i need advice

[pompeyman]

hi .... been to alc services last tues and they said i should keep drinking 3 bottles of wine a day for this week which i am doing ...... meeting with them again on tues when we agree to go down to two then next week one then abstinence ....... they have said it is dangerous just to stop but i am just so fed up with drinking want to risk dangers of cold turkey .... as have posted before tried before but have hallucinated and nearly choked on vomit ..... i guess im asking for you guys to tell me to do as im told so i dont put myself in danger ..... everything in my head tells me just to stop and sweat it out but i guess they think i m so far down the line ... 30 years or so ..... it would be too dangerous and last time i stopped i ended up being restrained in hospital but i dont want to drink my 2nd bottle as suggested .... i dont know what to do ....by the way pompey won 6 - 1 last night ! i am in such a dilemma .... if i sweat it out by just stopping i dont think i wil die but thats not the professional advice ........ what do i do ???? x pm

[Doggygirl]

i need advice

I am sorry you are going through such a difficult process. None of us here are MD's (at least that I know of) so I think it might be best to follow your doctor's suggestions.

I hope you can break free of this horrible addiction. I'm glad you are getting help locally - that's always a plus I think.

Strength and hope to you,

DG

[TigernParis]

i need advice

hope to you

as crazy as it sounds to keep drinking... i would follow your doctors advice....you could try to go to 21/2 bottles... see if you could do that.....but the body does need time to adjust to such severe drinking patterns.....i wish you all the best for your recovery and long term health

[Cinders]

i need advice

I can't stress enough that withdrawing from alcohol is dangerous. I hate it when people come on here and say "drink lots of water and you can do it." I agree, the majority can.

Those people are not where I have been. My BP last time I withdrew was 180/160. That is what happens. Our bodies cannot handle the abrupt withdrwal of the substance (booze) that we want to deal with.

Do what your clinic says. It is hard. It know that. I is very hard.

Take this one day at a time.

Been there, done that and is sucks. Hugely.

I know how frustrating this is. But, it does no good for you to kill yourself.

It does much good for you to quit and not kill yourself. Your family and friends will be happy you did. They may not know what you went through to get there but they would know how devastated they would feel if you didn't do it. ie if you died from AWS. (alchol withdrawl symptoms)

Does that make sense?

Love,
Cindi

[Guest]

i need advice

I've been at that point in the past, where I just couldn't carry on drinking. Once I did have life threatening withdrawls, but the other times I was fine. Just had bad dreams, nightsweats, paranoia, panic attacks et al which I rode through with my own determination. You could try dropping down, sometimes carrying on actually makes people worse and it's controversial advice to tell you not to stop. I prolonged my drinking at various points because of that advice, when in fact I could have cut back and stopped.

[mollyka]

i need advice

I would always do what the experts say, would have thought they could medicate you down tho?
Molly

[Seethepony]

i need advice

Yeah, I don't understand if you are already on 3 bottles a day, why not immediately decrease a little if that is what they suggest you do next week? What will have changed between now and then, other than you will have even more booze-soaked days piled on top of each other?

I'm not a doctor but I would imagine 2 bottles of wine would be enough to a) get drunk and b) avoid a precipitous bunch of withdrawal symptoms. After all 2 bottles is hardly depriving your body of alcohol.

Are you planning to taper off the booze and try it on willpower alone? Or are you planning on arming yourself with Baclofen or some other meds?

[cymru]

i need advice

Hey there PM. Havent spoken before, so hello there. Being a big wine drinker myself, I find this plan of cutting down very strange.
Firstly, as pony said, if your on 3 bts a day anyway, why do another week on it and then try to cut down. Also, being a 3 bt a night man myself, I know that in my experience, once you have finished the second bt, your guard is most def down, the craving is there big time, and if there is a third its going to be drunk anyway, and if not and the shops open, ill be visiting asap.
It seems to have lots of flaws, and for me I know would not work. The last couple of days on 1 bt a night, id be thinking...'this is it, only 2 days left.' Id finish the 1 and id be straight on another. Especially as I live alone.
But anyway, this is just my own view. Were all different in our alcoholic set up and at diff times in our determination to stop. I wish you all the best mate, and pm me anytime.
Oh, and im a Cardiff fan! Thats prob ruined any cyber friendship!!

[Mish]

i need advice

:l PM, I don't feel qualified to make any comment other than that your health professionals seem to be aware of where you're at and what you're drinking and as they are experts in AL, I'd have to suggest listening to whatever advice they have to offer. I can sense how impatient you are to get sober, but with what purpose?
Obviously, you want a better life. Don't put your life on the line for the sake of a few weeks.

