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Misc alcohol withdrawals after 3 weeks of heavy drinking ???

frankie fresh

Greenlighter
Joined
Oct 1, 2008
Messages
41
hi bls,

need your kind advice.. currently on vacation, been drinking heavily (beer staring noon time, and g&t later at night). am talking about maybe 12-15 beers nad 5-6 g&ts...

need to start work in a weeks time... am afraid i will have some mild w/drawals i need to be on top of things if you know what i mean

nos, is 3 weeks enough to make me go thru pain and craving ? i plan on stopping 3 days before, will have a few beers at night to 'taper' but thats all

is that gonna work ? or shud i quite right away ? or shud i go on diazepam for a week's time after i quit

really need you advise here guys

thanks in advance

FF
 
Can you quit now, and use diazepam to taper?

If you have done this before then you might be fine tapering off with a few beers, but that isn't a wise idea IMO, what if it back fires? Etc.

Even if you feel bad, the diazepam can help for sure, just don't abuse it and it should be helpful.
 
I've gone for 5-6 weeks straight without a night passing by that I wouldn't wake up and fix myself a drink, then go back to bed. 400-600ml booze per day for that time, spread out through the whole day. I also smoked pot during that time, did Tramadol maybe a third of the days, a benzo here and there and a small dose of amphetamine in the morning.

Ended up quitting all the stuff after this episode (lasted for about the same time) and it was a walk in the park. I actually felt euphoric for the first 3 days and had tons of energy. I wouldn't be worried if I was you. I know I was scared and there was no reason for concern about withdrawls. Booze seems to take it's time here, but maybe that's just me and you're different. In a worst case scenario, you could always reach out for a pocket flask and just keep drinking! ;)

Why are you drinking so much if I may ask? For me that is usually a sign that I can't cope with whatever is happening. Try to find someone to talk through all your issues, get a nervous breakdown if that's what it takes or whatever helps you get back on track. Surely can't go on like this for very long unless you really don't wanna live anymore. Booze is pretty toxic and it becomes apparent when you don't give your body rest in between drinks lol.

Edit: You could of course keep a benzo at hand like the Captain suggested, but in my experience you shouldn't need that. Might just make you feel better having it at hand, but it'll be more rewarding to see that your body doesn't get used to alcohol as fast as you'd think and that you can kick it on your own with ease. On the other hand, if you've done this many a time before, your body might just be more susceptible to ethanol dependence, but from what I gathered you haven't and you'll be just fine. Now if this had been three years things might look different, but since there are always days were you run out because careless drunken stupor allowed you to, you'd know that by now. ;)

It's absolutely amazing how fast ethanol tolerance grows and I can see how that has you worried about dependence growing along with it. It does make sense, it's just not true for me at all and it isn't true for most people I've talked to. Takes me three to five days to down half a litre of liquor as my good morning drink (cut down with a H2O based tea extract and laced with crystalline sucrose to yield what pirates refer to as grog) and feel perfectly fine to attend lab internships and excel there or go whereever else life demands me to. I read about a guy on erowid experience reports who studied math as the best of his class, despite his being on a large amount of booze constantly.
 
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It's absolutely amazing how fast ethanol tolerance grows and I can see how that has you worried about dependence growing along with it. It does make sense, it's just not true for me at all and it isn't true for most people I've talked to. Takes me three to five days to down half a litre of liquor as my good morning drink (cut down with a H2O based tea extract and laced with crystalline sucrose to yield what pirates refer to as grog) and feel perfectly fine to attend lab internships and excel there or go whereever else life demands me to. I read about a guy on erowid experience reports who studied math as the best of his class, despite his being on a large amount of booze constantly.

I absolutely dislike beer. I feel nothing on normal alcoholic drinks. Liquor is the only thing that can make me drunk unless I absolutely gun the beers.

