Lost
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 10
Lost
Hi everyone..
I'm Mike, I'm 25 years old and I drink too much. I'm confused though because I don't have cravings to drink when I'm away from the bottle, don't constantly think about it, I've never let it interfere with my work or let it cost me friends/family. All that being said I still realize I have a problem. It'd be nice to have the extra cash as well as lose the gut I've put on from drinking and just to be a bit more clear headed is all.
My problem is that I begin to suffer from withdrawals (anxiety attacks, cold sweats, nausea) if I didn't have a drink or didn't drink enough the previous night. For instance last night instead of having two hard mixed drinks I only had one. I woke up felt fine, went to the gym and worked out a bit then went to work and started having a small panic attack and the cold sweats. I popped a Valium and decided to go home, while the Valium did seem to help a bit, it more or less just makes me feel woozy and then tends to wear off and I feel the same again....I'm coming down off the Valium right now, and all I really want to do is sleep. I'm wondering if it would be wise to slowly cut back on my drinking before I quit? I usually end the night with two mixed drinks with about 6 shots a piece in them.
Any thoughts, advice, ideas well wishes would be greatly appreciated. I haven't let alcohol ruin my life and I don't want it to but the withdrawals are not making it easy for me to work.
I'm Mike, I'm 25 years old and I drink too much. I'm confused though because I don't have cravings to drink when I'm away from the bottle, don't constantly think about it, I've never let it interfere with my work or let it cost me friends/family. All that being said I still realize I have a problem. It'd be nice to have the extra cash as well as lose the gut I've put on from drinking and just to be a bit more clear headed is all.
My problem is that I begin to suffer from withdrawals (anxiety attacks, cold sweats, nausea) if I didn't have a drink or didn't drink enough the previous night. For instance last night instead of having two hard mixed drinks I only had one. I woke up felt fine, went to the gym and worked out a bit then went to work and started having a small panic attack and the cold sweats. I popped a Valium and decided to go home, while the Valium did seem to help a bit, it more or less just makes me feel woozy and then tends to wear off and I feel the same again....I'm coming down off the Valium right now, and all I really want to do is sleep. I'm wondering if it would be wise to slowly cut back on my drinking before I quit? I usually end the night with two mixed drinks with about 6 shots a piece in them.
Any thoughts, advice, ideas well wishes would be greatly appreciated. I haven't let alcohol ruin my life and I don't want it to but the withdrawals are not making it easy for me to work.
Administrator
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Dancing in the Light
Posts: 61,600
Hi Mike,
Welcome!
I'm glad you realized that drinking is causing you problems and you've decided to quit. I would say cutting back doesn't work for alcoholics. I tried it countless times and many others here have done the same. It would work for some weeks and then I'd be back where I started. I think, with alcohol, stopping is the best bet. Of course, you should talk to your dr first. You probably will experience some withdrawl symptoms, but cutting back will only draw out the process.
Welcome!
I'm glad you realized that drinking is causing you problems and you've decided to quit. I would say cutting back doesn't work for alcoholics. I tried it countless times and many others here have done the same. It would work for some weeks and then I'd be back where I started. I think, with alcohol, stopping is the best bet. Of course, you should talk to your dr first. You probably will experience some withdrawl symptoms, but cutting back will only draw out the process.
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 10
Thanks for the greeting Anna....
I guess what I meant was to cut back IN ORDER to quit, no in place of quitting. So instead of having something like 12 shots I would drop it to 10 then 8 then 6 ect.....before finally giving it all up.
I guess what I meant was to cut back IN ORDER to quit, no in place of quitting. So instead of having something like 12 shots I would drop it to 10 then 8 then 6 ect.....before finally giving it all up.
Member
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Back in my head
Posts: 984
Hey Mike,
Welcome to SR
I would agree that cutting back is not the answer. I find that if I just surround myself with sobriety ie. people, meetings, SR things aren't easy at first but with the help and support of others I have learned to live a different way. First and foremost I had to look at alcohol a bit differently. Instead of thinking that I'm going to be missing out on the "party" I think about taking a dirtbike off of a 30 ft. cliff while drunk and how many times I could've killed myself or others. It's just not worth it for me to drink.
Hope you keep posting and yes, I wish you all the best of luck.
Rob
Welcome to SR
I would agree that cutting back is not the answer. I find that if I just surround myself with sobriety ie. people, meetings, SR things aren't easy at first but with the help and support of others I have learned to live a different way. First and foremost I had to look at alcohol a bit differently. Instead of thinking that I'm going to be missing out on the "party" I think about taking a dirtbike off of a 30 ft. cliff while drunk and how many times I could've killed myself or others. It's just not worth it for me to drink.
Hope you keep posting and yes, I wish you all the best of luck.
