alcohol detox

[deos68]

mods please move if needed i didnt know where to post

well its my turn to ask for help
ive tried my fair share of pharmaceuticals among other things

but the one thing that seduced me and always kept me going back for more is good ol fashion beer
but its time for me to let go of my dear old friend and try to recover my life to what it once was

currently drinking 4x or 5x 12 oz 5% beers on a nightly basis
for about a yr in total 6 months earlier 2015 at 2x now 6 months at 4x beers
within 24 hrs i get insane amounts of anxiety
currently have 30x 10mg diazepam and 30x .5mg ativan

i talked to a doc before about going cold turkey and she said it was fine but this was around 2x beers a night
she said i wouldnt exp crazy WD just some anxiety and the likelihood of my exp DT's or seizures was highly unlikely
again this was at 2x beers a night would it be the same at 4x
every time i try to drink less i get anxiety riddled insomnia and when i cave in and drink another im fine

guess what i am really afraid of is the WD better yet i have a fear of having a seizure
i went to detox before but that isnt an option anymore
and i dont remember the diazepam dosage i was given when i went to detox

any insight? thanks guys

 

[justtakethat]

If i were u id drink 1 less beer and do that for a week or maybe more and recude by one untill ur at none (just personal advice not a doctor at all) maybe tell the doctor u want the diazepam for tapering and just keep it for fun or sale or something. I said maybe so im not breaking the rules by advicing it lol

 

[Invisible Helper]

I always felt it's best if possible of course, to taper with the drug of choice you already use wether were talking opiates, benzos, or alcohol. What the guy above said is perfect since you already like drinking beer , drink 1 less beer for a week or even two weeks if you can't drop quicker, lucky your drug is legal and you have a dealer on almost every corner with a sign on the street saying "BEER" . After two weeks drop 1 more beer a week , stay like that until you're down to 1-2 beers a day , at that point I'd advise you to stop completely or drop to 1 beer a day for 2 weeks and stop drinking , take the valiums 2.5 mgs a day don't take Ativan it's too short of a half life and I feel you'd waste progress . I'm not super expert with alcohol and stuff but opiates I am just my 2 cents I guess

 

[deos68]

yeah but the anxiety gets crazy when i try to go down one less beer prob try it again tho
trust me when you're a boozer having one less isnt the easiest thing to do lol
i have both ativan and diazepam both legit when i was searching for the benzo that i could tolerate

funny thing is i have massive will power when it comes to benzo but not for beer haha

 

[Mmp85]

Librium isn't even a strong benzo and it's meant for alcohol withdrawal symptoms. If your doctor is willing to give you the stronger types like valium and ativan I'm sure she'd be fine with librium. Do a little research on it, it sounds like exactly what you need.

 

[Invisible Helper]

Idk bro my whole thing is try to taper with what you're already messing with before trying a powerful sedative that's addicting . I know 1 beer less is a lot , but it's the perfect form of measurement . Maybe try cutting back half a beer every week , for you that should be easy to measure compared to liquid benzo measurement. Drink 4.5 beers for a week next week 4 beers the following 3.5 you can even get fancy and do 3.25 beers but you have to always be exact on the measurements. Also start eating healthy fatty foods since you're drinking beer so much as well as water a lot flush your system

 

[RDP89]

4 or 5 5% a.b.v.?? Thats nothing.

 

[belligerent drunk]

Yeah the amounts don't sound too threatening. I believe you wouldn't have too much of a problem quitting cold turkey, maybe sweat a little and experience some insomnia for a day or two, but that's it. I think you're worrying about it too much hence the anxiety. If it was me, I'd probably drop the beer and just take the diazepam before bed to at least get some sleep. Again, 4-5 beers a night is really not much at all, so worst case I'd expect the withdrawal to last 2-3 days and then it's almost over.

 

[justtakethat]

yeah but the anxiety gets crazy when i try to go down one less beer prob try it again tho
trust me when you're a boozer having one less isnt the easiest thing to do lol
i have both ativan and diazepam both legit when i was searching for the benzo that i could tolerate

funny thing is i have massive will power when it comes to benzo but not for beer haha

The anxiety may suck man but just remember that is the price you have to pay to not be addicted to the drug anymore.

 

[Mmp85]

I think there's a lot of well meaning but misguided advice here because the OP is an alcoholic and not a drug user.
I think you would do better to post in Sober Living where there's a specific thread on alcoholism.
It's very hard to taper as an alcoholic. I was never physically addicted, I was more of a party/binge drinking but even saying "well I just won't go to the bar as many nights this week" or "I'll stop by but only have a couple" didn't work in my world.

 

[deos68]

posted in the sober living section plus im reading through a few posts
not looking to drop one habit and start a much worse one
im sure i dont even need that many benzos because if i do go down going ct with benzo use it would be enough to clear a full week then drop that shit all together
after some basic reading game time is around 48 to 72 hrs after i go ct read that would be the danger zone if something were to happen

 

[Mmp85]

Yeah I went rehab and even though I didn't need a detox and had a few days sobriety they made me anyway, most likely for their own liability in case I was lying about my intake. But I had to do phenobarbital because obviously a rehab wasn't going to give anyone a benzo and phenobarbital isn't something you can just do without 24 hour care and quite frankly I hated the stuff.
But I do know people who got sober at home through Librium or Valium and never developed a habit or addiction to either.

