At my wits end!
 

Hi guys, i tried everything to try and stop alcohol but it seams the nhs is terrible!

i went to my local drug and alcohol team and they said im looking at 3 months before being able to do a detox! I cannot keep doing this as think il probably end up dead.

i bought the med online (valium) but it just dident work and i ended up and valium aswell as the alcohol! Causes fits.

so my last chance was to go to a&e hoping they will detox me there as im having serious fits, yet they told me they dont do detoxs at the hospital and literally after waiting 7 hours he sent me home without any meds or any help at all.

has anyone done a successful detox at home by themselves? And if so what did they use, I SPECIFICALLY CANNOT CUT DOWN AS I CANT SLEEP. Il having a litre of vodka every night for the last 7 months and feeling close to death.

Hi Newfella
Really Glad you posted. Sounds like things are really tough for you - have you been to see your GP - he /she will offer some good medical advice on detoxing.
Stopping drinking is the best thing you can do - I have stopped, with the help of this forum and support of people who get how hard it is.
Not sleeping is terrible - but it does get better - it really does. But stopping is the first thing that needs to happen. Can you stop drinking? There will be people here who will support you.

i obviously cant stop without profesional medications and support as iv tried all above and my gp was my first contact! Who sent me to the local drug and alcohol team who said i have to wait 3 months before a detox!!

Have you asked about a home detox? It's usually done through the local NHS drug and alcohol partnership. Perhaps your local one isn't doing them at present?

All I can suggest is entering your postcode in the service checker at https://www.nhs.uk/service-search/ot...ionSearch/1805 to see if there are any other organisations who can help.

Please be careful taking diazepam (valium) if you are still drinking. It can be a dangerous combination. If you are having fits please go back to A&E regardless of your previous experience with them doing nothing to help you.

hi robbie yes they do “home” detox although they said it includes going to there centre for 4 hrs every day taking part in groups! Which will do my mental health no good and even then they said it will still be just before January.

after my experinece today at a&e i never want to go back there ever again! If the drug and alcohol team said to me if people are having physical problems from alcohol i.e they can detox there well the guy at a&e said that is completely untrue!

Was it a doctor or nurse who told you they don't do detox? I would have thought if someone turned up at A&E in such a bad way that they were in danger of having a fit or were actually having a fit then it would be an emergency which would require some intervention such as an emergency admission to hospital so that an eye could be kept on the person and their vital signs monitored.

I know that A&E departments aound the country are in a bit of a shambolic state at the moment due to covid / covid restrictions / staff shortages / high patient numbers but they shouldn't be discharging someone who is in danger of having severe withdrawals without doing a full assessment. Not only is there the real possibility of having a fit or seizure but there is an increased risk of having a stroke or heart attack. Did they at least give you a full checkover before sending you home?

Robbie i havent had a fit for a couple of months i dont think, it was probably one of my worst experiences at hospital waited all them hours for a “doctor” to ask all meds im taking, any aligies and then literally checked my pulse on my wrist while i was speaking, god i wish i was in a state to sue him, doctors supose to help even if it was to just give me a night in hospital to get myself together

Hi. Do you think you could reduce down yourself? Not too slow but not too fast either! I really think this would be the best thing so you can get well ASAP. Waiting for months for detox could be a worse option because it sounds like you need to take action now. You would need to get all your food and vitamins in place before you start. I think it's important to have the correct electrolyte balance - potassium, salt, sugar. If you can't face food, get Complan, SlimFast or some other nutrient shake. Best wishes to you...

If you've already been to the hospital and they told you it would be OK to detox on your own, then you may want to try that keeping a close contact who could help you if things get too bad. Keep in mind that the main reason to detox in a hospital is for observation of the most severe withdrawal symptoms - seizures, cardiac issues, etc. They are quite rare but also possible - that's why so many people recommend it.

Having said that, the insomnia and many of the other side effects of quitting are unavoidable no matter where you do it unfortunately. I had horrendous insomnia and sleep issues for quite some time after I quit, I think mainly because I drank for the better part of 25 years and there's no easy way to undo all that damage. Bottom line - there's no "easy" way out.

The good news though is that withdrawals are always temporary, and the worst of the physical stuff is usually done in a matter of days or maybe a couple of weeks. If you do have the opportunity to have someone supervise you that would obviously be the best. But if not, you have other options - you just need to make the choice to do it based on the resources you have.

A liter of vodka is a lot. I relapsed at least a half a dozen times. Stopped on my own.
Was able to cut down to just lite beer. And not drink the hard stuff anymore. Last couple times wasn’t too bad.
Not fun but not close to as bad when I drank rum. Maybe my fatty liver is so bad it can’t even process rum. IDK
Would drive to the store, buy one or two beers. Then drink them slowly. Drinking less each day.

Anyway like someone else mentioned since you can’t get in there. Could you try to taper off some? Like cut back the amount a little every day. Try and pay attention to exactly how much you drink in 24 hours. Then cut down over time every day a little less.

Good luck please get help and get better.

