sure others will be along shortly to offer you answers to your questions.

Have you ever thought about not drinking? Maybe attending meetings or some alternate to drinking? Just a thought.

Again, welcome to SR, this is a great place for friendship and support and I hope that you keep posting and join our group, just trying to stay sober one day at a time.

The Jay Walker

Tom

Welcome to the SR forums,

About the DT's, I only know how it was for me, I drank heavily daily, and had to stop for a little while a couple years into my drinking, at that time I had no DT's or halusinations, I just felt foggy, and had a bad hang over,
but I continued to drink heavier and heavier for another 18 years,
that time when I quit, yes I did have DT's, I was sick, and I went into convultions, I was in a detox unit so they gave me the proper medical care.

I think the real issure for you to look at would be the way your drinking now, and why.
I hope to here from you again, and let us know how your doing.

Peter

Hi Tom welcome.

I am not able to say how severe your alcoholism really is.However it appears to me that you are sufficiently concerned about your drinking............that may be a good enough reason for you to stop.

I had to stop drinking because alcohol was making my life unmanagable.

If you are really worried about your drinking and think it is time for you to quit then I suggest that it may be a good idea to see your doctor and talk to them about your drinking history.

In the meantime keep coming back.There is much support and wisdom here and you will find people here who have found a way to live and enjoy life without alcohol.

Peter.

CASEINPOINT

You sound just like me - had the same panic attacks etc. I was up to about 650 ml of vodka a night(little over 1/2 a fifth) This comes out to about 1/2 gallon every three to four days (ouch) So, as you can see I had progressed more than you.(Remember, alcoholism is a progressive disease). You don't give enough info - how tall are you and how much do you weight??. With the info provided I don't think you will have any problem with Dt's etc. If you guit at this point your withdrawal symptoms would probably be mild at best, so don't worry. The craving's will be you biggest problem. Read my other posts concerning vitamin's, I would like to know if the info helps you stop the drinking. I am 41, and was starting to have the health problems associated with heavy drinking, mainly high blood pressure. If you are suffering panic attacks - when this happens you blood pressure skyrockets, did you know this??, and can sometimes stay high for days, and will definitely stay high if you drink the next night. Have your blood pressure checked - at 25 you may be alright - but it will only get worse with time.

I can tell you from my experience the frist two nights are the worst, but not that bad with the Vitamin's - after that the craving for me where negligible to non-existant. Fortunately for both us compared to some on the board we where very early into the progression, I hope you have the same success I did in stopping it now.

tomasz

Thank you all for your feedback. I think this forum and board is founded and run by true careing people and plenty of warmth. We need more people like you all in this world, good on you. By the way im 6 foot 2 inches and 110kilo;s (overweight yes i know)
Ive cut my dinking back but im actually sitting with a few beers as we speak...panic attacks which i get at night before bed dont go way regardless of whether i exercise, stop drinking for a week or watch tv...ill get there i hope.....time will tell

ostrichannie

Thomas,

I'm pushing 57....ugh...and have been a heavy drinker all my life, except when i was pregnant. in the last 10 years since my divorce, I've been drinking more and more. I'm self employed...own a farm..so it's easy. I, too was worried about DT's if i tried to quit. For the last several years I've been consuming the equivalent of 16-20 oz of vodka /day (in various types of alcohol). I drink all day...not at night. A few weeks ago i decided to go on the Atkins Diet (I'm 150 #, which is 10-15 pounds over what i should be). i cut down the booze, by half, and again half, over several days. in the end i was only having 1-2 glasses of wine/day. I thought that I'd have worse side ffects. I didn't. i do eat fairly well (lots of protein) and take a multivitamin.

I have a strong body. I am athletic. I don't know if that makes a difference.

I may have had a 'seizure', once, when I'd out on the tractor in the heat all day and drinking.I came in to take a nap. I woke up seeing some wild colors. My dogs, who were in the room with me, acted scared. You'd think that would have been enough to cure me, wouldn't you?

Good luck, and wish me luck too. This is a great site. i just found it yesterday. Maybe it'll help me.

screen3

When I was drinking, I suffered from depression and anxiety. As soon as I stopped, they stopped. You say that you know you will be able to control your drinking, but from what you have said, I'm not convinced. If you can control it, then why are you doing what you are doing? I drank A LOT for over 20 years and did not suffer from DT's when I quit, but lots of people do. If you feel that your withdrawal symptoms are bad enough to warrant medical attention, you should get it. None of us could possibly know.

I stopped by using RR and many have stopped with AA. If you want more information, just let me know.

Tazman53

tomasz one of the first signs one may have a problem with alcohol is when you personally worry about the amount you are consuming. I drank for over 40 years and went through de-tox when I decided to sober up. I know it took me 3-4 days before the fog really started to clear and it gets clearer every day and I have been sober for over 2 months. I know they were giving me a lot of different medicines and vitamins on a regular basis which may have prevented me for having the DTs, maybe not, my deal was beer and a lot of it, don't get me wrong I had no problem mixing the hard stuff in with the beer, but from what I have heard the hard stuff and wine is more likely to bring on the DTs then beer.

As others have mentioned already, alcoholism is a progressive disease, the further one lets it advance the harder it will be to get sober. Some important things to remember, there is no cure for alcoholism, the only way to arrest the progression of the disease is total abstinance, and no matter how long you remain sober, if you start to drink again it picks right up where you left off and may actually be worse!