Alcohol detox with medical assist
 

Went to the ER friday its now sunday so i guess around day 3. Was classed as moderate level detox given valium,stayed the night and was released with a regime of valium to take over well till today. Shakes have stopped externally for the most but still anxious...to be expected. Has day 4 been a major change day for anyone. I know everyone is different. This is my 4th detox and certainly the hardest just lucky i went in earlier than othertimes. Anyone been through this and can enlighten me....yeah we all want to know when will the most of this end

Day 4 or 5 is usually the time it takes for the acohol to get clear of the system. I think they had me on some powerful med for the first three days one time. I didn't like the way it zonked me out so I woke up fairly straight one morning and refused to take anymore.

This is your fourth detox so obviously something happens around day four. It may be like I see a lot among the frequent flyers in the detox I visit sometimes.

The first couple of days the patient is miserable, frightened and very unwell. They have a true picture of the serious nature of their condition and will do anything for it to stop. Every now andt hen one of them does go to any lengths and recover.

But for the others, around day for or five they begin to feel better, lose sight of the real problem, the ego begins to rebuild and pretty soon self sufficiency looks like the answer. And anyway now it will be different given that I know what happens to me when I drink, and won't you please leave me alone, and what gives you the right to talk to me like that etc.

They go from a surrendered state back to fighting everyone and everything. They usually are back in the detox a few months later, and always in worse condition . Then they don't come back because they are dead or permanently locked up for their own good.

If you want to have a big day four event, make a decision to accept all the help that is offered and go to any lengths to recover. Make it your number one priority. Then you will be able to look back and see that day four was the start of a completely new life, instead of the beginning of another slide down into the alcholic pit.

Day 4 was always my relapse day! The story I told myself and believed that this was because Day 4 was the hardest part of detox and therefore I failed because of that. So back to drinking for a while. Then repeat the whole thing again.

This went on for long time. Eventually I got passed Day 4 seemingly by accident and have been quit ever since. Approaching 8 years now.

I later came to discover that the whole cycle of relapsing on Day 4 was set up by me. My get out clause to go back to drinking!

Sending good thoughts & hope that this is your last day 4!

Wait until you see how great Day 304 is, if you get that far.

Just tough it out, it's uncomfortable but we all made it. You can too. I agree that if this is a pattern, then you've made it a pattern.

Hi and welcome Tamelepen :)

I think by day 4 most of us were starting to feel a little better - but everyone;s different.
I'm glad you found us anyway :)

D

When I went to detox in 2011 on the first day I was in the 'fish tank' glass windowed room across from the nurse's station and was really a mess. The next day they put me in a dorm and I was feeling a little better and went to a couple of AA meetings but the third day I had a seizure and was taken to a regular hospital and spent a week there, three of them totally lost to me but for one brief and confusing dream. At that point I was on an IV Ativan drip, with thiamine and potassium as well. After that nightmare I went to rehab for two months.
It's true for me that 4 days was the time I would tend to relapse. There is also the phenomena of kindling where each successive detox is worse than the last. It's a real thing.
I wish you all the best on your sober journey and hope you're feeling better soon.

Thankyou thankyou
 

I have just dragged myself out of bed .....11.30 am is a little extreme, but i couldnt really move because i was very comfy, its a public holiday and wasnt really sure if i could stand up. Just the valium hanging around i guess. Apart from feeling really really foggy in the head i feel very good. Thankyou for your replies i have often scanned through this site if feeling scared or hopless and needed some other views on various situations. Thanks for being here

Thanks
 

The darkest parts of the soul are touched too often during drinking and withdrawal. Never thought my mind knew places like those. My second detox was bad as i had been drinking for 10 or so years and well yes you well know how it goes as you from what you wrote were there too

This is absolute truth.. my last and final detox was medical and had to be put in a coma. You will explore every dark crack in your mind. Hands down the worst thing I have ever done. Sadly I had two previous coma detox's before it finally stuck. And probably at least 5-8 adivan assisted ones before that. They absolutely get worse over time. Those dark times are what I whisper back to the demon when he starts whispering to have "one or two". Not sure I could survive it.

Thanks
 

Wow you must be blessed...im not very religious but wow. You must be here for a special reason. Your comment really hits home to me but must add there is no way i could imagine your torture during those times as that is much worse than my experiences. Those demons do pull you apart, that i can identify with.

Hang in there Tamelepen. You will start to feel better. You're not alone. Stay close to SR. Read the threads and post when you feel like it. It will help.

Stick around here. Just don't drink today. If the temptation to drink strikes, play it forward. What will happen as a consequence? I have been in your shoes. I know drinking is not an option. Period.

Do you want to stop drinking? I realize that you were mainly asking about day 4 and it being a day of change and not how to stop for good.