NeverBeenTimid

About 2 years ago I turned 25 and went out with my friends and had a lot to drink. I woke up the next morning feeling drowsy and dizzy but put it down to a hangover. I promised my girlfriend that I would take her out for breakfast the next morning so off we went. When ordering breakfast I couldn't read the menu and felt really out of it. Couldn't eat much, afterwards my girlfriend wanted to go shopping. Went into M&S and everything just started spinning - felt like I had been spiked or something. All the colours merging into each other. I got a taxi home and left her too it thinking I could sleep it off. It didn't work. Went to the docs and was diagnosed with labrynthitis and was told it would clear up on it's own. It never did. Some days it would get so bad that I would show up at A&E and even once phoned an ambulance I was that freaked out. Each time I was treated as if it was all in my head and i was wasting their time. At the time I was working as a CNC Machinist and really shouldn't have been operating machinery but I needed the money. Anyway, I found the only time I felt normal was to drink a few beers so after work that's the first thing I did. Started with a 4 pack, then a 8 pack. Then a 12 pack. Fast forward to now, I can't work. I have too much pressure in my head. After 2 years of seeing countless doctors (at my surgery they change all the time) I was finally referred to an ENT last October and saw him this week. He has scheduled me in for an MRI but who knows how long I will have to wait for that. Feeling like crap has cost me my job and my girlfriend. The only time I feel normal is when I drink. I am not asking for any medical advice here. I want to know if anyone else is in a similar situation. I drink 12-15 cans of 4.7% beer in a night, have a hangover the next day and then the day after repeat it again. I have tried staying off booze but the most I have managed is 9 days before the pressure in my head got too much. I don't consider myself an alcoholic but want to stop drinking. I am finding it impossible just now when it's the only "medicine" that works.

Sorry for the long post. I am sick and tired of feeling sick and tired and needed to vent.

kenton

I'm so sorry Never, that sounds like a truly awful situation. I don't have similar experience I'm afraid. I drank to excess because I'm alcoholic, not to relieve physical symptoms (other than physical cravings). I think you need to stress the urgency of the situation to the ENT specialist, explain that your health is deteriorating and you need an MRI ASAP. You need to find out what is going on because drinking to relieve your symptoms is only going to create a whole load of different health problems. I hope you get the medical help you need very soon.

NeverBeenTimid

Thanks Kenton. I am scared that I am becoming reliant on alcohol. I don't want to mention this to my doc incase he thinks that's the reason for my problems. I just say I drink socially when asked when in reality for over a year now I have been drinking by myself just to try and feel normal again. I keep telling myself it's only beer and not spirits so not to worry too much. My family all think i'm an alcoholic, but they don't understand that i'm not craving the beer to have a good time. I drink it to feel like I used to before all this happened.

NeverBeenTimid

Pain killers don't work as i'm not in pain. It's an unbearable pressure, like my head is in a vice, blurry vision and drowsiness. After 3 beers I feel back to normal and can see again. It's strange.

Anna

I think you are describing vertigo. I have a relative who had vertigo, and it took awhile for it to clear up, but it did go away. Have you asked your dr if there is anything you can do for the symptoms? I hope you get some relief.

least

The fact that you drink alcohol to "feel normal" is a huge red flag. Start to fix this problem (before it gets worse) by being honest with your doctor(s) about how much you drink. I hope our support will encourage you to seek sobriety. That's a lot of alcohol you're drinking.

NeverBeenTimid

Yeah I know, people think that when I tell them. But I have went 9 days without a drink before in the last 2 years and none of my symptoms alleviated. I felt worse. How can you quit something when it's the only thing that makes you feel better?

Anna

From what I've read, Vertigo is expected to go away by itself after a period of time. Have you asked your dr what to expect?

NeverBeenTimid

It's not vertigo as I can stand up and walk ok. It's hard to describe. It's like a pressure in my jaws and head along with vision problems. The doctors have been saying it maybe my sinuses. Been on 5 courses of antibiotics the last 2 years and it hasn't helped. Without drinking I can't leave the house as I feel so drowsy and like my heads in a vice . After a few cans I can walk and function normally. I treat beer as medicine just now, I know it's not healthy but if you have all this pressure in your head and the only thing that makes you feel better is alcohol then can you blame me for wanting to feel normal for a few hours a night before all the symptoms return? I wonder how common it is for people to be like me. I don't drink because I like the buzz or anything. I drink so I can feel normal and sleep. Thanks for all your responses I really appreciate it.

tiffanyeagle

you probably have an anxiety disorder and need to stop drinking and probably need medication. if you feel that you are self medicating a medical issue ,why would you lie or omit things with a doctor. hmmmm. so you can have an excuse to keep drinking perhaps? alcoholism is a powerful cunning disease and can and will tend to occur WITH anxiety disorders. good luck with the mri and getting super honest with yourself and doctor. best!

NeverBeenTimid

Thanks for replying Tiffany. When this all began I was a social drinker. Drinking once a week. When I went to the docs, A&E and even phoned an ambulance no tests were done, and they acted like I was making it up. I don't want to tell the doctor how much I am drinking now because I don't want them to say "ahah, well that is your problem! Just stop drinking". I know it is nothing to do with alcohol - although I am now drinking above the recommended daily recommendations by quite a bit - I wasn't when this all started. I know I need to stop drinking as although it is helping it isn't really. I don't know what else to do though.

least

Ask your doctor for a medically supervised detox for the first few days of withdrawal. Your symptoms could be the way you withdraw from alcohol. I hope you can find a way to get sober for good before something bad happens to you because of your drinking.

Dee74

Hi neverbeentimid

The thing about using alcohol as medicine is that over time you're going to require more 'medicine' to feel good...eventually you may even find your symptoms come on stronger and more regularly because you want a drink.

Whatever the problem is now, you don't want to add alcoholism into the mix, so then you'll have two problems to fix.

Whatever the answer is, alcohol is not it.

If you're not getting satisfactory answers from your current Dr keep trying new ones.

D

ThatWasTheOldMe

Any doctor that tells you "Ahah! That's your problem! Just stop drinking!" knows absolutely zero about the interaction between alcohol and the central nervous system. That's a great way to get sued for malpractice.

And to be honest, if it is the problem, wouldn't you want to know? You have to be honest with the medical community to figure that out though.