I need to quit

[thebryguy]

Hello everyone.  I'm a 24 year old male and I have a serious drinking problem.  I can't sleep without it, and I don't remember the last day I have gone without a drink.  I got extremely drunk while my girlfriend was staying with me the other night- to the point where she almost took me to the hospital.  I'm not always a blackout drunk.... but I drink enough to where I have a couple in the morning before work just to get through the day.  I get a lot of shakes, and I'm constantly hung over.  I have a very high tolerance at this point.  After the incident the other night I decided I need to quit.  I tried to go cold turkey, didn't sleep last night and started shaking pretty violently this morning.  I can't pay for medical attention, so my question is... can I just cut down little by little?  I was shaking so badly I got on here and saw that seizures are a very serious reaction that take place quite often and this scares me to death, as I have experienced one before.  Any sort of advice would be awesome... also I've tried the whole AA thing and din't enjoy my experience.  Thanks and take care.

[Twosandbits]

Hello Bry

Sounds like you are doing really well with the advice Randy gave you, he's a great advice giver and puts 100% effort into helping as much as he can ( your welcome Randy) ; ). I hope you can stick to tapering down and eventually stop, I promise you that your whole life will change for the better and you will find a happiness that will blow your mind!!!

There is evidence that people who have got sober and stay sober are much more content with their lives than people who do drink but don't have problems with alcohol.

I hope you can find that contentment in your life, I have :)

Please keep posting to let us know how you are doing.

Best wishes

Rachel

[thebryguy]

I actually only had two 16 ounce beers.  (high alcohol content beers), but nonetheless.  I still had 4 in the fridge when I went to bed.  Big step for me, although the hard shakes, sweats, etc. came back with a vengeance in the middle of the night.  I still didn't go back to the fridge.  I did have a beer before work to stop the shakes, and not proud of it, but I'm working on this physically and mentally.  I'm going to travel to see my girlfriend, and she's counting on me to be her DD.  I won't let her down, but ZERO drinks will be a very hard task to accomplish, as I really don't want her to see me while shaking or just feeling miserable.  I also refuse to sneak any more drinks behind her back.

[rpooo]

Hello Bry,

How did last night go for you? Ready for night two and ready to stop at 10?

[rpooo]

I was up to 23 beers a day for the last couple years before my diagnosis. It took less than a week for me to quit but you can certainly undestand why the urgency. Take your time start with 11 but always stay true to your limit for the evening. One beer less every day. You can do this. Make sure your eating meals, aside from the alcohol this was a huge part of the damage I caused.

Look up foods that are high in antioxidants they help rid your body of the toxins injested from alcohol and many other foods. This will aid your liver.

An over the counter natural substance many people take is milk thistle. you might look at that as well. If your not real computer savvy let me know and I'll be more than glad to post some information on the above mentioned.

Your on your way to a lot better life trust me! Drinking from morning and night isn't living it's just getting by.

Randy

[thebryguy]

Also, drank two big cups of "detox tea" which specifically states on its label "Promotes healthy liver and kidney function".  This may have helped, not sure.

[thebryguy]

Thank you so much everyone for your advice, kind words, and motivation.  I went Monday with nothing in my system.  Mon night was the night I didn't sleep, then crawled out of my bed Tues morning with crippling shakes, confusion, and blurred vision.  I pulled myself together BARELY enough to get to the gas station.  I bought vodka, mixed it with some tonic and SLOWLY got back to a point where I could function.  I had probably 5 shots worth in two drinks between 7 am- 9 am.  Then, last night I had one drink (this drink had probably 4 shots in it) to go to bed.  I actually woke up this morning feeling much better, still a bit crappy.  The shakes have subsided a bit and my general outlook on my situation is much better than the original post.  
rpooo-  I gave the vodka to a friend and going with your beer idea tonight.  Surprisingly I don't feel like I need a drink to get through the daytime hours, although the right side of my body aches (as I'm sure my liver continues to be overworked).  If  I can and do drink 12-15 beers per night... any suggestion as to how many I should start weaning off with?