You're right, tolerance can build tremendously in as little as 2 weeks if you're hitting the booze hard.
 
it all comes down to wether u are a allergic addicted alcoholic,if u drink two beers and get a pick me up ,but dont continue drinking after the second do u feel bad? usually withing the hour?

allergic addicted individuals(like myself) get horrid hangovers bad anxiety to the point of no sleep ,no appetite etc

what makes this different from "normal" people is this "hangover" (wich is really w/d") can last 1-2-3 days from one night of HEAVY!! drinking(for the allergic addicted that is)

unless u are II adh/thiq alcoholic

"Given this pattern, it is easy to understand why the allergic drinker returns to alcohol in an effort to avoid the pain of withdrawal, Unlike the II ADH/THIQ alcoholic, who can tolerate large amounts of alcohol with minimal behavioral changes and mild or no hangovers, the allergic/addicted alcoholic tends to be a binge drinker who loses control easily. People with this kind of chemistry typically get hangovers. They also have a tendency, when drinking, toward altered personality: sudden anger, depression, or abusiveness caused by the allergic response of their brains and central nervous systems."

the adh/thiq drinker can use alcohol to fuel them through out the day ,have a drink at lunch or two and stop ...without ill affects (until later in life when he/she has damaged the liver,these types have 2 enzymes to process alcohol wich is why they can drink most people under the table,and never see a problem till its too late

stop drinking one day see what happens
 
yes i got access to diazepam... i start working on sept 1, how many days before shud i quit ? i was thinking 4 days before... also, how much diazepam, 10mgx2 daily ?
cheerrs
 
Oh ffs frankie, don't be ridiculous. This has to be said. You drank beer for a few weeks. You are probably still young which is a huge plus. You won't feel especially bad, you might even feel better. Throw the fucking diazepam into the trashcan and at least go see what you feel like before you start eating benzos to avoid feeling bad. You've made a mistake and even if you were going to feel bad at least you'll know why. You are being overly dramatic here, seriously. Once you've been through this over and over and over again and know what to expect, that's the time when you start preparing like that for withdrawals. Your body won't adapt to an extent that will make you feel like utter crap, just because it got a short lived stimulus. Your best bet would be to slowly taper off, from 5liters a day down to 1 liter over 3 days or so, it'll ease whatever is awaiting you (which will most likely be: nothing).

Hydro, I'd like to disagree to your calling the hangover withdrawals. If you've seen alcoholics withdraw their poison (I'll just assume you have), you know those aren't withdrawals in the classical sense. Alcohol withdrawals can be really fucking rough and we all know they lower the seizure threshold resulting in deadly incidents every now and then. It just gives a wrong picture. That's why we call what you are talking about a hangover. Fortunately I don't get those, I still don't see how it's an allergic reaction. Now I'm not a pro on booze, but allergic reactions aren't to be taken lightly, especially if you ingested half a liter of the allergen in a day lol.

Sorry if I sounded like an asshole, but this really is a pretty ridiculous request, withdrawals after 3wks pfff. Now like I said I was worried, too, but nothing happened. I'm generally the type who goes into withdrawals very quickly with most substances, but it takes a while for your body get used to the poison in my experience. If this was your first episode you will be fine. You didn't even drink much for alcoholics' standards. While there are a few who get by with a 6 pack a day and are full blown dependent on it, some boozers will have a gallon of grog before they hit the bus to work. Mmmm grog, I wish I had some rum now.

Enjoy what's gonna come towards you if you continue down this path, it ain't pretty (see "The Dark Side" Forums).


edit: FFS Benzos?! What the hell is wrong with you man? If you feel bad and need to show the world, just make a thread and tell us why your life sucks these days or take it to pm, I'll listen. You are in the right place for this stuff. Taking benzos to ease non existant alcohol withdrawals is just laughable and makes you seem like an attention whore. Sorry to be so straight here. I'm just trying to remove the crap from your brain. I'll say it one last time now: YOU WILL BE FINE!


Oh and btw, the diazepam wouldn't allow you to be on top at all. Just quit 3 days before work and you'll have a great first day.
 
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I absolutely dislike beer. I feel nothing on normal alcoholic drinks. Liquor is the only thing that can make me drunk unless I absolutely gun the beers.

You're right, tolerance can build tremendously in as little as 2 weeks if you're hitting the booze hard.
I noted that I hardly acquire a tolerance if I only drink at night in small amounts or only one binge per week (I'm not really the type for that), but once I make it a constant thing and start first thing in the morning before brushing my teeth or even during the night with a drink next to bed, that's when the tolerance builds like crazy. Just a few days and it feels like I'm acquiring an immunity to the stuff lol.
 
summary of the above post:

just stop! simpel as that, 3 weeks is not long enough to get w/d's and if any very very mild ones not enough to be tapering...

edit: better now crOOk :)
 
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just stop! simpel as that, 3 weeks is not long enough to get w/d's and if any very very mild ones not enough to be tapering...
Very wise words that contain all the information one will need on this issue, in case you were too lazy to read my aimless rant. :D
 
I do believe alcohol withdrawals are possible after three weeks of heavy drinking. That's a lot of alcohol.
 
