Acuragirl

Since my dad passed away 3 years ago me and my boyfriend have been drinking about a liter or so of booze every day. Sometimes more. We are functioning alcoholics, barely. We both have well paying jobs that we hide our problem from except he has to drive my car to work since he has the built in breathalyzer and we are never sober. I work from home so it's not a big deal. I had 1 episode in January where I had stomach pains and went into the hospital thinking I needed my galbladder out. They told me I had alcohol induced hepatitis, cirrhosis of the liver, acute pancreatitis, fatty spots in my intestines, the whole 9 yards. They gave me tramadol for a few hours and released me with substance abuse information. We quit for 2 weeks and then the cycle continued. Well recently I developed a new side affect of a very dry mouth/throat/lips which I went to the doctor for right before they closed, he took a quick look, said I think it's strep, and sent me on my way with antibiotics. Finished all my meds. Still very dry mouth/throat/lips. This was over Thanksgiving break so we were pretty much drinking, sleeping, drinking, sleeping, drinking, sleeping for a week. Feeling miserable the whole time too. When the work week started we just couldn't do it. I told my boyfriend I think it's mono, and he might have it too. We were so tired and sore and weak. We are used to drinking this heavily on a normal basis, so that's what it has to be. We decide to both call into work and go to urgent care. My doctor tells me the problem with my mouth dryness and throat soreness is that I have thrush and sends me on my way with a script. His doctor takes his blood for a mono test and he comes back severly anaemic. His eyes are yellow with jaundice. He's got black and blue bruises all over his arms and chest. He's needs to go to the emergency room now. We've just been ignoring it this whole time and pretending it's not an issue. He's admitted to the hospital and he's not coming home any time soon. I visited him last night. He was admitted Wednesday and I was going to stay the night with him Friday night. They have him on a steriod and 2 other meds for withdrawals, one of them being lorazapam. I noticed he was acting differently than normal. He had made a comment that they increased the lorazapam that day and he didn't know how he felt about it. He kept looking at the door when he was talking to us. Kept opening the door and closing it. Then it would subside somewhat and the nurse would come in and give him more. Then it got worse than before he was opening the door and saying "Go away." "We don't want to play." So I asked him who he was talking to and he said "The little boy in the trash bin out there." As he was closing the door I pushed it back open and I said "Where?" "Show me." And he walked over to the cupboards with the trash in it and opened them to a bin full of trash bags. He dropped to the floor and layed his head down to even check underneath. "See, there is no little boy." I told him. So then we start setting up to watch a movie and the nurse comes back in to give him more. I told her he's seeing things that aren't there but that made the nurses seem to want to give him even more. Then he was seeing pitbulls in the room and ferrets running around. He was starting to get more confused. They put an alarm on his bed that goes off when he gets up because his blood is so thin if he falls he could really hurt himself. But he was seeing animals and hearing things and kept getting up to investigate, then the alarm would go off, the nurses would come and give him more lorazapam. He started thinking we were at home and telling the nurses to leave. Then he thought we were at his moms house and at one point a party and the nurses were my friends. They gave him more. To subside these "withdrawal induced hallucinations". After that he though the nurses were witches who had stolen his daughter, he was shoving the nurses, almost hit me, calling me by his daughters name. Security was called numerous times. I could see in his eyes that it wasn't him. They give him valium. Time passes and now he wants to go home. He claims he walked home the night before and will be back the following day. Now we have 3 security guards, 6 nurses, and the doctor in the room. They give him something else they called "H vitamin". It still doesn't knock him out and he still wants to leave. He has no idea where he is, what's going on, or what hes doing there. He has the cords to the machines and hes ready to rip them out of the wall. Everyone from 11:00pm to 4:00am is just trying to talk him into laying down and going to sleep but he wont. So they give him something else. I had to leave the room for a little bit. I didn't know what to do. The next thing I know hes getting aggressive again and they are restraining him to his bed and I can just hear his screaming. I had to leave. I don't know whether I believe that his hallucinations were actually from alcohol withdrawal or if they were from the drugs they were giving him. I'm not sure how to feel about any of it. Needless to say we have both been sober since Wednesday.

