Alcohol Withdrawal Help

[unknown_man]

Hi Everyone,

I am looking for some general advice for anyone going through what I am currently experiencing. I am on day 6 from withdrawaling from alcohol. I've been drinking consistently every single day for the past 8.5 months. My consumption was typically at night from 1-4 beers a night. Towards the end of the 8.5 months I was only drinking 2 beers a night and would be fine all day. Basically, this is what has occurred so far since I started withdrawaling:

Day 1: 0 beers (felt great)
Day 2: 0 beers (felt great)

After going into Day 3 (56 hours into quitting) at around 3am I started having head pressure, headaches, anxiety, and being frightened or scared (immediately drank a beer)

Day 3: 2 beers (every 12 hours (1 at 3am and 1 at 6pm))
Day 4: 3 beers (every 12 hours (1 at 3am, 1 at 1pm, and 1 at 6pm))

This is where is starts getting much worse for some reason. I get these electrical shocks in my brain accompanied by head pressure. The anxiety seems to be stepping up a notch as well. Tingly hands, etc.

Day 5: 3 beers (1 at 11am, 1 at 6pm, 1 at 8pm)

Odd, but my anxiety went through the rough around 12:10am on going onto Day 6. But all of the of the above withdrawal effects would still be present until I drank. I actually had to drink 2 beers to rid the myself of the withdrawal effects.

Day 6: 3 beers (2 at 12:10am and 1 at 11am)

This is where I am at right now. It's ~4:30pm where I am and had my last drink at 11am. As you can see, I am not drinking for pleasure nor am I drinking for a buzz. I am simply trying to use the beer as medicine. I have prior alcoholism issues where I was detoxed years ago from a 1/2 gallon a day liquor issue.

Is what I am doing safe to avoid seizures? I feel that I am trying to go as long as I can between beers until my body normalizes and I no longer have to feel any crazy withdrawal feelings. I do not have the shakes. I just need some support from you guys on what I am doing is safe, especially since I cannot go into a detox because of Christmas being in 2 days.

Thanks in advance for all the support and advice!

 

[vanya428]

I'm obviously no doctor, but I myself am on Day 6 no booze so I can definitely relate to some of those feelings. Still, I can't imagine you'd be getting seizures (though everyone is different of course) and if you really feel like something bad may happen, go to a doc. Heightened anxiety is definitely a classic symptom and it's often hard to tell if that impending doom feeling is "real." I think if you were in trouble you'd have the shakes first. Just my two cents.

 

[unknown_man]

I'm obviously no doctor, but I myself am on Day 6 no booze so I can definitely relate to some of those feelings. Still, I can't imagine you'd be getting seizures (though everyone is different of course) and if you really feel like something bad may happen, go to a doc. Heightened anxiety is definitely a classic symptom and it's often hard to tell if that impending doom feeling is "real." I think if you were in trouble you'd have the shakes first. Just my two cents.

Thanks for the response. I really hope that you get through this awful feeling and pain of alcoholism. I won't ever put myself through this again. However, I did go see a doctor and I was prescribed Librium 25mg (but on 6 pills), so I am a little hesitant to take the Librium because 1. I have a short supply, and 2. I am by myself with nobody to look after me. So, I'm a bit nervous to take these by myself not knowing whether I'd be able to look after myself. But I do know one thing, I am kicking this to the curb and not looking back. I know that I have a problem and there can't ever be a reoccurrence EVER again. Not for as long as I live. Instead, I need to treat my underlying issues without the use of drinking. I've been to a AA meeting every night this week, even if I didn't want to go.

So, you think if I don't have the shakes then it'll be highly unlikely for me to get any kind of seizures? That's the one thing that scares the heck out of me. I feel slightly off right now, but I want to be at the point where I don't need to drink ANY beer. Gosh! I'm just wondering how long it'll take me to jump off completely. Even tho a beer every 12 hours isn't bad, I still hate the fact that I'm putting it into my system. But I am looking at it like a medicine as opposed to a drug that I'm gaining some kind of euphoric effect, especially since I don't feel ANYTHING from drinking one, but instead feel some sense of normality while relieving some of the withdrawals.

