Alcohol Withdrawl? PleaseHelp

[Siccness909]

wats up guys well basically my dad has been a drinking since he turned 21, over the years its gotten WORSE as i grewup, im 19 now, and hes been telling me recently he wants to stop drinking, first of all jus a lil note he drinks jim beam n coke, probably up to 6-7 drinks a nite, hes afraid if he jus stops hell have a seizure etc (from watching intervention etc) which i agree obviously i kno how bad withdrawl can be, ive gone thru MILD xanax withdrawl before, i kno he cant jus stop, we both kno, but he doesnt wana get medication for it cuz he says he doesnt wanna go to narcotics after stopping alcohol etc, i try to explain to him how it works as i do kno quite alot about the medications etc but basically i need another option, is their another option aside cold turkey? well that isnt one actually lol, suggesting less to ween off? idk hes 35 (yes my parents are pretty young haha) but i dont want him to die and im worried about him, he truly thinks he will soon if he keeps this up and i agree, its time for a change and i just want a little advice thanx in advance guys

 

[Cane2theLeft]

First off, since BL isn't your typical drug forum, a lot of people are put off by atrocious spelling and grammar - I'm not trying to be a dick, but you'd get more responses if your post was easier to read.

He certainly can taper and just gradually drink less until he's down to nothing but that's only an option if mentally he's able to do this. You're focusing 100% on the physical aspect of coming off but that should be a secondary consideration here. There is a reason why he drinks so much every single day and unless he addresses that, even if he safely gets off the alcohol, he'll be back to it sooner rather than later.

His best bet is to speak to a professional in the field who can accurate evaluate his usage and determine what is the best option for him to get off of it and stay off of it. If he is have 6-7 standard drinks per day (total of about 9-10oz jim beam per day) then he probably doesn't need inpatient detox but would certainly benefit from a script for a benzodiazepine such as diazepam, chlordiazepoxide or clonazepam to ease the withdrawal symptoms and prevent seizing.

There are pharmaceutical options as well to help him after he's quit including acamprosate, topiramate and naltrexone which are all available to help with the craving and none of these are 'narcotics' (which technically speaking, are painkillers but I presume you mean recreational substances in general). There is another medication called disulfiram which is sold under the trade name 'antabuse' which if taken daily, will cause someone to get sick if they try to consume alcohol and can be effective in keeping someone away.

If he tries to do this without speaking to a doctor or mental health professional, unfortunately the odds of him making lasting changes are very low. If he's been drinking for 14 years everyday, he can't just walk away scot-free. It took him time to get to this point and it will take time and effort to get back to where he should be. He's lucky to have you around though - it's obvious you care about him and want to help.

I'm studying addiction treatment so while I'm not yet professional certified, I know a good amount about the recovery process and the options available so feel free to PM me if you'd like to further discuss this outside of the thread.

 

[Allein]

I've been dry now for nearly 8 weeks, you don't say where you are in the world (I'm in the UK) my doctor referred me to the local alcohol and drug addiction service and they helped me build a plan to come off using benzos. they would have used Librium but I also had a problem with Diazepam at the time so we worked that one at in the plan.

You need prfesional help on this one to stand a chnace of getting off let alone staying off.

The support and advice I got was vital in stopping, just simple stuff like increase your sugar intake because alcohol contains sugars and your body will crave it. Its not really an option to go cold turkey due to the risk of seizures and tapering off booze is difficult at best.