Dee74

Hi Acxuragirl - welcome

I'm not a Dr, but it's very possible your bf has the DTs which is why he's getting so much attention and being medicated.

I'm afraid I think that's more likely than he;s being over medicated,

Sounds like both you guys are in a fairly bad way - I hope you can keep your sober streak going and turn it into something lasting and permanent.

Tons of support and advice here

Hope to see you around the boards some more,
D

BullDog777

I was diagnosed as an end stage chronic alcoholic almost 3 years ago. My neighbor found me on the sidewalk after a seizure and took me to the ER where I stayed in the intensive care unit for about a week. I was in and out of consciousness but I don't remember hardly any of it.

I had damaged my heart, liver, kidneys, pancreas, had stroke level blood pressure and given myself type 2 diabetes with a very dangerous blood sugar level when i was checked in.

All told, I was in the hospital for several months.

I agree with Dee. It sounds like he was having DTs which can result in every one of those symptoms.

I got sober because the doctors told me I wouldn't survive another detox. In the beginning, that was the only reason I didn't drink. There are tons more now, but no matter how bad I had gotten, I didn't wanna die and I was close.

Sounds like you are both in the same position. It only gets worse from here if you both don't get some sort of long term help. AA, rehab, therapy, here....whatever. All of them or one..just something.

I got lucky....I hung in there and I just put one foot in front of the other and was able to heal my body. It took almost 18 months, but now all my organs are healthy again.

This might be your last shot. I hope you both get the help you need. We are open 24/7/365. We're always here to try to help.

I hope you stick around and wish you both the best.

ScottFromWI

Welcome to SR Acuragirl. I think its probably best to leave the medical side of things up to your doctor, they know exactly what's going on in our bodies when we abuse them to an extreme with alcohol. I'm very glad to hear that you are both quitting though, that's the real ticket to getting better - quitting and quitting for good. You'll find a ton of support here on SR, I hope you can stick around.

Acuragirl

I have not admited myself to the hospital at this point and have been detoxing at home myself. I have been fighting through the weakness, tiredness and occasional feeling of dizzyness almost like I have been drinking. Because my throat has been so dry occasionally I accidentally swallow down the wrong tube and start coughing. Every time this happens I can't help but start throwing up everything in my stomach. Should I be worried? I feel like my meals arent digesting and just sit in my stomach waiting for me to throw up. I am wondering if I should see a doctor or if this is something that will go away.

BullDog777

We're not allowed to give medical advise here.

Without a doubt, you should absolutely go see a doctor.

They are the only ones qualified to be able to properly take care of your needs at the moment.

Guener

Absolutely you should see a doctor and be honest.

Hawkeye13

alcohol detox can be dangerous--no one can predict

I also suggest getting some help with this.

Anna

I agree that you should see a doctor as soon as you can. I hope that you can remain sober and recover.

lostinjersey1

You REALLY need to see a doctor, detoxing is horrible, my ex tried it a few times and had horrible seizures. Best to not do it alone.

LaceyDallas

Acuragirl

I am doing well. Still not drinking and no longer throwing up. I am dealing with severe muscle cramps throughout my stomach back and legs that radiates to the tip of my toes and soles of my feet. I went to the doctor last night and had bloodwork, urine testing and a cat scan with a clean bill of health. Liver enzymes were a little high but not too far out of the normal range. They told me to take tylenol for the pain and wouldn't give me any sort of muscle relaxers because I just quit drinking. Tylenol doesn't seem to touch the pain so it's been a painful few days with little sleep. I'm just trying to push through and can't wait to feel normal again.

Briansy

Hi Acura, it sounds like you are going through absolute hell at the moment and it's hugely commendable that you still haven't drank. It can only get better from here - hope you keep at it. All the best.

ScottFromWI

Glad to year you saw the doctor and that there were no immediate major issues health wise. The first week or so of withdrawals can be really bad like you are experiencing - but they are always finite. If you think about it, you were basically poisoning yourself to an extreme level with a toxic chemical for months/years. It's pretty amazing that our bodies can withstand such severe abuse, and it shouldn't really be a surprise that we feel like crap for a few days after we quit, right?

LaceyDallas