I'm thinking.... maybe another day or 2 I'll be good? I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Good luck to you! And congrats for stopping this poison from ruining your life!

 

[almostoptimistic]

It’s also possible to self-detox with a short-term script for Librium or Valium. Talk to a doctor.

 

[unknown_man]

It’s also possible to self-detox with a short-term script for Librium or Valium. Talk to a doctor.

You honestly think that 6 Librium is enough without putting me into withdrawal after I am finished? I suppose 1 - 2 pills a day for a period of 3 days would suffice, but it wouldn't be a good taper for Librium. I would hope not to go through benzo withdrawal and alcohol withdrawal after finishing the 6 pills. I suppose that's what really scares me.

I mean, I drank 1 beer at 10am this morning and I am feeling ok right now. So, maybe my body is starting to adjust? I know days 4 and 5 were rough. Today isn't AS BAD. But I still have that fuzzy/ electrical shock head feeling here and there. But I know this is my body trying to rebalance its' equilibrium.

NEVER AGAIN! I have a daughter that I love dearly and want to be around for a long time with her. I actually want to grow with her and not let that time escape me through alcohol abuse. I will start to enjoy my time doing fun things with her without needing to go home and crack open a beer. I'm doing this for ME with HER in mind!

 

[almostoptimistic]

I never mentioned actual dosing, you did. You were asking for input, I suggested an idea. Your withdrawal symptoms are fairly unusual given your consumption. Which is why I suggested talking to a doctor.

 

[almostoptimistic]

Sorry, I realize you are going through a rough time. Benzos were developed as anti-seizure medications, they are very effective used in alcohol withdrawal. It would be extremely unlikely that you would suffer from withdrawals from them if used properly, and you definitely seem to have resolve. But whatever you decide, I wish you only the best and you’re doing an amazing job.

 

[unknown_man]

Sorry, I realize you are going through a rough time. Benzos were developed as anti-seizure medications, they are very effective used in alcohol withdrawal. It would be extremely unlikely that you would suffer from withdrawals from them if used properly, and you definitely seem to have resolve. But whatever you decide, I wish you only the best and you’re doing an amazing job.

Thank you for the encouragement.

I am going to continue working through all of this and assure that once this is all said and done that I don't ever return down this dark path. I have hopes that everything will be ok for me. I did not think I was drinking a substantial amount, but in hindsight, like my doctor stated, "it's not how much you were drinking, but the consistency that you were drinking at." So, at least I know that I cannot even enjoy a beer in the future, even if I wanted to.

Nothing about drinking was appealing to me besides the few hours that I was buzzed. The hangovers were atrocious, spending the money, dealing with the withdrawals, health issues, and knowing that I couldn't even go a day without a beer is just no way for me to live my life. Sobriety is on the horizon and my new life is about to begin. I know that recovery is one day at a time, and the battle will be a forever thing. As long as I remember where I came from and what is at stake if I pickup again, then I will ALWAYS remain sober. Granite I'm a young guy, and my health is good, but that can all change in a heartbeat if I continue going down this path. In no way am I jeopardizing my relationship with my young daughter. She's more important to me than alcohol.

 

[herbavore]

Sounds like you are very determined and you have good reason to be. Make sure that you are addressing all the psychological aspects to this as you also focus on the actual detox and recovery. Recovery is a life change. Support and nurture yourself in every way you can.

 

[unknown_man]

Sounds like you are very determined and you have good reason to be. Make sure that you are addressing all the psychological aspects to this as you also focus on the actual detox and recovery. Recovery is a life change. Support and nurture yourself in every way you can.

 

[gypsylee]

Hi there,

I’m a (mostly) recovered alcoholic. I was hospitalised twice with acute Pancreatitis and the second time I was averaging 12 beers (375mg each) a day.

I’m pretty confident the anxiety you’re getting would be due to the psychological addiction rather than physical (it’s very powerful) and seizures are highly unlikely.

Keep up the good work!