 

[deos68]

hmm drank 3 and a half beers last night but midway i took a b12 supplement and drank a bottle of water before heading to bed woke up and worked out a bit
im feeling a shit ton better

gonna try the same thing tonight and work out again tomorrow
see if i get the same or /better results

forgot to mention maybe it does make a diff

i program and do other computer related shit
i'm sure an 80 yr old man prob has a more active life style than i do due to me being behind the keyboard all day and pretty much all night
i also eat nothing but junk food sometimes real meals
im not over weight actually under weight prob doesnt make things better either

 

[justtakethat]

hmm drank 3 and a half beers last night but midway i took a b12 supplement and drank a bottle of water before heading to bed woke up and worked out a bit
im feeling a shit ton better

gonna try the same thing tonight and work out again tomorrow
see if i get the same or /better results

forgot to mention maybe it does make a diff

i program and do other computer related shit
i'm sure an 80 yr old man prob has a more active life style than i do due to me being behind the keyboard all day and pretty much all night
i also eat nothing but junk food sometimes real meals
im not over weight actually under weight prob doesnt make things better either

Good job on cuttinf back. Also working out is good because sitting down all day on the computer is how my grandpa got a blood clot...

 

[deos68]

yeah man that shit was rough i kept wanting to drink another one
and i felt anxious but i some how managed to fall asleep woke up like at 5 am but still got in 7 hrs worth of sleep
still need to get back into being more active prob go jogging see if that helps

starting to think if my anxiety issues is nothing more than a huge hang over from drinking everyday everyday

i did a shit ton of research and posted on other sites and i got a lot of feedback saying my alcohol intake was ...to put it nicely ..childs play haha

 

[modocmodoc]

Your problem is benzodiazepines. Mixing those two makes for a confused brain, and in my experience, probably an enhancement of benzodiazepine neurological changes.

I had a brief period when I took 2mg of clonazepam daily, prescribed and drank a fifth of vodka or more a day (17-22 drinks), and I did not have seizures until I lost insy, 4-urance and no longer had a clonazepam script.

Seriously even though we are all different, 4-5 beers is negligible and after a week your acute w/d if any is over. After the situation I had (detox in a dexmetotomodine induced coma) I can now drink (and I don't but I have tested it) 12 beers without becoming noticeably intoxicated. It's just a hangover.

Definitely don't mourn that loss.

 

[modocmodoc]

It's very hard to taper as an alcoholic. I was never physically addicted, I was more of a party/binge drinking but even saying "well I just won't go to the bar as many nights this week" or "I'll stop by but only have a couple" didn't work in my world.

Yeah.. tapering alcohol is nearly impossible because of the disinhibition. You would need someone to serve the alcohol to you. Cold turkey with medical supervision is the only safe way if you are a serious drinker. Cold turkey is a terrible idea but they're not going to IV you ethanol when you're in the hospital getting your electrolytes replenished.

 

[deos68]

Your problem is benzodiazepines. Mixing those two makes for a confused brain, and in my experience, probably an enhancement of benzodiazepine neurological changes.

I had a brief period when I took 2mg of clonazepam daily, prescribed and drank a fifth of vodka or more a day (17-22 drinks), and I did not have seizures until I lost insy, 4-urance and no longer had a clonazepam script.

Seriously even though we are all different, 4-5 beers is negligible and after a week your acute w/d if any is over. After the situation I had (detox in a dexmetotomodine induced coma) I can now drink (and I don't but I have tested it) 12 beers without becoming noticeably intoxicated. It's just a hangover.

Definitely don't mourn that loss.

im sure you mean well but i dont understand half of what you said
i dont take any benzos only when needed, at that i havent taken any in over a month already
i dont plan on mixing benzos with alcohol at any point

my plan was to go ct and take diazepam along with vitamins which is essentially the same shit they gave me during my first detox along with staying hydrated and checking my bp every few hours
im sure i can replicate what they did during my detox except i dont have anyone watching me 24/7
but if something should go wrong i have someone living me and the closest ER is less than 2 mins away

im sure a taper can be done just a matter of sure will power
i have the will power to say no to benzos why not booze?
update on all this *
i went as far as calling a family friend who is a real deal doc who treats my grandma and explained what was going on so i didnt have to talk to my GP about it

said either taper cutting back half a beer over the course of a day or 2 he said if i can get down to 2 beers for a good amount of time i could ct whenever and have no danger or ct the way i explained earlier
pretty much said the taper doesnt have to be fast just to go at my own pace and that i feel like shit i am tapering to fast and need to cut back less

in the grand scheme of things i need to distract myself while i taper well im gonna try that first
the doc said i am gonna battle the physiological aspect of me wanting beer more than physical WD's
since 3 to 4 beers isnt shit according to him and that im making a big deal over nothing haha

and to some degree its true when they say drinking a glass of red wine or having 2 normal beers on a nightly basis might do you some good
i joked around with him about that and he said yeah its safe that he even drink wine nightly himself

oh and to stay the fuck off the internet googling stuff like that haha