Rob
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 10
Hi Rob,
Thanks for the words of advice it's much appreciated. So even cutting back BEFORE i quit isn't usually recommended? I don't want to just stop at cutting back and continuing to drink. I only thought about cutting back before I quit to maybe lessen the withdrawal symptoms? I really don't have any desire to drink. For instance, I took the day off today, I've got no alcohol in my apartment, yet I could walk less than a block to a liquor store and pick something up for tonight, but honestly I'd rather NOT drink tonight. I don't need to wake up and see an embarrassing drunk text message I sent or dread waking up in the morning still half drunk.. That being said the withdrawal symptoms I get at work make it neigh impossible to function normally. The Doc prescribed me some Valium and it does help but makes me a zombie.
I'm not sure if this will make sense, but going a few weeks, months without drinking doesn't seem all that of a bad thing, what worries me is the withdrawal symptoms as a result of not drinking! Hah....I suppose that's why I titled the thread LOST. As I've said earlier alcohol really hasn't ruined or badly effected any part of my life (well save the ridiculous beer gut I have at 25!!!), but I know I drink ENTIRELY way too much and it's time to change. I'm looking foward to not being lazy everyday because I drank myself stupid the night before. It's going to be nice not to worry about finding a DD. I'll be able to buy myself a bit more nicities that I would have otherwise spent on liquor.
A few quick questions, I've read a few places that Vitamin B1 (Thiamin) can help with the withdrawal symptoms. Anyone have any luck or experience with it? Also anyone have any advice on good ways to deal with the withdrawals in a work environment?
Thanks again everyone, I'm glad I stumbled upon the site!
-Mike
Thanks for the words of advice it's much appreciated. So even cutting back BEFORE i quit isn't usually recommended? I don't want to just stop at cutting back and continuing to drink. I only thought about cutting back before I quit to maybe lessen the withdrawal symptoms? I really don't have any desire to drink. For instance, I took the day off today, I've got no alcohol in my apartment, yet I could walk less than a block to a liquor store and pick something up for tonight, but honestly I'd rather NOT drink tonight. I don't need to wake up and see an embarrassing drunk text message I sent or dread waking up in the morning still half drunk.. That being said the withdrawal symptoms I get at work make it neigh impossible to function normally. The Doc prescribed me some Valium and it does help but makes me a zombie.
I'm not sure if this will make sense, but going a few weeks, months without drinking doesn't seem all that of a bad thing, what worries me is the withdrawal symptoms as a result of not drinking! Hah....I suppose that's why I titled the thread LOST. As I've said earlier alcohol really hasn't ruined or badly effected any part of my life (well save the ridiculous beer gut I have at 25!!!), but I know I drink ENTIRELY way too much and it's time to change. I'm looking foward to not being lazy everyday because I drank myself stupid the night before. It's going to be nice not to worry about finding a DD. I'll be able to buy myself a bit more nicities that I would have otherwise spent on liquor.
A few quick questions, I've read a few places that Vitamin B1 (Thiamin) can help with the withdrawal symptoms. Anyone have any luck or experience with it? Also anyone have any advice on good ways to deal with the withdrawals in a work environment?
Thanks again everyone, I'm glad I stumbled upon the site!
-Mike
Administrator
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Dancing in the Light
Posts: 61,600
It won't lessen the withdrawl symptoms.
It will just make them last longer.
I think a good multi-vitamin and especially B vitamins help, because most alcoholics have a lack of those. You can also drink lots of liquids - water, gatorade, juice and just generally take care of yourself.
But, do check with your dr.
It will just make them last longer.
I think a good multi-vitamin and especially B vitamins help, because most alcoholics have a lack of those. You can also drink lots of liquids - water, gatorade, juice and just generally take care of yourself.
But, do check with your dr.
Member
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Back in my head
Posts: 984
Well to say that you don't have a desire to drink then saying practically in the same sentence that you could pick something up for tonight is pretty contradicting don't you think. Also to say that it hasn't effected your life much but you took the day off from work because of the nausiation is also somewhat contradicting. How much money would you have made if you would've worked your normal shif today?
Drinking has cost you some money and emotions and obviously has made you turn to someone for advice.
All I know is that if you think you are, you probably are.
Not trying to tell you what to do, but if you think drinking hasn't cost you anything, maybe you need to go back and read your own words.
Drinking has cost you some money and emotions and obviously has made you turn to someone for advice.
All I know is that if you think you are, you probably are.
Not trying to tell you what to do, but if you think drinking hasn't cost you anything, maybe you need to go back and read your own words.
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 10
Originally Posted by 51anna 
It won't lessen the withdrawl symptoms.
It will just make them last longer.
I think a good multi-vitamin and especially B vitamins help, because most alcoholics have a lack of those. You can also drink lots of liquids - water, gatorade, juice and just generally take care of yourself.
But, do check with your dr.
It will just make them last longer.
I think a good multi-vitamin and especially B vitamins help, because most alcoholics have a lack of those. You can also drink lots of liquids - water, gatorade, juice and just generally take care of yourself.
But, do check with your dr.
Haha, well then that's not what I want to do now is it? hah! Thanks for the advice for the liquids that I SHOULD be drinking. I'll be going to the grocery store to buy Gatorade and Vitamins instead of liquor and beer.
