friedpickle

I have decided to stop drinking and luckily when doing some research I found this website.

I'm 24 and I started drinking lightly in college but as my depression and anxiety got worse I started drinking more. I've had about a pint every night for maybe 2 years. I want to see a doc because I've had some mild/dull side pain but I'm terrified of the damage I have done!

Please I need some support and/or advice!

Soberintexas007

Your plan should include sobriety by joining a support group such as AA or SMART, you should see your doctor ASAP to check out what is wrong, and you should continue to come on here for support.

I am now on Day 3 and realize how difficult a journey it is.

friedpickle

I want to go to AA but my anxiety is so bad. I'm almost too scared to go to the doctor but I want this life to end. I hate myself and when I think of all the vodka bottle I've hide under my bed and thrown away it makes me sick and even more scared! I'm currently tapering off and I've been taking many vitamins along with lots of water!

I just hope I haven't done severe damage to my liver! I think I'd have a heart attack if I got really bad news( but I am 100% committed to stop drinking! I hate alcohol and I hate what's it's done to me (

SunnyMe

Fried, the only way you'll know for sure is if you see a doctor. You can make good decisions once you're armed with knowledge. Is there a friend or family member who can go with you to be a support?

48heath

Welcome to SR friedpickle.

If you phone your local AA helpline number,they can help you,they should be able to find someone to go to your first meeting with,if that is what you want.

Face the fear and go to your Doctor,withdrawingfrom Alcohol can be dangerous.

IOAA2

Hi and welcome.
It might help you to realize that much of our fears, anxiety etc are reduced considerably without alcohol being in our body to help plague us.
Alcohol is powerful, cunning, baffling and insidious along with being progressive when we continue to use it.

BE WELL

zjw

take it a step at a time. the anxiety and depression will ease up some if you quit drinkng. from there you can ponder options like aa etc.. take it easy. Booze sadly causes and relivese anxiety and depression. Over time it makes it much worse and sooner or later it really doesnt offer much relief anymore either. Its also a process for you body to adjust to life without booze. at first it may stink or seem to stink worse then drinking you have to push forward through that phase.

friedpickle

I'm trying to find a doctor and I'm going to set up an appointment..but until then any tips on how I can taper off the best way possible?!?!? It kills me that I can't just stop cold turkey because I don't want to take another sip..but I do have sweats and heart feels weird and then of course worse anxiety!! Also I cannot tell my mom..but my best gf knows and also my bf.

One more question..if the doc diagnosis me with alcoholism will it be harder for me to get Heath issuance and/or job?

Thanks for the feed back!!!

zjw

I tapered because i was scared myself. I just decided to drink a bit less each day 5 or 6 days into my taper i got tired of prolonging the misery (the upcoming quit) and said screw it and just quit. Lucky for me the worst problem i had was horrible anxiety I didnt get DT's per say but i had many withdrawell issues but i was prepared to get drunk or go to the ER if things got sketchy.

If you wanna get started on the quit process before seeing a doc because you just cant wait then taper but Keep in mind at some point you have to let go of the booze. Tapers can easily turn back into benders and binges if not managed. Heck I coulda tapered for 10 years if i wanted too. Sooner or later you have to put it down.

friedpickle

I can't see a doctor right away but I definitely want to start the tapering right away.
Let me know if this sounds like a good idea..I had a pint of vodka already at my house so yesterday around 5ish I sipped on some and went to bed that night and I hadn't drank half. I have a little more than half left and was thinking I'd sip every few hours and then be DONE with hard liquor. Since I'm not a fan of beer I was thinking for the next week id just have one glass of wine at night or maybe during the day depending how my anxiety and heart feels.??? What do yall think of that? I've also decided I'm going to walk everyday 4 miles to help stress levels and maybe the steam room to help detox. ???

Pls let me know thanks yall so much!!!!!

zjw

read up on DT's and withdrawel symptoms so that you can recognize something before it becomes a bigger something.

aniexty and being uncomfortable are one thing shakes and siezures are another etc..


I think you got an ok plan everyones different so its hard for me to say what you should taper with or not. Dont loose sight of the goal tho its easy to make excuses to drink etc..

walking each day is a great idea. heck you might have to walk a few times a day even I know i did! and still do sometimes.

I'd drink a lot of fluids and eat lots of fruits and veggies too. and if you think your eating a lot of fruits and veggies eat more.

friedpickle

I think I'm going to try my plan..I'll sip slowly so I don't get drunk. And add extra good foods and water!
I have had shakes, sweats and anxiety but never seizures. And I hope I never have a seizure!! I really hope this works. I'm so glad I found this page because I think with support from others like me I can really do this.
I've tried so many times to stop and always fall back into my bad habit (due to panic attacks) I just hope this time is it!

zjw

I thank god for my panic attacks there what caused me to quit. My panic attacks got so bad i was willing to try anything to be free of them even give up beer (oh the horror i thought). I read somewhere that they /could/ be caused by alcohol consumption and on a whim i thought well maybe if i quit?

I had no idea the battle i was in for by simply putting down the drink. and I didnt find a site like this till a year later or go to AA. Like a fool i did it with 0 support SOMEHOW no idea how.

But sadly alcohol can cause panic attacks. I dont have them much anymore and when i do there very very mild and my anxiety is far better now.

I really think the horrible anxiety and panic attacks in my case where because i was so dependant on booze i was basicly going through withdrawels.

friedpickle

It's definitely made my panic attacks and anxiety worse and I can't wait for it to get better. But I think I can say my anxiety and paranoia about my health is what caused me to really want help and do this for good.
For a long time I didn't understand the damage I was doing to myself and when I did some reach I read about how it destroys the liver and ever since then I've been in panic about drinking. I think my constant thoughts and anxiety about that is what actually might help me!

zjw

yeah it might help. I was so concerned about my health prior to and along the way with geting sober. I figured the least I could do is start to make the right choices. And i still worried that it was somehow too late i was screwed i'd die some horrible death from all my bad choices.

But our bodies have an amazing abilty to heal. Once I quit and started eating better and exercising things started to turn around. I wont lie tho it took a while and sometimes it seemed like there was no progress at all. But in time things got much better.

ScottFromWI

Exercise and water sounds like a great plan, but we can't really offer advice on tapering here, it's a very difficult thing to accomplish as an alcoholic. Even when you taper down ( which most find nearly impossible ) you do eventually have to quit at some point. I'd strongly recommend seeing your doctor or even a nurse/PA at a walk in clinic if you can't see your regular doctor.

friedpickle

I don't have a primary and I'm looking for one to address this..I dont know if I can afford to go into a walk in clinic..are there any other options? I want to stop
Drinking now and I don't want to wait to see a doctor to know if I can stop cold turkey or not

ScottFromWI

Do you have a city/town alcohol or drug rehabilitation center? Many times they have counselors that you can talk with over the phone to do an assessment at no cost. You could also call your local AA hotline and see if they have information about detox facilities or resources in your area, if anyone will know they will. If you think you will need supervised detox, most salvation army chapters offer free detox too.

friedpickle

Okay thanks! I'll see if there is a number I can call! The thing is I don't want my mother to know how bad I've become. I told my bf, best gf, and sister. But my dad past just a couple months ago so I want to try and do this without her knowing...I don't want her to hurt anymore than she already is! So I will try and see if someone over the phone can help me!

tomsteve

Here's a thread from someone afraid of AA that recently went for the first time:
http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...a-meeting.html