Going cold turkey tomorrow - advice?
 

Hi all,
I have been an alcoholic for over ten years. I have been in recovery a few times. I recently had 10 months of sobriety but started drinking about 4 months ago. I have been drinking approx. 10 beers a night for the last 4 weeks. Tomorrow I will stop. Do you guys think I'll have any major withdrawals? I know it depends on the person, I guess I'm just looking for someone who may have had a similar experience. I'm pretty nervous as I'm doing this secretly. No one knows I've been drinking that much and will obviously not know that I am quitting tomorrow.

Thanks!!

I would confide in someone and have that person by your side in case you run into trouble. Each detox is different for each person and you shouldn't take it lightly. Find a friend to stay by your side and get to the hospital if needed. Good luck and take care.

Going cold turkey ALONE is NEVER a good idea. Detox can kill and one never knows which detox it will be.

Please have someone stay with you. I would suggest you wait one more day and go and talk with your Dr on Monday morning and get your Dr's advice.

J M H O

Love and hugs,

I quit 9 days ago. I am in secret about it as well. I have been seeing a therapist, taking L-Glutamine (which helps with the cravings) and Vitamin B-6. The third day things were really blurry to me, and I had the shakes pretty bad. That is when I got the L-Glutamine. It's just an amino-acid, but I was told that it could help, and for me it has. Good luck!

Hi CloudyDays,

Detox is incredibly unpredictable. Some folks sail through their first time and then find themselves with the full DTs after just a short relapse.

I second the recommendation to talk with a Doctor before starting this and at the VERY least, confiding in someone who can be responsible to check in on you for a few days and call for medical help if and when necessary.

Don't gamble with this.

My detox has gone from mild to full blown DT's seeing spiders everywhere. It was horrible but I continue to "fall off the wagon" a few times a year.

Do an internet search. Scary stuff. Talk to your doctor.

My advice is to see a Dr - get some medical supervision.

I detoxed alone at home hundreds of time to no apparent ill effect - but the last time I suffered a series of mini strokes - I'm lucky I'm here.

Don't take the risk CloudyDays - there are free or low cost general clinics in many areas these days:

Free/Low-Cost/Sliding-Scale Clinics

D

maybe this is a dumb question, but is it possible to talk to a doctor about this, have him help me and keep it confidential? like not let my husband or anyone else know i am working with the doctor on this? i am really scared about this detox thing. one the one hand, 10 beers a night for a few weeks is bad. but i have been MUCH worse and detoxed myself. it wasn't fun, but i did it. it sounds like you can't predict how the detox will go though, is that right? like even though this time out i didn't drink the horrible amounts i did on my last relapse, things could still be really bad?

what i'm wondering is... you know they say that when you pick up again, almost immediately its like you never stopped in terms of alcohol tolerance and medical effects? like there was no time in between the last drink of your last time out and the first drink of your relapse? i'm wondering if detox works the same way. like this time out i didn't drink as much as i did last time, but in terms of my body detoxing, that doesn't matter. hmmm....

i never thought about this until just now.
****.
i am scared.

Not only is it possible, it is THE LAW. They cannot disclose your medical history to anyone without your permission. Not even a judge. He/She could lose their license to practice medicine.

That said, I have no idea why you'd want to keep this from your husband. I be pissed off beyond belief if my wife hid a medical issue from me.

On the detox issue getting worse every time, this is known as "kindling". Here is a wiki article on it:

Alcohol withdrawal syndrome - Kindling Effect

How very informative that link is, thank you.

CloudyDays, I hope that you talk to your dr and get his advice before detoxing.

Let us know how you're doing.

dgillz, i know. it's very complicated. i want to tell him but... it is so complicated. when i read your comment, i felt really bad. because i know you're right.

thank you for the link to the article. i had never heard of this.

I don't want you to feel bad. I wan't you to get sober. I'll bet your husband wants the same.

24 hours since my last drink. So far I am sweaty, shaky and really irritable. Plus some stomach cramps. I am not expecting to get much sleep tonight, but I am staying positive.

Hang in there, drink lots of water, try to get some sleep/rest and please get to the hospital if your feeling in trouble.

Talk to your doctor. You will be more likely to stay sober if you reach out for help from something like AA too. You might not need to go to the hospital, the doctor might be able to give you something to help calm your nerves if the withdrawals are mild.

But definitely talk to your doctor. One guy at the meetings I attend ended up in a coma for several days trying to go cold turkey. Almost killed him.