A question about detoxing from alcohol

In My Humble Opinion
1

Here’s my background: I’ve been drinking heavily the last four years (Everclear 151), I started out drinking probably half a fifth three maybe four nights a week. That progressed into drinking, over the last two years, about 3/4 of a fifth four or five nights a week and eventually every night with the occasional night off as mandated by my girlfriend. The last, maybe 5 or 6 months (time has been kind of blurry), I started hiding a bottle in the car, getting to work and mixing a drink around 10 A.M just to keep my buzz going from the night before ( I get to work at 6 A.M.). I’d have a second one or two before going home and either crashing out or getting totally blitzed, because, hey, it made work more fun and my cow-orkers, especially the servers (I’m a cook) love drunk me. Drunk me is quick with a joke, and he’s waaaay more sociable than sober me. I just want to point out I’m very functional when I’m maintaining a mild buzz. I pay more attention because I don’t want to get caught and I don’t let the stress of the kitchen get to me.

Anyway, over the last three weeks, I found myself not enjoying it as much and that I was only doing it to keep the shakes and the nausea away. Don’t get me wrong, once I got home and really started pounding them down I enjoyed it, but the next morning, about 12 hours after my last drink, I’d start getting the shakes and sick in my stomach so I’d go out to the car and pour myself a drink.

Last week I seriously thought about quitting, kept thinking about it over and over until Monday (It’s thursday night now). I came home from work with a couple of drinks in me, rationalized to my girlfriend that we should drunk up what we had in the house and that would be it.

So we had one last blowout and I woke up Tuesday morning still feeling pretty good. About 12 hours after my last drink, I started feeling nauseous and getting the shakes. “Fine”, I said to myself, "I’ll watch TV, browse Reddit, masturbate, whatever it takes to keep my mind off it. It just kept getting worse. Luckly my girlfriend worked that morning so I didn’t have the car or I might have went to the liquor store and got relief. Eventually I started vomiting which really sucked because I had nothing in my stomach, and the shakes got worse. My body ached and my head hurt and by the time my girlfriend got home, I couldn’t do much more than lie in a ball and wimper, only getting up to dry heave. I realize I probably should have went to the hospital but I toughed it out and here I am on Thursday, alcohol free since Tuesday. I feel pretty good, and I REALLY want a drink, but I’m gonna tough it out.

I guess my question is this…How long does it take to totally detox from alcohol until the physical urge goes away? I realize the psychological urge will always be there but I’m talking about the urge that feels like a bottle is tugging at your heart to come buy it. I’m in the process of looking for a Councillor or outpatient place that’s accepting new patients and/or accept my insurance to help me with that and some other issues but I’m just curious how long this physical need lasts.

Sorry for the wall of text…If this was the wrong forum for such a lame question I apologize but quite frankly, typing this out took my mind off wanting a drink and maybe strengthened my resolve a bit.

2

You need to get medical attention ASAP. Withdrawal from alcohol can be very dangerous.

ETA, sorry, just looked at your post again. Looks like you’re past that part.

3

Congrats on taking the first step, but I believe it could take many weeks before your body has fully adjusted to not having alcohol constantly running through your blood. Get some professional help ASAP so you don’t suffer any more damage than you already have. And while you may feel okay at the moment, your body will start to crave alcohol so you need to change your behavior so that you have a chance of not slipping back into old habits.

BTW, although you claim to be a functional alcoholic, driving to and from work buzzed is stupid and dangerous. A DUI can change your whole life, especially if you lose your license, and that’s assuming you don’t kill yourself or someone else in the process.

4

Thanks, I realize that I’m VERY lucky in that regard. I am going to get proffessional help. If all else fails I’ll make an appointment with my GP. I know I don’t want to slip into my old ways which aren’t that old and how easy it would be.

5

Don’t make the appointment with your GP “if all else fails”. Make one tomorrow! “If all else fails” means either you start drinking again or you get physically ill. You want to see a professional BEFORE all else fails, m’kay?

6

So, about a 3/20th?

7

I was told there would be no math lol

8

You are probably past the worst danger, but do talk to your doctor anyway and keep pursuing treatment. They can help with nutritional therapy and give you information about what to expect physically and mentally over the next bit. There are non-habit-forming sleep aids and ways to deal with cravings and anxiety.

Hang in there.

9

You can die from alcohol withdrawal. You really need to do this under a doctor’s care. A doctor will give you a prescription for something that stops the DTs, which is commonly an anti-seizure medication. Valium is common, because it works in minutes, not hours, like some seizure medicines. A lot of people think of Valium as a drug people abuse, and not a useful medication, but a lot of epileptics whose seizures are either very rare, or not well-controlled with a daily medication like Tegretol also keep Valium on hand, so if they feel “seizurey,” they can take one and head it off. Valium has saved the lives of people who used it when they had the DTs.

