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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards

Alcohol Withdrawal

T

TheHez

Greenlighter
Joined
Feb 18, 2012
Messages
19
Hi, I have been drinking 5-7units for about a month now and had slight withdrawals when trying to stop such as feeling need for a beer a tiny bit agitiated and kept waking up every 2 hours in the night, I also smoke cannabis.
I know I don't drink very heavily but I do drink everyday mainly in the afternoon I don't always have a beer before bed, problem is the doctors won't prescribe me anything the only things I have is ibuprofen, weed(Been smoking for about 2 years), chlorphenamine malete(piriton) and cetirizine hydrochloride will any of these help me feel drowsy instead of a beer, I am thinking of cutting down to 2-3units a day first.
 
Hey TheHez, welcome to BL and BDD :)

First of all, congratulations for deciding that your drinking is becoming problematic and deciding to do something about it - that is often one of the hardest parts! 5-7 units/day is above the safe recommended maximum and if you are experiencing withdrawal symptoms then it indicates there is a degree of physical dependence there. It's difficult to tell though, if you're not drinking continually though the day then it might be a hangover (which is essentially WD-lite). What symptoms do you get? As I am sure you are aware, alcohol withdrawal can be dangerous so it is important not to just stop abruptly now, but to do a taper or a medically supervised detox using benzodiazepines.

Cutting down is a good plan, and you could try to taper your use that way as your daily intake is not sky high, however if at any point you experience anxiety, tremor, dizziness, temperature disturbance and generally feeling unwell to a greater degree than you usually do it is important that you seek medical help straight away as you may be experiencing Delirium Tremens (DT) which carries a risk of seizures. Visual hallucinations are another sign of DT.

Did you explain to your doctor about your alcohol use and withdrawals? I am very surprised that they did not offer you some assistance with this.

To answer your question - chlorphenamine is a 1st generation antihistamine and can be sedating and also anxiolytic (anxiety relieving) although this is pretty mild. It could be used to help you sleep, although I would see if you can get hold of some promethazine (sold OTC as Phenergan to treat motion sickness, may be other brands too) as this tends to work better. Tolerance can build with continued use, but they are not addictive. Neither ibuprofen or cetirizine are sedating (cetirizine is a 2nd generation antihistamine and does not cross the blood-brain barrier, so has no sedative effects). Weed can help you sleep too.

Be cautious about using promethazine or chlorphenamine if you are experiencing any alcohol withdrawal symptoms as they can sometimes exacerbate them.

I would avoid benzos (other than in a detox supervised by your doctor) as it is easy to switch one addiction for another and they are not a good long term solution for sleep either as tolerance develops. Try good sleep hygiene - go to bed at a set time, hours relaxation before bed, no looking at a screen during that time, warm bath, hot drink, only use your bed for sleeping, get up after half an hour of trying to sleep for 10 mins.. it can take a while to retrain yourself but it really can help.

I would also recommend you check out "The Dark Side" forum here on BL - they deal with addiction and mental health problems, and there is an alcohol megathread. You are also welcome to start your own thread, and you can get a lot of excellent support and advice. It is important to realise that you need to tackle the psychological addiction as well as the physical dependence - counselling and Alcoholics Anonymous are two tools, but there are other options too.

Good luck! :) <3
 
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Hello

For the sake of your liver, definitely cut down. If you're using any paracetamol in conjunction, I'd highly recommend getting your liver diagnosed to see how healthy it is.

Saying that, alcohol acts mainly on the GABA system of the brain. My hangover cure (I realize it's a bit different here) is typically a LOT of weed (you said that's fine), in addition to two other things less likely to be available (and dangerous to mix at times): pharmaceutical opiates, and benzodiazapines.

The benzos act on GABA-A, not the whole spectrum, so it'll provide partial relief (and you won't mind feeling so rubbish as a matter of what a benzo does), while the opiate will remove your peripheral pains and aches. However this is just a temporary mask, and NOT something you should use long-term.

