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Misc Drinking enough for Alcohol WDs?

BlueHues

BlueHues

Bluelighter
Joined
Oct 18, 2012
Messages
4,393
Location
The Midwest
Okay, so I was an opiate user for many years and have been through that whole deal several times....

The last 6 months I've been drinking pretty heavily, by my standards....Usually two six packs of strong ale spread out from 4-5 in the afternoon until between 12-2 in the morning....

I've had breaks here and there, but usually only 36-48 hours or so but pretty much have been doing it daily...

I took a 4 day break about 5 weeks ago, but since then I've been drinking every day and I've progressed to pretty much a pint of vodka and a six pack every night....I really want to stop because I know where this is headed....

Today, i feel a little shaky and anxious, nothing too bad, but I'm scared I could have more serious symptoms.....

Was I even drinking long and hard enough to go through a real WD here?

If I'm okay in 48 hours and sleeping does that mean I'm okay?

Am I really drinking THAT much?!

I know what CAN possibly happen, but I'm wondering how likely it will be to experience anything significant....

thanks
 
Everyone is different but if you're sleeping soundly through the night after 72 hours, the worst should be over. If you're feeling really shaky and riddled with anxiety, try to track down some benzos if you can...booze withdrawal is dangerous and I've gone through a few withdrawals before and I thought I was going to stroke out. Pound water and try to eat something and relax. If worse comes to worse, just grab a six pack and try to space them out just to get rid of the jitters. Try to drink half as much as you did the day before and pound the fluids. Be careful.
 
^Maybe it would be better there, but I don't really want to go on a rant about how bad my life sucks and what a loser I am, I just wanna get opinions about WDs here....This topic is boring as shit, I know!
 
I found the worst part of heavy daily alcohol abuse was the next day hangover which was really bad and full of anxiety I would need to drink again that day to retain my sanity. It was a vicious circle. I always considered this a hangover only but now i think it was withdrawals even though it only lasted 1 or two days after stopping. I always used to think withdrawals lasted longer then that though...
 
There have been quite a few threads on Alcohol in the last week, or am I imagining it.
BlueHues I think this thread is in the right forum at this time.
If you feel you need extra support the TDS is the place to browse, you are not alone, I think people are just being more open at this time of year about alcohol.
I mean it isn't a new RC or anything.
Just interesting all these threads looking for help to stop drinking safely, I think it is a good thing for everyone to know the dangers of alcohol w/d.
Hope you feel better and stronger soon.
 
A pint and a six pack every night for 5 weeks, after years of daily drinking is very much enough for WD. And everyone is different, but the the steadiness and consistency of that is hard drinking. I know. I used to do that exact routine for years and it wound me up in deep trouble. I'm sober now but it took a wake up call that almost ended me to bring me to my senses. I'm a bad alcoholic.

If you are asking yourself these questions, take the hint from yourself and try to make a change. All the advice so far is good advice, but I would say consider finding a quality rehab and if you can swing it, do it. I'm not big on AA or any of that. Some people need that, some people hate it, I'm lucky I have a successful sobriety without all those trappings because I have a strong family support system. But whatever works, do it. Quitting drinking is by far the single best thing I have ever done for myself. I hope you can, too. Good luck. Happy New Year.
 
Humm... I'm sorry to hear that Hues. I know we've talked briefly about your drinking before.. I know where you are coming from. I was around a lot of alcoholics in detoxes over the years and I would ask them the same types of questions as far as "how much booze and how long do you have to drink it for to become psychically dependent?".... and the answer was always a pretty huge amount of alcohol consumption for a very long while. It's not like opiates where it really doesn't take very long to become strung out no matter how much you are using. I personally went through my only full year period of sobriety in 10 years and during that year I was drinking probably a pint of bourbon every night. I never got any sort of withdrawals from it.. the people I know who got that bad were drinking literally a gallon of vodka or whiskey each fucking day, starting from the time they wake up to the time they go to bed... and they were doing that for a long time.

Everyone is different so I know it can happen to people sooner and with less booze but.. I think you're okay at this point and if you cut back on your drinking you should be fine.. However, you are at a cross roads where your drinking could continue this way or most likely get worse.. and then, you will be in a world of shit.

Cut back now man before it gets super intense.. and if you can't cut back.. you need to stop entirety. You don't want to substitute an H addiction for a hardcore booze habit...
 
Thanks a lot dude! everything you said has been my experience as well, but I'm used to the opiate withdrawal and I've honestly never drank like this! I should switch to weed honestly....

It's funny how I fell right in with the booze, something I always considered "beneath" me as a drug user!

I was gonna try and grab a little xanax and taper, but I'll probably just start using xanax if I did that! I'm gonna grab some weed soon....
 
BlueHues said:
Thanks a lot dude! everything you said has been my experience as well, but I'm used to the opiate withdrawal and I've honestly never drank like this! I should switch to weed honestly....

It's funny how I fell right in with the booze, something I always considered "beneath" me as a drug user!

I was gonna try and grab a little xanax and taper, but I'll probably just start using xanax if I did that! I'm gonna grab some weed soon....
Click to expand...