Tomorrow is going to be an interesting day for me, but one for the better
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 10
What I meant was that it would be super easy to head over there and pick something up which I have no desire to do. Sorry about that....
You are right about work though, I guess it has crept into work a bit eh? Though I won't lose out on any money, I will be making up the time later...but that's besides the point. You're right.
Again you're right, I apologize that it came off wrong, I wouldn't have turned to anyone for advice if I didn't have a problem, I do have a problem and I'll freely admit that.
I suppose what I meant (and again apologies for how it came off) was that alcohol hasn't done anything horrible to my life YET, and that I'm here because I don't want it to do anything more than it already has.
Sorry Rob, I didn't mean to sound so pompous.
You are right about work though, I guess it has crept into work a bit eh? Though I won't lose out on any money, I will be making up the time later...but that's besides the point. You're right.
Again you're right, I apologize that it came off wrong, I wouldn't have turned to anyone for advice if I didn't have a problem, I do have a problem and I'll freely admit that.
I suppose what I meant (and again apologies for how it came off) was that alcohol hasn't done anything horrible to my life YET, and that I'm here because I don't want it to do anything more than it already has.
Sorry Rob, I didn't mean to sound so pompous.
Forward we go...side by side-Rest In Peace
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Serene In Dixie
Posts: 36,740
Hi Mike....Welcome to SR!
We have a top sticky post in our Alcoholism Forum
with some members personal experiences on de toxing.
This is also there...Page 3
Alcohol has a slowing effect (also called a sedating effect or depressant effect) on the brain. In a heavy, long-term drinker, the brain is almost continually exposed to the depressant effect of alcohol. Over time, the brain adjusts its own chemistry to compensate for the effect of the alcohol. It does this by producing naturally stimulating chemicals (such as serotonin or norepinephrine, which is a relative of adrenaline) in larger quantities than normal. If the alcohol is withdrawn suddenly, the brain is like an accelerated vehicle that has lost its brakes. Not surprisingly, most symptoms of withdrawal are symptoms that occur when the brain is overstimulated.
The most dangerous form of alcohol withdrawal occurs in about 1 out of every 20 people who have withdrawal symptoms. This condition is called delirium tremens (also called DTs). In delirium tremens, the brain is not able to smoothly readjust its chemistry after alcohol is stopped. This creates a state of temporary confusion and leads to dangerous changes in the way your brain regulates your circulation and breathing. The body's vital signs such as your heart rate or blood pressure can change dramatically or unpredictably, creating a risk of heart attack, stroke or death.
Symptoms
If your brain has adjusted to your heavy drinking habits, it takes time for your brain to adjust back. Alcohol withdrawal symptoms occur in a predictable pattern after your last alcohol drink. Not all symptoms develop in all patients:
Tremors (shakes) — These usually begin within 5 to 10 hours after the last alcohol drink and typically peak at 24 to 48 hours. Along with tremors (trembling), you can have a rapid pulse, an increase in blood pressure, rapid breathing, sweating, nausea and vomiting, anxiety or a hyper-alert state, irritability, nightmares or vivid dreams, and insomnia.
Alcohol hallucinosis — This symptom usually begins within 12 to 24 hours after your last drink, and may last as long as two days once it begins. If this happens, you hallucinate (see or feel things that are not real). It is common for people who are withdrawing from alcohol to see multiple small, similar, moving objects. Sometimes the vision is perceived to be crawling insects or falling coins. It is possible for an alcohol withdrawal hallucination to be a very detailed and imaginative vision.
Alcohol-withdrawal seizures — Seizures may occur 6 to 48 hours after the last drink, and it is common for several seizures to occur over several hours. The risk peaks at 24 hours. These are tonic-clonic (grand mal) seizures.
Delirium tremens — Delirium tremens commonly begins two to three days after the last alcohol drink, but it may be delayed more than a week. Its peak intensity is usually four to five days after the last drink. This condition causes dangerous shifts in your breathing, your circulation and your temperature control. It can cause your heart to race dangerously or can cause your blood pressure to increase dramatically, and it can cause dangerous dehydration. Delirium tremens also can temporarily reduce the amount of blood flow to your brain. Symptoms can include confusion, disorientation, stupor or loss of consciousness, nervous or angry behavior, irrational beliefs, soaking sweats, sleep disturbances and hallucinations.
Diagnosis
Alcohol withdrawal is easy to diagnose if you have typical symptoms that occur after you stop heavy, habitual drinking. If you have a past experience of withdrawal symptoms, you are likely to have them return if you start and stop heavy drinking again. There are no specific tests that can be used to diagnose alcohol withdrawal.
If you have withdrawal symptoms from drinking, then you have consumed enough alcohol to damage other organs. It is a good idea for your doctor to examine you carefully and do blood tests, checking for alcohol-related damage to your liver, heart, the nerves in your feet, blood cell counts, and gastrointestinal tract. Your doctor will evaluate your usual diet and check for vitamin deficiencies because poor nutrition is common when someone is dependent on alcohol.
