Drinking WAY too much and need to detox - any shared experiences?

[TimeToStop]

I'm a daily drinker and have been for absolutely years. Since the start of lockdown 1 I've gone from drinking around half a bottle of wine or a couple of beers a day to now drinking 1/4 bottle of spirits, a bottle of wine and maybe also a few beers. Because I drink all the time, I don't get drunk any more, it's a steady drip feed of alcohol through the day. My sleep is appalling; up around 4/5 am after 3 hours sleep and then I need to have my first drink to steady the withdrawal.

I'm supposed to be working from home but I'm really beginning to fail in that and I am desperate to stop. I stopped in February 2019 for 3 months - it was sort of enforced as I was very unwell and in hospital for 3 weeks with an ovarian abscess. I felt so much better. Since then it crept up from a beer at the end of the day to where I am now.

I've spoken to my GP and been put in contact with my local drug and alcohol service as I'm drinking too much to safely stop on my own now. I'm scheduled to do a community detox on February 8th and I wondered if anybody here has done this and what it's like? I'm so nervous about it.

I’m on HRT patches because of other menopausal issues. It’s certainly possible. And yeah, 2 months nearly!

Well done @TimeToStop ! I'm so glad to hear you are still on track. Sorry to hear your dd has been poorly and I hope she is doing better now. I have had issues with sleep, depression and anxiety for a few years now and aside from medication, the most helpful thing has been a daily meditation practice. Headspace was a brilliant app for teaching the practice step by step and building up from just a few mins per day, and once you are established after a few months there are many other apps out there with excellent teachers sharing their guided meditations and body scans for free. I have to say, meditation has generally been a lifesaver for me and in my experience all of the benefits it is supposed to have are absolutely true.

Brilliant news @TimeToStop! Great work, especially with all that going on.
I hope your daughter is on the mend.
Not so good about the on going sleep problems. I hope some of the other posters' suggestions might help you.
Keep on keeping on!

Wow well done you are an inspiration I have just posted my own thread as I need to stop drinking so today is day 1 reading your journey has given me hope that I can do it

Alfiemoon good luck! I'll take a look at your thread. Nearly two months for me now. I never would have thought it was possible! My ONLY only only wish is that I could sleep.

You have done so well you should be very proud of yourself

Hope you get some sleep op I am a dreadful sleeper anyway so I’ve had a relaxing bath chamomile tea and picked a non thought provoking book to read day 1 af nearly over

Well done on getting through day 1 @Alfiemoon1. You're on the path to freedom. Wishing some decent sleep to all.

I feel anxious as I do when I don’t drink usually try to moderate to calm things but that ends up drinking to much. Not using that excuse anymore

Alfiemoon1 I couldn't find your thread so I'm not sure how much you were drinking before deciding to stop? As I did the chemical detox I only know about going cold turkey from what I've read and I believe that the first few days are the worst in terms of all the detox symptoms. Feel free to share your full story and reasons for wanting to stop etc. on here if it helps? xxx

Hi TimeToStop, just caught this thread and wondered how you're doing? I was in a similar situation fairly recently and have stopped alcohol altogether on my own. Always worried about the future and the drinking starting again, hope that you've conquered it. Best wishes..

Morning @TimeToStop and everyone else!

I lost the thread for a while but managed to find it...

How is everyone. Some real progress happening for some, and other people joining because they can see similarities in the ops journey to their own. It’s a great thread!

Did you get your blood results sorted @TimeToStop?

@TimeToStop

I haven't read the full thread - just your posts on it and wanted to say a massive well done on how far you've come. I had an alcoholic parent whose heart was badly damaged by prolonged alcohol misuse which was what killed them in the end (and young too - late 60's). I am an ex smoker and know how difficult it can be to give up that crutch that makes your day normal.

Anyway, all that aside and repeating what has already been said - the sleeping issue. I am perimenopausal and so far the only thing that really troubles me is the lack of sleep. I often wake up at 2 or 3am having gone to bed around 10.30. Sometimes I get back to sleep. Sometimes I don't. I listen to a sleep meditation app and that sometimes works to get me back to sleep, if it doesn't I get up. Might that be an option to try? (I found The Honest Guys guided sleep meditation worked best for me once I'd got used to the bloke's voice)

OvertheRainbow2U I'm not sure one ever conquers it. I'm imagining that it will always be a struggle to a degree but hopefully one that gets less over time.

