Nofearnobeer

Nothing about sobriety is funny but.....

First week I week i quit drinking , I had tremors , I had a headache , I couldn't walk straight, i had vertigo...I had things going on so much that I can't remember all the details...

I was uncomfortable to say the least...But I was still making sense and could comprehend..

So , my Dad of all folks , drove me to the hospital where i explained that was having withdrawal symptoms...They quickly whisked me into the detox room...

All this time, my dad and Wife were worried that I might be experiencing DT's ..

Oooohhh , nooo....There , i got to witness DT's..My dad politely named this one fell "Steve"

Nothing could make "Steve" sit or stay in one place..."Steve kept venturing over to talk , I was never really sure what he was saying..

But the most interesting (funniest dang thing I have seen in a while) , Steve kept trying to eat the Curtains between the beds , so much he gagged while trying to swallow part of one ..

Then Steve would get on the floor and count floor tiles for an hour , then he'd ramble around the room rambling nonsensical words..

Then apparently he would get hungry again, and start again at eating the curtains....

They finally hauled "Steve" off proclaiming his DT's were getting worse..

So no Dad, I did Not have DT's...now "Steve" on the other hand???Mebbbee....

Needless to say , they let me leave after 3 hours with a handful of Ativan to go about my way...

But, in all my life, I will never forget the day I meet "Steve"..

Thepatman

"Steve" is one in many stories on how bad things can get.

Thanks for sharing this good reminder that detox is serious business.

IOAA2

Hi. Years ago I was taught to never use the words that never happened to me. I was told to use the word YET. Your Eligible Too.

Personally I’d bet Steve a better chance getting and staying sober than many people. He has a “remember when” that is a friend in the future.

BE WELL

Soberwolf

I hope Steve got the help he needed and goes to show this disease/illness/addiction will take everything from us if we let it

Im glad your ok & here nofear

I remember detoxing in a hospital once there was a guy coming in the day i was leaving

i gave him my ciggarettes and all my magazines word searches etc told him i hope you get sober

i have never seen him again since

bigsombrero

I had seizures and had to be rushed to the hospital in an ambulance. Looks like Steve at least got there under his own power, which was much better than my route. Hope you and Steve get and stay sober, good luck!

Nofearnobeer

I didn't know "Steve" , he was just there when I got there...I am and will stay sober...Not sure what happened to the fella we called "Steve"..I am pretty sure he didn't get there himself...At his rate , he probably would have tried to eat the steering wheel....

MemphisBlues

So, was it funny to you?

Nofearnobeer

Memphis, yessir , at the time, it was pretty damm funny watching some one eating a curtain... Forgive my twisted sense of humor , I usually try to find humor or something positive in about everything...It's what keeps me going..

JadedGirl

Wow that's a stark reminder of how bad things can get. I feel this is hard right now but thank god I'm not anywhere near that place and this story is a huge reminder why I'm doing this! Alcohol dependence is progressive and I for one never ever want to get to that point! X

MemphisBlues

Nofear, I guess my point is that after a few years of sobriety, I have realized that withdrawal is actually a potentially deadly prospect, and that I view Steve's dilemma as sad, frightening, horrific, and far from humorous.

I'm glad no one was there laughing at your tremors, shaking, sweating and vertigo.

Being part of the recovery community, I've learned that empathy and compassion are called for when seeing those worse off than me.

Now, if Steve had a significant amount of sober time under his belt and shared his story about how bad it got, I might chuckle with him. But I wouldn't laugh at him in the detox ward.

Don't mean to bust your chops, but I visit the Newcomer threads to remember how bad it can get, and if Steve popped up here as a newcomer I would offer support, not laugh at his predicament.

Glad your withdrawals were comparatively minor.

And many of us here were Steve or could have become Steve.

notgonnastoptry

I actually had problems following your post. At first, I thought "Steve" was a imaginary figment of your withdrawal and that you were self-shaming for reaching that point.

After reading the other replies, it seems like you were joking around. That is quite odd, since you seem to have been one or two steps behind him (and no one can predict how the body will react. Perhaps if you would have waited a few hours, you would have been "Steve").

I'm still unsure of what to make about this. It seems a little surreal that you (going through moderate withdrawal) and your family (worried about you) would find levity in the same disease you have. It's like me getting a mastectomy and getting a NED report and then having a good chuckle about my roommate's bad news.

If you weren't joking around, I'll say your post was in extremely poor taste. There's nothing funny about any of this, especially DTs.

Redemption28

lol that's funny.

headcase1

I met some interesting people when in-patient.Ill always remember them & the staff.

Justincredible

LOL wow I busted a gut laughing! Thanks for the story.

I've probably done something close to that and if somebody got a laugh to help them through a darker time I'm glad to be of service.

Sounds like "Steve" was heavily medicated at this point. I'm sure NoFearnobeer wasn't laughing at him in a malicious way... Just one of the crazy situations WE get ourselves into. I've heard tons of these stories in AA and most of the time the speaker relays it in a humorous way and the room laughs. Tough to decipher text sometimes.

Nofearnobeer

OK , if ya'll think I was sitting there cracking up and pointing at this guy , yer dead wrong...I am in no way like that.....

It's 2-fold...

1 - Something about someone eating a curtain struck me as funny...
2 - If we all fail at sobriety long enough, we could all end up like that , or worse...

And Notgonna..Thanks for the Pun , "Poor Taste.."...to be honest , not sure how curtains taste , may want to check with Steve...

Hang in there ya'll , stay sober , stay safe...

MemphisBlues

NoFear, you keep hitting the laugh drum here, but most of us think the rim shot echoes in a silent room.

SR is a place where many of us came after early sobriety to get desperately needed help and to lend support to like sufferers, to share our own experience of recovery, to talk of the pit of hell we were at and how a fortunate a few of us are in gaining sustained recovery.

So Steve is a low-bottom kind of guy, and you, with, what, two months of sobriety, serve up his predicament as entertainment.

If Steve shared the story after he gained some recovery and did so in a humorous way, describing how bad his addiction brought him down, it might illicit some laughs. You share Steve's story as humor, while some of us see Steve as one of us.

Some of us here went through DTs. I guess that makes us worse than you and fodder for your laughter.

Apparently you read through some of the comments pointing this out, and you return with another drum beat about an unintended pun of "poor taste."

I'm calling you out to either back off of this thread or post an apology to the many Steves here.

Mikie9

1 - Something about someone eating a curtain struck me as funny...
2 - If we all fail at sobriety long enough, we could all end up like that , or worse...

really man?

1 what was funny about it??? Seeing someone in this state is "funny" ?
2 yes we could, and it isn't humorous in any way

I don't think you were malicious with the guy in person, but come on man... Someone could easily get a laugh out of your situation as well if they were unable to have an ounce of empathy for their fellow human being struggling.

ubntubnt

Well, yes it is tragic that things can get to that point and also scary that if we all keep drinking long enough then that is what will to happen to us and maybe worse. In the AA group I attend the members frequently laugh at the horrible things they did and saw. Its not laughing at the person or the predicament that they find themselves in but a pitiful and sympathetic reaction to unbelievably destructive disease and where it can bring us. I truly wish that Steve got better and believe that the OP was not being nasty here.

Dee74

I don't find it funny, but I know other people will, and do, find things funny I find quite abhorrent,offensive, or tragic.

I'm not a fan of Funniest Home Videos at all but it rates...

I really hope 'Steve' found the help he needs - but I also really hope he never finds this thread.

Lets move on...

D