hope2bhappy

I just learned last night that a past acquaintance of ours suffered a serious stroke while he was attempting to quit drinking "cold turkey." He is only in his 40's.

I've read many posts on the forum about people's A's who are attempting to quit drinking on their own, and I worry about them. Depending on their level of dependency, this can be extremely dangerous. Putting down the bottle is not as simple as it seems. It can be deadly. According to doctors, alcohol is the ONLY chemical which can actually cause death during withdrawal and should never be attempted without medical supervision.

I saw how sick my own A would get whenever he would try to regulate or come off the alcohol by himself -- terrible vomiting, shakes, cold sweats. The withdrawal symptoms were so bad, that he would drink again just to get rid of them. When he finally went into treatment, he was in intensive care for 3 days. His blood pressure was extremely high, he was on anti-seizure medication and had to be closely monitored.

If your A has reached the point where he wants to stop drinking... congratulations... this can be a new beginning for both of you. But don't let him try it on his own. Seek professional medical help at a hospital or drug treatment facility.

eliza

You are absolutely right on this no one should try this on there own there is alot of help out there this is a terrible affliction and someone who is trying to help them selfs needs the help of professionals

embraced2000

how true....i have watched my xh detox by himself many times without knowing how life threatening it could be.

after i was taught about it by our m.d., i refused to be part of his solo detoxing attempts, and would call 911 everytime he tried to do it without medical supervision. i refused to be witness to his possible harm or death from doing this at our home. another very selfish act of my xh alcoholic's behaviors......

please, everyone out there, understand how serious detoxing can be. talk to your doctor about it so you will know how life threatening it can be.

take care of yourself by not becoming involved in the attempt to help the alcoholic self detox.

elizabeth1979

Good post.
I think its important to say that age is not always a factor. Detox can be fatal, regardless of whether someone is 25 or 75. People were always shocked that my ex was so sick (mild heart attacks, seizures) when he detoxed, bc he was so young.

criss-cross

Totally agree!!

My AH was 34 when he had his first seizure, and had just turned 36 when he had his second (in the hospital).
Detox at home is no way an option for him anymore, even after the first seizure.
He's 37 now and still can't stop.

Please seek medical attention/supervision if you're thinking of quitting.
It's not fun to witness - let alone go thru.

FormerDoormat

Richard suffered a stroke as the result of alcohol withdrawal as well. In his case, it happened just after he arrived at the hospital. Fortunately for him, the only residual effect is slow speech (particularly so when he's tired). But he spent several months learning how to walk, talk, eat, dress, etc. again.

Over_It

As some of you know, my AH did a partially medically supervised detox at home (neither of us had any experience with that) and I refuse to ever participate in a home detox again. It was very scary and I am in no way medically qualified to monitor someone in that situation. We were lucky that we got him to the ER on day 2-3 and he didn't have a stroke or seizure - that we know of. They gave him a vitamin bag in the IV, potassium and an anticonvulsant in the IV.

The anti-convulsants that they put him on gave him CRAZY vivid dreams. Every time his body would do a little jerk (usually as part of a dream) I panicked wondering if it was a seizure or something. I couldn't sleep with him due to the jerking and shaking and sleep talking, but I was afraid to leave him alone so I slept elsewhere in the same room. He was basically sleepwalking - Once, he believed so intently that the power was out because it was dark (in the middle of the night) he called an employee and had them check to see if the power was out at the office!

It was so horrible watching him try to do something as simple as take a drink of water - he was shaking like a leaf. He was so physically weak - sometimes I just cried. He ate less than my 3 year old. This went on for almost 5 days. He was on several medications and every time he woke up he thought it was time to take another pill because he was so out of it from the anti-convulsant.

Push the issue to the extreme - detox needs to be done in a detox center. For their health and because most likely you have been through ENOUGH already! That was a hellish 5 days.

queenteree

My AH detoxes himself after month long benders, he feels like crap, sweats, shakes, etc., but so far, nothing bad has happened. When I read about all of this, I wonder how often it really happens. What are the statistics? He's been doing this for years and would he would be mad if I called for medical help just for him detoxing.

kcxcea

It seems like statistic would be hard to come by or even non-existent due to a cause of death being stroke or heart attack and not alcoholism. Three months ago my father (62yrs) died of a heart attack at home while going through detox by himself. This was actually quite a shock because he had just had a stress test a month earlier. Of course he was an alcoholic and had been through unmanaged detox many times with the shakes, sweats and vomiting. The cause on the death certificate is a heart attack. My family believes it was caused by the detox.

If the A had severe detox symptoms I think it would be in the A's best interest for the family member to call 911 because this detox could very well be the last detox.

havehopetoday

For anyone browsing this, looking for information, if you have a loved one that is detoxing. Please listen to this thread.
I foolishly (ignorance) had no idea what was happening. My A wasn't drinking (lie) so being with me not drinking and not feeling well was in his words to me probably the flu.
If they have sweats, if they shake, cant sleep. Call 911.
Most of these stories are about the A's being honest, mine wasn't. I walked into his house when he was having a seizure. He spent a week in the hospital and to this day doesn't recall any of it.
Those of us who had a life altering moment of almost watching him die remember it clearly.
Detox has to be done with medical supervision...because you really don't want to watch it or live with the consequences.

oldbird

my 32 yo son is an alcoholic, (though his drug of choice was heroin, after a prison stint for burglary (habit support) he has avoided that). I know he needs to be the one to ask for help. Sometimes it's hard to believe he hasn't hit his bottom. He is in hospital right now, he had two seizures within 1/2 hour here at my house last night, so they're checking that out. One day earlier he had finished an alcohol detox at a different hospital, as well as rec'd treatment for a spinal compression fracture, and a biopsy for a mass in another area of the spine. I let him come here for a "few days", until he could get into a longer term rehab, but he went out and got a pint of high proof ale, while I was out. I'm not suprised but ...; it was after this a few hours later he had his seizures. The nurse said drinking the alcohol could have caused the seizure. I don't know if even seizures will stop him. I can't have him stay here though, my youngest is 4yo and I do inhome childcare which will resume Mon after this Easter holiday. My clients would not appreciate it, nor would I in their shoes. So I've left messages on several VOICE MESSAGE SYSTEMS@#$^%$#@, trying to find a treatment facility. As i started typing this, I did hear back from the hosp social worker, a real human being at last!! Hopefully I can find someplace, though I know it's boiling down to my discomfort having him a shelter with a back fracture, detoxing, with hep b, cirrhosis, malnutrtion, sezures and a lack of hope. Yep, there it is. Oldbird