jaybee1

Hi all,

I'm about ready to start my recovery, but I'm a little nervous about what to expect in terms of withdrawl.

I'm an almost daily beer drinker, I drink at least 5 nights a week, but usually every night. I'll drink anywhere from 5 to 10 beers in a sitting with 7 or 8 being average. I rarely touch wine or beer, and I sometimes use OTC sleep aids to help me sleep.

I'm a 35 year old male in reasonably good health. I'm reasonably active, and eat fairly well.

My question is this..Are there others that were around my age in a similar situation who experienced severe withdrawal symptoms? Is it necessary discuss this with my doc first?

MIRecovery

I would talk to a doc that has experience in addiction if possible for a bunch of reasons withdrawl is just one of them

ScottFromWI

If you have concerns I'd talk with the doctor. No one knows how withdrawal might affect you ( or anyone ). And it's a lot better to find out before rather than after the fact.

whiskeyman

please be totally honest with your doctor before you even stop drinking.
he needs to know everything

MIRecovery

I will say this. Untreated accute withdrawl is a particularly unpleasent experience and sometimes fatal.

I was not planning on quiting but did not drink enough one day to keep me from withdrawing. Holy moly I have never ever been that sick in my entire life and I thank God that I am still here. I honestly thought I was dieing and maybe I was. After the fact when I could walk again I went to the ER and the Doc looked at me like, "You dip $hit, you withdrew. Good thing you did not die." I was so in denial I did not really believe him but now with a clear head it is obvious what happened.

Next day I was drinking again but this was my bottom and it scared me into getting to AA and sobriety

jaybee1

Thanks for the feedback. I've been reading a lot of posts here on SR, and have plans to keep me occupied, and I have some support. My most immediate concerns are on withdrawl symptoms at this point. I'm just not sure if I'm a heavy enough drinker to have to worry about the most severe withdrawal symptoms or not.

renaldo

Alcohol withdrawal is hell on wheels. Tell a doctor the unflinching truth.

I went to a doctor and told him my symptoms. His feedback was, "you're an alcoholic."

Well, duh! The sky is blue, water is wet, etc.

He did point me in the right direction though.

MIRecovery

And a frogs a$$hole is water tight

soopy99

I am around your age and was drinking 5-7 drinks a night (more on weekends) and did not suffer withdrawal symptoms when I stopped for two weeks about a month ago. At least for me, stopping was the easy part. Staying stopped however . . .

I'm no expert on susceptibility to withdrawal symptoms; just relaying my experience.

goingtoquit

Everybody is different, some people have no withdrawal symtoms and some people do, so I would deffinately see a doctor first, I was drinking every night for 3 years and more on weekends when I quit I had bad withdrawals for a week it was terrible..so just be safe and see a doctor...good luck

ru12

Some people have rough withdrawal, others not so much. I quit without medical help. I tapered down over a few days and then dropped. Many people cannot do this, but tapering was really the only method to sort of safely get off alcohol before the modern benzodiazepines.

If you do this on your own be careful. It is safer just to go to your doctor and get some meds!

least

Alcohol with drawal is nothing to fool with, it can be dangerous. Here's a like to a thread about our experiences quitting.

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...at-we-did.html

LexieCat

Nobody here can predict how you will react to withdrawal. The same size people, consuming the same amount of alcohol on a daily/weekly basis can vary dramatically in their reaction to withdrawal. The safest thing is always to have medical advice.

shapeup

I'm on day 18 and did go to a specialist doc to help me get through the withdrawals. I will say that I've tried many times to stop on my own only to start again and progressively get worse. I know you're not supposed to comment on meds health etc, but I would seek a doctor and a good one who specializes in addiction.