jobobo

I am on NHS waiting list for a medical detox. Its a long wait and they keep pushing back the date. Ive had enough and decided to do it at home. I cant take the despair anymore.

I am 65kg 25 year old female, and Ive been on about 1-2 bottles of wine a day for years. Ive heard many have done it at home, and I once did it before so do you think Ill be ok?

If I show up to A&E would they give me librium? I understood it is a very small amount. Has librium helped you guys with withdrawal?

Thank

Skye2

Hi Jojobo. I think the best person to see would be your GP

jobobo

Thanks. The GP will refer me to the waitlist that I am on already.

desertsong

Before my drinking got really bad, I was able to detox at home a couple of times with Librium. It helped a lot. It does make you very sleepy, so if you do it, make sure you have no obligations for a couple of days so you can rest at home.

Good idea to get checked out by a doctor first so you can also find out if there are any health issues related to your drinking. Good luck!

Kris47

I like you had to wait to see a doctor. It was not a lot of fun or convenient. Once I did see him, I took Librium and it made my withdrawal a lot easier than the last time I did it on my own. I have a lot of drinking years behind me. I hope your wait is not too long. I do hope you are at least trying to cut back. What is A&E? Can you go there for some help earlier on? Wishing you the very best. Being sober is the best thing I've had happen to me in a very long time.

MattyBoy

Would the GP not prescribe Librium? Or Diazepam? When I went to the GP and described my symptoms she gave me a course of diazepam to take over the course of 7 days. I understand though that the GP may be wary of prescribing these medications to people with drinking issues as they are in themselves addictive, but maybe I just got lucky with my GP. Unfortunately, unless on your the verge of having fits, the A & E dep. are likely to send you home. If they did give you medication it would most likely be to keep you from fitting over night and they wouldn't give you enough to do a proper detox. In fact many health professionals tell people to keep drinking until they can get to detox. In the meantime, keep an eye on your symptoms - full body tremors are a bad sign, and be sure to call for help if things get more sinister . I'm sure you'll be fine! Good luck.

least

I'd ask your doctor for some help in getting safely thru the w/d. If that fails, go to A and E for help if the w/d gets bad.

jobobo

Thank you guys. Indeed a lot of doctors have told me to keep drinking. I just cant do it anymore. Its so depressing.

Ive been told by the detox clinic that if I go to GP, they wont give me librium, because they want people to be prepared for detox. Its a good idea on paper. Ive been going to preparation meetings for a month now and am waiting for another month before I can go to detox. A&E is accidents and emergency, basically where you go in a medical emergency. The A&E doctors training is even worse than NHS GP's though. I am a young good looking woman, and I havent been taken very seriously when Ive said I am an alcoholic.

Ncognito13

I tend to get bad withdrawals. Not too long ago I even had a seizure after a few days of not drinking. Didn't stop me. Went back to my habit of heavy daily drinking until one day all the consecutive binges made me sick. I knew I could not drink, and as expected the withdrawals kicked in. My pulse rate was so high I was sure that I was at risk for a heart attack. I was shaking and could barely walk.

Went to the ER. They were very understanding. Gave me some medicine and saline there, and a prescription to Librium so I could safely detox at home. It helped immensely. A lot of the anxiety and shakiness went away. My pulse rate was normal. Most of all I could sleep well. It will make you tired so be prepared for that. If you do go to A&E (I assume it's like our ER), just let them know you have had bad withdrawals in the past and you want to quit but am worried about potential health risks. The doctors seemed pretty concerned when I told them I had seizures in the past. I told them that I was very worried it could happen again.

Dee74

I understand that the wait is frustrating.

If you are going to do a home detox I recommend you let your Dr know this and ask for specific advice.

Detox can be dangerous - not everyone will have a bad home detox, but I did. I did not look for professional input.

Be smarter than I was.

D