Need some help finding help...
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 2
Need some help finding help...
First off - thanks to anyone who takes the time to read this and has any positive input / suggestions besides “stop drinking”, which I already have done.
Some background about myself as a person and my relationship with alcohol:
I am a 26 year old male (just turned), and started drinking at the age of 23. Before that I had not had a drop of alcohol besides that found in medicines. Since the age of 23 I have been going out and partying a lot on the weekends, mostly every weekend. It has been constant, but I do not drink every day nor do I possess any “cravings” for it. Honestly, the only reason I started to drink is because I found out it made me more open socially. I do however go for the harder kinds of alcohol (mixed drinks etc.) and shots.
Since Monday October 20th I've been having what I now think are alcohol withdrawal symptoms. It all started after going out to party for my birthday the previous Friday and Saturday nights (17th & 18th) and drinking hard. Since I work during the week I don't drink at all.
I've been to two different emergency rooms, an internal medicine doctor, and a Neurologist. I've had a brain EEG, MRI, and MRA done which I was told all came up "clean". I've had many blood tests from all the places I've been to and they have also came up "clean". No one has so far been able to help or tell me what direction to go in. The Neurologist was the one that suggested I was experiencing alcohol withdrawal symptoms, and when I asked him what to do about it he said "stop drinking" and left it as that.
My symptoms which seem to be completely random:
(I always feel "something" I have never felt 100% since this started happening.)
Fatigue, I don't feel "up to" doing anything that requires a lot of energy
Death is near feeling (not joking)
Brain fullness (feels like my head is swollen & going to explode)
Pain in lower back part of head (not a headache but a shooting pain)
Balance issues
Anxiety
Involuntary shaking at times (starts in chest region)
Some days I feel like I'm getting better, then the next I will be right back to where I was. I have been taking Vitamin B complex and Vitamin B1 hoping they would help some but haven't. I have also been trying to keep my diet on track by eating fruits and cereals with vitamins and drinking nothing but water. Everything is so random that I really can't tell what is helping and what isn't.
Total alcohol abstinence from now on. I do have the family and friend support already to make sure that will happen.
But for now if you can help:
With all the tests I've had done, would alcohol withdrawal not show up on any?
It's been 22 days since this began, how long should I expect it to go for?
What kind of doctor should I seek for help?
Shouldn't Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome or withdrawal symptoms show up on a MRI?
Some background about myself as a person and my relationship with alcohol:
I am a 26 year old male (just turned), and started drinking at the age of 23. Before that I had not had a drop of alcohol besides that found in medicines. Since the age of 23 I have been going out and partying a lot on the weekends, mostly every weekend. It has been constant, but I do not drink every day nor do I possess any “cravings” for it. Honestly, the only reason I started to drink is because I found out it made me more open socially. I do however go for the harder kinds of alcohol (mixed drinks etc.) and shots.
Since Monday October 20th I've been having what I now think are alcohol withdrawal symptoms. It all started after going out to party for my birthday the previous Friday and Saturday nights (17th & 18th) and drinking hard. Since I work during the week I don't drink at all.
I've been to two different emergency rooms, an internal medicine doctor, and a Neurologist. I've had a brain EEG, MRI, and MRA done which I was told all came up "clean". I've had many blood tests from all the places I've been to and they have also came up "clean". No one has so far been able to help or tell me what direction to go in. The Neurologist was the one that suggested I was experiencing alcohol withdrawal symptoms, and when I asked him what to do about it he said "stop drinking" and left it as that.
My symptoms which seem to be completely random:
(I always feel "something" I have never felt 100% since this started happening.)
Fatigue, I don't feel "up to" doing anything that requires a lot of energy
Death is near feeling (not joking)
Brain fullness (feels like my head is swollen & going to explode)
Pain in lower back part of head (not a headache but a shooting pain)
Balance issues
Anxiety
Involuntary shaking at times (starts in chest region)
Some days I feel like I'm getting better, then the next I will be right back to where I was. I have been taking Vitamin B complex and Vitamin B1 hoping they would help some but haven't. I have also been trying to keep my diet on track by eating fruits and cereals with vitamins and drinking nothing but water. Everything is so random that I really can't tell what is helping and what isn't.
Total alcohol abstinence from now on. I do have the family and friend support already to make sure that will happen.
But for now if you can help:
With all the tests I've had done, would alcohol withdrawal not show up on any?
It's been 22 days since this began, how long should I expect it to go for?
What kind of doctor should I seek for help?
Shouldn't Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome or withdrawal symptoms show up on a MRI?
Forward we go...side by side-Rest In Peace
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Serene In Dixie
Posts: 36,740
Welcome to SR!
Glad to know you are planning to have a sober life.
Have you heard of PAWS?
Post Acute Withdrawl - Relapse Prevention Specialists - TLC The Living Center
You might consider seeing an addictionologist
That is what I would do.
Best Wsihes
Glad to know you are planning to have a sober life.
Have you heard of PAWS?
Post Acute Withdrawl - Relapse Prevention Specialists - TLC The Living Center
You might consider seeing an addictionologist
That is what I would do.
Best Wsihes
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 2
Thank you very much for your input.
After reading about PAW, I believe I have it, or something very similar.
I have since this morning have been trying to follow-up with your suggestion about the addictionologist and been having no luck. Maybe I understood you wrong or am going about this the wrong way.
I currently do not have a primary care doctor, that may be a problem.
The list my insurance company gives me (UHC) does not have that as an option. What other type of doctor would be the closest?
After reading about PAW, I believe I have it, or something very similar.
I have since this morning have been trying to follow-up with your suggestion about the addictionologist and been having no luck. Maybe I understood you wrong or am going about this the wrong way.
I currently do not have a primary care doctor, that may be a problem.
The list my insurance company gives me (UHC) does not have that as an option. What other type of doctor would be the closest?
Forward we go...side by side-Rest In Peace
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Serene In Dixie
Posts: 36,740
The list my insurance company gives me (UHC) does not have that as an option. What other type of doctor would be the closest?
I can tell you that when I was around 2 months sober
I felt back in balance mentally and physically.
I certainly hope you will find that true for you too.
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