It is usually difficult for people who drink to be completely honest about how much they've been drinking. You should report your drinking history straightforwardly to your doctor so you can be treated safely for withdrawal symptoms.
Expected Duration
Symptoms of alcohol withdrawal typically improve within five days, though a small number of patients may have prolonged symptoms, lasting weeks.
Prevention
Alcoholism is caused by many factors. If you have a sibling or parent with alcoholism, then you are three or four times more likely than average to develop alcoholism. Some people with family histories of alcoholism choose to abstain from drinking since this is a guaranteed way to avoid developing addiction. Many people without a family history also develop alcoholism. If you are concerned about your drinking, speak with your doctor.
Treatment
If you have severe vomiting, seizures or delirium tremens, the safest place for you to be treated is in a hospital. For delirium tremens, treatment in an intensive care unit (ICU) is often required. In an ICU, your heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing can be monitored closely in case emergency life-support (such as artificial breathing by a machine) is needed.
Medicines called benzodiazepines can lessen alcohol withdrawal symptoms. Commonly used medicines in this group include diazepam (Valium), chlordiazepoxide (Librium) and lorazepam (Ativan).
Most alcohol abusers who are having withdrawal symptoms have a shortage of several vitamins and minerals and can benefit from nutritional supplements. In particular, alcohol abuse can create a shortage of folate, thiamine, vitamin B12, magnesium, zinc and phosphate. It also can cause low blood sugar.
Ideally, an addiction specialist assists in the care of a person who is experiencing alcohol withdrawal.
When To Call A Professional
Get help if you or someone you love has an alcohol-related problem. Alcoholism is an illness that can be treated.
If you have an alcohol dependency problem and have decided to stop drinking, call your doctor for help. Your doctor can advise you and can prescribe medicines to make withdrawal symptoms more tolerable if they occur. Your doctor can also put you in touch with local resources that will help you to stay alcohol free.
Prognosis
Alcohol withdrawal is common, but delirium tremens only occurs in 5% of people who have alcohol withdrawal. Delirium tremens is dangerous, killing as many as 1 out of every 20 people who develop its symptoms.
After withdrawal is complete, it is essential that you not begin drinking again. Alcohol treatment programs are important because they improve your chances of successfully staying off of alcohol. Only about 20% of alcoholics are able to abstain from alcohol permanently without the help of formal treatment or self-help programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). Of people who attend AA, 44% of those who remain free of alcohol for one year probably will remain abstinent for another year. This figure increases to 91% for those who have remained abstinent and have attended AA for 5 years or more.
On average, an alcoholic who doesn't stop drinking can expect to decrease his or her life expectancy by at least 15 years.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is from my files
I think it is from NIAA
As you can see de toxing/withdrawal
is a serious medical issue.
So that's why seeing a doctor is wise.
Glad to see a new member...
please let us know how you are doing.
We have a top sticky post in our Alcoholism Forum
with some members personal experiences on de toxing.
This is also there...Page 3
Alcohol has a slowing effect (also called a sedating effect or depressant effect) on the brain. In a heavy, long-term drinker, the brain is almost continually exposed to the depressant effect of alcohol. Over time, the brain adjusts its own chemistry to compensate for the effect of the alcohol. It does this by producing naturally stimulating chemicals (such as serotonin or norepinephrine, which is a relative of adrenaline) in larger quantities than normal. If the alcohol is withdrawn suddenly, the brain is like an accelerated vehicle that has lost its brakes. Not surprisingly, most symptoms of withdrawal are symptoms that occur when the brain is overstimulated.
The most dangerous form of alcohol withdrawal occurs in about 1 out of every 20 people who have withdrawal symptoms. This condition is called delirium tremens (also called DTs). In delirium tremens, the brain is not able to smoothly readjust its chemistry after alcohol is stopped. This creates a state of temporary confusion and leads to dangerous changes in the way your brain regulates your circulation and breathing. The body's vital signs such as your heart rate or blood pressure can change dramatically or unpredictably, creating a risk of heart attack, stroke or death.
Symptoms
If your brain has adjusted to your heavy drinking habits, it takes time for your brain to adjust back. Alcohol withdrawal symptoms occur in a predictable pattern after your last alcohol drink. Not all symptoms develop in all patients:
Tremors (shakes) — These usually begin within 5 to 10 hours after the last alcohol drink and typically peak at 24 to 48 hours. Along with tremors (trembling), you can have a rapid pulse, an increase in blood pressure, rapid breathing, sweating, nausea and vomiting, anxiety or a hyper-alert state, irritability, nightmares or vivid dreams, and insomnia.
Alcohol hallucinosis — This symptom usually begins within 12 to 24 hours after your last drink, and may last as long as two days once it begins. If this happens, you hallucinate (see or feel things that are not real). It is common for people who are withdrawing from alcohol to see multiple small, similar, moving objects. Sometimes the vision is perceived to be crawling insects or falling coins. It is possible for an alcohol withdrawal hallucination to be a very detailed and imaginative vision.
