Did you read my post at all? Or did you just dismiss it out of hand, since I’m one of those bastard Docs? He’s a prime candidate for DTs, which, managed improperly, has a very high mortality rate. Once he’s out of the danger period, then comes working on longer-term sobriety. But he is not out of the imminent danger period, despite your hand-waving the medical facts away.
Listen to the doctor. That much a day sets you up for a bad coming week, and not being somewhere where you can’t get more makes it too easy to fall of.
ETA: Oh, and the next few months will be no picnic, but remember that you have the strength inside you to win. And maybe you can get your GF to help by quitting, too.
Thank you, and yeah, she’s quitting as well. She was never as bad as me. She understood her limits.
I also urge you to** listen to the doctor**. Whan Qadgop says:
He’s not trying to drum up business for anyone. He works in a prison. He sees a wide range of people who aren’t paying to detox.
Limits? People can have limits? I’m all or nothing. I’d recommend AA for the first few month, but they are wooish and nuts and sorta bullies (what comes of being an organization founded by and for drunks) and a thinking man like you will probably pick and choose what to follow and decide on your own when it’s time to move on. Some never do, but I got sick of how all everybody talked about was drinking.
I’m here most evenings so you can PM me. Don’t email me because I never use the email I have listed here.
Yep - here’s what happened to me one month ago today - I died, clinically speaking. Searted off with tingly feet and hands, then a weird onset of what I can only describe as going unconscious in really-slow motion. Pulled over into a fast food’s parking lot and told wife to be ready to call 911. A couple minutes later, it was obvious to me/wife to make the call. I sat there with head slumped on steering wheel, just waiting and worsening. If not for the OUTSTANDING response of both Fire and EMS guys getting there FAST, I was alert rnough at that point to feebly wave arm out of car window at the prettiest and most awesome looking firetruck I have ever seen, all lights ablazing for me. Then I see Fireman hop out of truck and race over to me and verify that I had practically no palpable pulse. He opened door and got my shirt off and that’s the last thing I remember until what I think was 5 or so minues later, strapped down in ambulance with a ‘shock pad’ on left/front and ide/right of my chest. I was getting ‘electrocuted’ 'exrenal pacemaker, per se) about every 2-3 seconds (IIRC) and that HURT. Every time, I bounced up off of stretcher a bit and fell back down forcefully. I was talking coherently at that point and realized what was happening. I worked Trauma/Code-response stuff for twenty-some years, so I knew what to expect, so my fear was abated a bit - I was alive! Taken to a Level One Trauma Center (where I once worked for a number of years as CT-Tech, having great pride of the excellence demanded and delivered there, etc). Wife tells me that they did chest compressions for the couple minutes it took to get IV’s and other travel essentials installed (including those damned shock-it-to-me stickers size of a small envelope, ugh)
Last thing I remember, before before becoming alert again and being wheeled to Cath Lab (where I used to help out in) for a temporay pacemaker (less than 15 minutes after enering door of ER!), was the EMS guys calling out for more fentanyl and, dang it, forget which other sedative, but I was knocked out prety quick and relaxed best I could for the two or three minutes of ‘electrocution’ I clearly remember. It endured long enough for it to have me realize I did this to myself and to take the pain since it meant I’d see my wife/family again. A so-called ‘come-to-Jesus moment’, for sure for me. I heard one of the EMS guys say “Potassium is near-zero”, and I know what meant and what was occurring to me.
As I was being stabbed with the cannula/needle in right/lower neck for the pacer lead and all that in Cath Lab (a former coworker was there, nice to see 'em again) while being barely sedated (OUCH!!!), we talked of old times and how close I came to time-limit of no pulse. Got a permanent pacemaker at around three PM the next day. Went home next mid-morning due to me being able to convince Caedio folks that, with my experinces/career, I could be trusted to know what a wound-going-bad looks like, odd symptoms, etc. Labwork was well within expectd values, and pacer never fired after install. I agreed to the pacer out of an abundance of caution, fwiw, and Doc agreed I could ‘opt out’ without much fuss from her, nut nope, Better safe than sorry. There is only a barely noticeable scar, but the lump on left/upper chest is clearly there, of course.
