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Immediate effects of stopping

Posted , 32 users are following.

tony62766
tony62766

I'm mid 40's and have been a drinker pretty much all my life. Beer and then on to wine. Probably a bottle a night until a few years ago when the credit crunch affected our business and things got very difficult money wise. We have worked really hard and can see the light from the money worries but my drinking has got really bad. There is a date in the future when our money problems should be sorted and I'm almost trying to black out life until we get there. My wife went off and got a job which helped with money, leaving me alone all day. I was starting to find that I would enjoy the odd snifter of vino with lunch, usually ending in the bottle going, the afternoon wasted (work, not me) and then probably a couple more bottles starting when the kids got home. Completely stupid I know. When I read all the govt health stuff, I wonder how I'm still alive. 

Anyway, yesterday I called it a day. Had enough. I'm getting a bit fat and reckon I'm on a crash course to an early grave if I continue with this. Damage may already be done. I stopped. I had half a bottle left which I considered pouring away or leaving as a test but in the end, I downed it with lunch and that was that. No more sneaking around to the shop later on. The evening was OK, a little craving or two here and there but nothing much. The biggest thing was what to replace the glass with. Tried water but drank it too quickly so ended up with multiple cups of tea. Went to bed at about 11pm, pretty tired. 

By 3am I'm in all sorts of problems. Sweating, muscles aching, headache, hot and then cold. No craving, just felt awful.. Got up had water and pain killers and got about 3 hours sleep. This morning still no desire to drink at all but still sweating and feel a bit 'buzzy' (alive maybe:-)).

My question is to others who have gone cold turkey. Did you get a similar thing? I started reading about Withdrawl Syndrome which basically says I'm going to start have hallusinations and then drop dead, which cheered me up no end. 

I'm now wondering whether stopping so soon is such a good idea. I'm going shopping in a bit and was considering buying a little bottle of scotch, just for a night cap so I can at least sleep. Or is that just a silly idea? I 'think' I can resist and just have a double before bed but maybe that's nonsense. 

Help. I feel good that I have made this descision. Should I go through the cold turkey or is it too much of a body shock to go from 30 units a day to 0? 

4 likes, 46 replies

46 Replies

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  • julia22773
    julia22773 tony62766

    Posted

    Hi all, I stopped 2 days ago but the symptoms were so terrifying after a few hours that I've just had a cider, I've had 2 seizures before and am really scared of it happening again as I live alone.  If I taper off very slowly will it stop it from happening?  Or I have 4 days of Librium I could take?  Or both?  Please help!

  • ROZANNA
    ROZANNA tony62766

    Posted

    Hey everyone I just read this entire thread and I thought I would put my word in! So I have been drinking for about 18 years and I am definitely a binge drinker because I go in till I'm blacked out almost every single time :-( I just quit drinking 48 hours ago at a cold stop. And now last night I had Tremors sweats my whole body was numb I thought I was going to die for sure! My chest hurts on my left side cold sweats on my Palms almost just like striking shooting pain throughout my body! And that was only the first night. I am only 31 years old and have been drinking since I was 14 :-( I want to quit cold turkey because I can't just have one. So when I'm having those night tremors I take a 1mg Xanax and I sleep just fine and I wake up and I'm okay for the whole next day... Has anyone ever done that before? And is that okay to just keep taking that at night to avoid the tremors?

  • k02685
    k02685 tony62766

    Posted

    I hope someone is still looking at this thread.

    I've been a drinker for years (12 - 13 years), one and off at times - 9 months alcohol free in 2015.

    Last year was my heaviest, averaging 3 to 4 bottles of 14%+ red a week from around September, occasionally topped up with Bourbon and port.

    I've stopped drinking before but this time I feel bad - I don't know if it's to do with stopping drinking or not. Started on 2nd Jan with aches and pains (particularly in legs, chest area) , sweating at night. The sweating has stopped, the aches and pains come and go. I'm very tired, finding it hard to concentrate. I'm now feeling weak in general, I've had headache for the last 5 days - it's a dull, tight, warm pain on my forehead - feels like I remember a hangover feeling like (many years ago).

    I should say, I've had 1 small drink last week -

    the day after the headaches started.

    I've kept myself hydrated and also started taking multi-vitamins. I've had bloods taken and all ok - apart from low vitamin D.

    Anyone aware of similar symptoms - if not related then i'm back to the drawing board.

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