Alcohol-withdrawal seizures — Seizures may occur 6 to 48 hours after the last drink, and it is common for several seizures to occur over several hours. The risk peaks at 24 hours. These are tonic-clonic (grand mal) seizures.
Delirium tremens — Delirium tremens commonly begins two to three days after the last alcohol drink, but it may be delayed more than a week. Its peak intensity is usually four to five days after the last drink. This condition causes dangerous shifts in your breathing, your circulation and your temperature control. It can cause your heart to race dangerously or can cause your blood pressure to increase dramatically, and it can cause dangerous dehydration. Delirium tremens also can temporarily reduce the amount of blood flow to your brain. Symptoms can include confusion, disorientation, stupor or loss of consciousness, nervous or angry behavior, irrational beliefs, soaking sweats, sleep disturbances and hallucinations.
Diagnosis
Alcohol withdrawal is easy to diagnose if you have typical symptoms that occur after you stop heavy, habitual drinking. If you have a past experience of withdrawal symptoms, you are likely to have them return if you start and stop heavy drinking again. There are no specific tests that can be used to diagnose alcohol withdrawal.
If you have withdrawal symptoms from drinking, then you have consumed enough alcohol to damage other organs. It is a good idea for your doctor to examine you carefully and do blood tests, checking for alcohol-related damage to your liver, heart, the nerves in your feet, blood cell counts, and gastrointestinal tract. Your doctor will evaluate your usual diet and check for vitamin deficiencies because poor nutrition is common when someone is dependent on alcohol.
It is usually difficult for people who drink to be completely honest about how much they've been drinking. You should report your drinking history straightforwardly to your doctor so you can be treated safely for withdrawal symptoms.
Expected Duration
Symptoms of alcohol withdrawal typically improve within five days, though a small number of patients may have prolonged symptoms, lasting weeks.
Prevention
Alcoholism is caused by many factors. If you have a sibling or parent with alcoholism, then you are three or four times more likely than average to develop alcoholism. Some people with family histories of alcoholism choose to abstain from drinking since this is a guaranteed way to avoid developing addiction. Many people without a family history also develop alcoholism. If you are concerned about your drinking, speak with your doctor.
Treatment
If you have severe vomiting, seizures or delirium tremens, the safest place for you to be treated is in a hospital. For delirium tremens, treatment in an intensive care unit (ICU) is often required. In an ICU, your heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing can be monitored closely in case emergency life-support (such as artificial breathing by a machine) is needed.
Medicines called benzodiazepines can lessen alcohol withdrawal symptoms. Commonly used medicines in this group include diazepam (Valium), chlordiazepoxide (Librium) and lorazepam (Ativan).
Most alcohol abusers who are having withdrawal symptoms have a shortage of several vitamins and minerals and can benefit from nutritional supplements. In particular, alcohol abuse can create a shortage of folate, thiamine, vitamin B12, magnesium, zinc and phosphate. It also can cause low blood sugar.
Ideally, an addiction specialist assists in the care of a person who is experiencing alcohol withdrawal.
When To Call A Professional
Get help if you or someone you love has an alcohol-related problem. Alcoholism is an illness that can be treated.
If you have an alcohol dependency problem and have decided to stop drinking, call your doctor for help. Your doctor can advise you and can prescribe medicines to make withdrawal symptoms more tolerable if they occur. Your doctor can also put you in touch with local resources that will help you to stay alcohol free.
Prognosis
Alcohol withdrawal is common, but delirium tremens only occurs in 5% of people who have alcohol withdrawal. Delirium tremens is dangerous, killing as many as 1 out of every 20 people who develop its symptoms.
After withdrawal is complete, it is essential that you not begin drinking again. Alcohol treatment programs are important because they improve your chances of successfully staying off of alcohol. Only about 20% of alcoholics are able to abstain from alcohol permanently without the help of formal treatment or self-help programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). Of people who attend AA, 44% of those who remain free of alcohol for one year probably will remain abstinent for another year. This figure increases to 91% for those who have remained abstinent and have attended AA for 5 years or more.
On average, an alcoholic who doesn't stop drinking can expect to decrease his or her life expectancy by at least 15 years.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is from my files
I think it is from NIAA
As you can see de toxing/withdrawal
is a serious medical issue.
So that's why seeing a doctor is wise.
Glad to see a new member...
please let us know how you are doing.
Member
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Back in my head
Posts: 984
Originally Posted by ChillMike
What I meant was that it would be super easy to head over there and pick something up which I have no desire to do. Sorry about that....
You are right about work though, I guess it has crept into work a bit eh? Though I won't lose out on any money, I will be making up the time later...but that's besides the point. You're right.
Again you're right, I apologize that it came off wrong, I wouldn't have turned to anyone for advice if I didn't have a problem, I do have a problem and I'll freely admit that.
