stop drinking and diarrhea

[sickbelly]

I posted this in another forum on here, but then seen this forum and felt it was more on tack of my question and whats going on with my body.This is gross and I am sorry I am just trying to find out that is going on.
I am a 29 year old female and have drank heavily since I was 12. I stopped drinking cold turkey a little over a week ago, but now I have massive diarrhea, like 20 plus times a day. Its a bright yellow "bubbly" diarrhea, kinda like when you drink a ton of beer and go to restroom the next day. So I was just wondering if this is a normal reaction to alcohol withdraw or if it is some more serious.  

[rod44]

Hi,
This is something that you need to get checked by a doctor, it could be due to withdrawals but that is not the immediate problem, this can lead to dehydration, drink plenty of water and see your doctor, explain that you have stopped drinking after years of heavy drinking, they will give you advice on how to deal with any other issues that may arise from withdrawals.
Ray

[sickbelly]

Thank you for replaying Ray,but I do not have insurance.Do you know if AA is free? I do not think I am dehydrated, I'm just eating like a pig because everytime I eat it comes right back out, so I feel like I am starving all the time.

[rod44]

AA is free...

it may just be a tummy bug but keep drinking plenty of water...

[sickbelly]

Thank you, I think im gonna go to AA. Because I just keep feeling like if this is what I get for trying to stop, then I just need a drink and it will go away. But I am trying and I hope that I am stronger then that. I will keep up on the water though.

[rod44]

Yes AA is a sensible move, I found I could not stop on my own, I got and still get wonderful support there.

[sickbelly]

how long were you drinking & how long have you been sober?

[rod44]

drinking for 20 odd  years sober a day at a time 7 years....i tried to stop many times on my own but it never worked, i might last six months but the end was always the same i went back drinking worse than before

[sickbelly]

Wow congrats! yeah thats how I am trying one day at a time. And your right I have tried to stop before, but when I went back to drinking it was like I could not go have just one beer, or just one bourbon & coke. I had to drink several. Then I would black out every single time I drank.  

[rod44]

Yep…that is what happens to us all. You need to get completely honest with yourself, it is so easy to say “I am an alcoholic” but to get true sobriety you need to dig deep and really understand and believe those words, then you can move forward. That was why I kept slipping, deep down I did not truly believe I had a problem.

[sickbelly]

Sometimes I believe I have a problem and other times I think I dont. I do not know if it is because I am having belly problems or what but I am having alot of other problems, and I just think after a week of not drinking that one wont hurt, but I know it will. I think I am just psyching myself out. maybe im just bullshitting myself, I dont know.

[rod44]

The last thing you need right now is to drink…..

give AA a shot….here they will help you to see just how your alcoholism is affecting your life and the lives of those around you

[sickbelly]

Thank you for talking with me, and I will give them a call, its funny because there is an AA like 5 mins away from, but right & I a mean right next door to it is my favorite bar.

[rod44]

there are plenty of AA rooms around the place

Well you go to AA it will cost you nothing….go to the bar and well …..it could ultimately cost you your life.

[sickbelly]

True! never thought of it that way.

[rod44]

That unfortunately is the reality of the disease.

[sograteful828]

hi there, so happy you posted to the forum. I also attend AA every day, i started after being hospitalized after a suicide attempt that was alcohol induced. It is an amazing support group for those who have the desire to stop drinking. Getting a sponsor is also so important, at least for me. I, like Rod, could not stop on my own, i drank for 25 years, off and on, but i am also a drug addict. i would use whatever was handy. At the end, alcohol was the only thing easily accessible. I was completely powerless, i would tell myself every night...NEVER AGAIN... then the next day, i was right back to the liquor store. sometimes i would go a couple days to prove to my husband i wasn't an alcoholic  (I thought u had to drink every day to qualify, little did i know). but then i would be right back at the store thinking i deserved a drink after a few days.


I hope AA helps you as it does many people, it saved my life, but the program only works if you work the program. Good luck to you and i hope your physical problem gets better. gosh i remember worrying so much about the color of my urine, if my liver was shot...etc. please get yourself some help and support, you have already started by posting this forum, it shows you have the strength to reach out.