My issue came from drinking one or two of those ‘99’ 100 proof lil’ bottles a day, usually to relax/sleep, and had done so for a couple months without a problem. Treated it kinda like a medicine useful for sleeping. Troubles of all sorts cropped up over my world the next three or four months, and I had slowly ramped up consumption to 6-7, sometimes 8 a day, throughout the day. Mostly by downing two at a time, and hiding such from wife (or so I thought). I knew I needed to quit as I was surpassing ‘functional alcoholic’ point and I could admit it was a BIG problem and actually, the day before I died, I had gone to a well-recommended rehab in late afternoon for treatment to begin, after only drinking around 6 3% 12-oz beers (ie much less alcohol than usual) which began my decline. The phone calls and their website appeared to be outpatient-based ‘therapy’, but wife called me just before I went in to say its strictly inpatient, and for 3-4 weeks. No way could I do that stint away with wife being blind and no driver for the other three non-drivers in house. I decided to find an outpatient/physician-based treatment the next day, a Monday. Wife had a Doc appointment about an hour or so from our house, and it was first thing in morning. I did not want to drink/drive, and was feeling cruddy already. but not scary cruddy. Took about 20 minutes for me to get to point of pulling into that parking lot, where I stood again two nights ago and cried my ass off for awhile with wife and daughter - needed to confront where I truly got my second chance at Life.
I take blood-pressure meds, low doses at that, but I was ignorant that one of them was a calcium-channel blocker, and the alcohol’s effect on liver led to build up of some bad chemistry, hence the heart rate slowing and then stopping. Dead. My wife tells me that more than one of the EMS guys were screaming “starting CPR”, but no mouth-mouth as I was still slowly enough respirating, apparently. My wife said parking lot covered in wrappers of ‘gear’ used (but cleaned up by Fireguys as ambu drove me away. My only hint of oncoming physical trouble with ETOH (alcohol) was a few seconds of same weird feeling I got around a week before - kinda felt like I needed to eat something, just needed some fuel for my metabolism, so to speak. Weak and a seni-loss of awareness. Not long of duration at all so I did not give it much notice, but hindsight is 20/20, right? I was on the edge already. It was a Sunday and I only had the crappy low-point beed to drink (no liquor on Sundays here)
Abruptly stopping longish-term upper doses of alcohol, or even using it with meds, IS dangerous. Believe me, and it’ll sneak up on you and kill you in numerous circumstances. Mine being only one example. Sorry so long, but this is kinda a release for me to openly say this as well. Thanks for staying with me this far 
Maybe it’ll keep someone from waking up being zapped with 120 volts (as wife tells me she ws told as she rode with me) like a mofo and knowing it’s all your own fault. Or simply being dead-right-there. I only lived (or avoided brain-damage, etc) due to excellent med workers and their devotion to doing it exactly right. If this had occurred where I live (shitty hospital and far from highlly-trained/equipped EMS folk, for the most part), I could not tell this tale.
OP - get medically evaluated/treated no matter the ‘stage’ you are at. Please. I’m now weaning myself off the quite-effective Librium earlier than expected by Doc, but my heart rate averages near-100 bpm at rest no matter what, and blood pressures are near-perfect. The rate will be addressed in a few days at my next ‘follow-up’ with Doc on this issue. I still have not slept more than a few hous a night, on average, except for three memorably nice nights), but the bodywide aches/shitty feeling is gone now for a few weeks or so. I’m outta the woods on physical recovery, just dealing with ‘slight’ aftershocks of the dependence.I know that heavier drinkers get much worse after-effects, of course, but my point is that alcohol hits you from many directions, and more than enough of it can, and will be fatal.
I have zero desire to drink now, especially during the daylight hours. I know I could do a social-setting beer and walk away without craving/wanting more.My few minute’s in ambulance, being alert and electrocuted-to-stay-alive changed me quite effectively. I know ‘eletrocution’ is exaggerative, but if you’ve felt the shock, you’d agree, trust me! Changed my outlook and approach of each day. Big time.
I don’t know OP nor he/she knows me, but ya trust me on this, don’t ignore the absolute importance of professional-based withdrawal. Been there; doing and nearly-done with that, just less than one month ago or so ago.
Hope all goes well for ya, OP! Also, heed Qadgop the Mercotan’s words. He knows of what he speaks, for damn sure He da man on this subject, I am certain.
Wow. Thanks, Ionizer. :eek:
Will doctors judge you negatively if you go in and say you’re an alcoholic
I haven’t been to the hospital with an alcoholic, but I have with a drug addict (on several occasions) - while a couple of the doc/staff weren’t very nice (they weren’t truly assholes either - just didn’t really understand addiction - or the typical very busy stuff) - most were pretty understanding.
Keep in mid that doctors usually WANT to help people. In this case - most doctors would be very helpful - as they CAN help. If you come in with some vague complaints about fatigue or something like that - which might be hard to pin down - there is only so much they can do.
In this case - the treatment for DTs is (to my understanding) pretty well understood and effective. Therefore they can easily get their need for fixing/treating a problem met.
I have a friend who is a doctor and pretty anti drug (and is frustrated with the addicts she deals with) - and works in an area with lots of addict, but even she has NO PROBLEM helping addicts who want treatment.
