Chronos97

I recently went to my dr to advise him of my drinking and advise him how I am trying again to remove such from my life. he gave me the lecture about my health and the consequences about not stopping. he had me run liver tests in which some came back slightly elevated and instructed me to stop asap and will retest in 1 month. I asked him about w/drawing and he didn't seem concerned and said as long as I don't have seizures I'll be ok? I drink 8-12 a day. I was sick this summer w/ strep and didn't drink for 8 days and was ok. If I stop cold turkey my heart won't stop/etc. I'm on blood pressure meds to lower it now. And anxiety meds, that's about it. Should I slowly taper rather than cut 100%? Dr, not that big of help, want to see what others did.

thanks for your time.

mike_mass

I would get a second opinion.

Treasure2Find

I'm sorry to hear about your health issues but I didn’t go to med school I can’t advise you on your topic.

Funny there is a chapter in the Big Book of AA entitled the Doctors opinion. This morning I was discussing it with my sponsor, know one wants the Dr's opinion.

Good Luck with the situation, wouldn’t hurt to get a second opinion but it doesn’t seem very logical that a DR that would tell me to cut back from 8-12 to 6-8 a day. Maybe going to detox wouldn’t hurt, they might give you something to help you taper off make you a bit more comfortable. Be Well....

All Good Things,

Chronos97

I think I'm giving myself anxiety just thinking about quitting and what could happen rather than going ahead and doing it. I have never heard of anyone having seizures from a 12 pk a day w/draw.

AmericanSpirit

I would pound a twelve pack every two days and never went through withdrawls, but I am not worried about quitting cold turky because I have done it so many times. (well I take that back. I read in someones post it gets worse the more times you detox. If you have other health issues, it would be safer to get a second opinion I suppose.

Omega Man

Please read through this thread before you do anything.

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...at-we-did.html

Chronos97

thanks for the link. I appreciate it.

is it better to go from 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, 0 type drinking situation or just 0?
I feel w/ being on blood pressure meds and having taken vitamins each day even w/ drinking I should be fine.

PatsFan81

I was drinking less than that a day and drinking beer only...and from my recent experience I still had some pretty untolerable withdrawel. Ended up going to the ER for it, so I'd recommend getting help from someone, as there is medication they can give you to help with the anxiety, shaking, and sweating

CarolD

Welcome to SR!

Here is what I suggest ...as you are on 2 medications
one for high blood pressure ...
you do need a medically supervised de Tox.

I'd ask your doctor for a referral to an addiction specialist.

Many alcoholics try to taper...I've only known 1
who managed to do it.
And I know many many alcoholics!

Omega Man

I quit cold turkey, there was no way I could tapper down. Been there, done that, it doesn't work for me.

For the past year, before I quit, I was drinking (mostly beer) on almost a daily basis. Minimum 3-4 beers a couple nights a week, a lot heavier when I didn't have to wake early for work and on the weekends. If I averaged it out, I was probably drinking an average of 8-10 beers per night for the past yr.

When I quit, I was not a happy camper for the 1st 3 days but I made it. Day 1-2 were the worst physically, wanted to throw up, didn't really eat, cramps, chills and cold sweats. Day 3-4, almost no physical stuff, but a ton of anxiety, panic, cravings.

By Day 5, I was in pretty good shape all around.

That being said, I'm 38 and still in pretty good shape. If I was older or had high blood pressure - I would not have quit cold turkey without having a real serious heart to heart with my doctor; especially knowing what I know now.

Hope that helps.

Exactly what Carol just said. Your on heart meds - not worth the risk.

Chronos97

thanks for the welcome!

drs office is closed today. I really do want to quit for numerous reasons. only reason I think I will be fine is because of doing it this past summer because of strep where I couldn't drink for 8 days.

now I'm torn do I drink a bit tonight and call drs office tomorrow for advice/meds or just do it.

Tazman53

Chronos 98% of my drinking was beer, no need discussing amounts, but I drank daily because I had no choice!

When I went to the doctor who was an alcohol and drug addiction specialist I laid the whole truth out there on the line, I could not imagine I would need to be detoxed..... I mean after all it was only beer right!!!!!!

Well I thought he would just give me some antabuse, Revia, or some other med and that would be that, he told me he would prescribe me what ever I wished, but it would be a waste of my time and his! He told me flat out that I needed medical detox and told me that every person was different and what I may or may not have happen.

Well I can tell you that my blood pressure was all over the place constantly, they took my BP every 4 hours and were constantly adjusting my meds, well I figured that was no big deal and they were checking for the shakes/DTs all the time and I thought that I must not have been that bad because I had not had them.

Well on the third day I started to get the shakes and the nurse said "Well looks like we have to up your seizure meds!". I had no idea I had been on them since day one!!!!

Look get a second opinion, medical detox is the safest way to go, people die self detoxing all the time, high blood pressure causes strokes and heart attacks, the DTs can kill as well!!!!

I am not a doctor, but I can tell you I am darn glad I went through medical detox, why gamble with your life because some one says they detoxed on their own. This is not some kind of macho game, this is life and death!

Chronos97

thanks for the reply Taz, I appreciate it. I have been trying to make sure I play it safe. I called dr today about anxiety I was experiencing from quitting alcohol and they prescribed me 10 days worth of Librium for anxiety. On meds to lower bp now. Get prescription tomorrow to start.

here is hoping.

phunky rich

hey...I would suggest reading the doctors opinion section of the AA big book. It will help you understand why "tapering down" can be so difficult (if not almost impossible for nearly all alcoholics). Good luck!

kevin 311

do you have a good BP monitor at home? at least take your own BP every few hours and be prepared to go to the ER or call 911 in case it spikes despite your meds

Tazman53

Kevin is giving some good advice, your BP meds right now are meant to handle you BP without withdrawals, when withdrawing they may not even begin to keep it down to a safe level.

When ever I tried to taper off all it ever did was make me crazy for a very long time, right up until I said to hell with the pain and drank what I needed/wanted to drink. When I drank I drank until it was gone or I was gone, when I tried to taper off the only thing I did after drinking the last one was sit around and want another one, that is all I did, I watched the clock.

Chronos97

ok so finally made it to drs office and they prescribed me librium to deal w/ the anxiety for the next 10 days. nothing much was said other than to retest liver in a month. anyone ever go on librium to deal w/ withdrawl? I just picked it up this morning.

sugErspun

Yeah...I think Librium was used to detox me at least 5 different times. Take it as prescribed, it can help a lot. I wouldn't say that the librium made the experience nice, but it kept me from seizing and kept the blood pressure at 'safe' levels (so I didn't have a stroke at the age of 26).

Chronos97

that's good to know it will help. i'm leary of taking meds so it's good to hear what others have to say.

Tazman53

I was the same way when I was drinking and remain even more so today since I am sober. Make sure you take it as prescribed, because librium is addictive.