Sick and scared

[fragileflower]

I quit drinking a few days ago. My last hangover consisted of a bad headache, a little shakiness, and thirst. But I took some ibuprofen and drank lots of water and it went away.
Oh, and I started taking Milk Thistle.

I woke up this morning feeling very tired. I felt more awake after some coffee. I ate breakfast ate work (banana). Then after lunch (just a sandwich), it felt like someone punched me in the stomach...a dull constant ache. I vomited and left early. When I got home a started to have diarrhea and a low grade fever (99.5).

I am convinced that I either have gastritis our alcohol hepatitis. I don't have jaundice or severe pain, but my abdomen is tender. Maybe I've been reading too much on the internet....I am so scared to go to the doctor. As I stated in a previous post, he knows of my drinking history. He gave me antatbuse and I stopped taking it because of the side effects. I'm afraid I will have hepatitis and my husband will find out. He thinks I've been sober since the end of August. I have very bad insurance ($3000 deductible I have to pay myself first), so if I ended up with having to have a bunch of tests on my liver he will probably divorce me.

Plus, I don't even know when I can go to the doctor--I don't have much sick time at work. If you don't have sick time and you take off even for appointments, you are on the chopping block to get fired.

I am so scared. Good this be side effects of the alcohol withdrawal or the Milk Thistle? Am I just scaring myself because I feel so incredibly guilty?

Thanks for listening,
fragileflower

[RedJib]

Sick and scared

Hi, you didn't say what your AL intake (quantity) was prior to quitting, but if you were drinking most every day and you quit only a couple of days ago, what you're experiencing may be acute withdrawal. Low grade fever, nausea/vomiting, diarrhea...those can all be symptoms of many things (including a virus), but if you drank alot, expect any physical symptoms to peak around 48 to 72 hours after you stopped. (yes, for some folks it can be much later, but for the majority, it's the 2 to 3 day range.)

First onset of hepatitis symptoms could occur after you quit drinking, but that wouldn't be common. You know that only your physician can diagnose, but if your symptoms don't get worse over the next 24 to 48 hours, you may be able to manage them yourself, at home, and not have to involve (and disclose to) health care and insurance folks. As for your husband...well, that's entirely your business. Good luck, hope you're feeling much better soon.

[medic]

Sick and scared

Hi ff.

Sorry you're going through that. I had gastritis many years ago because of my wine intake and the same kind of tenderness in my abdomen. The doctor prescribed me proton pump inhibitors (omeprazole) and a course of that cleared up the problem. I think you guys can get omeprazole out of wallmart instead of needing a doctor's script, so I'd recommend that.

That said, I would not recommend making it a habit taking them because I've heard proton pump inhibitors can be pretty toxic if taken regularly: this is of course unfounded in the sense I'm not a doctor and it's only what somebody told me so I'm no expert, but it's worth checking out if you do plan to take them regularly if at all.

I really hope it's not as serious as hep.

Good luck ff.

-med+c