Withdrawal symptoms
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: nottingham
Posts: 3
Withdrawal symptoms
Hi all
I am a 60 year old man living in the UK. I am what could be described as a 'functioning alcoholic', i.e. I have a full-time job, and am "relatively" healthy despite my alcohol consumption (about 70 - 100 units a week).
I realise that we are all different, and experience different symptoms when we stop drinking. In my case, as soon as I stop it goes like this:
Days 1 to 3 - can't get to sleep for 3 or 4 hours.
Days 4 to 7 - sleep fitfully, but my ability to concentrate on work starts to suffer. I am forced to take naps during the working day (car at lunchtime, sneaking off to toilets to nap in cubicle) etc
Day 8 onwards - awful jangling nerves.
(During this period, surprisingly I don't crave alcohol, but I know that drinking it will erase all of these symptoms.)
Anyway, at this point I give in and start drinking beer again. I feel instantly better and am able to function. I say to myself, "OK, two pints of Stella fixed it, maybe it's all I need to keep the symptoms at bay" and I do this for a while, and then consumption starts to creep up again.
I have been to the doctors about this, and whereas in the past they were willing to prescribe me diazepam to suppress the jangling head and enable me to sleep, they will no longer do it, saying that it's just replacing one addiction with another. What they don't realise is that I am very unlikely to get addicted to diazepam as it doesn't have all the social reinforcing associations that alcohol does, it's just a pill that I can take or leave.
If I knew that the withdrawal symptoms only went on for 2 or 3 weeks, I could probably force my way through it, knowing that there's light at the end of the tunnel, however I have several friends who have gone through the same process and they say the tiredness / flatness and depression persist for months :-(
My reaosn for coming on this forum is to see if anyone else can identify with this, and has some positive suggestions.
Many thanks for your time...
Ford.
I am a 60 year old man living in the UK. I am what could be described as a 'functioning alcoholic', i.e. I have a full-time job, and am "relatively" healthy despite my alcohol consumption (about 70 - 100 units a week).
I realise that we are all different, and experience different symptoms when we stop drinking. In my case, as soon as I stop it goes like this:
Days 1 to 3 - can't get to sleep for 3 or 4 hours.
Days 4 to 7 - sleep fitfully, but my ability to concentrate on work starts to suffer. I am forced to take naps during the working day (car at lunchtime, sneaking off to toilets to nap in cubicle) etc
Day 8 onwards - awful jangling nerves.
(During this period, surprisingly I don't crave alcohol, but I know that drinking it will erase all of these symptoms.)
Anyway, at this point I give in and start drinking beer again. I feel instantly better and am able to function. I say to myself, "OK, two pints of Stella fixed it, maybe it's all I need to keep the symptoms at bay" and I do this for a while, and then consumption starts to creep up again.
I have been to the doctors about this, and whereas in the past they were willing to prescribe me diazepam to suppress the jangling head and enable me to sleep, they will no longer do it, saying that it's just replacing one addiction with another. What they don't realise is that I am very unlikely to get addicted to diazepam as it doesn't have all the social reinforcing associations that alcohol does, it's just a pill that I can take or leave.
If I knew that the withdrawal symptoms only went on for 2 or 3 weeks, I could probably force my way through it, knowing that there's light at the end of the tunnel, however I have several friends who have gone through the same process and they say the tiredness / flatness and depression persist for months :-(
My reaosn for coming on this forum is to see if anyone else can identify with this, and has some positive suggestions.
Many thanks for your time...
Ford.
Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 211,435
Hi and welcome Ford 
I can tell you that I experienced all that...and the anxiety for me lasted the longest (which was no surprise to me as my anxiety was a factor in my drinking in the first place)
The thing is alcohol, and alcohol withdrawal, will exacerbate anxiety in the long run. That short term relief is persuasive but it's really just digging you a deeper hole.
I didn't take any drugs for it - I just used the support I found here, I had a little counseling, and I worked on relation techniques like breathing exercises. A little general exercise helped too.
Most importantly, maybe, I believed those here who told me it got better.
It did
It wasn't over night but it did happen - I felt better at day 30 than day one, better again at day 60, and better again at 90
I hope you decide to stick around - there's a ton of support and good advice here
D
I can tell you that I experienced all that...and the anxiety for me lasted the longest (which was no surprise to me as my anxiety was a factor in my drinking in the first place)
The thing is alcohol, and alcohol withdrawal, will exacerbate anxiety in the long run. That short term relief is persuasive but it's really just digging you a deeper hole.