:h Mish :h
XXXX

[Tabbers (a.k.a. KTAB)]

i need advice

Hi Pompy, problem is, as has been pointed out, is that none of us are professionals. That being the case I would also say follow the advice given by the services. I can understand your not wanting to stop cold turkey and given what happened the last time that is surely their main concern too even though they are advocating drinking this week to dangerous levels. Did you voice those concerns at the meeting? If not is there a number you can call to voice your concerns and see if it is ok to titrate down quicker? Actually its sunday morning in the UK so I reckon the answer would be the same as here, not a chance. Maybe try in the morning but for now follow their recommendations.

[Steve4]

i need advice

Risk involving going cold turkey is really overrated. Its really painful both physically and mentally but can be done. Do remember that it takes 72 hours for your body to clense itself from alcohol. All cravings you get after 72 hours AF are from your brain not your body. Services should at least supply you with vitamin B which is very good for us alcs If you manage to stay AF for 3 days then all the work you have to do is in your head. AA meetings help a lot with that

[pompeyman]

i need advice

thankyou for all the advice ..... seeing services again on tues ..... will talk to CPN about everthing youve said ....... shakinng so much this morning i have had a drink already ...... hence i can now type ...... will see if we can plan a quicker safe reduction to sobriety ....... tried librium, valium and naltrexone they refuse to pres to me any more as i just kept on drinking on them ...... wont go cold turkey ... will follow prof advice ........ the shaking convinced me of that ....... actually been drinking more than 3 bottles been keeping a diary ...... ta again PM ....... and i dont mind that you support cardiff .... scummer .... .that would be diff!! x

[Guest]

i need advice

PM

If you have been drinking on librium and other meds then yes, quite rightly I'm afraid the medics won't prescribe you those again. Before anyone says that's harsh I know of at least one death where a guy drank on sedatives related to librium, fell down the stairs and broke his neck. Drs have to be sure.

In the meantime I'd try to cut back, the old "don't stop drinking" whilst meant in order to avoid withdrawls is it's own worst enemy and you've just said you have increased. If this is so how are you going to cut back when they tell you to?

Sounds as if you are going to have to start and stick to a plan yourself, or look at residential, supervised detox. This can be NHS or privately. With the latter I know we are so used to having things for free in this country, but the NHS can't always pick everyone up all the time, and the private fees aren't that much compared to SOME private procedures. Certainly not very much if it saves your life.

Just a few thoughts for you there.

[ladyjan]

i need advice

Steve4;967677 wrote: Risk involving going cold turkey is really overrated. Its really painful both physically and mentally but can be done. Do remember that it takes 72 hours for your body to clense itself from alcohol. All cravings you get after 72 hours AF are from your brain not your body. Services should at least supply you with vitamin B which is very good for us alcs If you manage to stay AF for 3 days then all the work you have to do is in your head. AA meetings help a lot with that

Steve for as well intentend your comments are, I don't think you understand the nature of the beast.
Iti is NOT just mental once it goes beyond to a chemical addiction to ethanol, which by the sounds of it is pompey situation.
Yes the risks of going cold turkey are very real, I am just one example, I tried to go cold turkey after being in detox three times and just was so frightened to ask for help and go back again..
I ended up on the kichen floor having epileptic fit, thankfully my older son found me. I suffered a brain lesion in the attack and it will never be healed, am on meds for the rest of my life to control it..
So the dangers are very real and you would be wise not to make comment if you are not fully informed no matter how good the intention was..!

Pompey what I am curious about is, why is your tappering down week by week and not days at a time..what difference is a seven day marker?? more logical to me would be gradually daily tapper down.
You have said that they have told you to do it this way, but is this your doctor?? or an advisory place..?? just seems odd that they would advocate to drink 3 bottles a day for the nexr week etc..? just strange way to me.?????
I was drinking a litre bottle of vodka a day and sometimes beer & wine as well with it...and I was drinking that amount when I went into detox I didn't have to tapper down before, of course once in, it was cold turkey, but in a hospital under medical supervision and controlled so it was safe to stop abruptly..(no choice) !!

have you considered going to detox..?? or is it not possile?? to me it would be the best and safest solution for you.
I wish you well pompey...:l:l

[Pride before Fall]

i need advice

actually been drinking more than 3 bottles been keeping a diary >>

So, the advice to cut down to 3 bottles was, maybe, to taper down? That would make more sense, but is still highly unusual to do that over weeks. Could you talk to the CPN about the possibility of inpatient detox, and an inpatient treatment program (or at least a daily outpatient one)? Push for and use all the real-world support available, and as UK said, pursue private options if public ones aren't available. It's your life, and you're motivated to get it back, don't hesistate to advocate for yourself while you have that strength.

Best of luck,
Pride