 

[unknown_man]

Hi there,

I’m a (mostly) recovered alcoholic. I was hospitalised twice with acute Pancreatitis and the second time I was averaging 12 beers (375mg each) a day.

I’m pretty confident the anxiety you’re getting would be due to the psychological addiction rather than physical (it’s very powerful) and seizures are highly unlikely.

Keep up the good work!

Thanks for the words of encouragement. You may be right, but I can tell you that the fuzzy head feeling/ electrical shocks going off in my head are real. It just feels so weird. And I'm not really sure what the onset of a seizure consists of in terms of knowing what to look for or feel? But I did have another beer at 11pm (13 hours after my last beer at 10am this morning). Right now, being that it's 1:30am, I am feeling that weird fuzzy/ electrical feeling in my head repetitively every few minutes. But I do not have the shakes or anxiety right now. I just cannot wait for all of this to dissipate.

Given the experience, is this taper that I am doing eventually going to get me to the point where I can quit and no longer feel withdrawals?

 

[Mafioso]

That sort of sounds like what happened before I had a seizure. Felt really disconnected, numb and just really weird in general. I'm not familiar with alcohol WD, but benzo WD is pretty similar from what I've heard. I was having hallucinations and delusions as well. The hallucinations seemed to be linked with a sort of electric shock in my head, like thinking I heard something and reacting to it before I had a chance, or thinking I saw something and my head and body jerked in response.

Alcohol and benzos are really dangerous to WD from alone. They are both recommended that a person receive medical supervision while detoxing from because of the serious and potentially life threatening side effects. I would strongly advise, at the very least, letting someone know what is going on. They can at least get you help if you become delirious or have a seizure. I've gone into full blown psychosis twice from benzo/opioid WDs.

not saying you can't do it alone, but I just hope you are aware of the dangers and are being very careful. I would think it would be wise to look for a medical detox facility that can help you safely step off. With meds like benzos it will probably be much more bearable not to mention safer. If that is absolutely not an option for you, I would really encourage you to consider letting someone know who can check up on you as well as doing a scheduled taper. Tapering is really hard with the DOC, but with alcohol it is safer than going cold turkey.

It's not a matter of will power either, physical and mental health are an issue. Delerium Tremens is not caused by a lack of will power or mental strength.. it's just a symptom of severe alcohol WD.

Take care of yourself buddy..

 

[unknown_man]

That sort of sounds like what happened before I had a seizure. Felt really disconnected, numb and just really weird in general. I'm not familiar with alcohol WD, but benzo WD is pretty similar from what I've heard. I was having hallucinations and delusions as well. The hallucinations seemed to be linked with a sort of electric shock in my head, like thinking I heard something and reacting to it before I had a chance, or thinking I saw something and my head and body jerked in response.

Alcohol and benzos are really dangerous to WD from alone. They are both recommended that a person receive medical supervision while detoxing from because of the serious and potentially life threatening side effects. I would strongly advise, at the very least, letting someone know what is going on. They can at least get you help if you become delirious or have a seizure. I've gone into full blown psychosis twice from benzo/opioid WDs.

not saying you can't do it alone, but I just hope you are aware of the dangers and are being very careful. I would think it would be wise to look for a medical detox facility that can help you safely step off. With meds like benzos it will probably be much more bearable not to mention safer. If that is absolutely not an option for you, I would really encourage you to consider letting someone know who can check up on you as well as doing a scheduled taper. Tapering is really hard with the DOC, but with alcohol it is safer than going cold turkey.

It's not a matter of will power either, physical and mental health are an issue. Delerium Tremens is not caused by a lack of will power or mental strength.. it's just a symptom of severe alcohol WD.

Take care of yourself buddy..

Thanks for sharing your experience. Yes, what you described really scares me. However, I do not have any sweats, shaking, hallucinations, delusions, or anything. Just that weird fuzziness/ electrical feeling in my head. I am taking it very slow with this tapering schedule and have the WILL to stop. I am very obedient and disciplined with this schedule, especially since I'll be going on 7 days. I will not regress from this path. I WANT it that badly. But wow this feeling is so weird. This is enough to NEVER go back down this path again, not matter what.