I didn't take any drugs for it - I just used the support I found here, I had a little counseling, and I worked on relation techniques like breathing exercises. A little general exercise helped too.
Most importantly, maybe, I believed those here who told me it got better.
It did
It wasn't over night but it did happen - I felt better at day 30 than day one, better again at day 60, and better again at 90
I hope you decide to stick around - there's a ton of support and good advice here
D
Member
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: London
Posts: 204
Originally Posted by FordHancliff 
Hi all
I am a 60 year old man living in the UK. I am what could be described as a 'functioning alcoholic', i.e. I have a full-time job, and am "relatively" healthy despite my alcohol consumption (about 70 - 100 units a week).
I realise that we are all different, and experience different symptoms when we stop drinking. In my case, as soon as I stop it goes like this:
Days 1 to 3 - can't get to sleep for 3 or 4 hours.
Days 4 to 7 - sleep fitfully, but my ability to concentrate on work starts to suffer. I am forced to take naps during the working day (car at lunchtime, sneaking off to toilets to nap in cubicle) etc
Day 8 onwards - awful jangling nerves.
(During this period, surprisingly I don't crave alcohol, but I know that drinking it will erase all of these symptoms.)
Anyway, at this point I give in and start drinking beer again. I feel instantly better and am able to function. I say to myself, "OK, two pints of Stella fixed it, maybe it's all I need to keep the symptoms at bay" and I do this for a while, and then consumption starts to creep up again.
I have been to the doctors about this, and whereas in the past they were willing to prescribe me diazepam to suppress the jangling head and enable me to sleep, they will no longer do it, saying that it's just replacing one addiction with another. What they don't realise is that I am very unlikely to get addicted to diazepam as it doesn't have all the social reinforcing associations that alcohol does, it's just a pill that I can take or leave.
If I knew that the withdrawal symptoms only went on for 2 or 3 weeks, I could probably force my way through it, knowing that there's light at the end of the tunnel, however I have several friends who have gone through the same process and they say the tiredness / flatness and depression persist for months :-(
My reaosn for coming on this forum is to see if anyone else can identify with this, and has some positive suggestions.
Many thanks for your time...
Ford.
I am a 60 year old man living in the UK. I am what could be described as a 'functioning alcoholic', i.e. I have a full-time job, and am "relatively" healthy despite my alcohol consumption (about 70 - 100 units a week).
I realise that we are all different, and experience different symptoms when we stop drinking. In my case, as soon as I stop it goes like this:
Days 1 to 3 - can't get to sleep for 3 or 4 hours.
Days 4 to 7 - sleep fitfully, but my ability to concentrate on work starts to suffer. I am forced to take naps during the working day (car at lunchtime, sneaking off to toilets to nap in cubicle) etc
Day 8 onwards - awful jangling nerves.
(During this period, surprisingly I don't crave alcohol, but I know that drinking it will erase all of these symptoms.)
Anyway, at this point I give in and start drinking beer again. I feel instantly better and am able to function. I say to myself, "OK, two pints of Stella fixed it, maybe it's all I need to keep the symptoms at bay" and I do this for a while, and then consumption starts to creep up again.
I have been to the doctors about this, and whereas in the past they were willing to prescribe me diazepam to suppress the jangling head and enable me to sleep, they will no longer do it, saying that it's just replacing one addiction with another. What they don't realise is that I am very unlikely to get addicted to diazepam as it doesn't have all the social reinforcing associations that alcohol does, it's just a pill that I can take or leave.
If I knew that the withdrawal symptoms only went on for 2 or 3 weeks, I could probably force my way through it, knowing that there's light at the end of the tunnel, however I have several friends who have gone through the same process and they say the tiredness / flatness and depression persist for months :-(
My reaosn for coming on this forum is to see if anyone else can identify with this, and has some positive suggestions.
Many thanks for your time...
Ford.
of course there is a light at the end of the tunnel, but there is no saying how long the tunnel is!
Stick with it mate, you know it makes sense & the Stella is no the answer.
i take Nytol which you can buy at the chemist to help sleep through in the first week.
& loads of vitamin B to help the body adjust
Member
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Ireland
Posts: 25,826
Welcome to the Forum!! 
At some point we have to get off the alcohol merry-go-round, quit drinking, withdrawals happen, start drinking again to deal with withdrawals, that's not a sustainable way forward!!
The reality is the body can't sort out years of drinking in a matter of weeks, it took years to get here, it's gonna take months to get out of it!!
