ElChupacabra

15 hours since the last drink and the anxiety is now beginning to dim. Instead it's making way for cravings.....I hate cravings. Don't like this bit.

yeahgr8

Well yet again everyone has an opinion and the 2 camps, the sober ones and the ones still in active addiciton but not drinking today differ somewhat

ElChupacabra

17 hours since the last drink. Anxiety still there but not as bad. Head now foggy. Small backache coming on. Yawning incessantly. Definately need a good night's sleep tonight.

24hrsAday

Best of Luck To You ElChupacabra! i Know For Me i Was A Very Heavy drinker and i Made it to My 5th Day Before i Had to Go to the Hospital My Last Detox!

ElChupacabra

Did you quit cold turkey on that occasion? How long had you been drinking for?

intention

Fashion ?

It's got nothing to do with fashion. Alcoholics can't do controlled drinking through will-power that's why tapering off is not used.

I don't know, either, how many alcoholics can phone for an ambulance, when they are fitting on the floor, swallowing their tongues, about to go into cardiac arrest.

There are many alcoholics here and no-one has said what you are doing is the right thing. Still, I know you cannot see the truth as you are still caught up in the insane thinking which alcohol causes.

I pray that you get through this....

ElChupacabra

I have both tapered in a controlled fashion and also gone cold turkey in the past. Yet I am most definately an alcoholic. I am able to control the amount that I drink when I choose to. My problem is that I enjoy drinking (well at least I used to) so I do it to excess. It's the temptation to "have fun" that causing me to want to get sober. That and the fact that I am tired of withdrawals time after time.

I do not believe it's a fantasy that one can taper. It just takes discipline. To suggest that every alcoholic is a mess that can't help but drink endlessless all the time is stereotyping.

Also, who is to say that tapering could not be administered in a controlled hospital enviroment?

intention

Well if you are able to control your drinking, then you should have no problem with giving up.


Well I make no apology for stereotyping in this instance. Alcholics cannot control their drinking. That's why they are alcoholics.


Interesting thought, although I am not sure any politician would get votes for spending taxpayers money on treating alcoholics with alcohol in hospital.

It's just simpler and probably easier to control to give medications for a few days to assist with the withdrawal rather than feed the addiction.

Speaking as an alcoholic who has given up, when I wanted to give up, that was it, I was done. Thankfully I didn't need detox but if I had to go through detox which involved doctors feeding me alcohol I am not sure where that would have taken me.........probably back out to drinking again.

angharad

I'm also a successful nurse practitioner with letters after my name and in the 2nd year of my 2nd MSc...I'm an alcoholic. Alcoholism doesn't target low IQ or deprived areas. In fact people in the high end spectrum are more likely to drink due to the stress we are under in day to day jobs!

Stick with it. I'm on day 8 it gets better. But seriously your doctor can't tell anyone you know that, the professional code of conduct, patient confidentiality. Nobody has to know. Only my partner knows about me.

Consider your GP.

BurningChrome

EC, Hey man, I am right there with you! I am just so damn smart and so good at my job (software), I kept right on drinking, _Knowing_ it was killing me and breaking my wife's heart to see me drunk every night! When I told my doctor I had not been honest with him and told him how much I had been drinking, he was great, he put his notepad down, stopped writing anything down, and just listened. I have a security clearance and he knows that and he did not want to risk my losing that and my job. But, he did tell me something that greatly surprised me... He told me he gets 2-3 regular patients a WEEK, that are in high pressure, profesional jobs, that come to him and tell him the _Same_ thing I just told him. I thought my problem/issue was uncommon, my doc told me it was Very common, did not surprise him in the least! Be honest with yourself, be honest with your doctor, be honest with your family, and you _Will_ be supported by all who care about you! Stay strong!
..Mike

24hrsAday

Elchup: i Tapered.. it was My 5th Alcohol Free Day.. They shot me Up With Ativan in The Emergency Room.. it Settled Me Right down!

NEOMARXIST

The trouble with tapering as I see it is that you are still trying to 'control' your drinking!! You think that you can beat alcohol like you beat your exams at University or whatever.

If you are an alcoholic then you are likely to drink again with that attitute because you have not admitted total and utter defeat to king alcohol. You are still trying to exert your own self-will over it and haven't accepted that you are powerless over it. This powerless extends over into people, places and things. Alcoholism is primarily a 'thinking' and not a 'drinking' problem.

Once you have got through this home detox and are feeling better and things even back out again you will be feeling quitely smug that you have got this booze thing licked. You will drink again.



All The Best, It always seems to be the ones still drinking that know all the right answers and know best.

augustwest

This. Couldn't have said it better, and i've tried the tapering, limiting, controlling, counting business.

ElChupacabra

Well. I have thus far ended up not tapering. Its now 29 hours since my last drink.

I have just slept for 8 hours, having only woken up once it that time. I still feel rough, but thr anxiety has reduced a little more. Still have minor shakes, weakness, minor twitches and a fuzzy head. Stomach is still upset as well.

least

So no alcohol in the last 29 hours for you? I hope your detox continues to go well, but if it takes a bad turn I hope you will get medical help. We don't want to lose you, ya know.

angharad

Well done hun for going this far It only gets better. Trust me, I've just done day 8! The shakes are ****** and the stomach upset just has the impending feeling of doom kinda lurking around. At least you got sleep!!! Insomnia is a common problem of the recovering alcoholic in the first few days. I would say though if you're shakes get worse tomorrow consider going to your GP monday, you can get something for it. The thing I was worried about was people at work noticing my shaking hands then asking questions!

Keep going <3

vegibean

Still pulling for you ElC. Hope tomorrow you're feeling much better.

24hrsAday

Me Too Man!

ElChupacabra

33 hours in now.

Shakes and anxiety largely gone. Am very weak and dizzy though. Also have a dull headache. Fingers crossed that within the next 24 hours my functionality comes back.

ghal

So, you think you have to have a lower level job to admit you need help with withdrawal. Alcohol doesn't care what level of status you have reached in life. I, myself, am very accomplished but Alcohol kicked me hard to the curb. I was able to get my Dr to give me a prescription for a few days to help with the w/d. Why does your family have to find out you are taking something like Valium for 5-7 days? Doesn't make sense to me?