I suppose what I meant (and again apologies for how it came off) was that alcohol hasn't done anything horrible to my life YET, and that I'm here because I don't want it to do anything more than it already has.
Sorry Rob, I didn't mean to sound so pompous.
You are right about work though, I guess it has crept into work a bit eh? Though I won't lose out on any money, I will be making up the time later...but that's besides the point. You're right.
Again you're right, I apologize that it came off wrong, I wouldn't have turned to anyone for advice if I didn't have a problem, I do have a problem and I'll freely admit that.
I suppose what I meant (and again apologies for how it came off) was that alcohol hasn't done anything horrible to my life YET, and that I'm here because I don't want it to do anything more than it already has.
Sorry Rob, I didn't mean to sound so pompous.
I wasn't trying to insinuate that you were a pompous. Sorry if it came out that way. It's just that I can relate and it cost me in the long run 2 houses 2 near marriages and 3 vehicles. You might not be at your bottom yet but what's it going to take you losing before you get there?
Everyone has a different bottom. I'm lucky to have a great job, but I work second shift. I promise you that if I worked first, I would'nt be here still. I would've been fired a long time ago.
You seem like a reasonable guy and I wouldn't suggest that you are or aren't an alcoholic. Only you can make that determination. We are all here to just be here for each other. There is support from very good people here and the only thing I can say is listen, take what you need and leave the rest.
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 10
Carol, thanks for the link I greatly appreciate it, I spent the last hour or two reading through it. Kinda scares me a bit, but I'm strong enough to do it!
Rob> Haha man I was sooo good at justifying why it would be ok to get drunk. The easiest way was "What else are you going to do?". And no I re-read what I wrote and it didn't come off as intended.
I haven't hit bottom YET but that's the thing, that one word "YET"....I don't plan on hitting bottom, because I'm done drinking.
I'm coming up on 24 hours since my last drink from last night, I'm kind of scared as to what's going to happen, I plan on splitting the Valiums I've got in half and taking one tonight and probably one before I go to work tomorrow.
Well I need to keep my mind busy I'm off to go walk to the grocery store to pick up some gatorade, vitamins and some healthier food.
Rob> Haha man I was sooo good at justifying why it would be ok to get drunk. The easiest way was "What else are you going to do?". And no I re-read what I wrote and it didn't come off as intended.
I haven't hit bottom YET but that's the thing, that one word "YET"....I don't plan on hitting bottom, because I'm done drinking.
I'm coming up on 24 hours since my last drink from last night, I'm kind of scared as to what's going to happen, I plan on splitting the Valiums I've got in half and taking one tonight and probably one before I go to work tomorrow.
Well I need to keep my mind busy I'm off to go walk to the grocery store to pick up some gatorade, vitamins and some healthier food.
Coffee Drinker
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Lobstah Land
Posts: 1,122
Hi Mike,
First of all Medicines called benzodiazepines are used by doctors to lessen the severity of alcohol withdrawal. This is because they act on the brain in a way almost identical to booze. They are only used for a very short time though, usually 3 to 5 days. This is so you don't get addicted to them and withdrawal from benzos makes alcohol detox seem like a walk in the park.
Having said that, combining a benzo with booze is very dangerous and sometimes fatal.
Valium is a benzo. I can't imagine the doctor giving them to you if he knew you were still drinking.
You are on very dangerous ground medically and though you may not realize it, your life is at stake here.
I recommend you take a week from work and go to a detox. Pretty much everyone who has tried it (and we all have) will tell you that tapering off just doesn't work. Once we have one or two, our judgment is shot to hell and the body just wants more.
I highly recommend the book "Beyond the Influence". It explains all this medical stuff really well.
Sorry to be harsh here but I see a train wreck ahead.
First of all Medicines called benzodiazepines are used by doctors to lessen the severity of alcohol withdrawal. This is because they act on the brain in a way almost identical to booze. They are only used for a very short time though, usually 3 to 5 days. This is so you don't get addicted to them and withdrawal from benzos makes alcohol detox seem like a walk in the park.
Having said that, combining a benzo with booze is very dangerous and sometimes fatal.
Valium is a benzo. I can't imagine the doctor giving them to you if he knew you were still drinking.
You are on very dangerous ground medically and though you may not realize it, your life is at stake here.
I recommend you take a week from work and go to a detox. Pretty much everyone who has tried it (and we all have) will tell you that tapering off just doesn't work. Once we have one or two, our judgment is shot to hell and the body just wants more.
I highly recommend the book "Beyond the Influence". It explains all this medical stuff really well.
Sorry to be harsh here but I see a train wreck ahead.
Member
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 69
Originally Posted by ChillMike
Thanks for the greeting Anna....
I guess what I meant was to cut back IN ORDER to quit, no in place of quitting. So instead of having something like 12 shots I would drop it to 10 then 8 then 6 ect.....before finally giving it all up.
I guess what I meant was to cut back IN ORDER to quit, no in place of quitting. So instead of having something like 12 shots I would drop it to 10 then 8 then 6 ect.....before finally giving it all up.
