Quitting Alcohol advice

80kieran

Hi all Any advice appreciated.. 42 year old male with young family and after one black out too many I think it's time to call the drink a day.. I find it very hard to differentiate between that one pint too much, I fear I make a fool of myself and am wrecked with anxiety and fear after these incidents and am more afraid I'll lose my family too over something I would not normal even dream of doing when not drinking.. Any advice on quitting as I'm normally the Life and soul of a night out but something has to give

tinpib

Hi Kieran.

You are in the right place, but in general this forum is pretty quiet so perhaps not many people will reply to your post, although people do post here, the 'havent touched a drop" thread:

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056160984&page=236

Ive read through that entire thread more than once over the years.

The best place to start is the stickie of resources int he forum:

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057658188

I can strongly recommend the stop drinking subreddit, people all over the world wanting to quit. It's very active and you can spend a long time reading many similar stories to yours. you will see you are not alone.

https://www.reddit.com/r/stopdrinking/

Good luck.

Sigma Force

80kieran wrote: »

Hi all Any advice appreciated.. 42 year old male with young family and after one black out too many I think it's time to call the drink a day.. I find it very hard to differentiate between that one pint too much, I fear I make a fool of myself and am wrecked with anxiety and fear after these incidents and am more afraid I'll lose my family too over something I would not normal even dream of doing when not drinking.. Any advice on quitting as I'm normally the Life and soul of a night out but something has to give

Have you got a good GP? If you can find an GP who is understanding and most importantly experienced in this area then that is the best port of call. You have a few options but the main thing is that you want to do this off your own bat because that's half the battle. Accepting advice and support is the next. I don't know what your situation is e.g. If you get withdrawal symptoms like panic attacks, shaking, sweats, high anxiety etc. So that's why it's best to go to your GP first and being honest with them will help figure out your best options. It's a learning process and takes commitment from you but also once you've talked to your GP talk to your other half. They also might need some support and they also need to learn the process so they can help you too. There's also AA or smart recovery. Although it's a huge step and may or may not be for you is Cuin Mhuire that's a three month stint away but look in to all your options you might find you try a few until one clicks. Or if you go to an AA meeting and hate it, try one in a different area until you find a group you are comfortable with. Find a sponsor too if you go. Hope that helps

aabarnes1

Hi mate, I would go to your GP initially just to get their verdict on your situation.
There are many options available to you that your GP can discuss.
AA should be your last port of call as we usually have tried everything else before getting here and there are many ways to get sober. Talk to your doc.

Jude The Obscure

I found this book helpful. It kept me determined in the early week when I needed support. They have a facebook support group also.

https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/andy-ramage/the-28-day-alcohol-free-challenge

J1

I'm not sure where to post but worried for my friend. She has been a functioning alcoholic for about 20 plus years but it is in the last 5 her drinking has really gotten out of control and she is close to losing her family.
She decided to quit three and a half weeks ago cold turkey and has been doing really well up until a couple of days ago. She has suddenly developed severe diarrhoea, shakes, sweats and some confusion. She is convinced it is food poisoning but a friend of mine who was also an alcoholic but has been clean for about 10 years said it is more likely here body reacting to giving up the alcohol and that the same thing at happened to her. She said she needs get medical attention but my friend is convinced that it is food poisoning and I am afraid to rock the boat with her.
Any advice on how to handle this would be so much appreciated she has been doing so well I don't want to set her back but she seems very sick.

Bonniedog

Quitting cold turkey after years of heavy drinking is not only uncomfortable, but dangerous.

Normally someone would be over the danger of sever withdrawal long before three weeks, but sounds very much like a delayed reaction. It is possible too of course that she may have been drinking unbeknownst to people.

She should go to a doctor who will most likely prescribe Librium or Xanax. I tried them over the years and they do work although for me they were a bit like less harmful way of getting spaced. When I gave up last time I used a tapering method; gradually reducing intake from bottle of vodka a day and starting in the morning, to one or two late at night to fend off the withdrawals and to help me sleep. Within ten days I was finished and have not looked back. It is very much an individual thing.