Hi newfella, I had an at home detox, went to the doctors well I phoned them actually and they gave me seven days wort of chlordiazapoxide, not sure if that's the proper spelling, librium, is it's other name, anyway, I had to take them I think it was 2 four times a day, then next day was 2 3 times a day, anyway everyday gets less and less until its through, they also gave me thiamin its a vitamin, I'm in northern ireland, I'm no doctor nor am I giving you any medical advice, I'm just telling you how I got through, I had terrible shakes and sweats if I didn't drink, but you have to do it at home by yourself, I wish you well x

Hi I am in UK. I once had a home detox years ago. You needed someone with you for 5 days and a nurse came in everyday to check vitals and do a breathalyser. Our area no longer do this.
I can sympathise because last time I went to A&E they gave me one dose of librium, told me that would wear off quite quickly and to continue drinking when it did and see my GP, who said he would refer me to drug/ alcohol team, three month wait and they didn't do detox, but had no other suggestions except taper?!

In the end this time I went cold turkey. I drank as much as you in one sitting but only for days at a time, not months.

I did taper once. I cut from spirits to medium strength cider to weak cider and the withdrawal wasn't a bit as bad as off spirits. But still not pleasant.

I hope you can find a way, this system is a nightmare

Hi Newfella, I hope you can find a way to come off the booze safely. If you can do it safely from your own home even better.

Hi boggle10 this sounds more like what i need, the problem is my gp was my first point of call and they referred me to the drug and alcohol team who has been absolutely useless! 3 month wait for any detox and all they ever say is attend groups telling others how **** your life is!

A 3 month wait is no good anyway but did the drug and alcohol team say that you had to attend groups for 4 hours a day while doing the actual home detox? My understanding of a home detox is that nurse comes to the house every day to check blood pressure etc and make sure all is well and then gives medication that will be taken that particular day (much as Jupiter posted though Boggle's experience is somewhat different in that there was no daily visit from a nurse). In addition someone is meant to be with you to keep an eye on you. It seems dangerous to expect someone who could be undergoing severe withdrawals to have to leave the house for 4 hours plus travelling time each day at that very moment. That sounds more like outpatient rehab which usually would follow a home detox.

Hi Newfella,

Detoxing from alcohol is really hard. It's a very difficult process to go through, and I don't think there is any way to make it much easier. I detoxed at home, alone and the first couple of days were pretty bad. I didn't sleep at all and was plagued with anxiety, but thankfully I got through it.

I'm not clear if you specifically asked your doctor about doing a home detox? If not, that would be something to pursue. The A & E looked at you and sent you home, so it sounds like they thought you were okay on your own. Do you have someone close by who you could call if things were going badly? As Scott said, the worst of withdrawals is usually over in a few days.

I never had a nurse through my door, I was giving the tablets told how to use them and ring back after they were finished, which I did, was then ask to attend counseling classes I did that to, the group classes were OK, I got through them, they were just ordinary people looking to stay of drink same as me, but I will admit not enough is done in the UK, the doctors never contacted me after to see if I was ok

Hi Newfella you have my empathy. I was drinking the same amount as you and desperate for help. Like you I have suffered the frustration of going to my GP, alcohol services and A&E.

The alcohol services had me jumping through hoops to get a detox. I attended lots groups, I sat through a preparation for detox course four times. Apparently it was to prove my commitment to getting sober. Cutting a long story short, I never did get the detox. They refused me because I live on my own and said it was too dangerous. I did argue that drinking copious amounts of vodka was dangerous but to no avail.

I went to A&E going into early withdrawals and was sent home and told not to stop drinking until I got a detox which of course I was unable to get.

Eventually I gave up trying to get medical help and what I kind of thought would be a magic cure. With the help of SR I somehow managed to do it myself. It was not easy.

My cravings were horrendous. I walked for endless miles everyday as a distraction. I no longer carried any form of money so I couldn't act on a urge. I paced, I cried - I did it.

I'm sure you can to, I know you think you can't, but I promise, you can!

I hate being an alcoholic and everything that goes with it. Said I wanted to get sober 20 years ago but never got serious about it. Now my liver is in bad shape so I have no choice. Folks don’t wait that long. And it’s not just your liver it’s all of you it affects. How many years will it and up cutting off my life. And just as bad how many nights or events I can’t remember. The worst waste of it was just sitting home drinking. Plus my kids had to see that.

The good news is you can do it. Plenty of people have broken the horrible relationship of addiction.
In the past couple years I have made some progress. Not enough but I did self detox several times by tapering.
It gave me some confidence too that I’m not a permanent slave to booze.
It’s not fun you can google or find on here the symptoms. It’s dangerous for a heavy drinker.
The worst on I had is when I mixed xanax in with it. That was a horrible week.

You can do it Newfella.

Quit myself at home also—a mix of taper and cold turkey and I was drinking large amounts of vodka at the time.

I did it by going as long as could between small amounts of alcohol—when I would feel blood pressure surges or more severe symptoms, I would sip a little beer until they abated. No vodka—that’s way too easy to overdo for me. I didn’t take weeks to do it either—I knew I would fail. Just a few days.

I accepted I was going to experience insomnia, racing mind, anxiety and physical symptoms with digestion, nausea, sweating, and shakes. But as others have said, the acute phase really isn’t that long—that’s why detox is typically less than a week in structured settings and often just a few days.

I took lots of warm showers, worked on getting easy to digest foods like soup down, kept hydrated, and did lots of journaling, reading, puzzles, watched old movies to distract myself. When I felt better, exercise did help with mental and physical symptoms but kept it easy and short at first.

There is no “easy” detox for most of us but drinking is far worse. In less than a month, I was sleeping much deeper and longer, waking up with some energy, and my mental anxiety was a trace of what it had been—the drinking actually was the cause of most of it, as it was for the insomnia.

You can do it—it is a huge shame that UK has such terrible services to help you, but in this case, you must help yourself.