Laura3

I know its weird. Its stopped me from quitting in the past because I thought id need pills or itd be rough but nothing but a little anxiety even after drinking every day heavily for years. Im on day 2 now and nothing

Kaptn

Welcome Laura3,
I also had few physical withdrawal symptoms but some things came into play by day 9. Best wishes on your continued recovery. A lack of symptoms is not a plus for continuing to drink. Glad you are here!

biminiblue

I would highly suggest going to an AA meeting.

One of my Great Delusions (and there were many) was that, "I'm fine! I quit easily, see??"

Yeah, right. So I went to AA meetings because I was lonely and I also knew I had some anxiety and depression and I thought being around sober people would help. Maybe I'd make a friend. What I found there snapped me into my reality. I wasn't fine. I may not have had serious withdrawals, but I was FAR from "fine."

I don't mean to make light, but Day 2 is very early on and at least since 2018 you've been trying to make this stick. Keep it going.

Maybe reread this thread of yours. https://www.soberrecovery.com/forums...member-me.html (You might remember me)

Laura3

Im not saying im fine, im far from fine. I just find it odd. I hear these horror stories and I never had anything close to that every time I stopped. I guess it must be alcoholic genes or something. I have had withdrawal from drugs though. I'll have to check and see if meetings are open here yet, most likely not. I know it gets tougher but just taking it one day at a time for now. Im not expecting any miracles without meetings or detox etc. I might relapse, I might not, the important thing is I wake up every day with the intentions of not drinking.

biminiblue

I was drinking a LOT for many years.

I didn't have a seizure (that I know of) or anything outwardly alarming, but anxiety is a symptom. The racing heart, the feeling of doom, the depression. All that goes away with continuous longterm sobriety. You've done damage.

Day 2 is early enough that you can't really know how this will all play out. You're not necessarily out of the woods.

Laura3

True, funny thing is I did get shakes or maybe even seizures while I was drinking heavily. Im just backwards I guess. I know its a long journey, Ive done this before in the past, not so much from alcohol but the long term effects are probably similar. Im going to use that experience to get through this, I hope

Hawkeye13

I first started trying to quit about 9 years ago, and had no serious withdrawal symptoms either. With two alcoholic parents, I assumed I had the genes for it too. The withdrawals typically progress like the addiction itself, each relapse and quit attempt gets rougher as your organs and detox systems accumulate damage, though progression isn’t linear. Some quits gave me minimal symptoms, some harsher.

Kindling began to really show up about 5 years ago or so. Last 4 years were nasty, and final quit one year ago was horrible with acute anxiety, racing heart, insomnia, and intermittent sharp pains in my head. I feel so lucky I escaped without a seizure.

Something to not look forward to should you keep relapsing. None of us indestructible. Make this quit stick

biminiblue

Here's a good NIH link/article about Kindling.

https://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publicati...22-1/25-34.pdf

Laura3

Thanks for the advice, I was reading about kindling this morning. Definitely dont want to get to that point

Laura3

I would never vomit either these last few years and not from not drinking too much. I could drink 24 beers in a day but id never vomit or vomit the next day, gag a little sometimes but never totally vomit.

Philemon

When I've been on a bottle of gin a day for days, I have horrendous withdrawals. And although I make bargains with myself that if I live through them this time, I'll never drink again, I have.
So I don't think withdrawals are that much of a deterrent in the long run

Laura3

Makes sense, I dont withdraw bad but I do always feel low energy and sore when I drink but still did it for years. Heroin addicts go through withdrawal often sometimes but dont quit.

Dee74

I used to think how good it was I never had hangovers - now I know it was very probably my kidneys and liver struggling to get rid of the alcohol so that I was always a little drunk.

D

Laura3

That could be. Were all different I guess. I dont relate to a lot of things others experience and my experience is different also at different times of my life.

Dee74

Sure, but we're not really different when it comes to things like organ damage and kindling tho.

Quote:

If You Don’t Get Hungover Is Alcohol Still Damaging?

no matter how different one feels from others, even others with the same problem, noones immune from consequences.

D

jinx77

Some people dont. Consider it some real luck.

JK130

Here at SR, we are all the same in that we want to live without alcohol. In extreme, alcohol is a poison. We all want to feel less remorse, shame, irritation, headaches, bodyaches and fear of damaging our bodies, and hurting others. We all want more control over our own selves, our health, our anxieties and depression, our ability to do what we want when we want, our finances, our emotions, our independence, and our relationships with those we love and care for. In the big picture, we all get sober the same way - we stop ingesting alcohol. In the details, we go about this differently - and it's good, and we learn from each other.

I learned more about how people feel during early detox from your experience, Laura. Thank you for sharing.

Acheleus

Hi Laura. I had a counselor once tell me that when people are first exposed to alcohol it either kicks the alcoholism off or it doesn’t. She told me this and I first got drunk at around two years old because my alcoholic father took me into bars with him and he would tell me stories about bartenders accidentally putting rum in my virgin pina coladas. He said I would sleep all day.

I asked my counselor about this as I was entering recovery. When I first started drinking at 15 I blacked out and eventually I entered periods of drinking in which I did not get hangovers and I could drink large volumes without blacking out or getting sick.

But alcoholism is progressive and eventually I experienced painful withdrawal symptoms. I hope you can assess your own use and determine if you want to quit now and possibly avoid the painful experiences withdrawal has to offer.

I gained perspective after getting sober and I realized that every year I drank put me closer and closer to more blackouts, more terrifying hangovers, and frightening withdrawal symptoms.

Laura3

I had forgotten how damaging alcohol is. I drank in my teens, early 20s then for many many years I barely drank at all but eventually did get into drugs. When I got over the drug use I didnt see any harm in drinking since it wasnt a problem for me at the time(compared to drugs) but it wasnt long before drinking became a problem too. Ive been drinking every day 3-4 years now most days getting drunk(besides recently) Its incredible to think 5 years ago alcohol was barely even a thought in my mind, id go to the bar on the weekend maybe, thats it. Or binge drink but it wasnt something I felt out of control with. So alcohol fooled me. It got me thinking since it wasnt a problem for so long I could drink. I started worrying about my health, thats what woke me up, thinking my health will deteriorate and lead to death.

Funki

That can change and you never know where the line is. I didn't get alcohol withdrawals beyond bad hangovers here and there and feeling tired for 2-3 day after stopping, for my whole life until 38 years old.

This last time I most definitely had alcohol withdrawals.

So, my point is, it's a great idea to quit before someone gets to that point. I also never had PAWS before (post acute withdrawal syndrome). I did this time and am barely starting to feel better at 5 months. I think it's connected to being dependent enough to have withdrawals. Again, another reason to quit before getting to that point.