ok i am new here.I have been drinking everyday for the past 10 months to the point i pass out every night.I have decieded this is enough!!!! I am a mother of 3 beautiful daughters and i have to get myself together for them and myself.So if anyone can give me some insite as to what i am going to be going through with withdrawls over the next week or so and if anything i can do to make it any better i would greatly appreciate it.
It's really hard to quit on your own. Although some have been able to do it. I'd suggest you find an AA meeting either today or tonight in your area & go to a meetings asap. You don't have to talk or even introduce yourself if you don't want too. They'll usually ask if they have anyone attending their first AA meeting or visiting from somewhere else. You can just stay quiet if you wish instead of stating your name. Just go & listen & don't give up on the first meeting. It takes time. Good luck!!
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God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change. Courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Rheinhold Niebuhr
And Welcome to this wonderful MIP site. This site is more of a Portal to Alcoholics Anonymous. Agree with everything that Tessa said about going as fast as you can, you can find AA in you telephone Book, call the Hotline, and find out where you can go today.
About your question of what to expect? That would vary on what alcohol you were drinking, was it every nite, and want to say that you might notice the first thing that might come up in detoxing is a craving to have something to drink to illiminate the axienty that will no doubt come up. That is the reason for getting some personal support right away....get some telephone numbers, someone, anyone that you can call and have a real conversation with if the cravings should appear.
Alcohol has a ton of Sugar in it, and this is controversial on this site, you will notice, I am sure :), but what i did was have a very large stash of Milky Way candy bars, and when a Craving came up the Milky Way cut the craving way back.....
I hope you will keep posting and letting us know today, or later today what you are going through, there are many many wonderful people that have been there, done that, so you are for sure in good company....
Your reaching out to us took a lot of courage, so take that courage to a real meeting of AA, you might feel a lot of fear about doing that, we all did before we entered the Rooms. but the fear goes away so fast with the wonderful people and the warm welcomes, you will not regret "feeling the fear, and doing it anyway", A great book by the way.
So hope to see you soon Misty, you have just made yourself a new member of our little family here. The AA Program is a "WE" program all the way... we need each other to do this.
Thanks for posting,
Toni
Oops, forgot to say the most important thing, when you go, get a copy of The Book of Alcoholic Anonymous, and take it home and read the first 164 pages, no doubt you will find a lot of comfort in that book, and even see a story so close to your own...
-- Edited by Just Toni on Tuesday 23rd of March 2010 01:12:53 PM
When I stopped drinking, initially I did it on my own. It's very hard. You should seek the support of your local AA and get as many meetings as you can. Recovery isn't easy but it sure as hell is rewarding. The old saying Take one day at a time - I had to take one hour at a time in the beginning. You will be so proud of yourself when you stop and stay off it. Think of your beautiful children and what good it will do for them as well as yourself.
Withdrawls for me sucked big time. I had cramps,sweats,headaches,My joints hurt. My skin was literally crawling I was sick to my stomach,Insomnia is still an issue and I was an A-Hole for about a week. It was F'ing terrible.. Im going on 3 weeks sober on wednesday. I too black out everytime I drink, Even if its just a little. No doubt its going to be hard...You have 3 kids, I have one daughter. She was enough for me to get sober.I feel good now.actually I feel really good,My mind is starting to work again,I go to a meeting almost everyday. Everyday is a fight for me, but the meetings really help and really give me a positive outlet to get my thoughts together. you can this....
I didn't go thru physical withdrawals as I did psycological and emotional. It was the behavior of drinking that I had to stop and the program became a substitute. I jumped in and stayed in deep in the program and the psycological and emotional addiction went away on a conscious level. I am a chemically tolerant drinker so that I would drink a lot without looking drunk. I looked yellow green in color until 5 years after I stopped drinking and then got my light tan back along with the reality that my very religious mother had not had an affair with an Oriental male and therefore I am. LOL. I've got justifications for everything.
You've done the right thing if you really want help. You've reached out to recovering alcoholic...these are the humans who know what it was like, found out what we needed to find out and now live a happy and joyous life alcohol free. We really had to do it for ourselves and not for anyone else. If I didn't get sober they would never have me in any way shape or form.
