What on earth is going on here?
61'st day sober as of:12/18/07
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Casper, Wyoming U.S.
Posts: 241
What on earth is going on here?
Hi everyone and sorry for posting so much but I need a friend right now (badly!!).
I've been off the booze for four days now and taking 15mg of Naltrexone daily. For about the same number of days I have been experiencing shortness of breath and I don't know whether it's the Naltrexone, the alcohol withdrawal or a combination of the two. I woke up this morning feel pretty shaky and zoned out but then I took a 1mg Ativan (an anti-anxiety medication) and within an hour I felt as normal as I have in a long time. Then around 1:00PM I started experiencing pretty severe withdrawal symptoms (ie; anxiety, brain fog, cravings and other difficult-to-describe symptoms that go along with alcohol withdrawal) and so I took a 15mg Naltrexone which I believe has either caused or exacerbated the shortness of breath because I didn't have this symptom until an hour AFTER I took it and yet I HAD to take it for withdrawal symptoms so I had no way to "not" take it to see which one was causing my breathing problems.
Anyway, I feel like I'm going crazy inside and of course, if I need to, I will go to the ER but for now, I'm just trying to weather the storm. The strange thing is that I took a LOT more Naltrexone than this the last time I quit (years ago) and I don't remember reacting to it so severely. This has turned into a puzzle and I am scared.
I also get these weird, squirmy sensations in my chest which feels like my heart and yet my heartbeat seems normal so maybe it's a gas pocket. Also, muscle twitches and all kinds of other weird stuff.
- Need4Change
I've been off the booze for four days now and taking 15mg of Naltrexone daily. For about the same number of days I have been experiencing shortness of breath and I don't know whether it's the Naltrexone, the alcohol withdrawal or a combination of the two. I woke up this morning feel pretty shaky and zoned out but then I took a 1mg Ativan (an anti-anxiety medication) and within an hour I felt as normal as I have in a long time. Then around 1:00PM I started experiencing pretty severe withdrawal symptoms (ie; anxiety, brain fog, cravings and other difficult-to-describe symptoms that go along with alcohol withdrawal) and so I took a 15mg Naltrexone which I believe has either caused or exacerbated the shortness of breath because I didn't have this symptom until an hour AFTER I took it and yet I HAD to take it for withdrawal symptoms so I had no way to "not" take it to see which one was causing my breathing problems.
Anyway, I feel like I'm going crazy inside and of course, if I need to, I will go to the ER but for now, I'm just trying to weather the storm. The strange thing is that I took a LOT more Naltrexone than this the last time I quit (years ago) and I don't remember reacting to it so severely. This has turned into a puzzle and I am scared.
I also get these weird, squirmy sensations in my chest which feels like my heart and yet my heartbeat seems normal so maybe it's a gas pocket. Also, muscle twitches and all kinds of other weird stuff.
- Need4Change
Forum Leader
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Scottsdale, AZ, one big happy dysfunctional family!
Posts: 23,056
Rather than trying to "weather the storm", call your doctor NOW! The severe reactions don't sound right, and there's nobody on these forums qualified to make an accurate diagnosis.
You will always have friends here who understand, but please take care of your health first.
You will always have friends here who understand, but please take care of your health first.
61'st day sober as of:12/18/07
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Casper, Wyoming U.S.
Posts: 241
I can't just "Call my doctor" because my doctor is an uncaring, greedy person who hates Medicaid patients. Also, I don't want a diagnosis...just a friend to talk to and someone who can relate. Sorry if I gave the impression that I was seeking a diagnosis )-:. If this keeps up, I probably will go to the ER.
- Need4Change
- Need4Change
Administrator
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Dancing in the Light
Posts: 61,511
Need4change,
You could be having an adverse reaction to the medication, a side-effect of some kind. If you can't call your dr, then call an ER and ask for information or go to the ER or to a walk-in clinic.
Weathering the storm is not necessarily the way to get through this.
Please take care of yourself.
You could be having an adverse reaction to the medication, a side-effect of some kind. If you can't call your dr, then call an ER and ask for information or go to the ER or to a walk-in clinic.
Weathering the storm is not necessarily the way to get through this.
Please take care of yourself.
Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: LA - Lower Alabama
Posts: 5,068
I am not doctor but:
Naltrexone is not for withdrawal symptoms, it is to help with cravings.
Muscle twitches are quite normal, I have had them before when I quit. Heart palpitations/irregularities are also common in withdrawal but can be life threatening!
So if you really "need a friend", go to the doctor to make sure you are alive to have one.
When you get through this, we'll still be here at SR.
Naltrexone is not for withdrawal symptoms, it is to help with cravings.
Muscle twitches are quite normal, I have had them before when I quit. Heart palpitations/irregularities are also common in withdrawal but can be life threatening!
So if you really "need a friend", go to the doctor to make sure you are alive to have one.
When you get through this, we'll still be here at SR.
Forum Leader
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Scottsdale, AZ, one big happy dysfunctional family!
Posts: 23,056
Originally Posted by Need4Change 
I can't just "Call my doctor" because my doctor is an uncaring, greedy person who hates Medicaid patients. Also, I don't want a diagnosis...just a friend to talk to and someone who can relate.
Somehow I'm thinking it would've been much easier to call my doctor. If you can't just call your doctor, find one who cares.
61'st day sober as of:12/18/07
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Casper, Wyoming U.S.
Posts: 241
Well, I'm not too stubborn to call the doctor at all. In fact, I'm a Hypochondriac so I'm actually much more likely to rush to the doctor than most people - even for a splinter. The issue is that I can't just "find another doctor" because it isn't quite as simple and easy as that since I first have to put in an application, fill out forms, wait 30 days and get approved by Medicaid. The ER is the only option for me and we have 4 good ones around here so if it gets too bad, I will definitely go as I have done many times in the past and wont hesitate to do for a second in the future.
I have never experienced shortness of breath simply by remaining abstinent for several days so it must be the Naltrexone or a combination of the Naltrexone and other medications I am taking. I'm going to take the Naltrexone out of the equation tommorow and take Campral instead. Campral works a bit like an SSRI and is thought to work on the chemicals that become unbalanced in the alcoholic brain. The last time I took it, within an hour I definitely felt better even though it can take several days or longer to reach full effect. If I continue to experience shortness of breath or it gets worse between now and tomorrow, I'm off to the ER for sure (not taking any chances here).
- Regards, Need4Change
I have never experienced shortness of breath simply by remaining abstinent for several days so it must be the Naltrexone or a combination of the Naltrexone and other medications I am taking. I'm going to take the Naltrexone out of the equation tommorow and take Campral instead. Campral works a bit like an SSRI and is thought to work on the chemicals that become unbalanced in the alcoholic brain. The last time I took it, within an hour I definitely felt better even though it can take several days or longer to reach full effect. If I continue to experience shortness of breath or it gets worse between now and tomorrow, I'm off to the ER for sure (not taking any chances here).
- Regards, Need4Change
Hope3
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Upstate, NY
Posts: 2,155
I want to first commend you on your desire to change your
life in the right direction. I also want to warn you of self medicating.
I understand your hesitation of your first doctor, but we here on a recovery forum
can not give you advice on medical treatment....I would truly urge you to look into
some medical treatment or advice that you can attain, hope3
life in the right direction. I also want to warn you of self medicating.
I understand your hesitation of your first doctor, but we here on a recovery forum
can not give you advice on medical treatment....I would truly urge you to look into
some medical treatment or advice that you can attain, hope3
Member
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Melbourne Australia
Posts: 71
Originally Posted by Need4Change
I woke up this morning feel pretty shaky and zoned out but then I took a 1mg Ativan (an anti-anxiety medication) and within an hour I felt as normal as I have in a long time. Then around 1:00PM I started experiencing pretty severe withdrawal symptoms (ie; anxiety, brain fog, cravings and other difficult-to-describe symptoms that go along with alcohol withdrawal) and so I took a 15mg Naltrexone which I believe has either caused or exacerbated the shortness of breath because I didn't have this symptom until an hour AFTER I took it and yet I HAD to take it for withdrawal symptoms so I had no way to "not" take it to see which one was causing my breathing problems.