I'm hoping that after another few days this feeling will start to go away. Or starting Tuesday I will just take the Librium that I was given. I will be on Holiday vacation all next week.

But I did read stories that it's possible to taper from alcohol.

 

[chompy]

I'm so sorry for what you are going thru. Make sure you take multivitamins and B vitamins. Some of your symptoms sound like vitamin deficiency and dehydration from personal experience. If daily chores feel like its going to make you 'spaz out' then just take a rest. You can do it.

 

[gypsylee]

Thanks for the words of encouragement. You may be right, but I can tell you that the fuzzy head feeling/ electrical shocks going off in my head are real. It just feels so weird. And I'm not really sure what the onset of a seizure consists of in terms of knowing what to look for or feel? But I did have another beer at 11pm (13 hours after my last beer at 10am this morning). Right now, being that it's 1:30am, I am feeling that weird fuzzy/ electrical feeling in my head repetitively every few minutes. But I do not have the shakes or anxiety right now. I just cannot wait for all of this to dissipate.

Given the experience, is this taper that I am doing eventually going to get me to the point where I can quit and no longer feel withdrawals?

The key word is “eventually”. I never actually tapered my alcohol use or did any formal detox - I was either in hospital on morphine for acute pancreatitis, or I stopped cold turkey at home. I’ve never had many physical symptoms apart from really bad anxiety and this sense of being “raw” and having to learn how to do things sober. So I guess you could say the detoxes have been easy for me but the “rehab” hard (I’ve never been to actual rehab, just fought my way through).

 

[Mafioso]

Thanks for sharing your experience. Yes, what you described really scares me. However, I do not have any sweats, shaking, hallucinations, delusions, or anything. Just that weird fuzziness/ electrical feeling in my head. I am taking it very slow with this tapering schedule and have the WILL to stop. I am very obedient and disciplined with this schedule, especially since I'll be going on 7 days. I will not regress from this path. I WANT it that badly. But wow this feeling is so weird. This is enough to NEVER go back down this path again, not matter what.

I'm hoping that after another few days this feeling will start to go away. Or starting Tuesday I will just take the Librium that I was given. I will be on Holiday vacation all next week.

But I did read stories that it's possible to taper from alcohol.

I'm not trying to discourage you, what you are doing is great, but just be aware that just as it is possible that you are successful, other possibilities are also possible. You won't know you are delusional until after the fact, it's just the nature of how things work. In all likelihood, you won't even realize how much confusion and mental distress you were going through until things settle. It's not a matter of strength or willpower when it comes to some of the more serious side effects. Not everyone survives serious WDs, so just be cautious. It may be possible but that doesn't make it any less dangerous.

If getting help is not an option in your mind, a slow taper would be the next best option.

Are there any reasons in specific that you feel that you have to do this on your own? Like do you feel that you can not talk about it with family or friends, is there too much shame, are you worried about the cost of medical detox?

 

[unknown_man]

I'm so sorry for what you are going thru. Make sure you take multivitamins and B vitamins. Some of your symptoms sound like vitamin deficiency and dehydration from personal experience. If daily chores feel like its going to make you 'spaz out' then just take a rest. You can do it.

Thanks for taking the time to respond.

I never thought of vitamin deficiency being an issue, but today I started myself on a multivitamin. I guess it will take a bit for the vitamins to build-up in my system. I've been drinking a lot of gatorade and water also. However, I am on day 7 and I am not regressing. I am staying on schedule to ultimately reach my goal. This sucks that it's so close to Christmas. I'm done putting any kind of substances into my body (alcohol or anything).

How much vitamins would you recommend me take? Should I take other vitamins besides a multivitamin?

 

[unknown_man]

Are there any reasons in specific that you feel that you have to do this on your own? Like do you feel that you can not talk about it with family or friends, is there too much shame, are you worried about the cost of medical detox?

