nolawis

My brother was admitted to detox/rehab on Monday for alcoholism. I'm not sure how long or how severe his alcoholism was, but as I examine it further, I'm thinking it has been at least 4 or 5 years and at its height (last week) was likely about 750ml of whiskey per day. He stopped drinking on Saturday night after we convinced him to enter rehab and scheduled it to begin on Monday. He got so sick and shaky on Sunday that we gave him a few beers just to try to settle him down. He entered on Monday with terrible shakes, but totally lucid. I spoke to him Monday night and although he sounded down, he was still completely lucid. By Tuesday morning, he was hallucinating and was totally irrational. They began to medicate him for DT as well as phenobarbital to calm him down. They moved him from the rehab/detox ward to the general psych unit. He is still not even close to normal. I visited him today and left feeling horrible. He is drugged and really doesn't know where he is or what is happening to him. He tells me about a non-existent swimming pool in the main room of the building he's in and he believes that he is in the police academy (we are both cops). The staff is telling us that he should be beyond DT by now and perhaps he was a bit overmedicated on phenobarbital. They cut that off and so we will see what happens tomorrow. I'm simply lost as are my parents, who are suffering terribly. Is this normal? Does anyone have any experience with similar issues. Any help or thoughts are greatly appreciated. Thank you.

LexieCat

Detox is different with everybody. My second husband almost died as a result of an unplanned detox when he went into the hospital for pneumonia. Liver and kidneys shut down and it was touch and go for a while. He was comatose for about a week, but before that was hallucinating and had to be restrained. Several months later he was diagnosed with EARLY cirrhosis and was told if he never drank again he should have a normal life. Sadly, he went back to it.

Usually detox only takes a few days, but sometimes longer when there are complications. Hopefully he will be better in a few more days.

Bubovski

I did detox 19 years ago. No DTs involved but heavy in to benzos as well.
On my part, no serious in house repercussions,but one guy was in quite a bad way for some time (had to ask for another room).
I thought phenabarbitone had been phased out years ago.
The doctors are well versed with all these issues and your brother seems to be in the best place.
Hope it all sees him addressing the long term issues.....

sadielady

My exABF just detoxed on May after having seizures and absolute delirium /- I found him bloody on the floor unable to move his legs, talking absolute gibberish. He told doctors later he attempted to detox. I took him to the ER and he was there 2 days, ICU for 3, in the hospital a total of 8 days. 5 doctors including 2 neurologists said we almost lost him, and his central nervous system shut down. Apparently this can happen with unmonitored or unplanned detox.

He now downplays this story and says I dramatized it. The docs said drinking again will kill him (he's drinking, the day after 30 day rehab) and that people who have seizures and DT in detox are very vulnerable again, also to heart attack and stroke.

nolawis

Thank you for all of the helpful responses. He is doing much better now that he was taken off the phenobarbital. With the exception of some hand shaking, it seems that the worst of the detox is behind him. Hopefully, now he can actually begin his journey to recovery. I'm certain that I'll have more questions to ask as we move forward. Thanks again!

SisterK

Please keep us informed as you have time. My brother is nearing a crisis very similar to your brother's. I understand that everyone's detox is unique, but I feel better when I know a little about what to expect. Thanks.

nolawis

So far so good...Of course it is so early in his journey. He has been released from the in-patient detox, which took about 10 days, although they acknowledge that it may have been prolonged due to the phenobarbital. He was released with a prescription for Anabuse, which he takes daily, as well as a sleep aid. He started an intensive out-patient program at a local hospital the day after his release. The sessions go from 8:30AM to 4:00PM. He has only attended one day, but he says he enjoys it. He also started AA on Friday and has made one meeting per day (3 total). He's also back in the gym. He still has the hand shake, but I think the doctors at the out-patient rehab are evaluating him closely before prescribing meds. I'll keep people posted on his progress if it is helpful. I've found this forum helpful to me. I should also note that he is staying with my parents, who, along with me, are monitoring him pretty closely.

honeypig

Nolawis, have you and your parents found some support for yourselves in the midst of all this? Alcoholism doesn't just affect the alcoholic; it affects all those around him/her also--a real nice family kind of disease.

Here's a thread from the SR forums: http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...l-problem.html If you can, take some time to read the stickied threads at the top of this page. You'll learn a lot there.

Have you and your family considered Alanon? You'll also find a lot of support there. Here's a link to their site. http://www.al-anon.alateen.org/

You'll find links on the site for general questions about Alanon as well as for finding meetings near you.

There is also a thread here at SR about Alanon: http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...ings-like.html

Every person in that meeting is or has been in your shoes at some point. I've found it very helpful, especially when things are all brand new to you. Very welcoming people--they know what you're going thru.

Wishing you peace and clarity today.