Sobritishty

Hi,

I'm 23, Male in the UK.

I've been a binge drinker since the age of 16. Started off as a Friday night thing then slowly became every other day and between 30 - 50 units a session (typically lasting 10 - 16 hours).

I recently decided I to seek help and discovered I have early stage fatty liver. They originally wanted to put me on a community detox but due to the liver damage they wanted to put me in as an inpatient so I've been waiting the last month and a half for a bed.

I'm going for an inpatient detox on Monday for 7-10 days.. I'm having what I fully intend to be my last drinking session now though to be honest I can't really be bothered - I think I'm only doing it "as a send off" and they told me to not stop drinking until I detox. I'm actually quite excited about it.

Anyway, Just wondering what I can expect on the ward as I haven't been told much other than I'll be on some IV that gives me an alcohol substitute.

Any insight at all would be good, I like to be prepared.

Cheers

Waterfalls2014

I can't comment on detox but the fatty liver, especially at your age is a reason for concern. That will only get worse over the years if you continue to drink. Take this opportunity to learn other things to do with your time and choose you. A healthy sober you. Best wishes!

Dee74

I have no experience to share but I'm glad you're doing this - it sounds like a real step forward sobritishty

D

PurpleKnight

Go for it!! SR is in your corner!!

Sobritishty

Is it reversible? It's not really bad fatty liver but my serum levels were high (150 or something I think, They're supposed to be under 35 - but they told me they have seen people in the thousands)

I'm also quite overweight (as a direct result of my drinking), when I was 17-18 I had a 28 inch waist and weighed 10st, now I weigh 18.5st and have a 44 in waist which could also contribute to the fatty liver. I'm fully expecting my weight to plummet when I stop drinking because I do drink a lot and I also eat a lot of shite while drinking and the following day, not to mention the calories in alcohol alone.

I really don't wan't to drink any more, I don't get what I used to from it - so I'm committed to sobriety.

Waterfalls2014

I'm not comfortable commenting because I'm not a doctor but you can always ask your doctor. I wouldn't want to tell you something wrong

I can say if you have medical issues from drinking and your that young drinking won't help. The liver going out isn't a point you want to get to. There's no going back from there.

FeenixxRising

Welcome Sobritishty, we can't answer medical questions here, but obviously your entire body will respond positively once you stop drinking, lose weight and start a healthier diet.

I'd stay focused on that.

Good luck with the detox.

Cow

May I say, I envies you. Oh, to has get sober at 23. (Instead of 50.) To think how things could be so different. Listen, you grabs onto this opportunity with both hand and not let go. Is maybe uncomfortable, but you whole life and future has potential right now to be save. How exciting! How lucky! You just keep remember that.

Patriciae

Congratulations, to get sober at 23 years old.... that is great!!

I have no experience with a detox, except to attend there on commitments with my AA group. But I do know its a place where you can walk out sober and find an AA group to join. Best of luck on your journey and please keep in touch here and let us know how you are doing.

Raider

I see you're going to detox. Good. What are we going to do about any kind of rehab?

MattyBoy

Well done for taking that first step in to detox. I'm afraid I can't offer any insight as to what it would be like but if it's an inpatient NHS facility then I'd imagine it will be pretty basic. I think they keep you in for 5-7 days.

Seriously though, I salute you for trying to get yourself away from what is such a devastating lifestyle. As a nearly 21 year old male in the UK as well, I'm aware how tough it is to beat when binge drinking in this country amongst people of our age is so commonplace.

Hope all goes well for ya bud.

Hearts

I'm in the USA but I have done hospital detox twice. Once, I wasn't that horribly off and it was overnight. They put me on an IV of fluids/ vitamins and... I think what they gave me was some downer in the IV... I couldn't tell you what exactly. It was many years ago. The second time, I had taken myself to detox. I was yellow. It was BAD. I was there for a week. Long after I felt well enough to go home. They treated me like a suicide attempt even though I wasn't. They just wanted to make sure. (Seriously, bring a book or two. When you're sober and stuck in a bed that long, you sleep a lot or stare at the wall.) They had me hooked up to a mess of IV bags. Mostly fluids and vitamins. Also, a downer or whatever to squash the withdrawal symptoms. They also gave me an anti anxiety pill when I was first admitted that knocked me out. Keep in mind, I am in a totally different country but those are my experiences with detoxing in a hospital bed.

