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Cold Turkey I have gone cold turkey after 7 years, today is day 2. My anxiety is extreme, never been so bad ever but I am never drinking again. Will I get better :’( I tried tapering but it did not work, I am done with alcohol I am just petrified, crying my eyes out and please to you lovely people will I get better |
Yes, it will get better. I did cold turkey and since we cannot give medical advice, can only say that it was the only solution for me. Drinking again will only re-start the agony - IF you get a chance to live and start again. You've told us about your agony. I hope you choose sobriety for good, NOW. |
I promise you August I will, I am so sorry we had a bit of a little misunderstanding before I just want you to know I appreciate any advice. I recently been having extreme anxiety that not even alcohol would calm me down so I have quit to pray I pull through. Can I please ask if you remember having anxiety and how bad it was and such, I have Diazepam but am too scared to take them for getting addicted to them. Just can’t stop crying, I promise I am never drinking again, never, this is torture. |
I had horrible anxiety the first few days cold turkey but it improved pretty quickly after the alcohol got out of my system. Insomnia also improved. Cry, rest, eat healthy food. Lots of hot showers, clean sheets, and old movies on tv helped me. Post here a lot and go to doctor if needed. I would use meds as prescribed to get through acute phase and stop asap when better. You can do it |
Thanks so much Hawkeye, yeah I currently had hardly no sleep last night, probably a few hours, woke up and had the most terrifying panic attack ever, took me about 3 hours to calm down, I’m still extremely anxious but not attacking although it feels I am on the verge of one very close. I’m having terrifying moments and then moments where I feel ok, I can’t work it out, feel terrified then ok then terrified then ok. |
Yep. Sounds about like the withdrawal I went through, too. Have you thought about going to an AA meeting? People at meetings will understand and can help you get through it. I agree with Hawk, though. Eat as much food as you can stand. Sleep when you can - for me it took a few weeks to be able to sleep eight hours straight through the night. It will get SO MUCH better, but don't pick up a drink no matter what. If you do it all resets. That's all you have to do, not pick up a drink. Everything else will work out in time. |
Welcome to SR. I had horrible anxiety that was getting progressively worse while I was actively drinking. It was bad in early sobriety but slowly decreased and is now pretty much gone. Things do get better. It takes time. |
biminiblue, I promise I am never touching it again, no way, I can’t ever go through this again I can’t believe how terrifying it has been and currently is. Since like the the last month is where it really has started to take a toll on me, I would be shaking all day long until I had a drink. But the truth is that even when I had my drinks the anxiety wasn’t even going away like it used to - tolerance ? You can’t see me shake except for when I have an attack, you see it in my hands and I can’t sit still, sweaty palms, cry my eyes out, whole body feels weightless and like a leaf, and every time it happens I am positive I will die, I honestly have no idea how I am still alive. It’s no ordinary anxiety, this is off the scale anxiety I can’t believe it, I am sorry but I would rather be electricuted, I honestly would. All i can do is pray it is normal and that it fades sometime, I have had all blood tests done at hospital, nothing flagged up, nothing wrong with heart. I could possibly get to a meeting but honestly I feel I can’t do a single thing at the moment with how bad the anxiety is. Will never drink again. |
I felt like I was possessed. It was terrifying. Hang on. Eat, take showers, watch funny TV, stay away from aggravating situations and people, negative websites, news, etc. If you feel well enough, a walk outdoors always helped me. It's calming. Just know that you are in recovery from a life-threatening illness. It's good that it's this hard. I will never go back to that. Thanks for the reminder, you've helped me today. |
Possessed! That is the absolute word I have been looking for to describe the terror. Feels like you want to run but you can’t, feels like it will never end, you will never escape the terror, never be normal again. Try your absolute hardest to tell yourself it’s anxiety but still you think you are 100% going to die. I could write 1000s of things but they won’t make sense, just torturing. |
Something else that helped me was wrapping up in a blanket. Sort of a swaddling, like they do with anxious babies. |
