The withdrawals always get worse, no exceptions?
 

I really wish I had known this sooner. I never understood until recently why my withdrawals were so much worse than they used to be, because I didn't know about the progressive nature of the condition. It makes a lot more sense now, but I'm annoyed with myself that I didn't research this information sooner.

I quit drinking in August 2014 and I felt recovered after just 6 days (!). Then I quit again in February 2015 and I felt recovered after about 11 days. Now though, more than a year later, I'm on day 76 and I still don't feel right. Is this because my condition has progressed since then? I'm assuming it is, but it just seems like a huge difference in the time it has taken to feel normal.

Just to clarify, I know the acute withdrawal phase only lasts a few days, I'm mostly talking about the post-acute phase.

I know my initial withdrawal phase did - over 20 years ' feeling ok' time went from a day to 10 days.

I have no experience with multiple PAWs instances tho, so the short answer is I don't know :)

It's called "kindling."

Check this out...

https://www.hivehealthmedia.com/on-t...-of-addiction/

Mine didn't get worse, perhaps it depends on how much you drank.

Once I reached the point of physical withdrawal, yeah much worse.

Good reason to stay sober bud

Mine got noticeably worse. I went from being mildly uncomfortable but able to handle them on my own, to terrifying and needing medical assistance to get through them. By the end, I had to go to alcohol detox facilities twice. I never got an official diagnosis of DT's, but I'd say hallucinating and having to be physically restrained for several days is a pretty good indication. That happened the last time. It isn't something to be taken lightly, for sure.

The beautiful things about sobriety is that you will never have to worry about withdrawal again.....such a blessing!

Mine became a lot worse to the point when I had a relapse in November past even the medication didn't seem to be working that well which made it really tough and I had been sober over two years, anyhow it's one of the many reminders I have written down on why I can not and will not ever drink again.

Andrew

Yes withdrawals get worse.Alcoholism is relentlessly progressive.

I've heard they get worse and worse. I personally don't intend to find out! Seems to me the only solution is to stop entirely.

What seems to progress is, time and age, and how much your tolerance lets you drink. ;) The more you drink, the more challenging your withdrawals will be, but as addicts we tend to drink more and more because we need to drink more and more to achieve the same level of buzz. I bet if you're honest with yourself, you'll find that your alcohol intake has gone up each time prior to your recent quit dates.

But my personal experience with multiple withdrawals is limited to acute withdrawal. PAWS can take 2 years to get through, and I've only gone through that whole phase once. Sounds like you haven't gone that far yet, so it's going to be hard to judge how long it will take to feel totally stable. There are ups and downs through the whole process, though on average it gets better and better.

For me, it definitely got worse with age. Before, I'd be cranky and crave sugar for a day or two, and then I'd feel great. Too great...must not have a real problem, right? so after weeks or months or even five years at one point...hey, let's have a glass of wine.

This time, despite the fact that I had been drinking far less for several months prior to quitting and had been dry for several months prior to that...I was a mess. Day 4 I barely moved off the couch. I walked around in a fog for weeks, never felt rested, and had zero energy. Oh and that happy pink cloud place failed to show up this time. All this on 3-4 glasses of wine every evening.

The good news is that I'm pretty much terrified of what it might be like the next time...today is day 97 and I'm not looking back.

I had that experience where one particular withdrawal would be a bit easier than the one previous, and of course my addicted brain would seize on it as evidence that "I'm not that bad" and use it as an excuse to keep drinking.

The overall progression, however, was for the withdrawals to get relentlessly worse over time.

As Soberclover noted, one of the nice things about sobriety is that you never have to worry about such things again.

So sorry you are going through this but 76 days is admirable and shouldn't be taken lightly.

Have you read Under the Influence yet? I am almost done with it and wish I read it sooner. It does a wonderful job of outlining how alcohol effects the human body and how continued ingestion of alcohol destroys cells and organs, and left unchecked is inevitably fatal. It does explain why withdrawal can be worse after relapse.

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This Thread serves as a Public Service Reminder.

I thank you all for that.
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I have thoroughly tested the "kindling" phenomenon .....personally over and over again. I am here to say it is very true. Over time, the symptoms of withdrawal will get worse for each drinking episode. I, for one, will not be conducting anymore "research" into this!! This is true for the acute phase and PAWS. Best wishes to you Jack

My w/d got worse and worse each time I drank again. Glad I no longer have to go thru that. :)

It is progressive. My last bender put me in the hospital for 5 days, hooked up to an IV. I finally realized if I keep drinking, I'll likely die. Not to be morbid, but I took it lightly for far too long.

I completely agree, the withdrawals got progressively worse as time progressed for me too. I'm just glad that handguns were banned in the UK or I'd have put myself out of my misery.