If you've acquired a real habit prior to it and have been through many episodes of drinking before maybe or if you are extremely prone to it by nature. Ofc there is gonna be some sort of rebound, but classifying it as withdrawals after such a short amount of time doesn't seem to do justive towards actual withdrawals. I would most definitely feel a lot better on the second day because I'm finally thinking clear again, my body is rehydrating, ridded of having to detoxify at such a high rate constantly, whatever. Better not worse is what the rebound consists of for me after this time. He might be different, but being anxious about this sort of minuscule uncomfort won't really be the way to deal with the stress. We all know he won't feel really bad unless he tells him self over and over and gets told by us. Mind over matter is true to a certain degree, even if it's not really a caring thing to say to someone just going into withdrawals.
 
well maybe u need to do more research kiddo.... i can stay drunk for a week and it will take me 3-7 days before i stop shaking ,start to sleep ,stop sweating ,stop vomiting,stop shitting liquid

normal people get hung over for half a day or so ...not alcoholics feel sick more intensly

i once went on a helluva bender for 30 or so days ,no i didnt work come home then start drinking ,i woke up drank as fast and as much as possble ,everyday ...i eventually couldnt get much food down and had to keep drinking to stop all the negative affects ,after about three weeks blood was coming up

i would wake up completely consumed by violent tremors ,couldnt stand or sit very easily ,just kinda fall ,had to have help standing,i was litterally as week as a elderly person

anyway when i finally couldnt make it to get more i was forced to deal with it ...i would go from happy sad ,mad,eager to get more ,back to happy ,withing seconds ..i would loose thought in middle of sentence ,no focus whatsoever ,just stare at the wall ,felt like hurting people i love for no reason ,myself as well,would hear things ,see things

i was lucky enough to get a few beers a day to stop seizing ,but i still shook horridly ...constantly felt like i was inside of a GIANT bell that had been rung

so stop trying to be a "cool" or tough ... allergy to alcohol IS NOT LIKE OTHER ALLERGIES ,u dont swell up ,u dont cough....
 
read and understand if u can

Not all alcoholics fit neatly into the pattern described above. Some may actually be allergic to alcohol. This theory has been advanced by Theron Randolph, M.D., the father of clinical ecology, a new field of medicine that contends that allergies to foods and environmental chemicals cause a number of physical conditions. Randolph has shown that addictions to food and alcohol can produce alternating highs and lows. The highs are feelings of well-being that occur when the body is supplied with the addictive substance; the lows are withdrawal symptoms. In his work with members of Alcoholics Anonymous, Randolph discovered that many were allergic/addicted to the sugars, grapes, and grains from which alcohol is made. He demonstrated that these people begin to crave alcohol when exposed to the underlying component to which they are addicted. In addition to Randolph's work, a study of 422 alcoholics by an Illinois researcher, Herbert Karolus, M.D., showed that most were allergic to wheat or rye, the grain bases of many distilled liquors.

An allergic response can affect any organ in the body. The skin may react with hives, the intestinal tract with diarrhea, the brain with migraine headaches or altered moods and behavior. Alcohol can wreak havoc on the brain chemistry of allergic/addicted individuals. Their first drinking experience is always unpleasant. Their bodies send a clear message of alcohol intolerance by making them feel ill. Unfortunately, many people try to overcome this and "learn to drink." With repeated doses of alcohol, their bodies have no choice but to adapt. Allergist William Philpott, M.D., describes this adaptation as an allergic/addicted response to alcohol. The pattern begins with a high when alcohol is ingested. One of the ways the body reacts to substances to which it is allergic is by producing its own addictive narcotics, the opioid endorphins, which create a feeling of euphoria. Once the pleasurable endorphin effect, the high, wears off, the withdrawal phase occurs. This is often manifested by emotional symptoms: depression, confusion, and anxiety. The only way to overcome these feelings is with another dose of the addictive substance.

In the early stages of this type of alcoholism, drinking provides only a gentle lift. The equally subtle letdown that comes later is usually not associated with the pleasure of drinking. But in time the period of pleasure becomes shorter, while the withdrawal symptoms become more intense.

