Misc Quitting Chronic Alcoholism & Withdrawl

[skamariapastora]

Hey there ladies and gents, I tried to search for a thread I could put this in but couldn't find a Big and Dandy for Booze.

I'm 22 and a half years old, and I've been drinking for about 3 years, almost every day and definitely every night. Currently at around 26oz a day of 40% liquor, usually cheap rye/bourbon whiskey or 2-3 bottles 40oz, 8% of Colt 45 or Olde English, EVERY night of the month, with the occasional drink during the day to keep me motivated. I know, that isn't that long or that bad of an addiction, but my stomach isn't what it used to be, drugs have been an additional factor, and I figure that I should quit while i'm ahead. Can't do this anymore, nor do I want to. I'm hoping to quit for this new year because I am tired of retching and feeling like crap every morning and day. I work a steady job and have a good income, but also seem to be broke all the time. I have previous experience with Cocaine, Crack, MDPV, MDA, Cannabis and Inhalant habits, all of which were easier to avoid than alcohol when I decided to walk away. This one is sneaky and very physically bound. All others were just mental habits. The obvious solution is to just avoid it, but this is where my question comes in:

My question is whether cold turkey at this stage of the game is dangerous or thoroughly unpleasant. Have tried two or three times before but depression and shitty situations have always gotten the better of me. This habit is fucking things up, and i've been looking into the long term effects of it, I don't want to deal with that. Just wondering if this kind of physical dependence has any serious side-effects when I try to cut it out of my diet. If anyone has any suggestions, I am open to them, or blatant criticism. Not exactly looking to sign up with AA or some other kind of shrink sort of thing, but I've heard that physical side-effects could be serious with chronic abuse, which I have definitely been doing... I just want to know that I'm not going to drop dead because I don't have it in my system for more than 48 hours. Wasn't sure who else to ask, I trust you folks.

 

[shreddedlettuce]

Unfortunately going to an inpatient detox facility would be the best, safest and probably the quickest way to get the physical addiction out of the way.
Then it is up to you.

 

[tabsandcaps]

I wish I could help more, I don't think cold turkey can be that bad, alcohol is very much mental as well, the "confidence" factor and forgetting about your problems is definitely something that can suck you in.

When I first turned 18 and moved out of my moms place into a friends (18 is the drinking age here) me and him drank every night for about 4 months, we both ended up getting fired for going to work drunk, and kicked out of our place. Thats when I said fuck liquor, I still have a drink once a month or so, tomorrows newyears eve and ill be getting a nice buzz on.

Alot of it is in your head man, you need to want to quit, or hit rock bottom, either one.. I hope it helps man and again I don't know what it's like after years, but the "withdrawal" for me after 4 months was just an extraaa long hangover, and i constantly thought about it, threw up once in the morning like 2 days after I stopped and then it was all will power, which is sometimes the hardest part.. Good luck though man, i know you can do it.

 

[brutus]

^ Please don't give out such ignorant advice. Alcohol withdrawal is a very serious matter and can easily kill.

I would go to a doctor and tell them that you want to quit drinking, they will prescribe you something to help or point you in the right direction. Quitting alcohol is not something that I would advise anyone to do on their own.

 

[i are spectre]

indeed that's too much alcohol for too long. you'll need to be weaned off or have replacement therapy. sorry mate. unless you can ween off. just stick to beer and maybe you can get down. somehow i think its beyond that point for you. unfortunately alcohol seems to be a lot worse for health than say opiates. good luck mate

 

[tabsandcaps]

^ Please don't give out such ignorant advice. Alcohol withdrawal is a very serious matter and can easily kill.

I would go to a doctor and tell them that you want to quit drinking, they will prescribe you something to help or point you in the right direction. Quitting alcohol is not something that I would advise anyone to do on their own.

Very sorry, I was just drinking every day and thought i couldnt quit and felt sick without it, but as soon as i realised hey this is fucking my life up, i stopped no problem. I know the scale is way off and didn't mean to come off rude at all, sorry about that

 

[Mr.Scagnattie]

It is never recommended for anybody to try and detox from alcohol by themselves.. you don't know how bad it's going to be until you're in it and by then it can be too late. One of the main risks with cold turkey stopping alcohol is seizures..

What I recommend to you.. is what lettuce said, check into an inpatient detox clinic. There, they will be able to monitor you, set you up on a Librium/Ativan taper, and make sure your blood pressure doesn't sky rocket.

It is the safest bet man. Then, once you get your body under control, you can start dealing with the mental aspect.. but first things first. You need to get well.

