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detox

I am in my late twenties, and for the last 11 years have had 10-12 beers everyday.  I am in my 72 hour of self detoxification and am finding it very difficult to go to the restroom in either fashion.  Is this a normal effect from cleansing my body.  Also, can you give any indication how long the night sweats and irritablilty might last.  In any event I am determined that my addiction is physical not mental and I will never have a drink again!
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Avatar universal
Hi Bugsy, most of the worst withdrawal symptoms usually occur between 48 and 96 hours but it is extremely variable depending on how much you drank and for how long and also your individual body chemistry. I am very worried about your last statement that your addiction is physical, not mental. Addiction is a DISEASE and drinking or using is just a symptom of that disease. I am a recovering drug addict and I used to believe that if I just got off the drugs I would be fine. WRONG! I got off and then relapsed. I would highly suggest that you either see an addictionologist or find some AA meetings and get a sponsor. You should probably tell your doctor you are detoxing from alcohol so he or she can assist you - there are meds they can give you to make you more comfortable if necessary.  Don't feel embarrassed to talk to someone - your problem is very common and people are a lot more understanding than we give them credit for. You need people around you right now. Good luck!
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Avatar universal
Bugsy,

Please! Please! do not try and detox yourself.  Alcohol withdrawl is the worst withdrawl of any kind and it can kill you (no other drug withdrawl, like heroin and cocaine, can kill you  Although you may feel like you are going to).  What you are going through is very severe!  You may have hallucination, seizures, etc.  Please find a detox center and get help immediately.  It's great that you are finally stopping, good luck, but please get medical help.

Tyler
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Avatar universal
I have a question that I've wondered about for a long time.
How much does someone have to drink, and for how long, to become physically dependant on alcohol?
Someone told me that if someone drinks 2 or 3 drinks a night, that they are going to be physically addicted and have withdrawals if they stop.
I disagreed with them about this, as I thought you had to have alcohol in your bloodstream constantly for a period of time in order to develop physical addiction.
Does anyone know the answer to this? Alcohol has never been my drug of choice (hydrocodone is what I have a problem with), but I remain curioius about this question.

thanks!

WW
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Avatar universal
Tyler is right, Bugsy. Self detox from alcohol is very dangerous and potentially fatal. It's the seizures that can get you. Best you get back on some alcohol right away. You don't have to drink half a case, but if your normal consumption is, say, twelve a day, perhaps you should have nine. And stay on nine for several days. The perhaps eight for a few days, then six, four, two, one. You get the idea.

I hope you'll post again and let us know you got the message.

Francois
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Avatar universal
Warning!!! EVERYONE MUST READ THIS!!!

NEVER TAKE A DRUG ANYONE RECOMENDS ON THIS SITE!!!
THAT INCLUDS L-TYROSINE, ZINC, MAGNESIUM

I am barley able to type this because I took a drug that has been recomended on this site by alot of people...

This moring I woke and took(so did my girlfriend) 4 Zinc tablets and 4 Magnesium tablets. About an half hour later I was in the bathroom vomiting my guts up. I thought I was going to die! I have been through the worst detox's ever and nothing compared to what happend to us today!!!

