Misc Alcohol withdrawal? Will a very short taper help at all.

[quitingalcohol]

I've been drinking 6 beers a weekday, and up to 18 beers per day on the weekend for many many years now.

I quit last year cold turkey for 1 month, i had audio hallucinations to the point where i truly believed that their was a radio hidden somewhere playing what i was hearing.

I also had some mild visual hallucinations, and was very on edge for about 5 days, going to the doctor once just for a check up, but without telling them i was in alcohol withdrawal for fear of my employment finding out or something, or it just being on my medical record. My drinking is my business, so i didn't want them to know.

Anyways so after 2 weeks i'd say I actually felt alright sober, other than some anxiety.

After a month sadly i relapsed, first with just a beer or two, and then 4, 5 etc.

Now I'm back to being a chronic alcoholic. I've basically been a functional alcohol for 30 years now, i'm 53 atm.

I actually went for a full body check up about a year ago and they did blood tests and said i was healthy. I guess I'm lucky, or maybe blood tests wouldn't show a damaged liver? I don't know but i didn't wanna ask for a liver test or whatever.

So yea I've had this week off with my vacation days and I drank around 12-18 beers a day from fridaynight to wednesday night, and on thursday i decided ima get sober so i only had about 6 drinks, and today I've had about 5 drinks. I have 2 more days off until back to work, do you think I'll have audio hallcunations like last time once I completely stop drinking on monday, having about 4 or 5 beers tommorow and 2 or 3 beers on sunday?

I know alcohol withdrawal is dangerous but like I said last time i quit cold turkey completely and didn't have any seizures.This time I'm having a short 4 day taper before going full sober on monday. Do you think the short taper will help at all?

 

[lds324]

It's all a matter of how addicted you really are, your tolerance, psychological factors, etc. I don't think four days is long enough to do much either way. I think a longer taper would be a better way to go, why do you need to quit in four days?

 

[LaserHosen]

Your plan for tapering seems to be about right: 4 beers on Saturday, followed by none if you can manage it on Sunday. Maybe a couple on Sunday if you're feeling stressed out.

You will feel like shit though. From my own experience tapering off alcohol it is sometimes bemusing when you're drinking four or five drinks but you still feel bad. I think this is because your body is still withdrawing even though you're drinking because it's expecting more alcohol (the amount you drank the previous day), so your BAC (blood alcohol count) is decreasing.

As for the health check it's possible that you were lucky to be born with a robust liver. I've had a couple of blood samples taken in the past and was told that my "liver didn't like what I was doing to it, but it wasn't damaged". This is after 10 years of casual to heavy drinking from age 15 and progressively drinking acoholically for about 6 or 7 years. Humans vary, and some of us are just born with more robust livers than others. I was always physically active during the day when I was drinking, which may have helped.

Don't let that persuade you that you can carry on though. Alcoholism is progressive and if you (or I) continue to drink alcoholically it will ruin your liver sooner or later.

 

[Tommyboy]

Don't ever go cold turkey from alcohol like you did the first time again. A doctor is not going to call your boss to tell on you for drinking, and who cares if one chart in one doctors office mentions your drinking habit. C'mon man...

As for this time, I'm not sure how much a short taper will work, especially when using alcohol to do it. Ideally you would get a few librium to detox with. Also, just because you didn't have a seizure last time doesn't mean that you won't have one last time. If you are driving and have a seizure then the consequences can be deadly, and even if you just have a minor accident, you will still lose your license for a year or so because you need to prove that the seizure was not epileptic, and I think they require a year of no seizures so rule out epilepsy.

You should go back to the doctor and get this sorted. I don't think that they do a liver functioning test with bloodwork for regular check-ups, so you need to ask for that to be done. I had a check-up last year which was when I drank a lot, and I mentioned my drinking to the doctor when he was sending me for bloodwork, and he had to add another test to be run for my liver, so it was not standard at my doctors office, so I don't think that your tests included liver functioning. Go back to the doctor, tell him what's up, get the proper tests run on your liver, and ask for a few librium or diazepam to get you off the booze.

