Vivien

I've always been a drinker. Usually just 2-3 times a month max. About four months ago I quit smoking pot, I was a daily user. I then slowly started drinking more to the point where I now drink roughly 20 ounces of vodka most days. I typically drink 5 times a week.

I managed to quit drinking for a week about three weeks ago. I had some weird withdrawal symptoms. I have a history of allergic reactions and uriticaria and day two of No Alcohol, I ended up being CRAZY itchy on certain parts of my body. I took some allergy meds but it was so bad I couldn't sleep. This happened a previous time that I had tried to quit alcohol so I'm assuming it's not just a fluke and is connected to the withdrawal.

Besides moodiness and tiredness I didn't really have any other symptoms.

I've had anaphylaxis before and I now have anxiety about withdrawing from alcohol.

I'm such a weak idiot. I should never have started drinking again after the last time. I convinced myself I could "drink casually, once a week or less." Yeah right, took me less than two weeks to be RIGHT back where I started.

I haven't been abusing alcohol for more than 3-4 months. And not ever day. I think I shouldn't bother tapering off, but I'm not sure. I'm afraid of the DTs but I feel like that's only for long, long, long term alcoholics?

ScottFromWI

Welcome to SR vivien. Some folks here have reported dry/itchy skin when quitting, but it's hard to say what the actual cause might be. Drinking itself can cause itchy/dry skin because alcohol dehydrates the body - it's also possible that maybe we just didn't notice until we stopped drinking?

Bottom line though if you have any specific concerns that you might have severe withdrawals seeing a doctor is the best choice. We cannot diagnose you here and the severity of withdrawals is not always related to how much you drink.

Vivien

Thank you! I think that is the best thing, to see my doctor, I just have convinced myself that I don't need to talk to her about this as I'm not "that bad" of an alcoholic and I'll be fine withdrawing again. I'm being stupid. I know this. lol.

ScottFromWI

It's a very common feeling Vivien- most of us thought that our problem wasn't "that bad" or that we could just fix it ourselves. Don't be afraid or embarrased, it's quite common and there's nothing you could tell your doctor that they haven't heard before.

Vivien

My mouth tastes like pennies a lot now, when I'm not drinking. And it won't go away. Just an observation!