Alcohol Advice about first alcohol withdrawl

[lightblue543]

Thanks.

Right now though things are rough. I'm just drinking enough to 'keep the shakes and sweats at bay' and 'keep alcohol in my bloodstream to ward off DT's'. I will continue to do this until the withdrawal is over. So far, from the actual beginning of the withdrawal (the shaking hands, lack of energy etc.) it's been about 3 days.

Very weird experience yesterday, could have sworn everyone was staring at me in a way that suggested they knew I was coming... Similar thing today, I thought the whole town had been made aware that I was going through withdrawals and they were slandering and speaking about me behind my back. I get up out of my seat and some guy is already looking at me through the bedroom window (suggesting he was looking before I got up), I look out of the window and others are looking at me. Along with this I thought the neighbors where talking about me also and trying to use the ladder to break into my home... WTF? The more anxious I got the more paranoid I became and vice versa, until 1 beer at 3:20PM today put a rest to that. This could have been brief psychosis, however, I still have no explanation as to why others were in fact glaring at me through the windows... I'm doubtful it was a visual hallucination as I don't think I'm at that stage yet, but who knows.

Short-term memory is also shot, just like in the movie "Memento", I thought things that happened yesterday actually happened today, I am somewhat confused although I know the date, time, and current location. Given that this is occurring exclusively during the withdrawal, and given that I'm always taking Thiamine and a multivitamin, I don't think this is Korsakoff's and it should wear off once the withdrawal is over. As for Wernicke's, I don't show any of the main symptoms, however, I do show some of the 'diverse' symptoms. Once this is over I may have my doc order some tests.

I will keep this thread up to date for anyone who wants to hear about how it's going.

 

[PriestTheyCalledHim]

Seriously, just go to see a doctor, to a hospital, or local detox/rehab center with medical professionals. Stay safe.

 

[kleinerkiffer]

^This
Your paranoia seems worrying. Most if not all people don't realize they are experiencing delirium tremens and many die, because they are confused, do dangerous stuff, don't eat and drink etc.
I once sawa wwoman going through delirium tremens, she was hallucinating / talking to people only she saw and other stuff. We had to feed her etc. or else she would've died.

Imo it's not worth risking your life.
A taper with a long acting benzo like diazepam/oxazepam or something like chlormethiazole with supervision is way better idea imo.

 

[lightblue543]

Update.

It's been 78 hours since my last beer, and I'm currently doing better. My heart rate, sleeping patterns, emotional state, and blood pressure are all fine, so it would seem the worst is over. However, I've developed some hangover-like symptoms such as worsening lack of appetite, awful brain fog, malaise, mild nausea, and a mild headache that manifests itself as pressure/numbness. Could it be that, at this stage, my body is dumping all of the residual Acetaldehyde -- that was previously stored in other parts of my body -- into my bloodstream so it can be filtered out of my body?

 

[samm2]

Someone mentioned chlormethiazole used in Germany.....

Inhibition of cytochrome P4502E1 by chlormethiazole attenuated acute ethanol-induced fatty liver.
Chen YY1, Zhang CL1, Zhao XL1, Xie KQ1, Zeng T2.
Author information
Abstract

Cytochrome P4502E1 (CYP2E1) has been demonstrated to play crucial roles in chronic ethanol-induced fatty liver, while its role in acute ethanol-induced fatty liver remains unclear. The current study was designed to evaluate the effects of chlormethiazole (CMZ), a specific inhibitor of CYP2E1, on acute ethanol-induced fatty liver, and to explore the mechanisms. Mice were pretreated with single dose of CMZ (50mg/kg body weight) by intraperitoneal injection or equal volume of saline, and then exposed to three doses of ethanol (5g/kg body weight, 25%, w/v) by gavage with 12h intervals. The mice were sacrificed at 4h after the last ethanol dosing. It was found that CMZ significantly attenuated acute ethanol-induced increase of the hepatic and serum triglyceride levels, and reduced fat droplets accumulation in mice liver. Acute ethanol-induced increase of the hepatic malondialdehyde (MDA) and 4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE) levels (two biomarkers for oxidative stress) and decrease of glutathione (GSH) level was significantly suppressed by CMZ. CMZ also suppressed ethanol-induced decline of serum adiponectin level, but did not significantly affect the serum tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and ethanol levels. Furthermore, a significant decline of p62 protein level was observed in CMZ/ethanol group mice liver compared with that of the ethanol group mice. However, acute ethanol-induced increase of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPAR-α) protein level was suppressed by CMZ, while the protein levels of sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1c (SREBP-1) and diacylglycerol acyltransferase 2 (DGAT2) were not significantly affected by ethanol or CMZ. Collectively, the results of the current study demonstrated that CMZ could effectively attenuate acute ethanol-induced fatty liver possibly by suppressing oxidative stress and adiponectin decline, and activating autophagy, which suggest that CYP2E1 might also play important roles in acute ethanol-induced fatty liver.

Seems not just a sedative but protective in a unique way.

Also 1 unit = 1 12oz. beer = 1 6oz. glass wine = 1 standard shot whiskey

 

[lightblue543]

btw, I've been sober for a week now. I relapsed once after a five days, and thankfully it didn't throw me back into full-blown withdrawal, although it did cause the shaking of the hands and subtle anxiety to remit for a very short while, but not that's all over and I've finally escaped it. Not once have I ever shown symptoms of Wernicke's which is a good sign. I have been dosing 500mg of Sulbutiamine (w/ multivitamin) daily throughout the withdrawal and I will continue to do this indefinitely to thwart any sort of severe cognitive decline.

I want others to see this as a testament that tapering from booze is possible, at least in more mild cases of alcoholism. The advise given here is sound and benzo withdrawal is always preferable, however it can still be done by weaning off.

I may have done a number on my cognition through my drinking, so to speak, but hopefully it shall improve within the space of a month or two, and it won't be permanent (I believe I've developed a mild form of "alcohol induced neurodegenerative disorder"). Not to get into it too much but, the withdrawal lasted around a week. Tapering didn't fully prevent me from experiencing any symptoms (I doubt any form of detox can) however it did take the edge off, it would have been SO much worse if I had not realized it was withdrawal and went cold turkey instead, never do that.

I have to find a way to cope without the clutch of alcohol... I'm still quite partial to amphetamines and weed, which tend to be the safer classes of drugs, although I still need to be careful.

Just thought I would finally wrap this up. Thank you.

 

[heroinexox]

I am a nurse at a family practice and we had an alcoholic ready to w/d and we did prescribe him a weeks worth of benzos to get through it.

 

[FonkEmonkE]

Maybe it's just my body chemistry but I drank regularly (maybe 6-12 beers to start or up to 1/2-3/4 750ml almost daily for better of 7 1/2 years) which escalated even higher towards the end and the worst withdraw symptoms I experience was severe agitation at times and mood swings for about two weeks. Maybe my habit wasn't as bad as I thought? I have always heard alcohol withdrawal can be deadly and I come from a family of very heavy drinkers. I did have liver enzymes checked and results came back better than most people in my age range(28 at time) which was shock.