bootstomper

Has anyone ever tried to stop drinking by weaning themselves off the booze? I have been drinking for over 20 yrs on a daily basis. I have no health insurance or doctor. I've researched the internet all afternoon and everywhere it says that going cold turkey would be very dangerous. I also smoke cigarettes (especially when drinking). Going to AA meetings is out of the question as not only do I not have a running car right now and I am sole caregiver to my paralyzed husband. Everyone who lives here also smokes and drinks except the husband. I know if I try this it's going to be a real challenge since nobody wants to stop but me. I feel like I'm ready for this because I'm just flat sick and tired of feeling sick. I wake up in the morning gasping for air and not really hung over just a profound feeling of fatigue. I think that even if everyone else keeps doing their thing I can work around that but the cold turkey thing has me scared of winding up in a hospital. I talked to serene earlier in the chat room and she said she weaned herself off alcohol but I should be very very careful. I would sure like to hear of anyone that has done this or anyway that worked for them. I just opened my first beer of usually 6 to 7 beers and only put 5 in the frig. I started getting shaky a few minutes ago as I usually would have my first about 3.5 hours ago. Anyway info at all would be appreciated.

Thanks and Take Care - Bootstomper

expenguin

I will pray for you.....

Welcome and keep coming back.... You will find your peace with this New Step you have just begun....

I stopped drinking Cold Turkey 22 years ago and not sorry I did.

I never cut back slowly like you are doing..... I had no choice and had someone else drive me to meetings as needed......It was worth the effort and no excuse of not being at the meetings.

Sounds like you need to make a real life change and get away from all the problems going on in your living space............

Get out and smell the fresh air... you will wonder why you didn't do it long before this..............if feels real good and to get to a meeting will make you just cry for more help...............you will reach out to those you don't know as they know what it is like to life Recovery and keep moving forward one day at a time............

One day at a time.....One moment at a time is all it takes........ You can do this....................Think about yourself............


Make the change for yourself and maybe someone else will follow your example........ Try not buying all the alcohol and put the money away for something special..... You will be surprised how much you can save and not drink it away.......

I did it .... so can you..... Trust in God to help you today.... Tomarrow will take care of itself.........

Keep posting ...... it is good for you....

Little Penguin

bootstomper

Gees 22 yrs. Well I feel determined and am thankful for your support. It's going to be a challenge and some hard work. Just the Cold Turkey thing is a big scare for me. I can't go thru a major fast change and take care of my husband while he's in a wheelchair depending on me. And I can't keep living like this. Right now I'm doing just enough to ward off the DT's. And honestly I'm resentful at the booze to try this approach but if it works so be it. In fact husband doesn't mind the beer he worries about the smoking. So one challenge at a time.

Negative Man

I was on the chat with Bootstomper today, and I encouraged her to come to the forum with some questions.

One question I have: If someone doesn't have health insurance, but should at least be in touch with a doctor or nurse etc. about withdrawals, then what options does this person have?

Are there free clinics, or hotlines to call? Any information I know would be much appreciated by others on here.

Thanks!

theonlyway

Welcome Bootstomper...

Sending HuGGGGGGGs and support ur way.

Ur in the right place-- Lots of love and support and encouragement here... Stay, come back, post, .....

nodrinkingzone

Welcome to SR Bootstomper!

This is a great place to start, and regarding your approach - I agree, if you are shaky after only a few hours after your usual drinking time, you should be very careful about going cold turkey.

I'm in Australia, where Dr visits are covered by the govt. to an extent, so I'm not sure how much it would cost, but I think you should definitely go and talk to a Dr about your options. You may be able to go cold turkey from booze w/ the help of medication, to ensure you don't have seizures or other dangerous side effects from withdrawal.

There are other people here with more experience and knowledge about it than I have, but I will wish you all the best - you're doing the right thing, and I think you'll start to feel much better after about 2 weeks.

If you want to quit smoking, I would recommend buying Allen Carr's Easyway to Quit Smoking book, I quit after 18 years of smoking and I feel heaps better and can now breathe properly for the first time in years. It was easy and enjoyable to quit smoking after reading that book, and I suffered almost no withdrawal symptoms or agitation.. I enjoyed quitting smoking!