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 10
Originally Posted by GrouchoTheCat
Hi Mike,
First of all Medicines called benzodiazepines are used by doctors to lessen the severity of alcohol withdrawal. This is because they act on the brain in a way almost identical to booze. They are only used for a very short time though, usually 3 to 5 days. This is so you don't get addicted to them and withdrawal from benzos makes alcohol detox seem like a walk in the park.
Having said that, combining a benzo with booze is very dangerous and sometimes fatal.
Valium is a benzo. I can't imagine the doctor giving them to you if he knew you were still drinking.
You are on very dangerous ground medically and though you may not realize it, your life is at stake here.
I recommend you take a week from work and go to a detox. Pretty much everyone who has tried it (and we all have) will tell you that tapering off just doesn't work. Once we have one or two, our judgment is shot to hell and the body just wants more.
I highly recommend the book "Beyond the Influence". It explains all this medical stuff really well.
Sorry to be harsh here but I see a train wreck ahead.
First of all Medicines called benzodiazepines are used by doctors to lessen the severity of alcohol withdrawal. This is because they act on the brain in a way almost identical to booze. They are only used for a very short time though, usually 3 to 5 days. This is so you don't get addicted to them and withdrawal from benzos makes alcohol detox seem like a walk in the park.
Having said that, combining a benzo with booze is very dangerous and sometimes fatal.
Valium is a benzo. I can't imagine the doctor giving them to you if he knew you were still drinking.
You are on very dangerous ground medically and though you may not realize it, your life is at stake here.
I recommend you take a week from work and go to a detox. Pretty much everyone who has tried it (and we all have) will tell you that tapering off just doesn't work. Once we have one or two, our judgment is shot to hell and the body just wants more.
I highly recommend the book "Beyond the Influence". It explains all this medical stuff really well.
Sorry to be harsh here but I see a train wreck ahead.
And yes I've gotten the same response from everyone I've asked and it makes sense....."Oh just one more" after that comes "oh just one more"...So I won't be attempting that.
I'm dreading tomorrow but I've got the Valium that should help out with it. Hopefully I won't be too much of a zombie at work!
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 10
Originally Posted by Empty Cartridge
I tried "cuting back" three separate times, and it didn't come close to working. All you do is have one little slip-up, and you are back to square one.
That seems to be the standard story, and I don't believe I'll be taking that path!
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Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Omak WA
Posts: 1,049
Hi Mike,
Everyone is telling it like it is. When I detoxed, I had been drinking every day for four years. I didn't drink as much as you do at night but it was enough to get me drunk every night. I was put in the hospital with a 0.3 blood/alcohol level for detox. I had drank one six pack of beer and was walking and talking as if I had maybe drank two beers. The doc was quite scared of my tolerance....did say I could have gone to sleep and never woke up.
I was in the hospital six days and they used librium injections and then pills tapering off over a six day period. When I was discharged I went to my first AA Meeting that night. I kept going for one solid year straight and also continued working.
I don't know how big your jiggers of alcohol were but usually a person might put two jiggers in a tall glass with ice & a mixer so you actually were drinking about four drinks in one and altogether eight drinks in two....so no wonder you were having withdrawal symptoms at work. When the alcohol wears off in your system the body needs another drink to jump start your system. Actually, if you drank at the same time every night...your body was never completly clear of alcohol.
I have been sober with the help of AA and other people in recovery. Alcoholism is never cured.....but it is treatable and can remain in recovery as long as one doesn't pick up that first drink that leads to another drunk and possibly death or jail before getting sober again.
Take care Mike,
kelsh
Everyone is telling it like it is. When I detoxed, I had been drinking every day for four years. I didn't drink as much as you do at night but it was enough to get me drunk every night. I was put in the hospital with a 0.3 blood/alcohol level for detox. I had drank one six pack of beer and was walking and talking as if I had maybe drank two beers. The doc was quite scared of my tolerance....did say I could have gone to sleep and never woke up.
I was in the hospital six days and they used librium injections and then pills tapering off over a six day period. When I was discharged I went to my first AA Meeting that night. I kept going for one solid year straight and also continued working.
I don't know how big your jiggers of alcohol were but usually a person might put two jiggers in a tall glass with ice & a mixer so you actually were drinking about four drinks in one and altogether eight drinks in two....so no wonder you were having withdrawal symptoms at work. When the alcohol wears off in your system the body needs another drink to jump start your system. Actually, if you drank at the same time every night...your body was never completly clear of alcohol.
I have been sober with the help of AA and other people in recovery. Alcoholism is never cured.....but it is treatable and can remain in recovery as long as one doesn't pick up that first drink that leads to another drunk and possibly death or jail before getting sober again.
Take care Mike,
kelsh
Member
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 69
ChillMike,
You can make a decision now, you can make a decision later, or someone, someday is going to make a decision for you.
