kmae89

Here is my story. I am 23 years old, and finally realized that I was an alcoholic. I honestly never thought I was, and when a doctor told me to quit drinking I would shrug it off. A little over a year ago, I was diagnosed with alcoholic hepatitis. (liver inflammation) My liver enzymes were high and my liver was inflamed. I was told to quit drinking, but of course didn't listen. A nurse asked me if I was trying to kill myself and I just thought that she was crazy.

I was getting withdrawal symptoms but I was prescribed klonopin at the time so I would treat my withdrawals with that and my symptoms would fade away. This february I stopped getting Klonopin, cold turkey. I still take some here and there but I don't think that I am addicted to those.

April 27th, 2013 I had to go the the ER. I finally was tired of stashing my alcohol bottles, hiding my alcohol anywhere I could. I was drinking and driving(thankfully, nothing has ever happened) I pushed people away that I had cared about most, including my boyfriend, daughter, my entire family.Anyways, I was in the ER and my blood alcohol level was a .256! Okay, I am 5'2, and I weigh 103 pounds. The ER doctor said if he drank that much he would be in a coma, he was surprised I was still able to answer questions, and was STILL coherent. Even with THAT much alcohol in my system, I was having alcohol withdrawal symptoms even with my last drink being 2 hours before that. I was shaking all over, restless, COULD NOT sit still for the life of me. I was becoming agitated because the doctors would not give me anything for my anxiety and I was so anxious! It was a saturday, so they could not get me into a detox center.

The first 16 hours I detoxed at home, did not drink, did not have ANYTHING for my anxiety. The next morning they got me into detox at 930. Everything seemed to be taking FOREVER. Every minute seemed like an hour. I was shaking all over. I held on to my mom as we walked into detox because my entire body was shaking so bad. After they had got me signed in at the front desk, I sat and waited on them to admit me, They ended up using a wheelchair because I felt like I couldn't walk I was so shaky. at about 12 they finally got me admitted and into a secured room with a roommate. I laid there shaking until they got me medicine at 2:30. A MISERABLE 2 1/2 hours. I socially isolated myself and did not want to participate in any of the group therapies. I couldn't stop shaking so bad. They let me go on day 5. I was still shaking very badly, high blood pressure, high heart rate.

It is getting better day by day. and my question being, how long do these symptoms last? I am on day 15 of sobriety and slowly my symptoms are fading. The symptoms I am having on day 15 are: Shaky all over(mildly day 15) Twitchy sometimes, Neck crackling sound when I move my head, Nervous, anxious, brain fog feeling, space out sometimes..VERY bad social anxiety at times, depersonalization, claustrophobia at times.. etc,etc. I keep scaring myself thinking that I did permanent damage to myself.

I am currently taking 300 mg Neurontin 3 times per day. I started that 13 days ago. The doctor in detox prescribed this to me. I do have social anxiety(never this bad) General anxiety, panic, ocd. BUT they have NEVER been this bad.

Is it possible to have withdrawal symptoms 2 weeks into sobriety? I am scaring myself thinking I have brain damage, or internal, or nerve damage I was drinking ALOT, and I mean I drank a half gallon of vodka in 3 days to myself. And was drinking all day everyday for months. I have been drinking since I was 15 but never this bad. I used to just drink on the weekends.

Thanks in advance. And sorry if this is a long story!

quitforme79

Congrats on your sober time! The beginning is definitely the hardest. I had only minor withdrawal symptoms so I can't relate to how you're feeling now but have you asked your dr if this is typical? It took almost 3 months for my sleep to normalize so I guess our bodies just need time to heal. You're on the right track though & I hope you feel better soon!

kmae89

Thank you! I feel much happier without drinking. I drank so much I became miserable that my body was relying on alcohol to even do daily activities! But prior to drinking, I already had anxiety, panic, ocd. It has just become so much worse since withdrawal. I have not seen a doctor since detox, so about 10 or so days ago. I do however see a doctor at my counselor's office wednesday. I cannot wait to see this doctor! I just hope they will give me something to calm my nerves, I can hardly get through work with my anxiety so high! I get so shaky when there are a lot of people around or if people are watching me. This never happened before! I assume from what I have read that it is PAWS (post acute alcohol withdrawal)

This has been rock bottom for me, and I never EVER want to go through detox again! I was in this stress center, and you don't get anything in there. All there was, was tv, magazines, and a journal. Also group therapy and all that. We coudn't even go outside! or even leave this hospital unit, which was very small So I know that if I keep reminding myself about this experience, I will not want to pick up another drink again! DO NOT want to go back to square one!

Dee74

Hi and welcome kmae

I think a lot of us deal with some pretty heavy stuff, both mental and physical, after quitting.

I dunno about you but I drank for years - it took me months, not weeks, to feel 'right'.
I'm glad things are improving for you, however slowly

are you still seeing a Dr?
D

TiredWolf

You are doing fine, just give your body some time to heal. A lot of the symptoms that linger for a few weeks after quitting are metabolism related...you trained your body to "run" on alcohol and if you're like most alcoholics you neglected your diet, sleep patterns and physical activity.

Eat healthy and keep yourself hydrated, get at least 8 hours of sleep per day and try to spend some time outdoors or doing physical activity and you'll feel better soon. Maybe take a multivitamin with all the B vitamins included to help your nutrition. Congratulations and hang in there, it only gets better.

melivinsober

Tiredwolf has some good advice there.

Also it sounds like you might have been self medicating if you had the anxiety and such before you started drinking. That's definitely what I did. Since alcohol was your coping tool, now you have to find new healthy ones. Research a ton and utilize friends and support systems. A few people mentioned not feeling right for several months... It's true. I'm only 3 months sober but I'm starting to feel like myself.

But try not to dwell on that. It just makes the anxiety worse. Just work on sobriety. You WILL feel better. Just wait patiently for that.

You can do this. Stay active in research about alcoholism and tools to help you stay sober. And for me, meeting other sober alcoholics has been my savior. Get numbers, e-mails, and keep coming to SR.