TheWayBack

Be really careful with that one. That's what almost did me in. I was hospitalized for it with blood pressure off the charts, because of long term binge drinking, and lucky I'm still alive. It could/will still kill me if I keep drinking, but I've decided against that, so I might live.

gettingsmarter

My skin felt really prickly. Not sure if tgats common or not.

WaterOx

Yes, itchy skin is very common. Also a "pins and needles, tingling" description is common.

WaterOx

yes 42 is super low...never heard of it that low...worth keeping an eye on that one for sure! Doctor style.

Polaroid

I've always had a naturally low heart rate, between 40 to 60bpm.

When I drink, it increases, as the heart gets so stressed out because of the toxins in my bloodstream... up to almost 100bpm or so.

And the last time I was at the hospital, they came in to my room at least twice a day to check my blood pressure. A little higher than normal, 130-135 over 90 or something. And yes, my heart rate was always in the 50s, or lower.

I hope everything is well with you now.


Edit; When I was a little younger, I was an athlete (And still am, actually... but I've replaced with Volleyball and Bandy) Sprint and long jumps. Eg Usain Bolt's resting heart rate is 33.


(And yes, Admins and Mods, I realize this is developing to become a medical thread now, but we are just sharing our stories)

jryan19982

So I will preface this by saying I have post nasal drip due to a deviated septum, but that glob of mucous in the morning stuck in your throat. Alcohol irritates your mucosal linings and causes more mucous to be produced. So after a night of drinking (especially the heavy nights) I would have a nice big wad of phlegm to cough out. I still get it in the morning but nowhere near the extent of volume when I drank. I've had every test done to make sure nothing is wrong so the ENT assures me it's because of my deviated septum post nasal drip (which is what she said it was before all the tests lol).

rc29

I'm not a doctor, but the pins and needles thing can potentially be the start of something serious.....neuropathy. I didn't feel it at all until the last 3-4 years of my drinking. At the end it was getting pretty bad and that was big catalyst in me putting the plug in the jug.

Lipstuck

OMG yesssss, I was coming here to say this in a super smooth "Just asking for a friend lol" way, thank you so much for getting there first~!
It's been TERRIBLE. I eat no joke POUNDS of fresh produce a day and drink 12-14+ servings of water and you'd think I was living off of tubes of super glue. Glad it's not just me!

Evoo

Yeah. And I wouldn't wish withdrawals on anyone. Here's mine:

• Night sweats (sweating out the bed)
• Shaking
• Low-grade fever
• Heart palpitations
• Anxiety (the likes of which I can only describe as "mortal terror."
• The feeling that my arms or body parts have become "disassociated" from the rest of my body. Fear of stroke or aneurysm (extreme health anxiety).
• Spittling blood after vomiting (turned out to be Crohns-related, but gastrointestinal ulcers that drinking exacerbated).
• Insomnia and unrestful sleep -- very, very odd dreams and auditory and visual hallucinations.
• Temporary process addiction to other stimuli (pornography, binge-watching TV, simple phone games, gummy/sour candy...)
• Fear. Fear. Fear. I can't overstate the health anxiety -- paralyzing.
• Vertigo / disorientation.
• Ilness or stomach flu that follows quickly after withdrawals due to compromised immune system.
• Ulcerative colitis and Chrons disease flare symptoms (chronic otherwise but aggravated by heavy drinking).

Awful stuff. It's been some years since I experienced all of the above, but here's the thing that troubles me the most, the worst symptom:

Even after overcoming all of this, I would conveniently "forget" the intensity of the symptoms, downplay how bad they were -- and pick up a new "moderation" goal like a broken ******* record.

No longer. Thanks for posting this, OP. It's good to remind ourselves of our darkest times w/ alcohol.

SoberCAH

Welcome to our forums, fintime.

I was going to add auditory hallucinations.

But I had forgotten all about the paranoia.

I was certainly paranoid.

I would also add terror, defeat and psychosis.

I didn't know what was real and what wasn't.

