I should have listened!
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2016
Posts: 40
I should have listened!
When i first joined this site I did not listen to those who told me not to quit cold turkey without a doctor. i thought I could do it on my own. I was extremely wrong. I suffered from DT's in the most extreme way. My mental state broke down completely. I had no sense of reality. I saw people who weren't there, I did not know who my family was, and in the end I ended up running thru the woods thinking people were chasing me to kill me. i was convinced that my family had been murdered, and when the police found me I was naked and bleeding from the waist up and really thought that I had been running thru the woods for 3 days. I had been gone from my house for 2 hours. I told the police my family had been murdered. They took it seriously. I was taken to the hospital where I told the staff the police had a plan to rape and kill me. I was convinced of all of these things. Turns out my electrolytes (potassium, magnesium) levels were depleted. I was about a day away from going into cardiac arrest. I have been in the hospital since Thursday and am feeling much better, but were still trying to get my levels to normal. Definitely listen when people tell you to detox with a doctor. This is dangerous business. And I would like to say thank you to those who gave me advice. 
Member
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: Midwest
Posts: 44
OMG! How scary! I had a couple of very difficult nights where I thought I would die but nothing like what you experienced. Here's what I did the next morning when I woke up drenched in sweat and feeling like I was hung over even though I didn't drink. I asked myself, "Well, do you want to go through that ever again?" My answer was no.
You have made a difficult decision and you have taken the first step. Don't ever put yourself in a situation where you have to go through that horrible detox again. It's one day, one hour, one minute, one second at a time now and this forum will help.
Lean on us and read our stories and each day you will feel better and better. Glad you are here.
Blessings...
You have made a difficult decision and you have taken the first step. Don't ever put yourself in a situation where you have to go through that horrible detox again. It's one day, one hour, one minute, one second at a time now and this forum will help.
Lean on us and read our stories and each day you will feel better and better. Glad you are here.
Blessings...
Member
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Lakeside, Ca
Posts: 10,208
Originally Posted by ElleSki 
Definitely listen when people tell you to detox with a doctor. This is dangerous business. And I would like to say thank you to those who gave me advice.
Getting and staying sober are both serious business.
Hopefully the worse is behind you now.
Good luck,
Bob
Member
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 5,225
I had a friend similier situation he lost about three days time and he can figure as he ended up 50 miles away is that he walked because his feet where swollen he also remembered hitting his head at one point but doesn't remember anything else.
Formulate a recovery plan to guarantee that this never happens again. 12 Step Recovered Alcoholic
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Thailand
Posts: 6,594
Originally Posted by ElleSki
Thank you everyone. This was the scariest thing that has ever happened in my life. I will never pick up a drink again. I know that now. This was my rock bottom.
The thing is I have known several people who go through this kind of extreme withdrawal again and again. They seem to lose their resolve somehow, the memory of the horror fades and is replaced with the delusion that next time will be different.
I don't know why that happens, but maybe they are in the process of discovering that a bad experience alone is not enough to bring about permanent recovery. It is so important to find a plan and act on it. The sooner the better unless you have some way of knowing how long your present determination will hold up.
I wish you well.
Forum Leader
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 10,931
I'm glad to hear that you are doing much better! I hope your health continues to improve.
My stepson went through two serious 'cold turkey' detoxes. The first in a hospital where he suffered from DTs, had hallucinations, thought his family members were space aliens, thought he was watching long-ago cancelled television programs on the walls of his hospital room, had to be strapped to his bed.
During the second, he was found wandering the streets in the town where he lives. He did not know his friends when they found him. His father, my late husband, received very strange phone calls from him and called his friends who were out of town at the time. When they returned to town, they found him and took him to the ER.
My only hope is that no one here has to go through all of that ever again!
My stepson went through two serious 'cold turkey' detoxes. The first in a hospital where he suffered from DTs, had hallucinations, thought his family members were space aliens, thought he was watching long-ago cancelled television programs on the walls of his hospital room, had to be strapped to his bed.
During the second, he was found wandering the streets in the town where he lives. He did not know his friends when they found him. His father, my late husband, received very strange phone calls from him and called his friends who were out of town at the time. When they returned to town, they found him and took him to the ER.
My only hope is that no one here has to go through all of that ever again!
Member
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Huntington Woods, Michigan
Posts: 465
Originally Posted by ElleSki
When i first joined this site I did not listen to those who told me not to quit cold turkey without a doctor. i thought I could do it on my own. I was extremely wrong. I suffered from DT's in the most extreme way. My mental state broke down completely. I had no sense of reality. I saw people who weren't there, I did not know who my family was, and in the end I ended up running thru the woods thinking people were chasing me to kill me. i was convinced that my family had been murdered, and when the police found me I was naked and bleeding from the waist up and really thought that I had been running thru the woods for 3 days. I had been gone from my house for 2 hours. I told the police my family had been murdered. They took it seriously. I was taken to the hospital where I told the staff the police had a plan to rape and kill me. I was convinced of all of these things. Turns out my electrolytes (potassium, magnesium) levels were depleted. I was about a day away from going into cardiac arrest. I have been in the hospital since Thursday and am feeling much better, but were still trying to get my levels to normal. Definitely listen when people tell you to detox with a doctor. This is dangerous business. And I would like to say thank you to those who gave me advice.
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