Read on...
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Avatar universal
I called the poision controll center to see what was going on. They told me to go to the ER. I almost did when I saw my girlfriend throwing up yellow bile and having the worst diaheraah ever. We didn't goto the ER, we stayed home and just now we are able to move! I was doubled over in pain!!! This was more than an upset stomach! This was hell. I never sweated so much in my life!!! Water poured off of us in buckets! We both had chronic runs with one bathroom so you can imagine the horror! PLEASE NEVER TAKE ANYTHING!!!
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Avatar universal
i AM NOT MAD AT ANYONE FOR WHAT HAPPEND TODAY!I shouldn't have been so stupid to take anything that a doctor didn't perscribe. Then again, we all know my problem with taking things that my doc does perscribe! Anyway, maybe I took way too much more than I thought you guys told me to take. I took 4 100 mg's of zinc and 4 250 mg's of magnesium.I thought that I would be safe at that level considering that some of you take 10 pills a day. At least that's how I read it. Anyway I was near death today and I have done everything from H to oxy's to methadone. What happend to us today could have killed us so please don't ever recommend to anyone to take this stuff! You should tell them your experiance but recommend that maybe they talk to their Doctor before they take anything! Holy **** guys! I am so serious...This almost killed us today. I am still messed up 7 hours later. I'll check back later......CHAD
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Avatar universal
NEVER TAKE OVER THE COUNTER DRUGS LIKE ZINC OR MAGNESIUM WITHOUT TALKING TO YOUR DOCTOR!!! YOU COULD DIE!!!
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Avatar universal
Thank God your still with us! I just went back and looked at the original pillpoppa recipe and what was stated was zinc in 75mg tablets and the magnesium in 37.5 mgs. or 10 mgs. I think you read the 100 mg number when pillpoppa was referring to if people had an addiction long term up to 100mg a day of methodone. I never used the zinc/mag method personally. I only used the L-Tyrosine B-6 recipe as it was the only one on the site then and I had good results. Common sense tells us not to take anything, period, without a Drs. advice but if we all listened to our common sense we wouldn't be putting street junk into our arms or up our noses or medicating ourselves. Again, thank God you are now safe and I'll keep you and your girlfriend in my prayers.
Power & Magick 2 U,
Peace & Light on us all,
Wiz
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Avatar universal
Thanx for the kind words. We feel much better. You see, I never really read the amount of mg's I should take. I screwed up and almost killed us. My point is, not everyone reads things throughly and look at what happend to us. I just want everyone to be careful...I never saw the 37mg's of magnesium. No wonder we almost died! 1000 mg's of Magnesium was enough to kill a horse! Just couldn't kill a couple of twenty-something drug addicts! OK gotta go.......to the bathroom! Thank WIZ! Chad
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Avatar universal
Bar-b-q! Sounds great! But I am still beat. Deb is cooking a pork roast in some sort of sauce. I'll leave the cooking to the expert. So, no one has asked me if I have been clean...Well, I have been.......sort of....The good news is we haven't done oxys in a long time. We tried them last month but we didn't like em' so we stopped. At least thats how I remember it now! I probably ran out or something like that! I seem to suffer from selective amnesia (spelling sucks, I know!). Anyway, like I said......we are clean...for now.........and hopefully for a very long time. I am going through the realization that I will be 30 next June and basicly havent done a damm thing yet with my life. Thank you Mr. Addiction! So ok, it only took me 15 years of drug use to realize that I fu%^d up...Now the hard part...Putting all this **** back together again. Thank god I have a girlfriend who loves me to death. I am also (don't thinkI'm corney) thankful that I can spill my guts to you guys even if you are faceless. I still sometimes picture you guys.....Ok, gotta go..Chad
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Avatar universal
You go Bro! 30 days clean (sorta lol)is great news to be proud of. Spilling your guts is what we are all about too. It's amazing sometimes what a burden is lifted off our backs just telling our story to other faceless REAL people without getting judged for our past and only supported for what we TRY to do with our futures. You sound like you and your girlfriend on the right track for a long wonderful future. I wish you and her all the luck and Gods blessings in the world. Stay focused and you will succeed. keeping you in my thoughts for sure.
Power & Magick 2 U,
Peace & Light on us all,
Wiz
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Avatar universal
You poor dears, how frightening that must have been for you both!
Take care of yourselves, and thank you for the warning.
Good luck on your future detox, i'll be right there with you next week!  Prayers!
Lv Jenny
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Avatar universal
Some vitamins and supplements will make you sick to your stomach if you take them on an empty stomach. Zinc and magnesium are two that will.That is why it says on the bottle to take with a meal. The L-tryosine and b-6 don't have that warning on their bottle. I personally talked to my doctor about these and he said for me it was okay. Everyone else should speak to their own doctor. I am sorry this happened to you, but I am personally grateful to Thomas and pillpoppa because this has been a tremendous help to me. I have stated before that I did not believe it would work, but decided to try it anyway and was very surprised at how well it worked.
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Avatar universal
Thanks for everyones comments; however, I am in my fourth day of sobriety and have had relatively no side effects.  I am not sure now if I was physically addicted to alcohol.  I plan on staying sober, although this has not seemed like a very big deal.  Alot of you seemed very concerned and I appreciate it.  Most of the concern was related to seizures, and though I was epileptic as a child I have shown no signs of this.  I guess I am just lucky.  Thanks for all your support, and I am feeling great.  Clear minded for the first time in 11 years!!!!  

XOXO
Bugsy
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Avatar universal
Glad to hear everything turned out okay.  I have heard horror stories from doctors about alcohol withdrawl.  They usually give you librium and you should be able to taper down off of that.  A drug counselor once told me that 20% of alcoholics who go into detox will die even if you get professional help.  That sounds like alot but I figure he is probably talking about the 60 year old alcoholics who's liver is shot.  I think those people die because of the lifestyle instead of the actual withdawl.  Remeber what you went through.  I'm glad to know that you have had it with the alcohol...remeber to still get support and help.  Its so easy to relapse.  I thank God that I am not an alcoholic because I believe it would be ten times easier to relapse.  I was hooked on percocet and I got them from going to doctors.  I never bought them on the street...I didn't know anyone who sold them.  So if I get a craving at 10:00 at night there is not a damn thing I can to about it unless I want to go to the ER and try to fake an injury, and there is no gaurauntee that they will give me percocet, they may give me vicodin or tylenol #3 (I don't like those drugs) or worst just motrin(which has happened many times before)...which would take about 4 hours anyway and by that time the craving may be gone.  If an alcoholic gets a craving late at night all he has to do is go to a bar or liqour store.  So please take care of yourself and try to control whatever cravings you may get.  Hopefully, you will never look back.  Good Luck, bugsy!

