Benny

A month ago my wife moved out after 10+ years of heavy drinking and my refusal to solve it. I took off 3 weeks from work, and pretty much drank the entire time, which was no way to solve that I know. Then Sunday I got pulled over at 3am, way out in the middle of nowhere. The cop asked where I was going, and I honestly did not know. After taking the breathizer, he said I should have been in a comma or dead. I drank for 3 more days, before I had to or I thought I was going to die. I'm trying really hard right now to make it through the day, get home and lay in bed but not drink so I can try and detox. This is horrible, sweaty, cold, can't eat, can't sleep. I can't beleive I did this to myself. Anyone have any advice on how to detox, but still work a 8-5 office job. Or should I just bite the bullet and tell my boss I'm going to get help and need to be gone/

patman

Most companies I've worked for will work with you if you are going into treatment. If your company is willing and taking time for this is financially feasible for you it sounds like it may be a pretty good idea.

Welcome to SR!!

suki44883

Sorry you are feeling so rotten. I understand.

Everyone is different and I guess it depends on where you work. Some would never tell their employer, but I did. I used my employee insurance and filed for a medical leave and went to a six day medical detox center and then did six weeks of IOP. I don't think I'd have made it if I tried to do it on my own while still working. In fact, I know I wouldn't have.

bdiddy5522

I would say go and at least get evaluated by a doctor and see what they say. I detoxed while continuing to work, but my boss (parents, haha) knew what I was doing. I would think it would be hard to accomplish much while detoxing. If you need inpatient care, then by all means do it! But follow the advice of someone qualified to give it.

Congrats on making the decision to live a sober, happy life.

wow1323

Benny, You can do this; you are strong. You tell your boss what is up. Don't drink ,sweat, throw up, whatever it takes. Call someone you trust. friends , family, now is the time to reach out for help. Yes, it sounds like you hit bottom. Did you get arrested? Keep coming back to this site for support. You can change your life if you really want to.

LaFemme

Hey Benny,

Sounds pretty rough, I hope things turn around for you, I know you can do it!

You should probably go to a Doctor to be careful, you sound like you are hurting and detox can be dangerous.

LaFemme!

AWOL

Benny

Please go and see a doctor as soon as you can. Very often alcoholism requires specialist care and supervision. When I first read your post, my immediate reaction was, don't worry about your job, worry about your life!

For me addressing the alcohol problem took precedence over anything else, because everything else depended on me quitting alcohol: my marriage, children, home life, job, friends.

Alcohol creates its own vicious cycle -- the worse things get, the more you drink, the worse things get... I rationalised that you have to break the cycle to achieve significant change. In my case (similar to yours) it started with a doctor and accepting help. Please do it. It's a small step, but it could change your life.

Dee74

Hi Benny
Welcome to SR

Like some others have suggested, the best thing to do is to see a Doctor, and see what they suggest - take it from there.

Not everyone ends up in trouble with self-detox, but I certainly did.
Play it smart and see a Dr - ASAP, Benny.

D

artsoul

Benny - It's best to get all the support you can. I know it's hard to get up and go see a doctor when you're in bad shape, but maybe you can call ahead and talk to someone to see what they recommend. Also, there are treatment centers that will assess you and make recommendations (like a 3 day detox). If your boss is the least bit understanding, they will probably be very proud of you for getting the help you need. Take advantage of whatever insurance will pay (even consider inpatient if you feel you need to). There's always the ER, too.

Like AWOL said, this is your life and it's a life and death disease.

Be sure to check out this thread:
http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...at-we-did.html

Hang in there - it WILL get better. I stayed on this forum for two days while detoxing and it made all the difference, but I had already cut way back and even had several sober days the week before I quit for good, so I wasn't anticipating a really bad withdrawal. Even though I didn't need medical attention, it was still hard. Long story short: do what you think is best for you, OK?

LexieCat

I think, at this point, the quickest, least painful course of action would be to talk to your boss, take the medical detox and treatment. It relieves you of the burden of trying to hide it and to recover at the same time. Not to mention that it will probably be in your favor when you go to court on the DWI.

I wouldn't recommend a detox without medical advice, at the very least. If you've been on a three-week binge, detoxing can be very dangerous.

lildawg

I'm going to agree about talking to your boss and taking the medical detox. If you had gotten into trouble for drinking at work, I'd say your job is probably over. However, since you didn't, your employers might be relieved you're getting the help you need. They probably know you have a drinking problem already.

Godspeed to you.