Support was the key thing for me, when thoughts about drinking again after week 1 or 2, if I was alone with my own thoughts I could have convinced myself of anything, instead I needed other people who understood around me to short circuit my own thoughts of drinking, help me keep pushing through to those better times!!
You'll find loads of support here on SR!!
At some point we have to get off the alcohol merry-go-round, quit drinking, withdrawals happen, start drinking again to deal with withdrawals, that's not a sustainable way forward!!
The reality is the body can't sort out years of drinking in a matter of weeks, it took years to get here, it's gonna take months to get out of it!!
Support was the key thing for me, when thoughts about drinking again after week 1 or 2, if I was alone with my own thoughts I could have convinced myself of anything, instead I needed other people who understood around me to short circuit my own thoughts of drinking, help me keep pushing through to those better times!!
You'll find loads of support here on SR!!
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: nottingham
Posts: 3
Many thanks, all
Really appreciate your inputs. I think I'm coming round to the idea that because I'm expecting the experience to be bad, it will in fact become that (self-fulfilling prophecy). I can't post a link yet but Google this article, which I found helped a lot:
alcoholrehab (dot) com How To Make It Through Alcohol Withdrawals
Up till now, I have tended to see the body and nervous system as a bunch of chemicals interacting with each other, and it thus followed that the right way to lessen withdrawal symptoms is to cushion the blow by using other chemicals like diazepam etc. However I spoke a friend last night who recounted the story of her brother-in-law (incidentally, who is a prominent doctor) who decided to immediately hit the gym instead of the pub.
Although he had to really force himself for the first week or so, after a while the natural 'feel good' chemicals produced by exercise began to calm down the buzzing nerves and the increased energy combatted the tiredness.
So, I'm now on my second day into my cold turkey, and after seeing my doc this afternoon will get on my bike and get myself to the gym, tiredness or no tiredness.
Watch this space :-)
Ford
alcoholrehab (dot) com How To Make It Through Alcohol Withdrawals
Up till now, I have tended to see the body and nervous system as a bunch of chemicals interacting with each other, and it thus followed that the right way to lessen withdrawal symptoms is to cushion the blow by using other chemicals like diazepam etc. However I spoke a friend last night who recounted the story of her brother-in-law (incidentally, who is a prominent doctor) who decided to immediately hit the gym instead of the pub.
Although he had to really force himself for the first week or so, after a while the natural 'feel good' chemicals produced by exercise began to calm down the buzzing nerves and the increased energy combatted the tiredness.
So, I'm now on my second day into my cold turkey, and after seeing my doc this afternoon will get on my bike and get myself to the gym, tiredness or no tiredness.
Watch this space :-)
Ford
Member
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: PA
Posts: 12,000
just be mindful of what going cold turkey can do to your body. glad you are going for this. I know I felt like crap - tired and lethargic - over the first month or two, but it does get better. you have to stick it out.
if you find the withdrawals seem too much, call a doctor or go to clinic
good luck
if you find the withdrawals seem too much, call a doctor or go to clinic
good luck
Member
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 5
Find a good alternative
Hi Ford,
The best way I would suggest during the recovery time and ther after is to have yourself focused to somthing you overwhelm.
I had these bad times during my recovery period and I started to focus on the one that interests me the most, physical workouts.
The best way I would suggest during the recovery time and ther after is to have yourself focused to somthing you overwhelm.
I had these bad times during my recovery period and I started to focus on the one that interests me the most, physical workouts.
Member
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Oregon
Posts: 1,536
Welcome, Ford
YES!!! I love your plan. Get yourself moving. Exercise release our endorphins which are natural pain killers and feel good hormones. Great idea!
I would like to add that feeding your body what it needs (healthy food, lots of water) will go a long way to helping as well.
Congrats on your journey into a sober life. You're gonna like it here.
YES!!! I love your plan. Get yourself moving. Exercise release our endorphins which are natural pain killers and feel good hormones. Great idea!
I would like to add that feeding your body what it needs (healthy food, lots of water) will go a long way to helping as well.
Congrats on your journey into a sober life. You're gonna like it here.
Member
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 4,251
Great idea Ford. I suffer from the extreme fatigue as well (no other major withdrawal symptoms to speak of- some mild sleep issues and nightmares). It seems strange but getting to the gym helps this fatigue. Just getting my blood moving is helpful for the feelings of tiredness and my mood. Vitamin B is great for energy and mood as is magnesium. You can also try snacking on fresh or candied ginger and drinking warm water with lemon. The lemon water is good for a number of things- it helps the liver clean itself, it is good for digestion and it is also good for energy.
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