- Need4Change
- Need4Change
Go see your Dr. As an anxiety sufferer, I have tried a lot of different anxiety meds over the years. The part of your post I have quoted stood out to me because ativan, like xanax has a very short half life and doesn't stay in your system for long. Other benzos like valium or klonopin last for much much longer so you usually need one dose a day compared to multiple doses of ativan through out the day. Please discuss this with your Dr to decided whether or not this is an anxiety related problem. It could be something else. Long acting benzos have been much better for me, particularly valium in withdrawal. Good luck and hold on!!!!!!!!!!
61'st day sober as of:12/18/07
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Casper, Wyoming U.S.
Posts: 241
Well, I told my roommate this morning that it felt like I was either being slowly poisoned or I have cancer. Thats how bad I felt this morning. I took an Atarax last night to combat the insomnia from the alcohol withdrawal and Atarax can make you feel very soupy, syrupy and hungover. This is day 5 for me and I can't remember feeling THIS bad the many other times I've gone through withdrawal or taken Naltrexone so maybe I've got some terrible disease or something. I've had tons of tests for anything and everything over the years and still no answers. I did read that the more times you stop and start drinking alcohol, the more difficult it is each time to quit. True?.
Anyway, I just want to thank all of you for your support. Unlike a lot of forums I've been to, I really feel like you people care because you've been there already and know what its like. Thank you.
- Need4Change
Anyway, I just want to thank all of you for your support. Unlike a lot of forums I've been to, I really feel like you people care because you've been there already and know what its like. Thank you.
- Need4Change
Member
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Bangor, maine
Posts: 78
Withdrawel symptoms can get more difficult as was the case with me. That pain I had in my chest which I thought was heart burn or my esophogus, was actually my heart.
The doctors flat out told me every time I go through withdrawels I was risking a heart attack.
This is something which I did not expect from alcohol. Ironicaly my liver was fine. However what i had always been told about alcohol is that you either drank too much and were poisoned, as in an acute situation, or long term abuse led to cirohisis, burst blood vessels in the nose and face, and that peculiar high pitched speech we have all heard.
I had no idea chronic abuse could quickly be fatal without these other outward appearences of deteriorating health.
Withdrwal symptoms are a key issue in pointing out the fact you are no longer a cucumber but a pickle.
Do not play games with this. Someone I knew died last year at 41 while he was in a custody dispute from a seizure during withdrawls. I think he would have tolerated staying awake all night if he knew it might be his last other wise.
The doctors flat out told me every time I go through withdrawels I was risking a heart attack.
This is something which I did not expect from alcohol. Ironicaly my liver was fine. However what i had always been told about alcohol is that you either drank too much and were poisoned, as in an acute situation, or long term abuse led to cirohisis, burst blood vessels in the nose and face, and that peculiar high pitched speech we have all heard.
I had no idea chronic abuse could quickly be fatal without these other outward appearences of deteriorating health.
Withdrwal symptoms are a key issue in pointing out the fact you are no longer a cucumber but a pickle.
Do not play games with this. Someone I knew died last year at 41 while he was in a custody dispute from a seizure during withdrawls. I think he would have tolerated staying awake all night if he knew it might be his last other wise.
61'st day sober as of:12/18/07
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Casper, Wyoming U.S.
Posts: 241
Excellent stories (and analogy). So...
(1#) how do you become a cucumber again once you've turned into a pickle?...is there any going back and how long does it take?.
(2#) why is it that most "normal" people can drink a 6-pack a few times a week and feel just fine but if one of us "drunks" even drinks one beer a month we get deathly sick and experience a mega-hangover that lasts for days?.
(3#) While it's always a good thing to just "quit", if a person is absolutely unable to do so, would it be better for them to just drink less (and less often) than to engage in a continuous and dangerous pattern of binges, quitting and then relapsing over and over and over again (since this may put even more strain on the body)?.
- Need4Change
(1#) how do you become a cucumber again once you've turned into a pickle?...is there any going back and how long does it take?.
(2#) why is it that most "normal" people can drink a 6-pack a few times a week and feel just fine but if one of us "drunks" even drinks one beer a month we get deathly sick and experience a mega-hangover that lasts for days?.
(3#) While it's always a good thing to just "quit", if a person is absolutely unable to do so, would it be better for them to just drink less (and less often) than to engage in a continuous and dangerous pattern of binges, quitting and then relapsing over and over and over again (since this may put even more strain on the body)?.
