dbritz

Hello all,

I recently went through the horrible event of alcohol withdrawal, about 7 weeks ago. I had been very happy and healthy prior to this episode, but a very traumatic event happened in march, and i basically had a nervous breakdown, and I drank daily for about a month (during an employment gap). I was not drinking a colossal amount, it ranged from 3 or 4 drinks, to 6 or 7 drinks a day. The last day of my binge was the most excessive, i drank about 3 beers throughout the day, than drank about 8 glasses of wine that night. The next afternoon I was walking out of a job interview and all of a sudden started feeling really strange, nauseous and ominous. I had never felt anything like it before. I walked to the nearest bar and told them I was feeling really sick and asked for water. I felt like I was fighting to stay concious and like I was going to die. When i picked up the glass my hands and arms were trembling and spilling the water around. It took a lot of effort to hold up the glass. I called 911. WHen they arrived i felt very weak and laid down. I felt numbness/tingling in my left extremities and around my lips. I started coming out of it after a few minutes. They took me to the ER, I told them about the drinking, and idiots there immediately discharged me with no treatment, advice, nothing, just a diagnoses of dehydration, for which they didnt even give me a glass of water. I also had never experienced alcohol withdrawal before, and had no idea that it could kill you.

A doctor in the family says it could have been a seizure, but i really dont know. I never convulsed or lost conciousness. I had been extremely stressed, not eating, drinking lots of coffee and chain smoking also, Has anyone experienced something like this from withdrawal? (Faintness and trembling, some numbness/tingling?)

The doctor put me on meds and I detoxed at home. I was very weak for a few days, very depressed, had nightmares, some anxiety, but improved physically after a few days.

The doctor also told me that if i drank even a small amount of alcohol, like one glass of wine, I could potentially have a seizure and develop epilepsy!!!! I have been completely sober since my detox (7 weeks)

The initial trauma that hit me was bad enough and had already turned my life upside down. Then, to have had a brief period in my life of a few weeks of grieving and drinking a bit excessively, resulting in acute withdrawal from which i could have died, and am just now being told I must never drink again, which I feel severely limits me and changes my life forever. I am sorry if that sounds negative, but I am still young and it really does hurt me and that is just how I feel. IF I HAD KNOWN that that amount of drinking could hurt me or nearly kill me, I NEVER would have drank so much.

I know this is a forum for recovery. I just am overwhelmed right now with these sudden losses and altered life , it was not part of my plan in life to be abstinent. I really love wine, and I really love drinking in relative moderation and socializing. I have been extremely depressed and isolated.

Because I know there are so many of you out there who have been through similar experience, I really feel like I need to find more information on what happened to me and what could happen, medically, its serious; the the rest of my life i need to figure out.

The biggest question I have right now is, for those of you who have gone through withdrawal and later drank, has 1 or 2 drinks (maybe 3) caused you to have a seizure???? Even epilepsy literature has mixed info about safe levels of alcohol. I have been researching kindling and seizures and withdrawal constantly. I have not found any cases yet of a person having a seizure from a couple of drinks, but my doctor keeps telling me it could happen.

And I know, this is a forum for recovery. Just please understand, this occurence is overwhelming for me, it was not planned, and i must figure things out and with things in steps.

Thank you all for listening.

Dee74

Hi and welcome dbritz

withdrawal is a funny thing. I've even had withdrawal (shakes sweating confusion, hallucinations) while I was drinking.

If your doctor says it could be a seizure, why doubt him? if you're committed to sobriety it's a moot point anyway

I really loved drinking too for a lot of years...but I really prefer the sober me and this sober life.

I hope you'll give it a chance dbritz

D

Andante

Well, Option One, you could try drinking again and see what happens. The best possible outcome is that you remain content never to drink more than one or two drinks at a time and that you never suffer any more ill effects from drinking.

Another possible outcome is that you might initially drink one or two drinks without suffering immediate and dire consequences, but it turns out you’ve already established a dependence and tolerance to alcohol, and the idea of being able to drink “normally” again is nothing but a delusion. Against all your best intentions, your drinking escalates until your consumption is right back to where it was when you suffered your frightening withdrawal episode, and because of the effects of kindling, your withdrawal symptoms are even worse the next time you try to stop.

And of course, there’s the possible outcome that your doctor predicts: that you really do have a seizure on just one or two drinks.

Or, Option Two, you could simply choose not to drink again.

Of course, if you look at it realistically, the only way quitting drinking “severely limits” you or “changes your life forever” or “is overwhelming” is if you’re already alcohol-dependent. “Normal” people can take it or leave it. If you discovered you had a peanut allergy, would you obsess about defending and rationalizing your desire to eat peanuts again even though you’ve proven they don’t agree with you? No. You just wouldn’t eat peanuts.

Me, I know which outcome from Option One I think is most likely. I also know which option I’d go with if I were you — or, more precisely, which option I wish I had gone with when I was you.

doggonecarl

Welcome to SR

You feel that way, but feelings aren't facts. You are newly sober and the idea of never drinking might seem overwhelming. It doesn't have to be. If you hadn't had this "incident" you might have continued drinking until you were consumed by alcohol and couldn't quit. Believe, nothing is more limiting, more life changing than chronic alcoholism.

