Need advice

Hello thanks for responding! Well I was easily putting away 2 bottles of wine a night at 12% then maybe more when out! I've also had bulimia issues so I don't know exactly how much my body was consuming when I had my first episode we had been drinking maybe a litre bottle of vodka a day plus wine and fun on holiday but cut that back and went to wine when I got home! I now am sticking to beer at 5% maybe 4.5 and do around 5/6 a night but crave the 7th.i started with beer at 12 a night so it's down but I don't want to cut it back to quickly! It's a catch 22 as I get anxious about not drinking incase il have withdrawals badly so I'm not sure if it's the lack of alcohol making me anxious or myself! Any help would be great thank you

Withdrawals can be managed.

But you have to be up front about exactly what you are drinking.

You also have to be committed to following a schedule to decrease...you can not cheat.

Are we together?

There's an old saying 'no pain no gain" I've been where you are now, and it's definately no walk in the path.

No two people are the same, and what worked for one person may not work for another.

Yeah from the amount you're drinking if I'm honest you'll get withdrawal symptoms. Chlordiazepoxide (Valium) is the most common form of medication used in detox and can really help with symptoms.

Meant to add, have experienced detox with medication, and detox by tapering.

I'd  choose detox with medication over tapering any time. If the dosage is correct for you and you stick to the rules and are monitored it is relatively painless (in my experience anyway).

The detox is the easy bit, the hard bit comes after that, i.e staying away from alcohol, changing your lifestyle and sometimes your friends, as the potential to relapse is huge.

Paul Turner who is a qualified medical professional on this forum, hopefully will see your post and may offer his advice. TBH you will most probably get the best advice and help on this forum, than alcohol recovery services.

Have you considered taking an anti craving drug like acamposate (campral) after completing your detox. That really does help.

i would bite the bullet and visit my GP. No need to be ashamed or guilty, just tell the doctor everything as you have on here.

Good luck and "carry on posting"

Thank you! Yeah I'm happy to take Valium but I really don't want it on my records or interfere with my work! I'm happy to ask for help! (Hence why I'm here) I generally work in counselling myself despite the irony! And I really don't want this to interfere with my work! The thought of having to go back and live my parents kills me. It if I'm having to take mess I feel like it's a necessity! Can you live a normal life with taking pills? It's funny how at school we get told how drinking does your liver in but no one tells you about the rest of it!! If I'd have known!! Thank you

Thank you.

Are you a counsellor, or do you work in the medical profession?

You come across as very knowledgable or have you had problems with alcohol.  Sorry about all the questions, it's just that I find people's life's interesting

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thank you