bananagrrrl

thread.

My question is how to approach my doctor about getting medication to make it through withdrawal. I drink one of those big bottles of white wine a night and I am scared.

laurie6781

Hi Banangrrrl.

Make an appointment with your Dr. Then at the appointment tell the truth, you think you have a drinking problem, you drink one of thosebig bottles of white wine every nite, and you are afraid of what will happen when you try to stop, can he/she please help you.

Doctors cannot help us if we are not honest with them.

Hope that helps.

Love and hugs,

guywithpie

banana.. First of all congrats on getting in the right frame of mind for quitting. We have/had the exact same drinking habits. I drank one bottle every night as well. I quit cold turkey without any meds from the Doc. I really didn't feel like I needed anything to help with the withdrawals.. (Other than chocolate.. read my other posts to find out what I'm talking about).

It seems like after reading a lot of people take meds to help with the withdrawals. I never really got that. First few days were uncomfortable from a mental standpoint because I really couldn't remember what I really was like when I was clean for a length of time.

Here are my 2 cents. You can do it..

Drink lots of water
Post / lurk on this message board frequently
Pickup or re-introduce yourself to a hobby
Grab a 12 pack of snickers
Excercise (I'm being hypocritical here.. I don't do this yet)
Eat healthier if you need to.

These things seem to help with my withdrawals.. with no medication.

Good luck.

rach28

hi a,

im in uk so its different with the insuarance an stuff(we dont have that) i was drinking half bottle a brandy most mornings b4 work an between 10/16 beers , i went to dr who made me see a couoncillor i tried reducing but it didnt work so saw dr, he gave me librium, this really help s if u get the shakes badly, as i do, i mannaged af for 9 days, i didnt really crave desperatly in that time despite my bf drinking next to me, i felt like crap,my brain felt like a sloppy bowl a porridge but i still made it thru work, missed a few cleaning jobs as i was really exausted in the day an wide awake at night,

ihave reduce t librium to 1 in morning as its addictive an dont need a new habbit, but last week i went pub an got trashed, completly ,was only gonna have a few but **** im an alcoholic!! an i have been bk on drink a week now, in much smaller quantaties i must sa y, i not really been drunk, bar last night,

meds help but it s the will power thats a problem, im gonna use the excuse of bf prob s , im trying to find place of my own, just had enough, an then il be bk on the
af train again,

i ve heard about camparal an toppa but dr hee wont prescribe it, i think that is to reduce the cravings an boost the will power,

any way good luck, it can be done, it s just wanting it,

CarolD

It's great to see you are planning for sobriety!

I agree with Laurie...

As you have read "Quitting" you already know there
are many varibles in how we de tox.

Not everyone needs meds....and that is a medical call.

Please stay in touch. with us....we understand and care.

bananagrrrl

Thank you. You guys are awesome.

BP44

Welcome!! There are about 1000 AA meetings a day every day in the Atlanta area. You may want to check one out.

snowgoose

Hi, bananagrrrl and welcome. Please let us know your progress and whether you are able to be up front with your doctor. There are other recovering folks here who will be rooting for ya!

Best from the Snowgoose.

bananagrrrl

BP, I actually live in Cumming! Crazy.

BP44

The Cumming Group has a lot of meetings. Located in the Ingle's parking lot on Hwy 20 headed toward Canton. We are on the far left of the shopping center. There's a beginner's meeting tonight at 6:30pm

laurie6781

Here you go Banana, its a list of meetings in Cumming:

http://www.aageorgia.org/schedule_16e.htm

Also look in your local phone book for Alcoholics Anonymous and give them a call if you would like someone to accompany you to your first meeting. We folks in AA are very accomadating as we have all been where you are now.

Please though, check with your doctor, whether or not you go to AA, detoxing at home alone can be life threatening.

Hope this helps.

Love and hugs,

Barto

I don’t know how big the bottle that you are talking about is, but I am pretty certain I was drinking more than the biggest bottle of wine most days before I found myself in AA. Of course, I had started drinking earlier each day, and by the end I was starting in the morning. I also drank beer and hard liquor, and I was also smoking lots of cocaine. I never saw a doctor or got withdrawal drugs, but maybe it might have been easier, maybe harder. I don’t know. I am no doctor, and I was young for the time when I came into AA.

If I were you, and knew what I know today, I would make the appointment with a doctor experienced with alcoholism (if you make an appointment at all), and tell the truth. I would not ask for medication. I would ask for care, and let the doctor decide whether medication was indicated. Medication might make things easier, but it also might just string things out. It might even string you out.

In addition, I would get to as many AA meetings as I could, and dive into the steps head first. That is all I would worry about – meetings and steps. Take the action, do the research later. It is less frightening and much clearer in hindsight.

GlassPrisoner

Good advice. We alkies always want to do it the other way around.

See a Doctor. Withdraw can kill. I home de-toxed my last time (yes, there were dozens) and I'm pretty sure it almost killed me. At least it felt like I was gonna die. There's a thread called "What to expect...." and our collective experiences are all there.

Also, once you make it through de-tox, you have to have a plan. I suggest AA. For the first "X" times I tried it, I always though all I had to do was dry up & everything would work itself out. I always found myself drunk again eventually, and always ended up taking a few days off work to "try it again".

GrouchoTheCat

I need to say this here.

Librium is a drug usually used to withdraw from alcohol.

It is normally used in a supervised medical detox setting.

If combined with alcohol, the results are predictable.

Alcoholic coma, cessation of breathing, death.

This is why librium is rarely given for self-detox unless the dosages are given out by a responsable person.

librium and alcohol is a deadly combination.

'nuff said.

rach28

i need 2 stop both xx

Tazman53

Barto that is excellent advice, the need to self detox is macho-man BS that has killed a lot of folks over the years.

See a doctor as Barto says, do not tell the doc what you want, ask him what you need.

When I went to see the doctor (A specialist in alcoholism and drug addiction) I was totally honest with him, being the smart alcoholic I am I told him what to give me to where I could get sober..... the doctor looked at me and said he would prescribe what I was asking for but it would be a waste of my time and his, thank God I listened to him, he told me I needed to be medically detoxed, that I was well beyond self detox. He was right and I am thankful I listened to him. I have seen way to many folks on this board try it the way I was thinking about doing it failing miserably, I found that self will mixed with a bit of antabuse or some anti-craving meds would never have worked for me.

I needed detox to get sober physically and AA to get sober mentally and spiritually.