Sigma Force

J1 wrote: »

I'm not sure where to post but worried for my friend. She has been a functioning alcoholic for about 20 plus years but it is in the last 5 her drinking has really gotten out of control and she is close to losing her family.
She decided to quit three and a half weeks ago cold turkey and has been doing really well up until a couple of days ago. She has suddenly developed severe diarrhoea, shakes, sweats and some confusion. She is convinced it is food poisoning but a friend of mine who was also an alcoholic but has been clean for about 10 years said it is more likely here body reacting to giving up the alcohol and that the same thing at happened to her. She said she needs get medical attention but my friend is convinced that it is food poisoning and I am afraid to rock the boat with her.
Any advice on how to handle this would be so much appreciated she has been doing so well I don't want to set her back but she seems very sick.

Has she been to the GP? Because if she says it's good poisoning then she should go anyway, if it's lasting more than 24 hours especially. If she refuses to go then she's still in denial, after that many years of drinking heavily it's very dangerous to stop cold turkey and on her own. She could end up having seizures but also her body is probably lacking nutrition. Usually in a rehab centre they recommend taking vitamin B it's actually important. She needs to see a gp either way because if her 'food poisoning' has gone on for a while she'd need to go anyway you could use that as an excuse to get her into the docs office. As I said if she won't go she doesn't want the help. Did she get any info on what to expect when going cold turkey and the symptoms of withdrawal? Arming herself with this info and actually understanding it is so important before she even stopped. Good on you for helping her but can't be easy for you seeing her this way either. If you're closely involved in her life then I'd suggest you maybe try a support group yourself it might help you help her and also put your own mind at ease.

Turquoise Hexagon Sun

80kieran wrote: »

Hi all Any advice appreciated.. 42 year old male with young family and after one black out too many I think it's time to call the drink a day.. I find it very hard to differentiate between that one pint too much, I fear I make a fool of myself and am wrecked with anxiety and fear after these incidents and am more afraid I'll lose my family too over something I would not normal even dream of doing when not drinking.. Any advice on quitting as I'm normally the Life and soul of a night out but something has to give

Sounds a bit like me. I wasn't drinking every day. Just a weekend warrior but I would drink to excess and it led me to do things I regret. I know this feeling. I didn't quit alcohol completely. I enjoy 2-3 beers every now and then. It's amazing how my tolerance has gone down.

It sounds like you use alcohol for your social life. I changed my attitudes to drinking and that was the longest/hardest part. Once you start missing a few weekends off the alcohol, you start having more money. You feel better and more productive. It helps if you have hobbies and some of the money you spend on booze could go towards your hobby.

My habbit was that I would get the urge to drink because that's what I used to always do. So if it was a day trip to somewhere it would end up as pints at the end of the night. It was hard get over the habit. The initial urge that kicks in.

Really, my mind is much more clear. My memory is better. I'm generally less anxious. I'm more productive since I quit binge drinking.

My advice would be to quit completely for a couple of months. It takes about 8 weeks to form new habit. If you can quite for 2 months, you'll start to see all the benefits.

Personally when thinking about binge drinking, I think twice now. Before I went on auto-pilot. It was the norm. Now it's not the norm. So the thought of pounding my body out of it, destroying my braincells, triggering anxiety and spending money on blurry memories that I'll never get back, seems like a total waste of time.

You'll probably have to lose a few drinking buddies too. And they will test you. Because there will always be drinking buddy any night of the week.

angeleyes

Turquoise Hexagon Sun wrote: »

My advice would be to quit completely for a couple of months. It takes about 8 weeks to form new habit. If you can quite for 2 months, you'll start to see all the benefits.

I was going to ask this question but thank you Turquoise Hexagon.

I was feeling very overwhelmed during the summer and I am seeing a therapist. Lots of issues but on our next session we are going to focus on binge drinking which I am guilty of. Best thing I ever did was go to a therapist. Its not for everyone but is working for me.

The Enbalmer

Any updates OP?