 

[podsnomo]

A short taper is better than none at all. Tapering though, having that couple of drinks or one or two when you want far more is the worst though. It's almost worse than getting drunk. Another thing to consider is that for many people each time quitting is tougher than the previous one. Besides just getting older there's something about your brain readjusting and then going back to its previous state. This seems, as I've experienced and read, to make each successive quit harder on you. Do what taper you can psychologically and physically. Listen to your body. For an alcoholic like me, the idea of a long taper seems tortuous. I'd rather go through a rough few days until the fog lifts than limit myself to a drink or two a night. One or two drinks after all, just makes me crave 20 more.

As far as work, it's none of their damn business, unless your drunk at work.... As for medical, you should tell your doc. Mine has been understanding about it and helped me with some anxiety meds, closely monitored and dosed out in small doses. It might be a good idea to get just a few xanax. If DTs were to kick, benzos can treat them without having to resort to drinking.

Best wishes man. Keep us posted.

 

[mrflowers00]

you need to go to the doctor they won't tell you employer and they will give you some benzos so you don't wd so hard and don't have seizures

 

[mareseatoats]

I also agree four days will not be long enough to save you from major withdrawal. You should spread your tapering time out more for sure-because cutting yourself off that soon can also be very dangerous; seizures from alcohol withdrawal, and just the whole process in general is a great shock to your body.

If your are thinking of doing this all on your own again, without the help of a doctor- it is important that you try a more flexible, longer taper than just these four days. For your own health, safety, and sanity.

 

[Rattles]

That you are able to restrict your drinking to 6 beers on weekdays (cos of work I guess?) bodes well for the possibility of tapering, and whilst I know that even having one or two drinks is a risk, if you can manage a 4 day taper, why not stretch it out to a second W/E as your use is not so heavy during the week. I'm with several of the other posters here, I don't think a 4 day taper will do much either way. That said, tapering never really worked for me - after the first drink , I'm on a roll. If this is a problem for you perhaps try restricting your access; do you drink at home or out?- how much is it a social activity, could you do something else to fill your time? If you drink at home, try to limit the alcohol in the house, maybe to set a fairly late time for your first drink. I hope it doesn't sound like Im preaching 'cos I know you've done this before, but try thinking about why you relapsed last time - after all, whether you taper or not you'll just have to do it all again if you relapse.

Anyhow all the best and good luck with whatever you try

Rattles

 

[podsnomo]

It's been a while, quitingalcohol. How are you? I'm here for you. Unfortunately neither of us can initiate PMs yet due to low posts, but I hope you'll let us know how you are. Don't be ashamed if you slipped or started to slide. Keep faith. Keep hope. Keep coming back.

If no one has told you they love you today, well, I do, and that goes for anyone reading this.

Love and peace,
podsnomo

 

[Jabberwocky]

^Good advice, although I might put it a little different, good advice nonetheless.

 

[Swimmingdancer]

It's really best to get professional help if you want to quit drinking. A self-taper can be very difficult to do, it's so easy to just tell yourself you'll have one more beer, or you'll start the taper tomorrow, etc. Plus it doesn't help with the mental addiction and the reasons you were drinking in the first place. A doctor is not going to tell your boss, they can't even legally do that without your written permission. And who cares if your doctor knows you're an alcoholic? It's not illegal to be an alcoholic. Doctors are supposed to respect confidentiality and the vast majority won't judge you. Are you concerned about meds or treatment going on your insurance which you get through work or something like that?

At least tell the doctor you're a "heavy drinker" or something if you're afraid about admitting you have an addiction. But you will get much better medical help if you are honest with your doctor. If you don't feel comfortable talking to your current doctor about it, find a new one who doesn't even know you or know where you work. I think it is really important to get some sort of help. A doctor can help you come up with a plan to quit, give you meds to help with the withdrawal symptoms, suggest options for counseling, detox, or meetings if you're interested in getting some help, do a full check-up to make sure you're in ok physical condition, etc. If you don't want to go through a doctor or have anyone know, you can go to anonymous counseling and meetings etc.

Personally I think any small risk that this could somehow come back to bite you in the ass is outweighed by the importance of getting help with your alcoholism and help quitting.

As for the tests, you can definitely ask for a liver function test without telling the doctor you are an alcoholic or making them suspect that, but I'd assume it was probably already done if you had standard blood tests done. Look on the test results for anything that says "hepatic".

Best of luck to you