My alcoholism started when I was around your age. It has taken me 11 years later, two lost fiancees, being fired for alcohol (directly and indrectly) from three corporate, high-paying jobs due to alcohol. This doesn't include the stupid amount of money and risk I have incurred over the years.
I hadn't experienced physical problems like yours until the last year or so, so that's a pretty clear sign that you (and I) are on very dangerous paths.
The more I am reading, on the board and books, the more the reality of my continuance is kicking in. I'm going to die soon if I don't stop. Not reduce, not stop for a while and then become a social drinker. I am an alcoholic, and any alcohol is dangerous to me. Only 10% of drinkers are alcoholics, meaning the drinking is not "problem drinking," but a true illness that cannot be played with. It is genetic, it has real, verifiable physical affects on your body. "Problem drinking" is most often a social or situational problem and is not alcoholism. You're an alcoholic, dude.
If you go on the path that I went (and it sounds like you are on it). Here was my slow, path:
1. Drinking to excess to have the typical hangover
2. Moving to daily, excessive drinking, mostly under disguise
3. A difficulty working out (there's a direct, biological correlation)
4. A difficulty finding food that I enjoyed
5. My complexion becoming brutally obvious that there was something wrong
6. Inability to eat foods, reducing to about 1/2 a full meal per day
7. Kidney pain, nausea for the first hour of waking, and constant coughing due to the pressure and strain on your organs.
8. This is just a few of the many embarassing things that I could detail for an hour....and I have been fortunate enough to not be arrested, or to have killed someone from driving.
This is my breaking point, and now I am headed to the doc and AA this week before my friends and family check me into hospital, or the police checking me into a jail cell. My best friend came into town this weekend, and I decided to tell him my problem and get some emotional support. The funny thing is that he only visited to tell me that the booze to obvious by almost all, and that he wasn't going to be my friend as long as I was killing myself.
I am not sober yet, but I have a plan. I am going to lose my friends and my business if I do not follow through. It would be of great encouragement to me if I could convince one more person to make the commitment to stop. I am headed to the doc on Thursday, and AA on Friday.
Some of these other folks can tell you about the greatness of recovery, but I can only tell you the map to the miserable point I am at, and where you are headed. I popped on here a couple of months ago with the same idea as you. It was an unmitigated failure, and now I am back with the exact same problems and more wasted time.
You can make a decision now, you can make a decision later, or someone, someday is going to make a decision for you.
My alcoholism started when I was around your age. It has taken me 11 years later, two lost fiancees, being fired for alcohol (directly and indrectly) from three corporate, high-paying jobs due to alcohol. This doesn't include the stupid amount of money and risk I have incurred over the years.
I hadn't experienced physical problems like yours until the last year or so, so that's a pretty clear sign that you (and I) are on very dangerous paths.
The more I am reading, on the board and books, the more the reality of my continuance is kicking in. I'm going to die soon if I don't stop. Not reduce, not stop for a while and then become a social drinker. I am an alcoholic, and any alcohol is dangerous to me. Only 10% of drinkers are alcoholics, meaning the drinking is not "problem drinking," but a true illness that cannot be played with. It is genetic, it has real, verifiable physical affects on your body. "Problem drinking" is most often a social or situational problem and is not alcoholism. You're an alcoholic, dude.
If you go on the path that I went (and it sounds like you are on it). Here was my slow, path:
1. Drinking to excess to have the typical hangover
2. Moving to daily, excessive drinking, mostly under disguise
3. A difficulty working out (there's a direct, biological correlation)
4. A difficulty finding food that I enjoyed
5. My complexion becoming brutally obvious that there was something wrong
6. Inability to eat foods, reducing to about 1/2 a full meal per day
7. Kidney pain, nausea for the first hour of waking, and constant coughing due to the pressure and strain on your organs.
8. This is just a few of the many embarassing things that I could detail for an hour....and I have been fortunate enough to not be arrested, or to have killed someone from driving.
This is my breaking point, and now I am headed to the doc and AA this week before my friends and family check me into hospital, or the police checking me into a jail cell. My best friend came into town this weekend, and I decided to tell him my problem and get some emotional support. The funny thing is that he only visited to tell me that the booze to obvious by almost all, and that he wasn't going to be my friend as long as I was killing myself.
I am not sober yet, but I have a plan. I am going to lose my friends and my business if I do not follow through. It would be of great encouragement to me if I could convince one more person to make the commitment to stop. I am headed to the doc on Thursday, and AA on Friday.
Some of these other folks can tell you about the greatness of recovery, but I can only tell you the map to the miserable point I am at, and where you are headed. I popped on here a couple of months ago with the same idea as you. It was an unmitigated failure, and now I am back with the exact same problems and more wasted time.
Member
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Michigan
Posts: 65
I don't have much advice to offer as I am rather new to sobriety. I do know that I had planned to do the cutting back on drinking prior to quitting and every time I did this I ended up drinking more than I did normally.
Good luck to you in your journey to be sober.
Good luck to you in your journey to be sober.
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