Alcohol limited me, severely. But it took quitting to see that. I couldn't see the chains until they were off me. And the changes in my life, they were all for the best.

Gottalife

I have seen it happen in meetings once or twice. At the time it was called a "rum fit". One guy was right next to me and I am pretty sure he had not drunk for a few days. Excess alcohol consumption causes a lot of damage and epileptic seizures though rare in my experience do happen.

paulokes

It's a curious thing...fitting during alcohol withdrawal can be fatal.

Would you put a gun to your head if you knew there was a 1 in 6 chance the barrel was loaded? How many times would you repeat the experiment?

What do you think are the chances of you personally fitting when you take a drink? How many times are you willing to try?

Many of us seem to have a twist in our thinking around booze. We miscalculate the odds, or we decide we just don't give a damn.

P

Imabuleva

I was in an AA meeting on my day 2, and I was experiencing excessive tingling in my arms and clenching of my hands. I couldn't move my hands at all. I also had heart palpitations at the time.

I got up, went outside, and walked it off. Didn't talk to anyone. I'm currently on day 4 of the same detox. I don't know how I didn't have a seizure. If I believed in the Christian deity, I would say it was watching over me. But I suppose I just didn't quite hit the threshold of central nervous system or neurotransmitter rebound necessary to induce seizures.

Still going to meetings. Don't know what I'm gonna do about the higher power stuff, but it's pretty easy for me to admit I am powerless over alcohol. For any reason at all, I can end up in the liquor store with a bottle in my hand and a grin on my face. And who knows if anyone would ever see me again. It gets really, really dark. Alcohol withdrawal and the emptiness, uselessness, depressed feeling that comes along with it is the worst feeling I have ever felt. Why ******* risk it?

MIRecovery

To me it sounds like you are looking for a way to start drinking. The story goes like this. I'm going to try one drink to see if there is a problem. Then I will try two. Then before you know it you are right back to alcoholic drinking.

If my doctor told me not to drink anti-freeze because it could kill me I think I would believe him not research if just a little would be harmful

Confuzd

I don't know whether you will have a seizure if you have a couple of drinks or not...I know one guy in AA, he says he was sober for about a year, then he drank a six pack of beers thinking he would be fine, next thing he knew he was having a seizure in his friends apartment. It has not happed to me, though I have detoxed a few times, and drank later.

Like others have said, it is concerning that you feel giving up alcohol will severely limit your life. Many people don't drink, and live normal, happy lives. If you have already gone through withdrawal, there is a high risk that you will not be able to control your drinking, and will get dependent on alcohol again, if you try to drink again. This will limit your life for sure.

MelindaFlowers

About not drinking limiting your life, think about happy and successful people. I think there's a book called something like Ten Habits of Happy and Successful People.

I know some are exercising, not procrastinating, waking early, paying bills on time, avoiding debt by managing money, pretty predictable. You know what is not one? Drinking.

I know telling yourself the doctor was wrong is tempting because that means you can keep drinking. But isn't this a classic example of the "terminal uniqueness" that we hear so much about? These come to mind when I think of terminal uniqueness

The doctor is an idiot, he doesn't know what's going on with MY body! (How many bodies do you think he's seen through medical school and now as a physician?)

dbritz

Thank you all for your replies and sharing your experience, i really do appreciate it.

It has been a couple weeks now, and and I have been gathering more information and medical counsel, and discovering some things.

The doctor who first treated me, was a family member. I have learned the hard way that crossing that line from family member to doctor/patient is really not the healthiest. I am now recieving medical care from my primary care physican and a qualified nurse who specializes in psychiatric meds in order to avoid issues which have arisen from receiving med care from someone who is involved in the situation as a family member/friend and has strong emotions and opinions which influence his objectivity and bias as a physician.

He did warn me that if I ever had one drink again, that I could have a seizure. However, while I was sick and heavily medicated on phenobarbital during the peak of my withdrawal, he put me on a stimilulant (amphetimine derived) medication, wellbutrin, often prescribed for depression, ADD, and smoking cessation. I was not even cognizant of what medication I was being administered, he did not have any kind of discussion with me about what he was giving me. He just decided I was depressed and mentally ill and that I must take it without even giving me a choice in the matter. He also put me on xanax after I was through my withdrawal, which I did not want to take, and which does pretty much the same thing as alcohol, though it is even harder to get off off and the weaning process and withdrawals are much more extended, and of course, as a potent short acting benzo, xanax also increases SEIZURE RISK. Also, when I went to the mecical proffessionals I am now seeing they were rather appalled, as the stimilunt medication wellbutrin ALSO lowers the seizure threshhold, and he started dosing me while I was still at the peak of my withdrawal! I went through absolute hell with adverse symptoms until I could finally get an appointment with my doctors and nurse 2 months later..., because he would not allow me, or tell me how to safely wean off of those medications, and I was so scared of triggering more withdrawal symptoms and seizures to wean off of them myself, so over the course of 2 months i have now become physically dependent on another gaba buster even nastier than alcohol. Though I always took it as prescribed its still the same bs and just F***s up the process of my gaba recepters getting back to a healthier condition. The combination of stimulant and short acting sedative straight from withdrawal made me feel like absolute HELL. It was the worst feeling i have ever experienced.

