DTs&Seizures and alcohol tapering

[alt 14]

I probably have been averaging 6 drinks a day, with days of up to 12 and rare times of 1-2 days of nothing. So I have read about tapering and how it's suggested to reduce alcohol consumption by 10% a day, so I will be using a pint of everclear and a bottle of apple juice to do it. 4,4,4,3,3,2,2,1,1,0.

When can I expect the peak of withdrawals to occur? After my last single drink, or sometime in the middle of the taper? I just have no idea what to expect. So far I've had some sweats and maybe some shakes.. Also some voices(I'm schizophrenic), but they disappeared like halfway through today's first drink.

Am I doin it right? There's not too much online I can find on alcohol tapering. Seems common practice is to use benzos when necessary, but there's no way ill get one unless I actually seize given my medical history. Thanks.

 

[tweex]

If you are already on carbamazepeine or oxcarbazepine and/or a benzo for schizophrenia, there is a good chance it will help: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20456734

 

[pasha]

Related reading:
http://www.bluelight.ru/vb/threads/672247-I-just-can-t-keep-away-from-alcohol!

There are a lot of symptoms, life threatening ones. Unfortunately, when you're about to slip into delirium, it can't be detected or avoided. The only way to prevent DT's is get preventative help (eg. anticonvulsant, benzodiazepine). I would highly discourage you to attempt a taper using alcohol. The half-life is far too short, and dosing will be a mess. Obtaining benzodiazepines must be your main priority. If not, I would highly recommend you see a doctor.

 

[tentram]

past addiction problems or not, it would be gross negligence of a dr to deny you medical help when it dt's and wds from alcohol given the severity and complications associated. you could complain to their superiors and the associated ombudsman to get their shit together and make a case against them.

sorry to hear of this negligence and best of luck getting the appropriate help needed to overcome this heavy affliction.

 

[dopemegently]

Yeah, this does sound like gross negligence, for sure. Re the severity of DT's, that's gonna vary from person to person, but obviously the amount of units you regularly consume will play a major role. For me, my WD's would kick in around 24 hours after my last drink, and I drank on average 26 units per night. I did my detox in a residential treatment centre, and they gave me Librium on a 7 day taper; this eliminated almost all of my symptoms for that week, but I didn't feel myself for almost a month. WD's include shaking, sweating, seizures, anxiety, delirium, even death in extreme cases; I'll say it again: It's gross negligence. Past addiction problems shouldn't enter the equation-I was detoxed while on a suboxone prescription.

I'm not sure how you'd go about tapering, as I did my detox in a rehab. If I were you, I would try and obtain a benzodiazepene, namely Librium, as it's a really excellent drug for alcohol detox. The closest legal equivalent to Librium imo would be pyrazolam taken with amitryptaline, but self-medicating can be very risky and unwise to do without medical supervision, or professional advice, at the very least, as the doses of benzo's administered during an alcohol detox can be pretty damn high (I was given 21 Librium on day one, I'm not sure what strength). As far as I know, nitrous oxide is used for alcohol detox in some countries including South Africa, although I have no idea what dosages it's used in. (I'm sure it's a lot more than your average cream charger can hold). Nitrous may be worth looking into if benzodiazepines are not available to you, although it could be risky; a large enough dose will knock you unconscious.

However, the fact that you can go up to 2 days without a drink is an extremely good sign; you should be in full-blown DT's within 48 hours, so in-house treatment or medication may not even be necessary for you. You may want to join up with a specialized alcoholics forum, these should be able to provide you with excellent advice. Obviously as Chromophobia pointed out, tapering is messy, and could only serve to prolong the detox process and any withdrawal symptoms.

 

[weekend addiction]

I prefer to taper a drug with the original drug if I can. Feels more natural.

While not recommended by the medical community if you have good self-discipline you can taper alcohol with alcohol. I've done this before. The OP seems intent to go this route and its really not a bad one if you can handle it. Works best if you pre-measure the alcohol and put it in a separate container instead of measuring as you go.

You average 6 drinks a night so start your taper at 6 drinks. Drink 6 for one week. Then drop half a shot every week. In 12 weeks your totally clean and should avoid any kind of PAWS or traumatic withdrawal symptoms. In fact most people would have no w\d symptoms at all with such a gradual taper. Yes it will take you three months to be off the booze but w\d isn't like removing a bandaid. When w\d is slow it can be a very pleasant slowly coming out of the fog feeling that is indescribably liberating. Cutting back slowly allows you to gradually adjust your lifestyle accordingly.

*I'm not a doctor. Also why taper with everclear? It's a lot stronger and will be harder to accurately measure.

 

[dopemegently]

Alt14 please keep us posted on how your tapering plan works out for you. Weekend addiction is damn right in saying the feeling of coming out of a detox and feeling yourself again is liberating, for sure. The good thing with alcohol is that the worst WD's will usually be over within 72 hours. Of course there's a chance it could last longer than that. (I was very anxious and not myself for weeks). If you're doctor is refusing to treat you, she should at the absolute least be giving you vitamin b shots. (You're body will be highly deficient in vitamin b, its one of the reasons you'll feel like shit). If this isn't possible, as your doc sounds like a hardcase, you'll want to load up on vitamin b and thiamine and make sure to take it regularly, as well as keep yourself hydrated and try to eat healthily.

Btw have you had a liver function test yet?