The great news is that none of us on this forum has to go through this human misery again.

teej

Hi Lipstuck!
Here's what I do every morning and it keeps me regular. I put 3 teaspoons (that comes out to 1/2 dose) of Miralax into my coffee every morning (you cant taste it and your body can't get dependent on it).
Then I have 1 cup of hot prune juice after that.
Then after THAT I eat a chia fruit cup. It has 34 grams of fiber! I like the peach/dragon/strawberry cup the best.
You don't have to do the 3 in that order, that's just how I do it

Now everyone is different, so if you get TOO much relief (hehe) then lower the amounts until you are just right Of either the miralax or the prune juice.

Frizzer

I have attempted withdrawal about 7 times in the past year; 'depersonalisation' also extremely scary feelings/random images etc. I am now finally on a local programme and so far off the drink, feeling much better already after the first 1.5 weeks

Lipstuck

Ooh, thanks for describing what works for you! I'll let my "friend" know! 😁😁😁

yinzer

The stink while the toxins leave the body.

The dry hair, the full body acne, the pains all over....months after quitting. The dry mouth and painful tongue/mouth.

I guess one can’t drink for decades and expect to heal in a couple months. The body is trying to find its new normal.

Evoo

Oh yeah -- I forgot about a couple others.

Teeth grinding. Mouth ulcers. Bad breath. Smell.

Polaroid

I made the "mistake" of sleeping for about 8 hours straight. Excuse my language, but Holy ******* ****...

Usually I sleep in intervals, max two hours or so. Why? So I can have a drink inbetween to keep the withdrawals at bay. It takes, for me, maybe 3-5 hours for the withrawals to start kicking in.... Within 8 hours I feel/am totally destroyed.

So I woke up, yet again, with extreme (i cannot underline that enough) anxiety and shaking.

You are definitely not downplaying that one, nor the shaking. My symptoms are like, I was so shaky and anxious, I tried to hydrate myself with a large glass of juice. My hands were so shaky, I think I spilled about half of it on my bed.

This crap is destroying me, bit by bit, it just gets worse. Yet, I keep doing it, what the...?

Looking forward, I either see myself not seeing my 36th b-day, but hopefully & most likely, get into a detox/rehab facility (yet... again) ...Even though detox is a living hell... at least for the first 4-5 days...

I just want out of this... alive. Just 6 weeks ago I wasn't physically dependent on alcohol. I was just so stupid to let this poison take part of my life again.

By the way, what do you all mean by hallucinations? Actually seeing things that aren't there? Hearing things? I "hear" a lot of things, but it's all my head (eg, a song that I've heard 100 times), and not like I hear voices or anything auditory. And as for palpitations? I can feel my heart, but it's not fluttering / skipping beats or anything. Just running steadily. Right now, it pretty much goes in sync with the ... annoying second dial on the clock on my wall.

JamesSquire

Good post Evoo. Vertigo/Disorientation is a big one for me. Funny though felt like but haven't vomited in years

WaterOx

Oh yes the nasty stink of detox...my sweat would smell pretty gross for at least a few days.

And someone mentioned "painful tongue". I would often get this burning tongue sensation. I was terrified that I gave myself diabetes.

Ayers

I love this thread. bewailing our wierd woes.

Hayfever - yes - sneezing bouts that went on for hours. I drank wine.
Stabbing pains all over, sometimes in my head - yes
Salivation in the first couple of weeks - yes

But I've had quite a few opposites too.

Never constipation. To the contrary .... normal now - thank goodness

No dreams - whereas before quitting I had the most vivid, exhausting dreams

Very sensitive feet after sitting with them raised -- sore soles, goes away after walking a couple of steps - but it is really extremely sore, especially my heels.

Sore hands - feels like I have used a Jackhammer for hours - upon waking.

My ring fingerbecomes "locked" - it is called Trigger finger - now also starting
in the other hand

And no ED - because I'm a girl - haha - but it must be extremely uncomfortable and embarrassing - hope it rectifies with time .

Polaroid

Oh yes, at the hospital, a nurse came into my room, and said something along the lines of;

"It smells terrible in here, can't you go take a shower?"

I would if I could, but was virtually paralyzed whilst in withdrawals.