Tyler
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Avatar universal
OMG  You and deb sure worry the hell out of me...I hope you are both ok now....Chad,,,,my dear one....you and deb both have my email addy...USE IT  lol    BTW  How are you guys doing otherwise...are you behaving?   I haven't been online much  when it is as hot as it has been I get in the pool and never come out  LOL.....love to all          cin
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Avatar universal
Oh my God, Chad! I am so sorry for what you went through with the zinc!!  I am even more sorry if I was unclear in describing the amounts that I have been taking.  Yesterday, I went to see my Doc and told him about the zinc, and he warned me that zinc is a supplement that can be toxic if you take too much, but he told me the way I was taking it was fine.

I've been taking 400mgs of zinc a day, but spread out over the whole day, not all at once, and I take it with food.

I think you are very right to give this warning though...we should be very careful to ask Doctors, and to also do our research to be sure anything we take is safe.  Doctors are not always familiar with nutritional supplements, so won't always know if something is ok or not.

I hope that you recover from this soon, and I'm so sorry this happened.

WW
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Avatar universal
I woke up today and felt like someone beat on my ribs all night long. Every breath is very hard but we are 100 % better today. Holy **** guys! What a trip that was! I mean, I think that was worse than the third day of going cold turkey! We are going to take the next couple of days off and relax. I will check back very often today and for now on. Talk soon,  Chad
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Avatar universal
My little buddy chad,,,,,what would the world be without you....I, we certainly don't want to find out....rest and maybe you can have a barbecue,,I know how you get so excited about that..just like hamsters and small dogs   LOL     love ya  cin
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Avatar universal
And don't forget that drug interactions with supplements can wreak havoc as well. For instance, certain blood pressure medications can be accelerated by a factor of FOUR by grapefruit. FOUR!!

Take it easy.

Francois
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Avatar universal
I told youguys before that I have faces for everyone      including you
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Avatar universal
Cindi...
I knew you were going to say that when I was typing earilier! I haven't seen you around latley. I hope all is well!?! I wanted to tell you that Deb and I were in a MAJOR car wreck about a month ago. I almost killed her and the little one. Did I ever mention Deb had a daughter? I don't remember alot of things. Anyway, I hit a car doing 50 mph head on...long story, I'll e-mail ya'

Wizard...
Thank man! 30 days clean...well, thank you, I appreciate what you said about not judging me. You probably know that I havent been totally clean...I met a person who introduced me to something alot worse than oxy's....Long story short, I am done with that, I made a mistake, and I am about to start a life I should have ten years ago! I am really greatful to think that maybe, just maybe, there is someone out there pulling for me. I have an entire family that for whatever reason is not, nor has ever been there for me. So when a person like you comes around.......well, you get the idea......thank you! Chad
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Avatar universal
Good going Chad and same goes for your girlfriend too!
My husband is in rehab and gets out tuesday, and i hope to join him in the world of sobriety.  Rephrase, i will join him in the world of sobriety!!! :)
29 years old, you're only a bab!!!  :)
Never look back, only look forward and see all the wonderful things you will be able to accomplish now that you and your girlfriend are sober.  Perhaps marriage, and the pitter patter of little 'chads' running about the house!!!  LOL!
My husband is 43, and has some of the same feelings, feeling as if he's lost so much of his life, and missed so much of our children's growing up.  They are 8, 5, and 1, plenty still yet to see and experience.  Our 5-year old is our only boy, and i hope that now they can bond finally.  It's been the hardest on him, and i hope my husband's attitude stays alive and healthy, it's been hell on earth these past 5 or so years, they've never even really gotten to know eachother.  One of the first things planned is 'fishing', that would be a great way to open up the door!!!
I keep telling him that life begins at 40, so you see, you're not even anywhere near really living yet, so stop beating yourself up, your wasting precious energy on kicking yourself.
None of us are perfect, and our lives are full of regrets.  Best thing to do is learn from our mistakes and keep moving forward.  Never beat yourself up, there are too many people in this world that are always happy to do enough of that thank you!!!  Praise yourself for kicking this thing, and use your energy in ways that are productive.  Keeping off the **** uses enough energy, stay focused, and you two are going to make it, i just know it!!!!
Lv Jenny
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