Whatever way you choose to approach this, I can assure you that it's worth it and you can do this. keep reading and post any other questions you might have, and all the best.

ndz

possiblyNuts

I'm weaning myself off of alcohol right now. Some people gave me some good insight in the thread where I talk about my situation ('thoughts on weaning?' in the Alcoholism subsection of the forum). So, I'm in a similar situation as yourself, although its been three years and a 5th of vodka (sometimes more) a day addiction. And I look after my grandmother.. I just made it through day two and I only drank 4 shots today (12:22AM here and about to goto sleep). It seems to be working well. I had withdrawals today of course, but yesterday was far worse. I have faith that it is going to work for me.

The main issue is if you *can* wean yourself off. In my experience, a lot of people told me that I won't be able to. The question is, can you moderate yourself... Many people insist that when they tried weaning themselves off, they just ended up drinking heavily again before the weaning was over.

Good luck in whatever you decide to do. Motivation is the key. From what I've gathered, some people can wean themselves off and some can't.

barb dwyer

Boots -

here in Montana - there's State funded clinics that rate their fees by your income.

That's who helped me detox. At home. For fifteen dollars a visit.

Many of these clinics are federally supplemented ... and if you don't qualify for say, Medicaid ... there's other grants and financial allowances the CLINIC gets ... that enables them to provide you with at least a minimal amount of trained supervision.

You know who's going to know the most about such things in your area?

Your local Alcoholics Anonymous.

They (we) are there (here) to serve the alcoholic who is suffering. So, what is common knowledge amongst recovering alcoholics .. is a mysterious area for those who are still 'out'.

CarolD

Here is a link to information on de toxing...

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...at-we-did.html

National Drug and Alcohol Treatment Referral Routing Service available at

1-800-662-HELP

This service can provide you with information about treatment programs in your local community and allow you to speak with someone about alcohol problems
Please call and see what they can suggest.

I assume your husband has professional medical care....
could you ask them for advice for yourself?

Blessings as you and your family deal with this situation
Welcome to SR!

dave47

Welcome Bootstomper, i had to quit coldturkey but did try to cut down beforehand. This usually entailed a mad dash to the corner shop before it closed to stock up. Either that or planning to have only a couple before bed-what a waste of time that was.
You should seek some form of medical advice, best wishes.

expenguin

Boots..... I am thinking and praying for you today that you make the right decision to help yourself ..... Your Husband is right about all the smoke... That is more than he can handle at the time.......

Use the Hot line that was given and see where that gets you.... Check out the FREE CLINICS in your area..... Hope you are able to find something to help out.........

Keep coming back and know you can get loads of info and Hugs from us all.... As you can tell we all have great suggestions...........

Take care of yourself and your Husband... The two of you are important............... You can change yourself .. But you can't change what others do around you........

Little Penguin

bootstomper

WOW! I'm about speechless here. This support from others is not what I'm used to and I must admit I feel a bit humbled. I turned the computer on at 10 this morning and have spent most of the time reading on this site. I want to thank Negative Man for posting that question because he put it better than I did and I'll look into that but, being caregiver to my husband and knowing issues with people needing help here Florida is not the best place to be. CarolD sent me a link that kept me very busy today. possiblyNuts I hope this works for me and you both. I have thought about trying to stop in the past and you're right it made me want more. Plus I have alot of Enablers here. Is that how I would put it? (People that will bring it right to you. Kinda like letting a kid loose in candy store.) I'm not gonna lie I did drink that 6th beer last night. But not 7. I stayed in my room away from all the chaos and tried to stay calm. My husband's leg got caught in the rail of his hospital bed this morning and I had to wake my son up to help get it out. When I saw the hungover look on his face it just made me more determined to want to do this. I also layed off the cigarettes some and that helped. But, it's the drinking I want concentrate on. They went through alot of beer last night and I still had some in the pantry and someone got into that too. Oh well. Today I am going to take care of me. I got alot of encouragement here from you all and I think it will be a big help. Also, I was hoping that if I made an effort everyone else would but now I know better. Son used this computer a few minutes ago to look something up and saw this site and said "What are you going to do about this?" I just told him I'm going to try. My attitude is changing about how I feel about it too. I don't know if this makes sense but I'm angry at this monkey on my back. Anyway, thanks to all of you. I have got to get some housework done so I can get back on here and read more. I don't feel so alone now.

Take Care - Donna

Hevyn

It was anger and outrage that motivated me to wean myself off the beer. Down from at least 20 a day to only 5 on my last day - but I knew I was facing never coming out of it again, and I want to live. It isn't recommended, and years ago - trying to drink less & less each day until I was detoxed would not have worked. I'm at Day 14 & when I think of alcohol right now, I'm filled with fear, not the desire to drink.

expenguin

Boots..... You can do this and do more for your Husband.... I think you can also get paid for taking care of your husband if you are not now.... My cousin gets paid , but she lives in Wisconsin. Check into it and maybe that will motivate you even more......

