Going into Med Detox........
 

the day after Christmas of all days. My wife asked me to wait until after Christmas. So what should I expect?

I am a pretty heavy drinker. 10-12 (oz.) drinks a day. Every morning I wake up sweating, anxiety, nauseous, gagging and retching. Been that way for about 6 months.

Thoughts?

PS. Today's a good day. Only 3 1/2 drinks so far. How screwed up is that?

I don't think that celebrating small improvements is ever messed up :)

I have a close friend who had inpatient treatment by way of a 72 hour psych hold followed by a few more days..as a nursing student I have had patients go through detox on the regular med-surg floor .. Are you doing this in a hospital or somewhere else?

The one thing I think you can and should anticipate is understanding and compassionate care. Nurses have a pretty good education and training on this and know better than to judge or to treat you (us) differently from any other patient with any other ailment. :)

You could go today and be done with it all by Christmas. (At least the physical detox part.)

Take care of yourself. ((hug))

That was actually my original plan. In fact, yesterday was going to be the day. But the wife is not aware of how bad my drinking is. So not understanding how bad the Robles is, she asked me to wait a week.

Just get through it, alive preferably (sorry my humor is very poor sometimes). I can't in good conscience encourage you to drink, but I can tell you that medical detox is very pleasant compared to cold turkey at home. Hang in there.

Hi Horn the important thing is you want to stop drinking can you get to an AA meeting tonight it would really help ?

No worries. I have the same sense of humor

Question about your totals: are you saying a total of 10-12 ounces of alcohol a day, or ten 12 ounce drinks a day? Obviously, a big difference in the detox. I am just making sure I understand.

Can you tell her? I'm sure your health is her #1 concern.

You could be back home tomorrow with a prescription. Or maybe same-day, depending. They may not need to do any fluids, depending on your bloodwork. I think you should mosey on down to Urgent Care today. They won't force you to stay, and you can at least get the info, and perhaps just go home with a prescription. Do you really want to be drunk over Christmas?

10-12 0z of alcohol a day. Scotch is about it.

I certainly don't mean to undermine your intake totals; however, I know my husband was drinking more than that daily, as was I about 5 days a week. We both quit cold turkey without any problems - no adverse reactions at all. My husband was able to work every day quite easily. I know everyone is different, and I am not recommending you do something that you or your doctor thinks is dangerous for your health. What I am saying is that it would be great for your family, and the best gift possible, if you could be home SOBER with them for the holiday.

You mentioned you are waking up daily feeling like crap. The longer you continue to feed the monster, the more powerful and stronger he will become.

I was drinking considerably more than you the first time I detoxed. I went and saw my GP. She asked a lot of questions, did a CIWA-AR test on me, and gave me an EKG. Probably some other things, too. I don't recall. I had dangerously high blood pressure (191/125) and heart rate (125), and nonstop panic attacks. It was horrifying.

I walked out of her office an hour and a half later with two prescriptions (I won't mention what, since it's different for everyone). After starting on those, things settled down very quickly, and I detoxed at home very comfortably. Two more follow-up visits over the next couple days, and I was through the physical withdrawal. Unfortunately, I've relapsed several times since and gone through that madness every time. Don't do that part.

My point in all my rambling is, why wait? Go see your doctor ASAP. After talking with him/her, you may be able to comfortably detox at home right away. I personally think it would be worth it.

Whatever you decide, I wish you well in your sobriety journey.

I went into a medical Detox November 12, 2012. I was originally going into a Rehab after the Holidays ... so I could drink until after New Years Eve. It was the doctor's at Kaiser (my health provider) who told me I needed to go to the Detox center first before my month in a women's rehab,
I had no withdrawal symptoms, at least none that I could tell. I checked in around 11:00pm on a Monday and left on Thursday morning ...going directly to my rehab. It truly was the best thing for me.
I've been active in the AA program for the last 4 years, and I come here to SR each day. Drinking was hard. Being in recovery brings me joy.
Bobbi

I did an in hospital medical detox September 21, 2010. 7 days and I also started on nicotine patches since you cannot smoke in the hospital. When I checked myself into the VA it was a detox and follow on 28 day rehab. I was smoking three packs a day back then. I had retired and was drinking like a Saturday every day, starting at noon and stopping at around 12 midnight. I was never stagger drunk as I only drank 2 beers and hour as a beverage. THat was just keeping the buzz at first. 2 beers and hour times 12 hours is a case of beer a day. The yeasty mouth from that much beer daily I cut with some glasses of box wine, and/or several scotch water and lime, to cut the yeasty taste. A unit of alcohol is one six ounce glass of wine, one shot of liquor, or one 12 oz. beer. So when I quit I was addicted from upping the hourly intake to keep a gentle buzz to three an hour. Then one morning I woke up shaking and could not stop or hold my coffee. I realized I had gotten myself dependent on it so tried taking a few shots of scotch in my coffees. Worked like a champ except now I was drinking from rising to bedtime.

The medical detox is the way to go if you can. Much safer and so much less painful. I did not need the rehab as I have a nice home in the countryside. Never even craved or wanted either smokes or alcohol again. Never will. MY wife still drinks and smokes and her half gallon of scotch and carton of smokes was here with me every day alone while she was at work. NO temptation, and my quitting was no reason to force her.

Do it if you can. And great good luck to you!