Benny

Never got in trouble for drinking at work. My boss does know I have a drinking problem, and he knows about the OWI. But we've never discussed it. I guess I need to, you know how you feel when your detoxig, talking about it in an uncomfortable situation which somebody that does not understand is actualy physically painful to do. I was waiting till I was in good shape.

The big problem is it is 2nd Offense, although the first one was 6 years ago. But I had over a .3, so likely I won't be able to get a work permit I don't think. The cop said I should have been dead, but that I was a pretty nice guy considering. I haven't heard much from my attorney, mainly because I haven't called him. I can afford the court, treatment etc. I work for a really large company and have good health care. I've sorta been detoxing myself all week, not gonna drink tonight. Ironically, after mowing the lawn for 2 hours in 100+ degree heat and downing about a gallon of water and two gatorades, I feel pretty good. The sweating is gone and a lot of the pain is too. It's been about 21 hours since I last drank. Is that normal? Also, for many years I only drank on the weekends, so I was familiar with the feeling like crap Monday. At first I'd recover during the day, then as I drank more during the day on Sunday, it would take until Tuesday. It wasn't till about a month ago when I came home from a vacation I took allone to find my house for sale (that we just built) and divorce papers that I started drinking all day, everyday. Actually, usually in 3 different sessions followed by passing out, waking up and repeating. That's what got me into a lot of trouble. You let everything go when that happens, you can't do anything normal. And you can't stop becuase of the pain. We'll see what tomorrow brings I guess in terms of sleep tonight and pain.

suki44883

I strongly advise medical detox if you have insurance and don't think you'll lose your job. Of course, it's up to you. I never really felt my detox because they gave me medication and of course, checked vital signs four times a day. Some people only stayed 2 or 3 days, but I wanted to stay as long as my insurance would cover, which was 6 days. They strongly suggested that we all either do inpatient rehab or outpatient IOP immediately after leaving detox. I chose to do the IOP and like I said, it was for 6 weeks, 12 hours a week. Then, many go on to attend AA meetings for continued support.

Benny

If can't sleep again, I'm gonna go in. There is an ER very close by.

suki44883

I'm not sure how the ERs work. I didn't start out at the ER, I called a place on the other side of town that specializes in detoxing whether it is for drugs or alcohol. I just called them up one night (well, early morning) when I again found myself drunk at my computer at 2:00am, knowing I had to be at work at 8:00am. They had a bed available and took my insurance, so another call to a friend to come get me and an hour later, I was checking myself in. I think I actually drank myself sober that night.

cat1961

Benny - since you have insurance and your boss is aware of your drinking issues, by all means do the detox. They'll give you the proper care to get through this with little pain.

As far as what to do right now..... that was a good choice cutting the grass since I felt so much better after a sweaty bike ride during my detox. I've also downed a lot of Gaterade, B12 and took Melatonin to help me sleep.

I know exactly how you're feeling as I've been there. I haven't hit the .3 with a DUI but came really close and I should have been dead a few times over.

Hang in there Benny and get on the phone tomorrow to see a doctor and what your options are. I wish I had that option a month ago during my detox, but I just did it on my own like I had times before.

Now at day 31 I feel great!

Good luck to you and please keep us posted.

Benny

I made it through the night with only mild sweating and pain. Mostly just sleeplessness, although I did sleep a few hours between 3 and 6, despite getting in bed at night. I feele pretty good, not great, but probably just so much bettter than I was, it makes me think I feel good. And I made it to work early. I have a busy day of meetings, I hope I can stay composed. Then comes the weekend challenge.

LexieCat

Good luck, I recommend drinking lots of water.

Can you make it to an AA meeting tonight?

cat1961

Good going Benny!

Stay focused today and you'll have the weekend to really get yourself together. Just because so many of us considered the weekends to party (not me - I drank every day), this is your weekend to get your mind and body back together before Monday. Without any booze in your system the upcoming days, you're going to feel great by Monday.

As LexieCat suggests - find a meeting tonight and during the weekend. Being surrounded by sober people will help you get through this initial phase. When you think of drinking, focus your mind on how far you've come health wise and it's only going to get better each day. You DO NOT want to go through the detox pains again!!

Your sleeping will get better in time as well.

Thanks for checkin in! :ghug3

hotshot

You are truly goin through the stages.........Sleep is the last thing to come..............At least for me it was . In detox at hospital or home. Streaming thoughts..........Reatlessness. I got up and walked constantly.........It took a while probably a couple weeks to get some sleep a month before it was normal...............Sleepin great now 5 weeks sober..............Good luck. Even if you detox yourself I would recommend inpatient treatment to get ya off on the right foot.....Education to this disease is in no way wasted...............Enjoy the sober life....You deserve it