[sickbelly]

Wow that sounds so much like me, with the whole trying to prove to everyone I was NOT an alcoholic, but I knew I was. And yes I've woke up with many hangovers and swore never again, but the next day there I was drunk off my *** again. I was hospitalized about 6 years ago for alcohol poising, but that did not stop. The day I got out of the hospital I went to work, and once my shift was over I sat at the bar & got drunk once again. I should have learned then, but I didnt. I do not know how this will pan out, but hopefully I will get through it like the both of you have.  

[sograteful828]

well i am here for you, for support, a shoulder to cry on, or any info you need that i can obtain. i was given a second chance at life and want to give back in any way i can. if you have a chance, go to my profile page and read "im your disease" in my journal. it is very powerful, my husband saw this on a bulletin board while i was in the hospital and told me "read this or you are going to f'***ing die!!"  i have a 1 year old baby and too much to live for, even though we are going through tough times, house in foreclosure, no employment...etc, the alcohol was making me even more depressed, i thought it was helping. i ended up in jail on August 26th, not a dui, but in a round about way alcohol related, the next day i got so drunk to "ease my stress" that i slit my wrist and threatened to swallow a bottle of xanax when my husband called 911. my blood alcohol level was .229...i was almost dead but i dont even remember going to the liquor store the second and third time. apparently i did!!!   i am not here to preach, lecture or shove any one program down anyone's throat, i am here to be a friend and save a life from this disease i didnt even know i had...

i wish you the very best..please keep in touch and keep reaching out, there are good people out there that need to hear your story to help us remember why we are here as well. thanks for sharing

[sickbelly]

wow, thats crazy. I have been in jail on a few occasions due to my drinking. Not dwi either, but I would get violent & try beating the **** out of anyone who I even thought looked at me, but thats been several years, and I thought I had a "hold" my drinking. I thought I was doing so much better, but then I tried stopping and everytime I drank I would blackout. I can not imagine all the stress in your life. But my drinking got worse her recently when I found out my mother was dying from breast cancer. And thats one of the main reasons I was to stop drinking. I do not want my last days or months with my mother, to be drunk, or hangovers.

[sograteful828]

i am so sorry to hear about your mother, but you are very smart to realize you want to remember your mother with a clear head, with no regrets or loss of time. i thank God every day that i never had to rush anyone to the hospital, or that i never killed anyone while driving for that matter. it just makes me realize more and more what a selfish disaease this is, really. but yet, i get the fact we are human beings trying to cope with very hard circumstances, unfortunately, ii never had good coping skills. mine came from a bottle (alcohol or pill) or off a mirror...lol..life is so much better, same problems, different coping skills. and you know what, its not as bad as i made everything out to be. i had to stop the self pity!!! your mother, of course, is a horrible thing to have to cope with, but you being there sober should make her so proud and maybe give her the strength to fight even more.

[sickbelly]

yeah she hates my drinking. My dad was an alcoholic but he had a heart attack & quit. My two brothers are alcoholics too. So I dont think I used self pity that much, well sometimes I would.But I just always kinda thought this was how life was. My mom was a pill popper. So to me life was a bottle of one sort or another, but I love the way alcohol tastes so thats the one that hooked me the worst.  

[sograteful828]

i hear ya!!  my dad was as an alcoholic too until he had congestive heart failure, then he just stopped drinking...thats what kinda made me feel embarrassed cuz my husband and my father quit drinking, and i couldnt. made me hide it from everyone that much more.  anyway, so nice talking to you, i have to go tend to the baby..so i hope to hear back from you soon..have a great night and keep in touch

[sickbelly]

it was nice talking to you too. talk to ya soon.

[dominosarah]

I am glad you found us here.  Congrats on wanting to get your life back.  It is so worth it.  Get going to AA or some type of aftercare ASAP.  It will help you a ton and you wont feel alone either.  You will meet many many good people there who are genuine and caring.  If the diarrhea doesnt stop get to the doctor.  You can get some Pedialyte popsicles too and that will help keep up your electrolytes(i think that is what it does).  I am also very sorry to read about your mom.  I lost my dad to brain cancer a few years ago and i was using so bad at that time(drugs).  I numbed myself every minute of the day.  It is one of my biggest regrets and something i still work on everyday.  My dad and i didnt leave anything unsaid to each other but i was stoned to the bone.  How i wished i had gotten clean before that time.  Please just know you will always treasure everything about the time you spend with her being sober.  I cant stress this enough.  Again i am happy you are here and sober.......sara