ipaidwithmylife

Hi, so once again I don't mean to be annoying, but I'm genuinely scared that I might be having wet-brain. I've been sober for very nearly 3 months and I'm experiencing all the symptoms: trouble getting new stuff into my mind, short-term memory issues, trouble focusing on things I read. Did really ALL these things pass with time, with anyone?

The truly weird thing though, is that I had way less trouble when I first quit: I only had a little brain fog. And out of freaked-out paranoia after research, I immediately and faithfully started taking vitamin B each day and fish-oil... you know, I started doing all of the really healthy stuff that people claim "works". And then I was pretty hopeful, since I still managed life pretty well.

Yet, over time, it all got way worse! Memory-wise, reading-wise... I also have these eye-twitches, from time to time.

And then I have all the problems in the world convincing people that's something's up, even the doctor, who after checking everything keeps claiming I didn't drink enough and didn't do it for long enough to really cause something irreversible. It doesn't help that my entire family is mad at me for recently having quit college. I just couldn't deal with it anymore.

Depression... that's what EVERYBODY(family, dr, psychologist...) says I'm having, but I'm like: this is NOT what depression feels like, because I've been depressed before! This is just awful and I find myself having to deal with honest thoughts of ending it, from time to time. I really despise myself for my previous actions. Yet an equally big part of me wants to stick around, in case things get better... Ugh, I swear I'd take all of my former "stupid" problems back, if I could only get rid of this...

Thanks for going through my rant, I hope at least one person wants to reassure me, since I keep bugging people with practically the same bogus, every few days. It's just, I can't seem to motivate myself to feel better. I'm at the end of my wits and only on this forum I get the feeling that some people understand.

Thepatman

Think of it this way, drinking would surely deteriorate your health further.

3 months is awesome, but still early in recovery. Some say it can take one or two years for things to really settle health wise. Be patient, keep eating healthy for in any event it is good for your overall health. Count your blessings.

kzaug2014

Hi Paid,
I have absolutely no idea what wet brain is, so I'm so sorry I can't help you out there.

But, I've heard that anxiety may cause eye twitches.

And, I've also read that it may take up to a yr. & a half for one's brain to heal itself when quitting benzos ( I do realize that alcohol & benzos are entirely different drugs, but idk you & thought of the possibility that you may have used alcohol & benzos??? Just a thought. )

I'm not a doctor. What I've told you is strickly from research I've done.

But, most of all, I just wanted to let you know you're not alone! And to plz seek help immediately if you feel suicidal.

courage2

Hi ipaid --

If it's any comfort to you, I had similar experience after quitting alcohol. The first little while seemed ok, maybe only because I was going from such a low point, that after the first week of physical withdrawal was over, I didn't notice much except that I was making it through every day.

But after a couple of months, it was like the fog cleared enough for me to notice it hadn't cleared, you know? That's when I started to realize how bad my thinking was, my memory, my concentration, my ability to read and so on.

I've now been sober more than a year and I'm happy to say that I'm doing much better in terms of concentration and memory. Still get those eye twitches, tho!

Good luck to you!

Dee74

All these things are annoying and sometimes even scary but they are all normal par for the course things ipaidwithmylife

and listen, I'm not a Dr...but its not wet brain. Think of dementia - that's more like wet-brain.

Don't terrify yourself by going to Dr Google

As far as depression goes.... I've had depression manifest in different ways so I wouldn't dismiss that out of hand either
D

Lance40

My story was very similar to yours. Around the 3 month mark things that had been mild got really bad: short-term memory loss, trouble concentrating, difficulty learning. It got so bad that I would leave a meeting at work and by the time I got back to my office I was blank on what I had said I would do. It was a frightening experience, and I started to wonder if I had a serious medical condition.

I'm at 4.5 months now and somewhere along the way the problems faded away. My concentration feels better than it has been in years. I'm studying French, and it's going well - both learning the grammar rules and remembering the new vocabulary words. Funny thing is, I can't even recall when I got better now that I think about it.

Anyway, that's just my own personal experience. We're all different, so if you have continuing health concerns your doctor is the best place to look for advice.

Wishing you all the best. :-)

Anna

Dee is right. I think it's normal to question everything like that in early recovery. But, try to be patient with yourself.

ipaidwithmylife

Hey, thanks everyone! I always apppreciate the effort you take, to make me feel just that little bit better. SR truly is a wonderful place for support.

Right now I'm just trying to keep myself busy with healthy things and things that used to make me feel good eg: listening to music, reading my past stories(only, now minus the alcohol.)

