Red78

Is there anyone here that didnt have physical withdrawl from giving up drinking?? Ive never had this before, if I dont get these symptoms does this mean my bodies not addicted? Or just not as addicted as I could be, prehaps only mentally addicted?? Sorry if this sounds like a dumb question..

Dee74

There's a really wide variety of withdrawal experience from negligible to severe...

it would be nice and simple if the severity of our alcoholism was neatly illustrated by the severity of the withdrawal but that's often not always the case.

I remember having weeks long binges and leaping out of bed on day one feeling great, and other times a few beers would have be sick for days.

So many factors to consider - general health, diet, sleep, etc.

D

Berrybean

I didn't get withdrawals. Mine was more a delayed reaction with washing machine head and anxiety from around 3 weeks.

August252015

Bad withdrawals then very bad PAWS. I was an incredibly heavy drinker (2-3 bottles of wine most days for years, then a handle of vodka every 2 days or less for the final six months) and had to go through a lot.

Staying sober is the only way to get through whatever your body does to heal.

SnazzyDresser

I drank heavily every single day for years and still had only minor physical withdrawal symptoms after quitting. It varies wildly from person to person.

ardy

there is so much that can happen to each individual person. it is all different and spins in so many circles.. keep a note book.. everyday write it down.. I do that for 26 years with my hubby.. when he is in hospital it goes with me and the the staff takes it from there.. it helps so much..

Doh

I don't remember any withdraws but I immediately starting sleeping well and craved sugary things and I was a 12 pack or more a day drinker.

Doug39

I drank everyday for 27 years...today I am 66 days sober.

During the first 3 or 4 days of sobriety I was spaced out, everything seemed dark and depressing, I had constant panic attacks, I dry heaved a lot, didn't sleep or eat much, could not concentrate and felt weak and dizzy.

The next few weeks after that I had mood swings, anxiety and just a general awful physical feeling. It was hard to get up and face the day every morning but I tried to keep busy.

Today I am feeling alright most of the time. I still have my moments but I seem to feel better. I never want to go back to the beginning of sobriety again.

january161992

hi red

no withdrawls

the little bit of budweiser and the little bit of really weak dope i smoked were the symptom of the real problem which is me

ScottFromWI

I was able to quit many times without severe withdrawal symptoms but towards the end I started having them. The last time I quit cold turkey I ended up in the ER with heart palpitations, dangerously high heart rate and BP. It can come from literally out of nowhere.

Change4good

Very similar with me as well. For a long part of my drinking career, I simply had hangovers that I could kick with exercise or fluids. Then, I started having withdrawals. (Ironically, I then missed *simply* having hangovers.)

I also ended up in the ER. You never know when the flip switches.

Plure

Fairly bad physical withdrawals back in 2014 when I was drinking like a fish, then horrible PAWS for about three months.

This time not really any physical withdrawals, but some PAWS symptoms, mostly related to anxiety (which is an underlying problem for me anyway). I was drinking quite a bit less this time.

gregknight

I often heard the saying, "I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy.". I never really understood it until going through withdrawals and PAWS. I'm embarrassed to say I have gone through that more than a few times and I honestly, literally, would not wish that on my worst enemy. It is awful; physically, psychologically. spiritually.

I never knew that some alcoholics/addicts did not go through them.

uncorked

I wouldn't say my physical symptoms were bad -- a little hand shaking and having to pee a lot when I actually got sober-- but I got very anxious if I didn't have access to my wine. That also went away in short order once I realized I didn't NEED it. I think my reliance was more mental than physical.

Berrybean

OMG. I'd forgotten the peeing! Yes. Lots of peeing it seemed.

Red78

Thanks for all the replys peeps.. So yea that tells me im an addict to this ****.. I think there is a part of me that wants to deny this & tried to tell me that if i dont have withdrawls then im not addicted but if im honest with myself I do really know the truth. Ive given up before with an ex boyfriend & i do remember throwing **** around & getting angry cause I couldnt get a drink, funny that then i didnt think i would have to be teetotal to succeed in not having a problem, that was 6 years ago & im just realising that its probably my only option to not be controlled by it.. Its funny I have recently remembered the moment I conciously choose to have a drinking problem, at least I know where to go to heal this issue..

Steely

I can have 600 or 1 drink, and it still does my head in now. It's the psychological impact that ANY amount of alcohol does to me that had me choose too, or to accept, that I have a drinking problem. So many negative experiences that I never want to repeat.

I have had really bad withdrawals, I have had no withdrawal, and I have had hangover. In the end I was always "hanging over." Hung out to dry.

I can remember the head of the drug and alcohol unit at a hospital here in Sydney (I worked there) telling me had seen clients who, after drinking 4 litres of cheap wine a day for 10 years experience horrific withdrawal then, 5 years later present again same consumption, with very little withdrawal at all. Hmmm, good question Red.

Yes, I knew it was affecting me physically but it was the psychological and behavioural impact that eventually had me choose.

No matter how little or how much, I was trapped in a loop of conflict that I wanted to exit. Iced water with a slice of lemon is yummy.

tursiops999

Hi Red, that's very powerful to have that realization. I, too, did not have withdrawals, or any big disasters, but I could feel that alcohol had its hooks in me. I knew deep inside that the key to freedom from alcohol was going to be abstaining forever.

Forward12

From my experience I've been through many on and off periods and only experienced withdrawal twice, both after hardcore benders. The rest was just your general feeling like crap, guilt, and other common hangover issues.
Not everyone gets bad withdrawals, actually most don't. Though in our alcoholic minds we will always make up an excuse in one way or another to keep drinking.

sg1970

I remember sitting in an AA meeting at around a month sober thinking "you know, since I didn't have severe withdrawals maybe I wasn't as bad as I thought and I quit drinking too early". This coming from someone who was basically controlled by it and suicidal when I stopped. LOL. Talk about the addictive voice at work. That is a prime example of alcoholic thinking right there! The craziness baffles me.