Given this pattern, it is easy to understand why the allergic drinker returns to alcohol in an effort to avoid the pain of withdrawal, Unlike the II ADH/THIQ alcoholic, who can tolerate large amounts of alcohol with minimal behavioral changes and mild or no hangovers, the allergic/addicted alcoholic tends to be a binge drinker who loses control easily. People with this kind of chemistry typically get hangovers. They also have a tendency, when drinking, toward altered personality: sudden anger, depression, or abusiveness caused by the allergic response of their brains and central nervous systems."
 
First of all, I didn't mean to offend you. I wasn't trying to play down your alcohol addiction or the adverse effects you experience. I was simply saying that the word allergy doesn't seem appropriate here. I tried to find publications by this Randolph guy and also searched pub med for general info about the phenomenom, but couldn't come up with a single hit. To be perfectly honest I had never heard of his theories before and while I have seen wide ranges of drinking behaviour in alcoholics, noone I've talked to has ever referred to this as an allergy. It might be a valid theory and any scientific background information would be very welcome, but before I've seen that sort of thing I'll have to discard it as non-verified. Nonetheless thanks for the stimulating input, there might just be some underlying allergies present, I just really doubt it's an actual IgE mediated ethanol allergy. That'd be bad news.

I know that some people have a polymorphism of the enzyme that metabolizes ethanol's primary metabolite acetaldehyd, acetaldehyddehydrogenase II is the enzyme I'm referring to and that this can cause problems very similar to those you describe. Much more pronounced hangovers because acetaldehyd isn't exactly the most pleasant chemical to have accumulating in your bloodstream.

I also didn't doubt that some people can go into withdrawals quicker than others, but for most that takes some long term training and won't happen before they have had many drinking episodes and their habit has grown older.

At last I'd like to point out that I was neither trying to be "cool" nor "tough" and that I also don't personally consider myself a "kiddo" as much as I'd love to be one again. Maybe I did downplay the withdrawals for extremely sensitive people like you, at least if the numbers you supplied are actually true (which I will have to assume even if 7 days of physical withdrawal after only 7 days of drinking aren't easy to believe with all I thought I'd know about the stuff). I haven't come across any people before who've had it that bad, unless they have a long history of drinking. The thread starter obviously doesn't have such a history and telling him how unbelievably horrible your withdrawals are when you know for a fact that you have an anomaly in your immune system/metabolism, well that isn't really constructive commentary since he was overly anxious about what's gonna happen to begin with. If you felt offended or disrespected by something I've said, you should probably tell me via pm and if it doesn't mean bending what I consider to be the truth, I'll delete that content. I didn't think we'd make this about your withdrawals and that you'd understand my post that way, I was simply trying to get the idea out of Frank's mind that he will need motherfucking valium to ease the withdrawals that won't even appear and I stick to that statement. He won't go into anything but very very slight withdrawals, if worst comes to worst that is. He should for a number of reasons not be using valium to ease out unless he's had a seizure before in his life.

edit:
Randolph's theories about chemical effects have been criticized as nonsensical by toxicologists, and his rejection of the signal importance of IgE antibodies in true allergy conflicts with modern allergists. Of course, Randolph did not claim that environmental sensitivities were "true allergies" mediated by IgE and this fine point is irrelevant to people suffering from non-allergic sensitivities.
As you can see many others have done before me, I, too, was simply criticizing the term "allergy" in this context. Aside from that, the whole field of clinical ecology seems to be parascientific mumbojumbo (excuse the term), that has found no acceptance in the medical community. Nonetheless, people show great variation in their metabolisms compared to others and I'm not saying alcohol doesn't make you go through hell. It's just that this really isn't anything close to the norm and it surely doesn't seem to fit into a thread, that imho should be about reassuring the thread starter that he will be fine and doesn't need another highly addictive medication with a similar mechanism of action lying around at home.

On another note, I've seen alcohol completely tear a large family apart, my grandma died at age 35 with severe liver cirrhosis and I also consider myself an alcoholic. I was just as scared as Frank during the first serious drinking episode, but in this case his concerns seem unjustified and the measures he is planning to take to avoid whatever he thinks is going to happen bring more harm than benefit.
 
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^^ Great post hydro so informative I'm definitely going to research that theory as I am an allergic alcoholic. Thanks for the great read. :)
 
jesus u looked hard enough

Theron Randolph (July 08, 1906 to September 29, 1995) was a physician, allergist, and researcher from the United States. He studied food allergies, chemical allergies, and preventive care. Randolph, along with other American allergists, objected to the definition of allergies as arising from serological abnormalities; this definition, common among European allergists of Randolph's day, excluded from consideration the kinds of adverse environmental reactions that Randolph studied. Randolph authored four books and over 300 medical articles and is considered the Father of Clinical Ecology.
Contents
[hide]

1 Research area
2 Books
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Research area

As a medical student, Randolph witnessed one of the most dramatic moments in the field of allergy when he wandered into the allergists' meeting in Atlantic City and witnessed the dean of American immunologists, Arthur F. Coca, pleading with his colleagues not to adopt the redefinition of allergy in terms of immunology [IgE, histamine response], which was then becoming fashionable.