Believe me if I had a teddy I would love one right now, I don’t care how old I am lol, craving a cuddle to the extreme lately. I have always loved my comfy bed but lately I can’t even get comfy. |
I say go buy yourself a teddy! I have several stuffed animals that comfort me. No shame. :lmao: One of my favorites is a bear I bought for $2 at Goodwill. |
I also went cold turkey after years of daily drinking and several relapses. It was an awful experience and I likely came closer to dying than I would care to admit. Today after 26 months of continuous sobriety I find that my happiness knows no bounds. If you stay the course there is no reason why you can't have the same happiness. |
Yes, anxiety and extreme anxiety is quite common during withdrawals. Benzos are extremely addictive themselves and act in a very similar fashion to alcohol so I would strongly recommend you only take them under close supervision of a doctor that knows about your drinking. It’s actually never a bad idea so see a doctor before quitting cold turkey anyway as there are thighs far worse than anxiety that can happen during withdrawals. Not common but definitely possible. I know that last time you were here you went through a very similar scenario when you attempted to quit. And you left here feeling that your other meds were the problem all along so you decided to moderate your drinking again. I hear you saying that you have decided to quit for good which I think is the right choice too, please be safe about it. |
Ban, I think most people have chimed in on the questions you asked me up-thread. I'd pay good attention to what Scott said. I suffered mightily by going cold turkey but I'd do it the same way again, and as I always say I viewed it as an uncertain future over a certain death by drinking. there was no going back for me once I quit. If you are ready, you can do this. Take advantage of help you can have from dr or other people. I was weak and shaky to say the least and got driven to meetings. And so on. I hope you make this your last try because I don't believe we get infinite ones and you've pushed this pretty far. |
Originally Posted by ScottFromWI
(Post 7209207)
Yes, anxiety and extreme anxiety is quite common during withdrawals. Benzos are extremely addictive themselves and act in a very similar fashion to alcohol so I would strongly recommend you only take them under close supervision of a doctor that knows about your drinking. It’s actually never a bad idea so see a doctor before quitting cold turkey anyway as there are thighs far worse than anxiety that can happen during withdrawals. Not common but definitely possible. I know that last time you were here you went through a very similar scenario when you attempted to quit. And you left here feeling that your other meds were the problem all along so you decided to moderate your drinking again. I hear you saying that you have decided to quit for good which I think is the right choice too, please be safe about it. That is also why I am not taking Diazepam as I have read horror stories on them being exactly the same and even worse than Alcohol due to them working on GABA, they say the only thing to replace Alcohol are benzos but nothing can replace a Benzo. I have thought “what if I just have one, Will I get addicted?” But I am trying so hard to just push through and detox without. I just want to feel no anxiety, it honestly is torturing me, but it will end right? Thanks so much for replying |
Hold on and realize this will pass and you will never have to feel it again. You helped me too today-thank you |
Originally Posted by August252015
(Post 7209212)
Ban, I think most people have chimed in on the questions you asked me up-thread. I'd pay good attention to what Scott said. I suffered mightily by going cold turkey but I'd do it the same way again, and as I always say I viewed it as an uncertain future over a certain death by drinking. there was no going back for me once I quit. If you are ready, you can do this. Take advantage of help you can have from dr or other people. I was weak and shaky to say the least and got driven to meetings. And so on. I hope you make this your last try because I don't believe we get infinite ones and you've pushed this pretty far. There is no way I will touch alcohol again, I know that is easy for me to say but this has been the wake up call my stupid self needed |
I just want to add...like tomsteve always says, "You can throw away the ass-kickin' machine." When I knew better I did better. BanAlcohol, you have no need to apologize to us or anyone. You were sick and now you're on the road to healing. You aren't stupid, just addicted. It's absolutely a biological process, a physical illness as well as a mental dysfunction. You're going to get well. Keep going. |
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