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Thread: What can help alcohol withdrawal symtoms?

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    Featured Member zivlet's Avatar
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    Default What can help alcohol withdrawal symtoms?

    Okay not MY body so perhaps not my business!

    But I have a friend who's alcohol dependent and is trying to stop. The GP isn't forthcoming with help (which PISSES me off!) -they did refer him to a help centre but they were bloody useless.

    So he's alone-does anybody know of any over the counter meds, vitamins, drinks. food, or have any other tips on what may be able to help ease the symptoms?

    He's cut down drastically in the last couple of days (think a few pints of lager rather than a bottle and a half of vodka)! but he's getting very unpleasant symptoms (sweats, shakes. mind racing etc) and I'm just wondering if I could give him any advice or take him anything that I might not know about that can help.

    He's a nice person and I really want him to succeed.

    Thank you xx
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    Featured Member chloemay's Avatar
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    Default Re: What can help alcohol withdrawal symtoms?

    This forum link should be helpful. http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/newcomers-recovery/ There are threads discussing safely withdrawing from alcohol abuse by tapering with beer, or going cold turkey with lots of fruit juice, vitamin C, etc.. There is a lot more detailed information than that, just recalling the basics I read. However, EVERYONE says to see a doctor as alcohol withdrawal can be deadly, depending on the person and extent of the abuse. So, his GP is an asshole, and if there is any other way for him to get professional help with withdrawal he should take it.

    Best wishes for your friend, and you for being there for him.

    PinkGeisha: "NOTHING IMPRESSES A CAMMODEL MORE THAN A GUY THAT LETS HIS MONEY DO THE TALKING"


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    Featured Member zivlet's Avatar
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    Default Re: What can help alcohol withdrawal symtoms?

    Thanks Chloe. I'm having a look at that forum now

    From what I know, (so it may be even more places than this) He's been to a psychiatrist, a counsellor, a drug and drink group (which were absolutely useless)! and his GP refused to give him any medication to help saying that they weren't licensed for iit. I checked and they aren't
    So it was a choice of hoping the hospital would admit him which is a lot of faff and unlikely as they're very reluctant to treat dependency, especially if you're not on death's door, or he goes it alone.

    I'm going to take him some nice stuff to drink that isn't alcoholic, pop, fruit juices, vitamin juices etc x x
    Quote Originally Posted by Jessica1001 View Post
    (Oh, and also, allow me to excuse myself while I pick my mandible up from underneath my desk.)
    Quote Originally Posted by tempest666 View Post
    Holy shit dude! You look fucking awesome! Get a damn boob job..
    Quote Originally Posted by Sunnylexie View Post


    I have a feeling some men don't actually need a woman (or anyone at all) in their lives. They could marry their own penises and live happily ever after.
    Start the day with a smile and get it over with

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    God/dess simone87's Avatar
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    Default Re: What can help alcohol withdrawal symtoms?

    alcohol withdrawals can be dangerous depending on how heavy a drinker he was..it can cause things like seizures, like withdrawing off a benzo. i hope he can get treated and find a good doctor!!

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    Featured Member zivlet's Avatar
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    Default Re: What can help alcohol withdrawal symtoms?

    Thanks Simone xxx

    There are very few GPs in this region that treat alcoholics (as in, are allowed to prescribe the medication) I only know this through trying to help-they're what are known as 'controlled drugs' and usually have to be given in rehab.. Private rehab is around £14,000 (sterling) he can't afford it-NHS rehab is very hard to get accepted onto, as I said you have to be on death's door
    It sucks!
    I really think he is going to have to go it alone unless he repeatedly turns up at the NHS hospital until they admit him..I can't see him having the motivation though to be honest
    Quote Originally Posted by Jessica1001 View Post
    (Oh, and also, allow me to excuse myself while I pick my mandible up from underneath my desk.)
    Quote Originally Posted by tempest666 View Post
    Holy shit dude! You look fucking awesome! Get a damn boob job..
    Quote Originally Posted by Sunnylexie View Post


    I have a feeling some men don't actually need a woman (or anyone at all) in their lives. They could marry their own penises and live happily ever after.
    Start the day with a smile and get it over with

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    Default Re: What can help alcohol withdrawal symtoms?

    Alcohol detox is the most dangerous detox of an substance because it's the only one that can actually kill you... you may feel like you're going to die when you come off opiates but you won't (which may sound unfortunate to a person detoxing off heroin!). Most of the time patients detoxing from alcohol are prescribed benzos like Klonopin, Xanex, Adivan, etc-- they stop the person from being in danger of having a seizure and make the withdrawal somewhat more tolerable. Any psychiatrist can prescribe these drugs, they're pretty standard-- and any hospital and I would think a GP would be able to prescribe as well. It shouldn't be that hard to get a prescription?

    I don't really know of any homeopathic stuff that would help, I would just really stress being careful and possibly tapering if the prescriptions aren't an option... I've done some research into private clinics treating addiction in London because I'm on a medication that require someone specializing in that area, I don't know where you're located in the UK but I can send you the ones I've found if you're close to London. They're between 100-200 pounds for the consultation and then the medication would be more on top of that. There are a ton of drug centres in the NHS that he could go to as well, they're obviously more affordable but take a bit longer to get the ball rolling than a private clinic, just do a search here:

    http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/drugs/Pages/Drugshome.aspx

    A lot of them just offer basic counseling services, but there are many that offer medical treatment as well, you just have to read the descriptions carefully and give them a call.
    Last edited by audrey_k; 04-30-2014 at 04:14 PM.