Funny how just last year, around this time I was happily poisoning myself up in my dorm room, just having fun writing my chapters and indulging in my hobbies... If only I had known then...

As time progressed, btw: I found less and less fun in drinking, since I always needed more of it and I only did it to divert my worry from the negative stuff that kept piling. Truth of the matter is: I mostly drank beer, which was okay, but whenever I swigged wine, I always gagged and mostly ended up puking it back out again. Guess I should have listened to my body... But the past is the past. It's a shame, but it's true. Who knows what I could have become?

Right now, I'm still acquainting myself with my condition, but it sure isn't easy getting happy, when you're being shunned by the whole household, because they believe you to be a drama queen, who should get a role in a soap opera.sigh

Bmac

I'm pretty sure that someone with wet brain would not even be close to being able to pen such a coherent and well written post as you did. IMHO.

drinkingdinos

Hi ipaid! My story is very similar to your post. My first week during detox was a mix of highs and lows, but by the end of that first week its like my body and mind took a turn for the worse. I ended up in the er & over the past 2 months Ive had all the tests done and everything came back fine. No one believed I drank enough or long enough to be causing these effects either. But these symptoms are very real. I too dropped out of college because I couldn't function --mentally or physically. I'm coming up on two months soon & don't get me wrong its not rainbows and butterflies, but it does get better. Don't give up before the miracle.

Soberwolf

One time i was in hospital (vomiting blood) and i had 4 Dr's round me discussing if i had wet brain i was in a very bad way and i remember being wheelchaired to have a CT scan to test for wet brain thank god it wasnt and i got sober not long after that incident

I totally agree with D in saying its not wet brain

Have you made a Dr apt to put your mind at ease ?

DuhDave

At 3 months, you are still very early into sobriety. You havnt even touched on recovery yet. "Easy Does It".

See your Doctor. Some AD medication cant hurt and a visit to a good addiction Psychologist certainly is in order.

It's early. Your patience will be rewarded.

DD

MythOfSisyphus

Listen to the doctor and try not to freak out!

It takes time, ipaidwithmylife. My first week sober was terrifying! I couldn't sleep and had panic attacks when I tried- and I'd never had a panic attack in my life! A few weeks in some of my physical symptoms got a lot better. My complexion improved, I was less red and bloated, etc. My joints stopped aching, too. But mentally I still have some fog for a long time.

It might not be something you want to hear but it can take many months, maybe a year even, before your brain and body fully adjust. I suspect that the longer you drank the more confusing sobriety is to your brain!

Jdvivre

Hey iPaid, take it easy on yourself.

You're doing a great job and has been said before in the thread - it would certainly be worse if you were still hitting the sauce.

Myself - I'm just now 5 months sober. About two or three weeks ago I was devastated to find that even though I quit my anxiety, depression and bipolar symptoms were all still there. I thought "well, it clearly doesn't matter if I'm drinking or not" and quickly realized that's completely untreu - it would all be a hell of a lot worse if I were.

These guys are right - these are the early days. When we've spend years using booze as a tool to deal with stress, we can't expect everything to turn around in a matter of months. Our bodies and minds will take a lot of time to recover and the best we can do is to 1) not pick up the first drink 2) occupy ourselves with health-enhancing activities.

Also, remember: depression comes in many shapes and forms. My first episode looked totally different to my most recent episode. If you don't want to take AD's that's fine, but bear in mind there's gonna be chemical stuff happening in your brain that you don't know about...don't freak out...I just mean with moods, hormones, cortisol etc. Our bodies are readjusting big time.

It's hard, and we're impatient - so try to remember to take it one day at a time.

Here, you are loved and supported. It's good to come and ask questions. Don't panic, you got this!

Much love xxx

tomsteve

There's a helluva lot more symptoms to wet brain that what you say
"and I'm experiencing all the symptoms: trouble getting new stuff into my mind, short-term memory issues, trouble focusing on things I read."
* Confusion
* Changes to vision
* Loss of muscle coordination
* Difficulty swallowing
* Speech problems
* Hallucinations
* Loss of memory
* Confabulation (occurs as the individual makes up stories to compensate for their memory loss)
* Inability to form new memories
* Inability to make sense when talking
* Apathy



Are you aware of the different types of depression and their symptoms?

DoubleBarrel

Check out PAWS. (post acute withdrawal syndrome)

I had it for months. It does slowly get better over time.
Scary, and can be anxiety provoking, but lots of sleep, exercise good food and good hydration helped me.