 

[pasha]

Alcohol withdrawal is considered by most physicians as the most life threatening withdrawal. The issue with alcohol withdrawal is, much like GBL/GHB withdrawal, that you can't wait to detect the severity of the withdrawal as the delirium tremens hit you without warning at which point you are too delirious and confused to help yourself. Without a doubt you have a heavy enough habit to possibly trigger that. Seek help. If you don't want an in patient detoxification go see a doctor and explain your situation. Doctors are much more at ease with treating alcoholics than drug addicts.

 

[PNPGUYNY]

^ Please don't give out such ignorant advice. Alcohol withdrawal is a very serious matter and can easily kill.

I would go to a doctor and tell them that you want to quit drinking, they will prescribe you something to help or point you in the right direction. Quitting alcohol is not something that I would advise anyone to do on their own.

Absolutely true my buddy who drank a fifth a day of vodka had a grand mal seizure in a hospital because they tapered him down off the replacement meds too quickly. Fortunately he was in a hospital and recieved immediate treatment. I was always told quitting booze is so much worse then dope.

 

[crazycatman]

Is it actually possible/realistic to taper down your alcohol usage to 0 on your own without using any other drugs?

 

[Mr.Scagnattie]

Is it actually possible/realistic to taper down your alcohol usage to 0 on your own without using any other drugs?

For a real alcoholic? It's possible yes... But, definitely not realistic. Just like any other drug, if that's your DOC, it is very very hard to force yourself to taper down... So while it's psychically possible to drink less and less each day until your consumption is at zero.. it's very difficult. If it were that easy, there would be no need for inpatient detox facilities and we'd have a lot less alcoholics out there.

 

[skamariapastora]

I am surprised with the responses this got... I didn't think this was an appropriate forum to ask but I couldn't figure out a better place to do so... at the least I thought I'd probably get belittled or cussed out it, but I'm really glad I decided to ask now. I'm still around the same place, maybe a bit better. Physically I don't feel quite as bad, especially in the AM. cutting out liqour and malt liquor mostly stopped the morning wretches, but i still have pretty regular problems with nausea and vomiting, especially if I smoke. Tried the whole only beer thing, kind of worked, went a solid month with it, still daily use, but got down to around 4 cans of 5% a night for maybe a week, then it shifted to 3 and a large can, 4 and a large, then a solid 6 pack of 5.5% tall cans every night of the week, eventually more and then into liquor every so often. Kind of odd to want to stop doing something but still needing some way of avoiding feeling shitty/introverting with something that helps in the short term but contributes to it in the long term. Haven't had access to Cannabis for 4 months, which used to be my biggest help, but not really been motivated to look for it either. Doesn't have the same magic for me anymore after living with people who would go through a quarter every day but still were somehow shitty people... Finally got some yesterday but have had a pretty non-stop 2 weeks thing with a-pvp and am not particularly interested in it...

Regarding that question above though... Just saying, for me, I tried, personally, with admittedly not 110% the BEST effort I could have given, and I had a couple events occur while I was trying that didn't help mentally, after a full 3 years+ of moderate to often heavy daily, between 10-20oz 40% a day, or a couple more once or twice a week. 2 or 3 bottles of malt liquour or strong beer if I was strapped for cash. If you have a solid, daily use and are unable to resist the urge to purchase alcohol, either liquor or beer, no matter the reason you tell yourself, for more than three or four days, the habit is incredibly difficult to break unless you have some critical or traumatic event that is so important that it gives you no choice but to force yourself up and out instead of drunkenly coping but still steadily down... Rock bottom I guess, whatever yours might be. I don't mean to sound like a know-it-all, or arrogant, I know shit all... I'm admittedly a pretty dumb and impulsive person, but from my experience at this point, physically and mentally it is a very prominent urge to purchase and consume daily for me. Started as an interest and hobby, then a habit,made worse by depression, which it contributed to in a pretty sneaky way. Stomach just feels empty and churns all day and night like there is something missing, unless I have a drink. Often difficult to sleep when that is happening. Tried substituting with really wide range of other substances, psychedelics, entactogens, pharmaceuticals like Xanax, Trazodone, Zoloft, Vyvanse and Seroquil, stimulants or cannabis, or any combinations of them, after three days without a drink the empty feeling in my gut is so incredibly irritating and constant that I can't stop thinking about having one, or even better half a bottle. MDA and DOC each got me to around a full week without feeling any desire, but that was with regular use of them every day. I'm going to try again for another month or two with tapering, but I got back into whiskey in the past week on and off so I don't know if that will work. Got a pretty addictive and manic personality to begin with. When June comes around if I'm still stuck, I'll find an inpatient facility and take some time off work to do that as an early birthday gift for myself.

Again, thanks to you guys who responded to this.