Honestly, I live in a state where I have no family, except my daughter. I did not tell any of my family members, but did tell a few friends that live close by. I also have a few numbers from people I met at AA. I am not worried about a medical detox since I have good insurance, but most detoxes want to keep me for 12 days, which I cannot do because of my 2 yo daughter and work. I am strongly relying on being able to do this on my own. The last 1.5 beers I had was 10am this morning. So, having 3 beers in a 24 hour period sprawled out over 12 hours a piece sounds like I could jump off, but I do get uncomfortable after the 12 hours.

Maybe what I am experiencing is from having vitamin deficiency? I am not sure. I started a multivitamin today, so we will see how I start to feel once the vitamins start to accumulate in my system.

 

[Ragnarok-isinsight]

Hey unknown, I have been exactly where you are. I myself have been an on and off alcoholic for about 2 years now (it pains me truly to write that but honesty is the best policy.) I'll be the first one to tell you that YES, tapering by yourself is successful and you CAN do it. I've tapered by myself 5 or 6 times from very hard drinking. I would average drink from 1.5-2 pints of vodka a day to as high as a 750 ml whiskey, which might not seem liike a lot but I'm a 130 pound, 5'2'' 26 year old girl. I have never seized but I understand your concerns, all other withdrawal symptoms I read about I knew I could handle, but seizing was from my understanding my worst nightmare. However, each time an alcoholic detoxes from their binge, the WDs get worse and worse each time, so if you've detoxed before I really can't say if you will or won't seize. A user on here once related he cold turkey'd and felt great until 2 weeks into being sober he seized while at work, so there's no telling when or how it came happen (he was detoxing from benzos, not alcohol, but honestly the two things are very similar in brain chemistry and WDs.) There are serious side effects you can have so a medical detox is never out of the question, but I will give you all the advice you need to out your mind at rest.

My main questions to start off ate this: are you averaging the normal amount of hours of sleep, eating normal or even healthy than you would, and are you generally taking it easy or working as you do this?

Lack of sleep can seriously deplete your body, so get 7-9 hours of you can. Getting nutrients through food is your best bet over a vitamin but still, take the vitamin if it's all tough can do. For a , and while it may hurt to hear, chronic drinker like you as I can read, your body is lacking in potassium, iron, thiamine, b6 and b12. Alcohol strips your body over time from these so make sure your getting as least a daily dose of these, if not more (you can't OD on too many vitamins, although too much iron isn't good per se.) Also if you've been a longtime drinker your liver isn't doing great, so you can take milk thistle 3x a day to encourage your detox and recitfy your liver)

You feel alright besides your current symptoms? No disorientation, heightened sensitivity to noises, 'brain zaps' or fatigue? I've had all those. If you feel body-well good, I recommend some light exercise for your body to naturally produce endorphins and dopamine, such as a brisk walk around your street, yoga, or light pilates. It'll help, as long as you feel up to it. If your open to it, mediation is a great way to settle your mind from these anxeities, even just sitting by yourself quieting your brain helps. I use InsightTimer on my Android, it's feel and there's thousands of mediations on there.

Rushing through this isn't best, so I'm glad to hear your taking it slow. Honestly, even when you feel like you don't need to drink anymore to feel 'normal' , I recommend from my own experiences to have one drink a day for a week. Even when I knew I was out of the woods from my last detox I kept drinking 1 nip around 7pm, so my body had 24 hours clean then had ethanol in case it needed it.

Your willpower seems very strong and that's very encouraging. For me, once I was ready to quit from my two pints of vodka every day all day ( and I mean wake up drink til I pass out at night)

You can do this. The hard part for me wasn't mustering through the detoxed, it's after once I'm sober for a month and think maybe I can handle one glass of wine, then it snowballs from there. I've been sober for over a month besides last week when I had 6 nips of vodka cause I just found out I was getting laid off in a week.

You can PM me anytime. Ive been where you ate. I would love to help you more. I wish I could write more right now but it's my mom's birthday and the Christmas is right after. Even if it feels like a defeat for you right now to keep drinking theougb the holidays, there's a time and place for everything. If you need to drink a slight through Christmas to ease your worries about seizing, then just promise yourself Jan 1st is your first day of the rest of your life. You CAN do it.