But for now you need to take care of yourself and keep things clean around your husband.... it will make him happier as well and show your family that you really care about making changes in your own life as well........ sounds like your kid is pretty smart and catching up on what you are trying to do for yourself.............

Keep up the good work and know that you are moving forward..... Don't expect instant results.... This all takes time and you will get there.......

Keep checking back here and read other areas of help here at SR...... there is loads of help and you can benefit................

Little Penguin

bootstomper

expenquin - I tried two different times today to thank you for your reply but it didn't go through. It was on the laptop in the kitchen. Now I'm in my room on PC.

I wanted to say I cannot get paid to take care of my husband in the state of Florida. Since we are legally married that disqualifies me. If we were not married I could get $100 per month but I would have to apply every single month and fill out alot of paper work to make it happen. Florida sucks for caregivers.

I did talk to my son some about all the drinking going here and he agreed that this last week it was a little too much and shouldn't be going on every night. He met some new friends and they are coming here to hang out. Don't get me wrong they are not real horrible kids. They are respectful to me, they all have jobs and work and basically come from good homes. But they are gonna have to slow their business down here some and I think they realize it. Even my son told me it's a little over the top. I don't think he likes it either. Plus it puts more stress on me.

In the replies I tried to send earlier today I explained that I got myself in a jam starting about 3 yrs ago when I took my brother in to keep him from going to a nursing home. Some how at that point I started losing me. I started taking care of everyone but me. Two big men in wheelchairs, one on oxygen the other legally blind. My brother was on hospice and showed me no mercy as a caregiver. Even the people from hospice would come here and tell him to lay off me. I ended up doing nothing except working taking care of them and going to my room at night and drinking. All the things I enjoyed I quit doing like crocheting, cross-stitch, embroidery and writing in my journal. So now I'm coming to realize that I need to get back to being me. Doing some of the things that used to make me relax and feel calm inside. This may sound stupid but I almost feel like I was robbed. They were so demanding that I pay attention to their needs I let my own go by the wayside.

Anyway, I had 5 beers last night instead of the usual 6 or 7 and I cut back on the cigs a little. Made me feel better when I got up this morning. And I went through alot of old sewing projects that never got finished and picked some out and put them in my bedroom to go over. I'm eyeballing them right now lol. Like a kid in a toy store.

The one thing I remember trying to say was thank you for telling me not to expect instant results. That things take time. I needed that. The encouragement just makes me feel that much more hopeful. Looking over the internet and most of it says to get rid of the stress so you can work on your problems with smoking and drinking. I cannot get rid of the stress. I have to live with it but find another way around it. Even husband and son put me through so much at first that they admitted to me they wouldn't blame me if I walked out on them. I won't. I love them.

Anyway, this is getting alot longer than the ones I tried earlier on the laptop with the hiccups or something. But, thanks to you and all the people here. They don't judge you or expect you to be perfect. They are just kind.

Take Care - Donna

expenguin

Boots..... I tried to post a message to you and lost it for some reason.......this is not good.......... But we all learn patience through all this and try to think about what we had said and just post again................FRUSTRATING.......

I am thinking about you today and glad you had already checked on the Caregiver thing...... sounds like too much paperwork even if you could do it...........

Hang in there and things will change a little at a time for you.....

The projects that you put aside for so long sound good and something you need for the moment............ go for it....

Sounds like you need to make more changes in the house with the kids that come over... your son sounds like he knows what he wants to see go on... maybe he needs to talk to his friends with you or without you and make some of his own changes..............

Your house is your place and taking control of what goes on inside is up to you.................... Clear the air and see if this does you a litte good.........

Think about getting out for a walk in the fresh air.... it might do you some good before starting your day with everyone........... The smoking in the house sounds a bit stuffy..... THINK ABOUT IT..

KEEP COMING BACK.... YOU ARE IN A GOOD PLACE.... WE ALL CARE ABOUT YOU..

No one is here to judge you.... and I think you already figured that out..........

Hugs and love comeing to you................

I enjoy crocheting and other projects.. as they do relax a person..... Just what the doctor ordered.................

Love ya and thinking about you today..................

Little Penguin

expenguin

Been praying for you today........

Hope all going well on your end.....and you are moving forward with all you need to do for you and your house...............

Little Penguin