Doctors know that X percentage of the population are alcoholic - most are more than willing to help.
I second (or third or fourth) the advice of listening to QtM - and also for going to AA. While I do not like the religious bent of AA - and the degree of religion you seem to get varies from meeting to meeting - it is relatively a small percent of what you will experience at a first meeting. It is nice to be around other people facing some of the same issues. Even if you don’t do the steps - knowing you aren’t alone and feeling support is pretty helpful IMHO.
You can find meeting in most areas almost any day of the week.
I think the psychological effect of seeing a doctor (even if it ends up it wasn’t medically necessary) or going to a meeting sort of helps solidifies your attempts to get/stay sober and turns them into an official “I’m going to fix this”.
One of the most light-hearted descriptons I’ve seen: 5-things-nobody-tells-you-about-quitting-drinking (cracked.com)
I’ve worked with MANY Docs and can’t recall any that were biased in such a way. There are probably some Docs that are prejudiced in this regard, but IME, odds are rather low.
Any Doc that judges a person negatively on initial visit tends to one without many return visits. But if a person fails to follow advice/direction of solution to problem repeatedly, THEN there becomes an issue of continuing treatment/care.
Alcoholism is a thing that is wide spread and harmful that, if a person comes out with whole story honestly, its unusual for a Doc to ‘look down’ upon said person. Some Docs may treat patient themselves, or refer them to an inpatient facility that specializes in the matter. Circumstances, level of ETOH usage, etc, can affect treatment plan, of course.
Just my experience(s) with both hospital and clinic-based Docs, fwiw. Don’t be worried about judgement. A fair percentage of Docs have been there themselves, believe it or not. I know of, more than I can remember accurately, Docs who had previous issues with cocaine, meth, Rx pills, etc, that its not unusual for the Doc to know exactly what its like. After all, Docs are only human, too HTH
ETA - totally agree with DataX
You are most welcome, and again, I do apologize for my post’s length, but it turned into a kind of ‘baring my soul’ openly to the world. Helps me to tell others that may be headed for disaster without knowing it.
Not too many people can say they died and now walk again. I am so lucky to be one such person!
Let me add my voice about seeing a doctor ASAP. I know people who got into serious problems with DTs.
You should be aware that depression and stress can get worse after you stop drinking because you no longer are self medicating. I’ve got PTSD and when I stopped, emotionally things got much worse than they had ever been as a drunk.
AA isn’t for everyone, but having people who can relate is very helpful. I didn’t like the whole god thing, and as a hard core atheist, I still don’t, but I shopped around until I found people who were less militant.
Kudos for having the courage to step up and take charge of your life by quitting drinking. The desire to power through this and do it on your own is laudable, but you are taking a chance you don’t need to take and making it harder on yourself than it needs to be. That means increased risk of failure and medical complications, including death.
Death from alcohol withdrawal is not necessarily something you’re going to get warning signs about, giving you time to get to a hospital. Are you afraid the doctors will judge you? Maybe they will, who cares? You’re there for help, not their approval. Take the help and leave the rest.
Afraid you’ll lose your job? If you lose your job, you can get another, unless you are dead or severely disabled from medical complications of withdrawal. Changing jobs is a good idea anyway, if drunk you is so popular at work. Triggers for drinking need to go to give you the best chance of long-term success.
Get yourself to the first available doctor’s appointment you can, don’t wait.
nitroglycerine, please try to keep checking in with this thread, too, so we’ll know you’re all right.
Do you mean airline-sized bottles?
Just to add another voice…
My brother’s best friend was a hardcore alcoholic who decided to quit cold turkey. After a few days the DTs came. IIRC, he did make it to a hospital, but he didn’t make it back out. He was 26 years old.
Go see a doctor, OP.
I haven’t read the entire thread, and I don’t have to.
The OP should not make a doctor’s appointment. He needs to go to the emergency room, if he hasn’t already. Like everyone else has said, abrupt detox from the kind of alcohol he was drinking can be FATAL.
+1.
nitroglycerine, you have the power now to take charge of your life if you take proper care of yourself. Doctors don’t turn people in for just being an alcoholic if you go to them now, before you mess your life up by getting arrested. If you get a DUI, the justice system comes in and tells you to do this and that, might assign you to a doctor you don’t like, and overall will probably make your life miserable. You’ll have mandatory classes to attend every week or month, regardless of whether they are helping. Probation officers aren’t doctors and don’t care about you, they care about making you obey the court’s orders and staying away from crime.
Or call 911 or whatever the emergency number is. All he really needs to say is alcoholic in uncontrolled detox in need of evaluation and they can have an ambulance out there. Any bills can be handled next month, or next year even. One can’t go back and get their life back.