Look up GHB WD and the symptoms and solutions for that as GHB and alcohol act very similarly on the brain (not exactly, but close enough).

Good luck!
 
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i against i said:
sorry what do you want a prescription for? :/

^and recommending opiates for a hangover? wtf?!
Click to expand...

I provided some personal experience; everything in moderation my friend.

Also - your second line answers your first: hangover.
 
the op seems to be asking for something for withdrawal not hangover. at the level they've been using, just accept the discomfort for a few days.

"everything in moderation" what bullshit, especially considering opiate use rarely ends up in moderation.
 
i against i said:
"everything in moderation" what bullshit, especially considering opiate use rarely ends up in moderation.
Click to expand...

Perhaps for you, and many users of this website. However, there IS life outside of here, and many CP patients legitimately use their medication. People getting their wisdom teeth out get 20x 5/500's - plenty of my mates have left the bottles untouched after the first day or so.

Getting high from an opiate and using it to help aid a problem are two different things. I'm sorry you're too blinded by the need to get high.

And the OP won't get "discomfort for a few days" - he'll likely boarder on DT. If he doesn't have the ability to get to a doctor, some alternative methods will be necessary to assure he doesn't seize or have to deal with the shingles-like physical pain.
 
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obviously i wasn't referring to clinical use of opiates, but use as a hangover cure is not clinical. i don't know what drug you're referring to as 20x 5/500, but it's obvious that that will very unlikely cause problems, say if it's oxy, thats only 100mg total and some people blast that in one session, and one a day for twenty days will most likely not cause physical dependance.

the OP said "slight withdrawals when trying to stop such as feeling need for a beer a tiny bit agitiated and kept waking up every 2 hours in the night" from 5-7units per day for a month. i've had periods where i've had about 14units per day for months and not experienced withdrawal to write home about.
 
Thanks all for the kind replies,

I don't know why I didn't think of using promethazine as I used 50mg avomine to help me sleep when I quit weed 2 days before an operation.
I do need pirotin anyway as I do have sinus issues (my operation was to remove adenoids and straighten septum).
I have had shakes when I was drinking about 6 cans a day and cut down by half but since I drink after I get home from work 5am-10am shift and don't drink no more after about 6pm.
However I told the doctors and they just told me there not allowed to prescribe sleep medications as thats just as addictive.

Strangely enough I started drinking more alcohol after I quit smoking tobacco.
 
I missed the bit where you said you didn't need a drink when you first woke up - in that case, and given the amount you drink, it may be that you are just getting a hang over rather than full blown physical WDs. It's hard to tell because they share a lot of the same features. Do be careful though and watch out for the symptoms I mentioned as you cut down and stop.

Doctors don't like handing out sleeping pills (as in benzos or zopiclone/zolpidem) for anything other than short term use and they are especially wary in people who drink a lot of alcohol, as they are all CNS depressants (so can cause respiratory depression) and greatly increase your risk of overdose.

I think drinking more when you stop smoking is not all that rare - transferring addictions from one drug to another is very common amongst addicts, so you may have been replacing the cigs with alcohol. That's why I think you should consider the psychological side of things - what are you going to replace alcohol with, instead of a different drug? How will you resist when you want a drink, what strategies will you use etc.. :)

I would echo PJ too and recommend you speak to your doctor about having a blood test to check how well your liver is functioning too, it's a good idea if you are drinking more than the recommended daily maximum.
 
Hangovers are a result of dehydration and accumulation of acetaldehyde, which is toxic and even worse on your liver.

Have your liver checked for alcohol induced disease like hepatitis and cirrhosis, best be safe not sorry. For a hangover, I can understand why opiates and benzos might make you feel a little better, or maybe just feel a little less, but I am pretty sure that making your liver work harder is not going to be a good option, not to mention the other risks of addiction.

Hydrate with electrolytes.
 
Hi I told the doctor yesterday and they prescribed me 7x 3.75 zopiclone.
Last night took one pill and half of another and then I had to resort to weed to sleep which when I do smoke on its own I don't fall to sleep until about 2-3am still.
 
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