I am extremely angered and saddened that I was basically forced to take these drugs that have caused me more harm by a doctor who felt he knows whats best for me so that he was required to make my decisions for me. Nevermind that he is not even a mental health or addiction specialist but a GP.

I feel like I was cheated out of the experience of having a clean, healthy sober recovery. I still have weeks to go on my weaning process from these stupid benzos that i never wanted to take.

I think its good to talk to lots of people with real experience but also one has to ultimately be responsible for there own life and there own health. I mean this doctor had me so terrified of seizures and yet he was basically settting me up for one. RIDICULOUS.

The new doctors and specialists agreed i should get off those drugs , that they were not prescribed wisely or ethically and I am currently tapering safely. I asked them if they thought i had a seizure and they said it sounded like a panic attack. I asked them If i would ever be able to go out and drink in moderation and meet people, party etc and they said i should wait obviosly to heal from all this bs but that they really didnt see a problem with that. I appreciate them being cautious in there advice, but not pulling out the controlling scare tactics either. To me being really happy is healthy and since drinking makes me really happy at times its worth holding onto as long as I go about it healthy and test the waters safely and slowly. if my NS isnt to fried than i hope i am blessed to be able to be drink a cold beer again on a hot day. Terrible lesson, i had an EPISODE in my life where i drank too much and i got sick enough that i fell into the clutches DOCTOR who evicted what was left of my soul and physical stamina with HORRIBLE psyche drugs.

I will never let myself down again, because when you do that , anything can go terrible, and any idiot might take over.

- Dee : )

JeffreyAK

My first experience with alcohol withdrawal was about a year before I finally quit, and at the time I had no idea that it was withdrawal.

I had drank a bottle of whiskey the night before, and next morning I felt awful, but a different kind of awful than usual - dizzy, shaking, at times I felt like I was going to collapse. It passed a bit, so - of course - I went to the store to buy more alcohol, and while walking through Safeway I collapsed. Dizzy turned into tunnel vision and near-blackout, and I could no longer stand so I quickly sat down in the middle of the floor! I couldn't get up, and there I was, shaking and confused and scared sitting on the aisle floor in Safeway.

The manager came by and asked if I wanted them to call 911, and since I was helpless to get up I said yes, and got an ambulance ride to the hospital. Six hours of tests and IVs later, I was sent home with a diagnosis of dehydration. I denied being a heavy drinker, of course, though I said I had "some whiskey" the night before. I wasn't 100%, but getting better, so I stopped at the store on the way home to buy a 6-pack, and after drinking 2 beers I felt fine and normal again.

It was many months before I understood that I had gone through alcohol withdrawal, made worse but not caused by dehydration. Withdrawals can be bad, and can surprise you with their severity.

As to the doctors opinion about drinking again, that's between you and your doctor. There's a really simple way to avoid any more problems, and that's abstinence.

Andante

Hmmm...

1) You say you became physically dependent on Xanax after only 2 months of use, and you're having to endure a protracted and painful taper as a result.

2) You admit that Xanax "does pretty much the same thing as alcohol" in terms of messing up your GABA receptors.

3) You're looking forward to drinking alcohol again once you "heal" from all this.

What's wrong with this picture?

All I can say is good luck, and be sure to come back and tell us how "happy" going back to drinking makes you feel!

Edited to add: Don't mean to be hard on you -- withdrawal from either alcohol or benzos (or both) can heighten anxiety and anger and muddle your thinking a bit.

dbritz

I know, It is such a scary experience how it can sneak up on you.
Its so messed up how much there is a complete lack of awaerness of how dangerous alcohol is. (even in hospitals!) Everybody thinks its all about your liver giving out some day when your old after decades of hitting the hard stuff all day. there is just no education out there unless your really looking for it or its too late and your already F*** up.

dbritz

Its true, I want the best of both worlds. My 3 months of abstinience has tought me a lot... Patience, maturity, greater self awarness, responsability. I want a clean healthy brain/body....and i also dream of being healthy for a good while and drinking socially again. If you would really like to know how it goes for me, I will come back to report in the next several moths- to year how it goes.

The difference is in the matter of choice. The the doctor did not give me a choice, and put me on the worst medication he could get a hold of. The only thing worse than harming yourself is falling under someone elses control who harms you.

Venecia

You've invested considerable thought in directing your anger at a physician. I understand that most primary care physicians are not well trained in addiction.

You describe a pattern of very heavy drinking. At the risk of being harsh, you're avoiding any introspection, or accountability, here. Blessed by alcohol?

It doesn't sound like it has done you any favors. Maybe it's time to build a plan that doesn't involve alcohol, instead of pinpointing the issue on one physician, as well as the "idiots," as you refer to them, in the ER.

sugarbear1

there are several types of seizures and some are just absence seizures.....no shaking needed!

sg1970

I would love to hear an update. Let us know how it goes. Best wishes.