You've got a pretty heavy practice of drinking going on and there's bound to be some reaction to stopping. Alcohoism affects us mind, body, spirit and emotions. If you can kick your expectations up alot that there will be some reactions when they arrive it won't surprise you as much. Having another recovering alcoholic on the otherside of the phone or at a meeting when the withdrawals do show up is very very helpful. Listen to what others are saying and do that rather than do what the disease is urging you to do. I've got some recovering fellows as friends who have been on some serious drug theraphy to get off of drinking withdrawals and its expensive in many ways. I've had withdrawal affect from prescription drug useage and I just went with the expectation lessons. I expected something and something came about...weird stuff. I hunkered down and knew it wouldn't kill me just mess around with me mind and body and that it would pass in whatever the required time was. I don't recommend that for everyone; its just what I did the last time. I've also used treatment which worked also. It is the time alone that for me is most serious so I use the fellowship.
Stick with MIP as you build the program around you. Call the hotline number for AA in your area and get to work. Don't drink and don't think while you're doing the work. Then come back here and read. Yours in recovery ((((hugs))))
-- Edited by Jerry F on Tuesday 23rd of March 2010 05:35:01 PM
IM not in any position with my sobriety to give too much advice. I can say Its been an uphill battle.BUT it DOES get easier.A lady at one of my meetings said last week that "Once a drunk always a drunk" it true,I am "IT". This will most likely be the fight of your life,for the rest of your life.But your life is worth it.Especially in the eyes of your kids.You Can Do THis! Make the decision to go to a meeting.Then make the decision to go to a meeting everyday for a week.Put the guilt and shame behind you for a now and make the committment to "TRY" 1 meeting everyday for a week. Im new to the program,I was (am) a hardcore alcoholic binge drinker.Life dont have to suck....Believe it or not there is an altenative,there is a life outside of drinking ourselves to death. Im a drunk,Ive been a bad father,a bad brother,employee and an all around bad person.I owe everyone money,the bank is taking my house,My parents dont trust me,and I dont like my self much,Ive done it all to myself and the list goes on.BUT Im SOBER today and have been for the last 3 weeks...If I can do this you can.Youre worth it... You Can Do This! One Day At a Time is what I live by.
-3 weeks sober and Im starting to get my life back,my wife and kid even like me again... -THis program works if you work it,Its life changing stuff.
Mommy3 - I would inform your doctor... Detox from alcohol can kill you... I know you probably want to avoid detox and rehab at all costs, but if you have insurance and can go, I would do it. This is your life here and to insure your safety, that would be my suggestion.... to at least look into detox and rehab. That being said, I did not go myself though I was already on antiseizure meds anyhow so... And in retrospect, I probably should have. Withdrawl was lots of sweating. I drank a lot of water. I couldn't sleep much. I cried and was really anxious but it was not pure and total hell. I didn't miss a day of work and I went to meetings the whole time. Whatever you do, it sounds like you have made a good decision to stop drinking.
Mark
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Keep coming back. It works if you work it. So work it. You're worth it!
Meetings were what helped me the most. I still had withdrawals but at least I knew I was with people who could help me and who had gone through them, too.
Even after I had only drank two or three times, I remember taking a quiz in a magazine with questions to help you determine if you were alcoholic and I cheated on it because when I went to the answer page, it said if you answered yes to three or more, you might have a problem. I was a young mother at the time, too. I didn't get to drink much because we lived in the country, I didn't have a car and we didn't have many social situations where I had a chance to drink. It doesn't matter how much you drink, it's what it does to you when you drink that makes the difference and only you can really say if you're alcoholic. I look at it this way, though. If you're alcoholic, you definitely need to stop. If you're not alcoholic, what do you have to lose if you stop, anyway?
As far as withdrawals go, I always hoped there was some kind of drug I could switch to so that I wouldn't have to experience those, but was disappointed to learn that I'd just be switching addictions that way. Alcoholism was a lot like pregnancy----the only way to get out of it was by going through it. :)
I suggest you contact AA in your area and they can direct you to the right help. It's all anonymous and confidential so you won't be embarrassed. Nobody will come knocking on your door unless you ask them to come. And you don't even have to tell them your name if you prefer not to. Best of all, the person on the other end of the phone will have probably gone through it all before you and can help you from personal experience.
-- Edited by Ellen E on Thursday 25th of March 2010 04:54:30 PM
