instant quitting

[girly wirly]

hi all, i'm on day 3 al free. i had my first appointment with my alcohol support worker today. she asked when my last drink was and i told her saturday night. i told her i'd had enough and had set myself the goal of total sobriety. well, i got a kind of a ticking off. she explained to me the dangers of halting al instantly and said i should be tapering because of the risk of fits, the damage it can cause to kidneys liver and brain. she explained that my body is like a machine and that all these organs are working so quickly to deal with the al, when you remove it and things start working slowly the instant change in the function of the organs can be really dangerous. she likened it to driving a car being driven at 140 mph and the brakes being slammed on, it would likely turn over with catasrophic effect.

i DO NOT want to listen to this or use it as an excuse to drink as i'm so geared up. i'm choosing to ignore her advice, but what she said worried me. i won't be drinking and i guess i'll have to brace myself for another ticking off next time. just wondering what you lot felt about this issue? any advice or thoughts to offer?

thanks
gw xx

[rubywillow]

instant quitting

IMHO, it depends on how much and how often you drank. VERY heavy drinkers have more to worry about. Many here have stopped cold turkey, with some physical discomfort, but not lasting damage I've heard of. I tapered, modded, finally just quit. Too much trouble with all that counting and worrying.
Others will have various opinons, and that's what you need. Hang in there.

[JackieClaire]

instant quitting

GW,
My AL councellor advised that one, just meant I started later and still managed to shove as much as I normally drank in a shorter period.
There's a fair few people here that have quit 'cold turkey'.

Drinking plenty of water and lemon juice, taking milk thistle and thiamine is very good to help you cleanse the organs.

Obviously if you suffer any serious withdrawal symptoms get on the phone to the nearest doctor pretty quick but after 3 days you should be over the worst.

J x
:l

[Guest]

instant quitting

If you are on day 3 completely AF you won't need to taper. Fits, shakes, DTs would have almost definitely occured by now. Is your support worker a recovering alcoholic?because it sounds as if she is regurgitating information read from a text book. Yep I've come across those types....some who don't even know what HALT stands for.

I've had mild DTs, jelly legs and once (way before I quit for good) did have a very scary moment. In my experience of many 'stoppings' by day 3 most danger will shown it's head. Many people, including myself have extended their drinking by believing the taper stuff - although it can be a useful method SOMETIMES for SOME people.

Well done on day 3, you are doing just fine.

UKB

[Rusty]

instant quitting

Hi Girly,

Ruby is right. From my own experience, ALL doctors will tell you not to quit cold turkey because it can lead to seizures or even death. My doctor told me that if I were going to have any withdrawal symptoms, they would have happened within hours of having my last drink. I never had any WD symptoms, and if you are on Day 3 and you haven't had any, then I think you're pretty safe. I found out the reason why doctors always ASSUME people will have WDs. My niece, who is an ER Nurse in a large hospital, was told during nursing training that people who abuse AL underreport their consumption by 3 times and as an ER nurse on the night shift, she was told that she should never take the word of an alcoholic as to how much they drink. The same is true for doctors.

Good job on your 3 days, AF, Girly. You're doing great!

[girly wirly]

instant quitting

i don't really have any bad side effects. headaches, a little agitation and a little shortness of breath. i can live with that.

no. i'm sticking to my guns. i'm not going there. i don't want it, i'm sick of the stuff, unlike times in the past i do not want an excuse to drink, although its a good excuse should i be in that frame of mind, but i'm not. it's taken me a long time to feel as strong as i do now, i'm not undoing it with a drink because someone thinks i should.

[Pride before Fall]

instant quitting

Hi Girly,

Our department treats people with severe (potentially life-threatening) withdrawal symptoms every day. I can tell you that detox usually takes place over 3 days, in which case you are already past the period where acute health risks can occur. Psychological and emotional symptoms are the biggies now.

It is very disappointing that your PC provider didn't know this, but I hope I can put your mind at ease on that point. The "instant change" was 3 days ago.

From the NIAAA fact sheet:
http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publicatio...22-1/38-43.pdf

"The signs and symptoms of AW typically appear between 6 and 48 hours after heavy alcohol consumption decreases. Initial symptoms may include headache, tremor, sweating, agitation, anxiety and irritability, nausea and vomiting, heightened sensitivity to light and sound, disorientation,
difficulty concentrating, and, in more serious cases, transient hallucinations. These initial symptoms
of AW intensify and then diminish over 24 to 48 hours."

[FallonsMom]

instant quitting

you are past day 3 already you should be fine the DT's kick in like a few hours later after the last drink.

[Chillgirl]

instant quitting

Girly - just wanted to echo what everyone has already said, I quit cold turkey with the expected side effects of sweats, sleeplessness etc. Well done on day 3!

[crawling_key]

instant quitting

You go, girl.

If you're on day 3 with no significant withdrawl symptoms then I think you'll be fine. Is each day getting better? It sounds like some aspirin and pharma gaba may help.

girly wirly;936643 wrote: i don't really have any bad side effects. headaches, a little agitation and a little shortness of breath. i can live with that.

no. i'm sticking to my guns. i'm not going there. i don't want it, i'm sick of the stuff, unlike times in the past i do not want an excuse to drink, although its a good excuse should i be in that frame of mind, but i'm not. it's taken me a long time to feel as strong as i do now, i'm not undoing it with a drink because someone thinks i should.

[girly wirly]

instant quitting

What is pharma GABA please?

[crawling_key]

instant quitting

Gaba is an amino acid sold as a supplement to support calmness and reduce anxiety. Apparently it has a hard time crossing the blood brain barrier so Pharma Gaba was created. Its more expensive than Gaba but I use it along with l-glutamine and DLPA as part of my daily regimine. One of my big withdrawl symptons has been anxiety so it seems to help with that.

girly wirly;936757 wrote: What is pharma GABA please?

[Pink Angel]

instant quitting

Yep what neve eva said! WHA-HOOOOOOOOOO!

[techie]

instant quitting

Terrific going Girly. Keep up the great work. Three days you should be good to go with only some very minor discomfort. I wish you the best of success going forward. Love John xxx

[girly wirly]

instant quitting

Day 4, feeling a bit yuck but at least I got a full nights sleep lastnight. Yip, I'm doing the right thing n I'm gonna take the flack next week. The thought of taking a drink at the moment repulses me.