10

You need to see a doctor right away to determine if you need to go on a medically-supervised detox. With most addictive substances, withdrawal is often nasty but won’t actually kill you. Alcohol isn’t like this - if you’re getting “the shakes”, that means you are in trouble and need medical help right away. Go see a doctor. Your health is worth it.

11

I’m over that. I realize I should have went when it started but I got through it. My next step is to find a councilor or at least my GB because I suspect I need anti deppressants. Depression and stress are why I started self medicating with alcohol in the first place I actually have a pretty good support group. My girlfriend sure as hell isn’t going to let me drink in her presence and my coworkers who know are rooting for me, so I think I’m OK for now.

12

I’m an MD who treats alcoholics in withdrawal.

Given what you told us about your drinking history, I’d say you have about a 5-12% chance of having the DTs ahead of you yet. Which can be fatal up to 40% of the time if not managed in a hospital under close supervision. (5% fatal when managed closely in a hospital.) DTs generally kick in 3 to 4 days after the last drink. People feel pretty good until they hit. Just like you do now.

You need to see a doctor. Urgently.

13

I wouild suggest finding a support group ASAP also, it does help to be part of a group and ahve other people to call on if you need help.

Good Luck

14

Please listen to this guy.

15

I’ve read your posts before, so now I’m kind of worried. I take Trazodone…not when I drank…for sleep issues…does that help at all? I HAVE to go to work…90% of our paychecks go to bills and the way hours have been…I just cant afford not to. But if I notice symptoms returning I’ll get to the ER right away. I do feel pretty good though. I’ve eaten more food today than I have in the last week. But yeah, If I start feeling weird at all, I’ll have my girlfriend take me. Thanks.

16

No, you need to go to the doctor. You can’t support a family if you are six feet under. You can get financial help later to pay the bills. If you have a fatal seizure at the morning meeting, no charity in the world can fix that. You can work later. Now is the time to take care of yourself so that you can work later.

17

http://www.npr.org/2014/03/23/291405829/with-sobering-science-doctor-debunks-12-step-recovery
First off, this interview with Dr. Lance Dodes is a great place to start figuring out a course of action.
My brother and both my sisters ruined their lives with booze and drugs, and I’ve also outlived a lot of addicted friends over the years. So my advice is…
chill on the detox, drunks don’t die because they quit drinking, they die because they choke on their own vomit, wreck their cars, or put a bullet through their brain.
Statistics say you have a 20% chance of getting control of your behavior. You have to want to be sober.
I was drunk and stoned from 1980 to 1994. I slowed way down just because I realized whatever potential I had to grow as a person was going down the toilet. Addiction doesn’t exist, we just do it out of quiet anger, bitterness, a need to destroy the self w/o being responsible for our own destruction, or salvation.
I say to fuck with abstinence, I’m drinking a margarita with a shot of cheap tequila in it right now, and I’m going to have another when I hop in my hot bubble bath in a few minutes, but I haven’t been drunk or stoned in 20 years. Shit, it’s not any harder than changing your eating habits and losing 50 pounds, which I did a couple years ago. Just have to want to make yourself better, you’re worth the effort.
And remember, there are no happy charming drunks, alcohol makes fools and idiots of us all. Just ask the career designated driver…

18

Yes, they do. This isn’t like quitting most other things. Try to quit a 30 year cigarette habit? You’ll probably feel like a ton of shit for a few weeks, but you’ll be ok if you can stick it out. Cocaine? Feel like shit, come out clean on the other side. This isn’t that. Delirium Tremens mean trouble. Big trouble. You can die.

19

Since the OP is really about a real-life medical situation, we prefer it be in our IMHO forum where you can get advice/opinions, some of which aren’t always correct.

Moved to IMHO from General Questions.

Good luck, nitroglycerine.

samclem, moderator

20

A small % of really dedicated drunks withdrawing get the DTs, mostly older with other medical complications. When I worked at the Austin St shelter it was striking how many of the homeless drunks who died checked out right around 50. However, the detox industry tends to tell all incoming patients what a terrible risk they’re at, I mean those bastard Docs are loading people up with thorazine and bad advice while fleecing their insurance companies and then kicking them back out into the same old life with a cure rate under 10%.
And Dts aren’t the problem in the post, it’s how do I deal with wanting that next drink? And a lot of the answer is, what do I wanta be as a person?