llastchance8

After years of heavy drinking everyday, I had managed to get sober for a period of 25 days, in July this year. I managed through withdrawal symptoms with the help of Out Patient detox using loads of vitamins, Minerals and amino acids. I was just doing fine and there were no withdrawal symptoms after one week..However, I relapsed in August due to very stressful situation. Since then, it is 1.5 bottle of wine , every night.( For last 3 months ) I want to go cold turkey from today. My question is , after going through detox already 3 months ago, do I need to be very careful about life threatening withdrawal symptoms ? I am sure many of SR members might have gone through relapses and will be able to share their experience.

cuyootoo

I have detoxed many many times without a doctor. I have used supervised detox as an excuse to keep on drinking many times as well. Even my doctor didn't seem to care one way or the other. Even though he seemed to give lip service to the dangers of alcohol detox. I think most everyone around here gives lip service to it as well.

That sucks that you started drinking again.

I will add this, though, I met a man who lost his wife when she died while detoxing, so it's definitely a real concern. I guess the decision for you and your doctor to make at this point is whether or not it's more dangerous to continue drinking or detox. I am just guessing here, but given your drinking history, your doctor might advise you to go to an inpatient recovery for 90 days or more since the outpatient thing didn't work for you.

Dee74

Welcome llastchange8

I, very stupidly, detoxed alone many times without apparent ill effect - but the last time, with no real change in my drinking or routine, I suffered several mini strokes and I very nearly died. I still carry reminders of my last detox.

Now, I always recommend people see a doctor - detox from alcohol is dangerous and can even be deadly.

I can't stress it enough - noone here is qualified to give you any kind of advice or guarantee what might happen.

Please do seek professional advice

D

Zanthos

It's not really a "relapse" if you stopped drinking for only 25 days. I did that dozens of times in my 30 years of drinking. You were never really sober. Sobriety is a state of mind and heart, and you can't get there in a few weeks or months. It takes sustained effort over a much longer period of time. And even then, you might not ever get truly "sober".

That said, it's great that you stopped drinking for 25 days. And it's great that you haven't abandoned yourself to drinking again but still want to stop. The trick is to stay stopped and that means learning how to live without drinking. And that takes a while.

I found it useful to tell myself I wasn't "sober" until I had a year. And I spent that entire year desperately trying to equip myself to live without going back to drinking. Even today, if I go back to drinking I believe it will be because there was something very flawed about my recovery and maybe I was never really "sober" all along.