Yeah really if you need something to get high off of often and regularly that isn't destructive to your body and your life, pot is always a great thing. A lot of us seem to forget what miracle drug the herb really is! :p
 
BlueHues said:
Thanks a lot dude! everything you said has been my experience as well, but I'm used to the opiate withdrawal and I've honestly never drank like this! I should switch to weed honestly....

It's funny how I fell right in with the booze, something I always considered "beneath" me as a drug user!

I was gonna try and grab a little xanax and taper, but I'll probably just start using xanax if I did that! I'm gonna grab some weed soon....
Click to expand...


Yeah man, unfortunately... for us opiate addicts.. It can be pretty easy for booze to become a real issue. It's odd though.. usually when we're using, alcohol is just whatever.. take it or leave it and no big deal. But somehow when we get clean, if we're not careful.. the alcohol can quickly become a big problem.

Lucky for me I never fell in love with booze the same way I did H... I mean, I like drinking but even clean off of dope, I don't love it like I loved smack. It still has almost turned into a problem for me but I was able to reign it in and now only drink in moderation. That's something I could never do with heroin.
 
mr.scagnattie said:
Yeah man, unfortunately... for us opiate addicts.. It can be pretty easy for booze to become a real issue. It's odd though.. usually when we're using, alcohol is just whatever.. take it or leave it and no big deal. But somehow when we get clean, if we're not careful.. the alcohol can quickly become a big problem.

Lucky for me I never fell in love with booze the same way I did H... I mean, I like drinking but even clean off of dope, I don't love it like I loved smack. It still has almost turned into a problem for me but I was able to reign it in and now only drink in moderation. That's something I could never do with heroin.
Click to expand...

So fucking well put this is exactly my relationship with booze as well. Eloquent. As an IV heroin addict.
 
mr.scagnattie said:
Yeah man, unfortunately... for us opiate addicts.. It can be pretty easy for booze to become a real issue. It's odd though.. usually when we're using, alcohol is just whatever.. take it or leave it and no big deal. But somehow when we get clean, if we're not careful.. the alcohol can quickly become a big problem.
Click to expand...

^This. I never touched a drop really all the years I was using H, it had no attractions whatsoever. Once I was off though . . . . Full blown alcoholic a few years later. We get used to self-medicating as H addicts don't we, being able to change our mood at will. Once off the H, if you're trying to avoid drugs, it only really leaves alcohol as the socially acceptable way to give yourself a mood lift or take you out of yourself and easy for it to develop into something unmanageable quite quickly cos it's so readily available, drinking hard is even encouraged to some extent, or at least it seems odd to some if you don't drink.

BlueHues, your drinking is at dangerous levels, but hey, you know that already. I was drinking as much as you are for years and never suffered from the DTs, the addiction unit doc tested me for objective signs of alcohol withdrawal and was surprised to find none whatsoever. I've seen estimates that only around 5% of heavy users suffer from anything like full-blown DTs and they usually peak at around the 48-72 hour mark for most of those who do suffer from them. If you're OK at 48 hours in chances are you've been lucky and got away with it. That's not to say you could push your luck for longer, and you have to be aware that kindling is very common. Users can stop and start drinking a good number of times without suffering withdrawal, the next time they stop it's suddenly a different story. Even if you have no objectively testable symptoms it's very likely that there will still be changes to brain chemistry after prolonged heavy use that will take time to balance out. I suffered from a lot of the classic symptoms of PAWS for months, rebound anxiety, over-sensitivity to stress, insomnia, difficulty concentrating, just generally feeling shit mentally, emotionally and physically even though I'd never been through the 'acute withdrawal' phase. Quit while you're ahead, things can only get worse if you continue.
 
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It's also important, withdrawals aside, to remember that alcohol itself is really hard on the body.. It completely ravages your insides, ages you, and makes you just generally unhealthy. Drug for drug, chemical for chemical, heroin is actually much easier on the body... Of course, obvious indirect complications from dope aside, especially IV use.

So, cut down on that booze Hues! Hah. You're a good man. You're organs will thank you.
 
i think you have been drinking enough to have withdrawl symptoms.
 
I didn't drink the day before yesterday, but last night I ended up drinking I don't even know how much vodka, I feel really anxious right now...I'm not shaking or sweating, but I don't know how long it takes for WDs to start....

Thanks for the advice guys
 
^Yaeh, I appreciate it, I'll try to get my hands of some of what you suggested...cant really afford a bunch of quality supplements right now though.....

I'm wondering if I should drink a stx pack tonight to taper down from yesterday or just not drink at all, other than anxiety and some minor muscle spasms, I'm pretty much fine right now
 
After all the sound advice that people have offered! Don't drink again and sabotage your progress.

Edit: talk to your doctor about baclofen and pregabalin, they completely erase withdrawal symptoms and even at therapeutic doses you may find them enjoyable, maybe more so than alcohol.

Shakes and tremors can be treated with propronolol although this will likely only mask a much more serious neurological dysfunction.
 
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