Hemlock 2013 my blood results are all pretty normal now. All the liver function ones are totally normal, which is amazing really. I'm still struggling with sleep - just 3 hours last night. Nobody seems to be able to offer any real help with that, which is difficult.

NancyDrawed I've tried a few meditation apps but they haven't helped so far. I haven't tried The Honest Guys though. I just seem to be bolt awake when I wake up and then spend the day like a zombie although I can't seem to sleep in the day either. I am menopausal and am on HRT, which should be controlling the menopausal symptoms but you never know. It's not just now and then that I can't sleep, it's every night. Since I stopped drinking there was one night that I slept for 6 hours, felt like a miracle, mostly it's around 4-5 hours with extra bad nights being just 3.

I feel for you - I hate that thick headed feeling when I don't get enough sleep and every night must be really tough.

My best nights recently (unbroken, which also made a huge difference) were when I was taking 'Alive' multi vitamins which I'd seen recommended on here. So that's the only other thing I can suggest. I ran out and haven't reordered and this has reminded me that I really should. They make your wee bright yellow, though, which was a shock the first time!

NancyDrawed I haven't tried those although I am taking a different multivitamin. Do you think those are especially good?

I only bought them because because I was fed up of feeling generally tired and a bit 'off' and saw them recommended on the thread below

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/4142509-Do-you-take-any-supplements-that-make-you-feel-amazing?msgid=103864750

I do think they made a difference to me. I'll have to see if I notice a bounce (and improved sleep) when I start taking them again

@TimeToStop

Alfiemoon good luck! I'll take a look at your thread. Nearly two months for me now. I never would have thought it was possible! My ONLY only only wish is that I could sleep.

I quit 10 months ago- 70cl bottle vodka nightly (I'd finish it in the morning).I was always plagued by insomnia. After about 5 months, I suddenly found I could almost instantly fall asleep. It was so pleasant and novel I used to go to bed for an afternoon kip, just to enjoy drifting off! I still can sleep when I want and it's great! Well done on your quit!

I went to the doctors I was put through to gads my doctor is great I went for a scan on my liver and had bloods ,, scan was ok got to back in a year but now my kids are back in school am at a bit of a lose end lost work due to covid 😔 and drink is creeping back in I dont drink to get drunk if that makes sence it's just a habit my diet is healthy but am over weight due to drink speak to ur doctor it was a good help for me they didn't make me feel shitty x

Nothingyet I hope that happens with me too ... just 3 more months to go ... at the moment I'm finding that I sleep for anywhere between 3-5 hours at night and then I get up for an hour and can then get another 1-2 hours after that. So it's slightly better. I can also afternoon nap again, which was impossible at first.

Lilmum1981 I'm not sure how much of the thread you've read but I did go through my GP and detoxed with a drug and alcohol service which was very successful. Good luck with stopping drinking. I was like you, I didn't get drunk and I wasn't a social drinker. it was a slow drip-feed for me and yes, definitely gained a lot of weight (all of which I've lost! Yippee!! Wearing two dress sizes down at the moment) and actually looked like shit most of the time - puffy, pasty, sweaty. I never get overheated at night any more, in fact the opposite, I'm freezing all the time.

Hi OP, how are you getting on? Any improvement on the sleep?

Hi everyone! Sleep is a little bit better. Still waking up after 3-4 hours but then I'm finding if I get up for an hour or so, I can go back to bed and sleep for an hour or so.

Life has been full on though with my mum dying, dd being ill and I had an accident at the end of last week and had to have 10 stitches and wear a neck brace since. At least I can say it wasn't due to alcohol.

Wow seems like you've had a huge amount to deal with! So sorry to hear about your mum, and I hope Dd is recovering.

And poor you! How great that you're AF though. Can you bear to even think about how you'd be feeling if you were still drinking? So admiring of your strength and tenacity.

Oh TimeToStop, i'm so sorry about your mum. What a lot to cope with indeed. Your accident sounds nasty. I really hope you recover quickly. You should be so proud of yourself staying af, especially with such difficult circumstances.

The thing is, with everything happening, if I was drinking it would be WAY worse because my alcohol consumption would be through the roof. So although it's difficult at the moment, it's way better to be dealing with it sober than it would be if I was drinking. In a weird way, I stopped at the right time. Nearly 3 months now!