Dr. Doris Rapp writes in Is This Your Child?, the original definition of allergy was "any adverse reaction to a substance that does not bother most other individuals. The majority of people, for example, do not develop illness after they are exposed to dust, molds, pets, freshly cut grass, or after eating certain foods. In contrast allergic individuals commonly develop hay fever, asthma, hives, eczema, or intestinal symptoms from these types of exposures. The tentative diagnosis of allergy was originally based mainly upon the patient's history and physical examination, which suggested allergy. For example, if someone's nose repeatedly and suddenly became watery and itchy while cutting the grass, it was diagnosed as hay fever due to grass pollen.

In 1925, however, allergy was redefined, and the scope of was called allergy became strictly limited."

As Dr. Doris Rapp documents, Dr. Arthur P. Coca's objections at the allergy conference went unheeded. However, Coca's arguments impressed Randolph and, as a practicing physician, he began to study and treat the group of patients who had been left out by the new redefinition of allergy.

In the forward to his first book Richard Makarness wrote; Randolp's great contribution has been to show that what twentieth century man has done and is doing to the environment, including food, drink and air is responsible for at least 30 per cent of the sickness which takes people to the doctor. Even more important, in the long run, is his work on the chemical hazards to health in our modern industrialized society. [1]

Randolph followed in the footsteps of other pioneers in medicine, like Florence Nightingale, when he sought and discovered the demonstrable cause of an illness in the patient's environment. Common foods were found to be the most frequent precipitating factor in these illnesses, Randolph taught, but the effects of food allergies were masked. [citation needed] It was the physician's job to unmask "nature's medical coverup" and to teach patients to avoid those foods that were responsible for their symptoms. This approach was in sharp contrast to the usual medical instruction.

Randolph's major legacy is the recognition of chemical sensitivity which prevalence studies now estimate to effect 16% of the U.S. population, with 3% in a severe form causing disability.


[edit] Books

Randolph wrote four books and over 300 medical articles, many of which were about clinical ecology and environmental medicine:

Moss, Ralph W.; Randolph, Theron G. (1980). An alternative approach to allergies: the new field of clinical ecology unravels the environmental causes of mental and physical ills. New York: Lippincott & Crowell. ISBN 069001998x.
Randolph, Theron G. (1987). Environmental medicine: beginnings and bibliographies of clinical ecology. Fort Collins, CO: Clinical Ecology Publications. ISBN 0-943771-00-5.
Randolph, Theron G. (1962). Human ecology and susceptibility to the chemical environment. Springfield, Ill: Thomas. ISBN 0-398-01548-1.
 
Sorry for reviving old thread but I need to share on the original question.

Sorry if I sounded like an asshole, but this really is a pretty ridiculous request, withdrawals after 3wks pfff. Now like I said I was worried, too, but nothing happened.

Just had to say.. Just went through 3 weeks of binge drinking while in traveling on vacation. Actually had severe withdrawal sympthoms, but I did not step it down gradually.
If any of you want to attempt this. First: Dont ;) Second: Step it down like this dude says.

Going cold turkey was horrible. I went through hand tremors, sweating, extreme fatigue (my mate carried my bags and had to hold my hand to enter the plane). Finished off by a panic attack in the plane where i just went wild-eyed and couldn't move for a few secs. Then heart-burns and general anxiety through the whole flight. Then staying awake all night and not being able to watch people in the eyes for 24-hours. I just recovered and found that these are sympthos of delirium tremens. My mate says I should check in with the doc, but since everthing seems fine now and I can interract with people again and move while not thinking I'll hit the floor - I'll just take it easy. Heart burns are also easing down.

I am 27, have never encountered anything like this before. So take care people, I think I just nearly died..
 
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In college, I went four years drinking 3-5 nights a week. I was able to cut back with no problems.

Now, however, if I go on a 2-3 day bender (especially vegas, i have no idea why my vegas hangovers are so much worse than my normal ones), I pay for it for several days.
 
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