- Need4Change
Member
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Bangor, maine
Posts: 78
Magic Thinking
Need4change,
Thank you for your response.
1) I do not know whether or not you can go back. I have some faint hope I can when I change my life and move away from where i am.
However--HOWEVER--every time I have relapsed after my initial quiting it was a catastrophic binge where i was blacked out for several days. Albiet it, it did not happen instantly, but I would go to handling things just fine with a few drinks at night before bed to being passed out when i was supposed to go to work within less than a month.
The problem here is not that I always drank several 5ths. the problem is it is a crap shoot. It is a loss of control. I have no way of really predicting what will happen.
I have heard of people tell me stories again and again of taking a few drinks and instantly blacking out.
I believe them.
I just have too many positive things going on in my life to risk a catastrophic binge.
No alcoholic I know IRL could ever say I will quit drinking forever. The best they can do is not drink TODAY. I will not drink today, even if i have dreams about alcohol, even if I wish I could go get a beer, and even if I think about it during the day. I will not drink today.
Once someone is an alcoholic they have had a biochemical reaction to alcohol which has no known way to be reversed.
I hope one day I will be able to control it, but for right now i would be stupid to even try.
2) Normal people do not drink a few six-packs a week. Even that is heavy alcohol consumption and points out all of your friends probably have problems also. I once calculated I drank more than 96% of the male population, and the other 4% were in line front of me at the liquor store, damn them!
Normal people do not drink every day, and do not like getting drunk. They have a shut off valve that instictively tells them when they have had enough. They might once or twice a year have "too much" but it is not blacking out and ending up in bed with a co-worker.
3) It would certainly be better to drink less. However, what you don't realize more than likely--and I don't know because i have not met you--is many of the problms you see in life causing pain and depression is actually being caused by alcohol.
If you absolutely can not stop, can I ask what you think the real nature of the problem is?
You will not understand the benefits of not drinking until the depression and anxiety has had a chance to chemicaly work out of your system, and that requires no alcohol. Even the MM people require 60 to 90 days of absitnevce before trying to make a rational decision about whether you are able to drink or not.
Please give it some thought, old chap.
Thank you for your response.
1) I do not know whether or not you can go back. I have some faint hope I can when I change my life and move away from where i am.
However--HOWEVER--every time I have relapsed after my initial quiting it was a catastrophic binge where i was blacked out for several days. Albiet it, it did not happen instantly, but I would go to handling things just fine with a few drinks at night before bed to being passed out when i was supposed to go to work within less than a month.
The problem here is not that I always drank several 5ths. the problem is it is a crap shoot. It is a loss of control. I have no way of really predicting what will happen.
I have heard of people tell me stories again and again of taking a few drinks and instantly blacking out.
I believe them.
I just have too many positive things going on in my life to risk a catastrophic binge.
No alcoholic I know IRL could ever say I will quit drinking forever. The best they can do is not drink TODAY. I will not drink today, even if i have dreams about alcohol, even if I wish I could go get a beer, and even if I think about it during the day. I will not drink today.
Once someone is an alcoholic they have had a biochemical reaction to alcohol which has no known way to be reversed.
I hope one day I will be able to control it, but for right now i would be stupid to even try.
2) Normal people do not drink a few six-packs a week. Even that is heavy alcohol consumption and points out all of your friends probably have problems also. I once calculated I drank more than 96% of the male population, and the other 4% were in line front of me at the liquor store, damn them!
Normal people do not drink every day, and do not like getting drunk. They have a shut off valve that instictively tells them when they have had enough. They might once or twice a year have "too much" but it is not blacking out and ending up in bed with a co-worker.
3) It would certainly be better to drink less. However, what you don't realize more than likely--and I don't know because i have not met you--is many of the problms you see in life causing pain and depression is actually being caused by alcohol.
If you absolutely can not stop, can I ask what you think the real nature of the problem is?
You will not understand the benefits of not drinking until the depression and anxiety has had a chance to chemicaly work out of your system, and that requires no alcohol. Even the MM people require 60 to 90 days of absitnevce before trying to make a rational decision about whether you are able to drink or not.
Please give it some thought, old chap.
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