Ncognito13

I have detox in a hospital setting before, so I can't comment on how an inpatient is.

The fluids there are talking about will probably be a saline drip. Just to keep you hydrated. I do remember the IV had a second tube in it and on several occasions they gave me liquid Ativan to help keep me calm. Other than that Thiamene, vitamins, and potentially Librium. I was a mess when I showed up. Shaking uncontrollably, sweating, hearing voices. After an hour of treatment I felt 100 times better. They even sent me home 5 hours later with a prescription to Librium. Following their directions I was able to detox at home over a week with zero withdrawal effects.

As for the fatty liver, we can't give advice here, but a quick search online might provide answers (I found the answer in around 10 seconds).

Ren1love

Best wishes to you!!! I'm 23 as well and starting my sobriety. Its tough because when your 23 its like the years where your suppose to go out to bars and stuff. My problem is I can go without drinking, for a day, for weeks. But once i have that first drink, 1000 can't be enough (read that quote online) But you can do it!!!! We can all support each other through this!!! Sending good vibes your way.

Sudz No More

Good Luck in Detox Sobritishty, a great step in the right direction. Come back here often and tell us how you are doing.

newwestdork

Like Dee, I don't have any specific experience to share about detox, but taking that step at 23 is an awesome decision. I hope you get through it OK, I can certainly see how it'd be difficult.

I'm not a doctor so I can't comment on the fatty liver, but stopping drinking can hardly hurt. Focus on what you can do to stay sober and you should be moving in the right direction on that front too.

Best of luck, sobritishty. We're all rooting for you. Please check in and let us know how you're doing!

mercurial me

If you need to read about how liver damage from alcoholism works feel free to read my threads chronicling that area. There is a series on youtube called "Rain in my Heart" that I highly recommend too.

Wishing you all the best & hope your detox experience goes alright

Bostonsportsfan

Going to the hospital to detox sounds like a great idea. It's a big first step and it sounds like you want to be sober. I'm only a little younger then you and have already been in 2 inpatient detoxes and both were good experiences and just what I needed. It took me awhile to find a place to detox, but I did finally find the right place and it really did help me

You have your whole life ahead of you...don't throw it away boozing. Give sobriety a chance and you'll find out it's a lot better then drinking away withdrawal everyday.

Good luck to you!

dotboston

I went to an in-patient detox here in the states, and it was a positive experience. I'll try to speak on the overall process.

First, they checked me in. I was told prior to bring some comfortable clothing, a few basics necessities, and little else. I was not allowed to have any electronic devices with me (including cell phone). They went through all of my luggage to make sure nothing was being smuggled into the facility (alcohol, drugs, etc.).

I was then placed in an intake bed area for the arriving pateitns. They monitored my vital signs frequently, and began to give librium to reduce the withdrawal effects of the alcohol. When my heart rate or blood pressure would climb, they would administer another dose of medication. The medication will make you comfortable, and reduce (but not eliminate) the withdrawal effects.

This initial intake period was for the first day, and then I was allowed to enter the general area of the facility. It was pretty basic, but clean, and comfortable.

There really was not much time to sit around and do nothing. We had multiple meetings during the day, lectures about the physiology of addiction, information about how to stay sober, and group therapy. The end of the day was an AA meeting, which always had speakers who were folks in recovery doing service work from local AA chapters.

They had really great food. They explained that high carbs is good for people in detox, so there was no shortage of pasta, rice, cakes and cookies. I have to say that was pretty surprising. Usually hospital food is awful, this was quite the opposite!

There was also one on one work with a councilor for each patient. We discussed in detail my past, and put into place an outpatient plan for after the 5-day detox period. Some chose to go into in-patient 30-day or 60-day facilities. I instead opted for an IOP (intensive outpatient) near home.

Everyone that worked at the facility was extremely nice, and most all of them were in recovery themselves. They had all been in those same shoes and tried to make us as comfortable as we could be.

Best thing (and most difficult thing) I have ever done.

Bostonsportsfan

Hey man how have you been? I haven't talked to you in awhile. Are you coming up on a year sober this October? I'm rooting for you.