TaiCarm

I’m an alcoholic and I’m wondering: what kind of visual and auditory hallucinations, if any, have people had during alcohol withdrawal? Are they a sign of impending delirium tremens?

I had these hallucinations, but I knew they weren’t real. Hearing nonexistent radio or TV broadcasts, music, and voices emanating from random places in my home. Even heard a voice say “you can’t run from me” when I was frantically getting ready to go to the ER.

Is it normal to have these symptoms after drinking heavily for five years or so like me. I never expected anything like that and was afraid I was going to permanently lose my mind. Luckily they went away pretty quickly after being admitted to the hospital since I had developed pancreatitis. But I've had a couple slips since then and am worried about a repeat of these symptoms.

Soberwolf

Hi TaiCalm i think you should go to a ER to get checked out esp if you have had pancreatitis before

Dee74

I had several episodes like that - I didn't seek medical help but I should have, no question - I may have avoided a bad last detox.

The best way to avoid those things happening - well you know already TaiCarm....

What's your recovery plan look like?

D

Wastinglife

I had auditory and visual hallucinations the first time I ever experienced alcohol withdrawal. My drinking had progressed to daily vodka drinking in the previous year. I stopped cold turkey one day without any clue there was such a thing as Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome.

I remember being in a coffee shop and starting to hear a female voice whispering my name. I thought the women next to me were talking about me. I left and as I walked home I could hear more people calling my name. But it was like someone was whispering it in my ear. Later at home I started sweating profusely and seeing shadows moving about my apartment.

I thought I had the flu the whole time. It wasn't until I googled my symptoms that I finally realized it was Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome. I drank heavily for another 5 years after that. Madness.

TiredEnough

I had them on benzo cold turkey wds. The last time was the worst with auditory and visual.

Music playing, voices, shadow figures, plain as day malevolent beings in my bedroom, and last but not least, a talking 12 gauge shotgun. I kept mum and rode it all out. Wife didn't even know.

wpainterw

I've heard that DT's can be life threatening. The only thing I used to have was a sort of mindless panic waking up in the middle of the night. A scary feeling of impending disaster. It's best to get to the ER if it's the DT's. Otherwise, high blood pressure, risk of stroke or heart attack, even convulsions in some cases. There's likely to be a lot of dehydration, loss of potassium, which in turn affects the heart.

W.

Ttspeirs

If you drank as I did you do not want to quit cold turkey without the help of a doctor .if you are a very advanced alcoholic as I was you will become very sick and possibly seizures,dt s . Heart attack , coma the list goes on . The medical professionals can greatly reduce all the suffer and monitor you during a detox. The more times you relapse the worse the ordeal is on the body. Physically and mentally. I was very ill during my last detox and never wish it upon anyone in this world .if it was not for my wife and doctor I would have died. Alcohol is one of the only drugs that withdrawal can be fatal and should be taken seriously.

If anyone wants to correct me or ad to this please do so
Trevor

PurpleKnight

Welcome to the Forum TaiCalm!!

I think any type of hallucinations need to be checked out by a Dr, best to be safe!!

TaiCarm

Thank you everyone for your helpful replies. Comforting to know others have had similar experiences and I’m not simply crazy. I’m currently trying to taper myself off the alcohol since I’ve had no luck with cold turkey. My last two taper attempts with the hallucinations I had already gotten pretty sick beforehand (most likely due to the pancreatitis), going days without food, and little water or sleep. I think that might have made the symptoms worse. I’m trying to taper now before I get sick again. At least it’s the start of the weekend, so I can hide in my house and handle more withdrawal anxiety than I could bear at work or in public.

It’s become clear I’ve drank enough vodka the last five years to make me pretty physically dependent on it. I’ve tried to get into detox, but the last two times the waiting list was so long I ended up in the hospital with the acute pancreatitis – I really hope I can end this cycle before it goes chronic and I’m stuck with a lifetime of severe pain and eventually diabetes.

I'll definitely go to the ER again if I have to.

Thepatman

Why play Russian roulette. I know members here that are permanently damaged from detox. If you ask them, they would tell you to go to the ER.

I feel nothing but regret to have done self detox and see no benefit in sharing how bad it was. Unless it would change your mind, and apparently not something possible.

Good luck and please be safe

wpainterw

If you can't get into a detox right away, you can still be helped quite a bit by a good doctor as an outpatient. Prescriptions in appropriate amounts to ease anxiety, vitamin B1 injections, other medication. But if there is a risk of convulsions, stroke, or heart attack the ER is crucial They can give you fluids IV to fight dehydration. Check potassium levels (low KCL is a heart risk). Self detox is risky.

W.

Ttspeirs

I fully agree with 100%

Impurrfect

Alcohol withdrawal, sadly, can be fatal. You may not even realize your blood pressure is going sky high until you have a stroke (common side effect of alcohol withdrawal).

Though I do have a medical background, this is not medical advice - it's what I've learned from being on SR for years, and seeing what people go through.

Please don't hesitate to go to an ER.

Hugs and prayers,

Amy

wpainterw

I agree with Impurrfect. In addition to blood pressure monitoring, blood work is essential to check liver enzyme levels, diabetes, electrolytes, etc. Also maybe an EKG.

W.

Dave36

If for no other reason they will give you a benzo for the pain. May as well go. They'll make you much more comfortable

clayton621

I decided to self detox and thought i was doing okay, On day 3 I was at work and my eyes started hurting really bad. I thought it was just a head ache and stood up to go to the bathroom and wash my face. Fell down and was really dizzy. My fingers and toes went numb and I couldnt formulate a sentence. They picked me up and took my to some fire fighters who happened to be there. They took my blood pressure and it was 198/148. Straight to the hospital i went... The EMT refused to even discuss me not going until they regulated my blood pressure.

Gardennerd

My BP was 180/100. I was at a doc for something else and they gave me BP medicine. I wasn't detoxing, but kind of was, a4 day bender. I being a binge drinker it's like every monday is a mini detox. Horrible.

Last weekend when I quit, I heard a lot of singing and music in the white noise of a fan, or voices. I could never fully make out the words, but a word here and there. Music was the most common thing. Weirdness.

JanieJ

I heard voices shouting my name in the distance, and I could see hundreds of bugs crawling up the walls now and then, for the first week or so.

Also I would wake up in the night having thought I'd heard a knock on the door. I also misinterpreted everyday sounds -it might be raining, for instance, but I wouldn't know what the sound was because it sounded weird. Very vivid dreams too for a while, seeming very real, and sometimes I didn't know whether I'd dreamt something or it had really happened.

Strange stuff.

MelindaFlowers

I had very slight visual hallucinations. I would see something out of the corner of my eye and think it was moving or a cat or something but it was neither moving or an animal. Very slight.