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    Default Re: What can help alcohol withdrawal symtoms?

    If you check with AA there may be some old timers who know how to sober someone up. I think they supervise administration of limited amounts of alcohol over a period of a few days. Mostly now it is done in a hospital and the patient is administered a sedative for a few days.

    Alcohol withdrawal can result in seizures, unconsciousness stoppage of breathing, and death.

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    Featured Member zivlet's Avatar
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    Default Re: What can help alcohol withdrawal symtoms?

    Quote Originally Posted by audrey_k View Post
    Alcohol detox is the most dangerous detox of an substance because it's the only one that can actually kill you... you may feel like you're going to die when you come off opiates but you won't (which may sound unfortunate to a person detoxing off heroin!). Most of the time patients detoxing from alcohol are prescribed benzos like Klonopin, Xanex, Adivan, etc-- they stop the person from being in danger of having a seizure and make the withdrawal somewhat more tolerable. Any psychiatrist can prescribe these drugs, they're pretty standard-- and any hospital and I would think a GP would be able to prescribe as well. It shouldn't be that hard to get a prescription?

    I don't really know of any homeopathic stuff that would help, I would just really stress being careful and possibly tapering if the prescriptions aren't an option... I've done some research into private clinics treating addiction in London because I'm on a medication that require someone specializing in that area, I don't know where you're located in the UK but I can send you the ones I've found if you're close to London. They're between 100-200 pounds for the consultation and then the medication would be more on top of that. There are a ton of drug centres in the NHS that he could go to as well, they're obviously more affordable but take a bit longer to get the ball rolling than a private clinic, just do a search here:

    http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/drugs/Pages/Drugshome.aspx

    A lot of them just offer basic counseling services, but there are many that offer medical treatment as well, you just have to read the descriptions carefully and give them a call.
    Thank you so much Audrey-I felt like I'd given up on trying to get a precription but I'll check out those links. Believe me he's tried to get the GP to help, they are not allowed-there's even a sign on the door saying 'Note, we are not allowed to prescribe XYZ'.
    I tried all the other GPs in the area and same result
    I have literally rang around all the organisations I could think of calling, and all said the same nobody can prescribe drugs to help unless they go into rehab-NHS won't do it, and he can't afford private
    Thanks so much for your help and guidance xx
    Quote Originally Posted by slowpoke View Post
    If you check with AA there may be some old timers who know how to sober someone up. I think they supervise administration of limited amounts of alcohol over a period of a few days. Mostly now it is done in a hospital and the patient is administered a sedative for a few days.

    Alcohol withdrawal can result in seizures, unconsciousness stoppage of breathing, and death.
    So AA can actually action this?I know the other one he went to, similar organisation said he wasn't bad enough for it)..

    thank you xx
    Quote Originally Posted by Jessica1001 View Post
    (Oh, and also, allow me to excuse myself while I pick my mandible up from underneath my desk.)
    Quote Originally Posted by tempest666 View Post
    Holy shit dude! You look fucking awesome! Get a damn boob job..
    Quote Originally Posted by Sunnylexie View Post


    I have a feeling some men don't actually need a woman (or anyone at all) in their lives. They could marry their own penises and live happily ever after.
    Start the day with a smile and get it over with

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    Default Re: What can help alcohol withdrawal symtoms?

    Some of the real old timers used to say if you still owned a watch, you weren’t ready. Most are not so hard line today. Ask around.

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    Default Re: What can help alcohol withdrawal symtoms?

    ^that's a stupid saying, no offense. Everyone's rock bottom is different. Being late for work because of a hangover is enough for some people to decide to get sober, some people have to lose their job, their license, and go to jail to hit a low enough bottom. I would never tell someone "keep drinking, you haven't fucked up your life enough yet to be ready to get sober, don't worry just keep going you'll get there!"

    sugarmouse-- was his GP unable to recommend a place/doctor for him? I know that is normally the way you go about it, some of these drug treatment centres will take self referrals and some require you to be referred by a GP. There is also another website you can take a look at:
    http://www.talktofrank.com
    there is a helpline you can call and also a list of centres-- that's how I found the place I went to today.

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    Default Re: What can help alcohol withdrawal symtoms?

    Quote Originally Posted by slowpoke View Post
    Some of the real old timers used to say if you still owned a watch, you weren’t ready. Most are not so hard line today. Ask around.
    @audrey_k I have heard that expression as well. It is not so much a literal measure of rock-bottom. Think of having to keep an appt when your electric is out, your watch keeps stopping & your cell battery is gone -- you have no precise sense of time & you become acutely aware of that very quickly, that you can't afford to dick around. 'Still having the watch' is like looking at your time-keeper of choice & saying 'oh it is not so bad, I still have 10min or whatever' It means thinking you still have time b4 you •really• need to take the thought of sobriety seriously.

    @ OP you can make the initial withdrawal easier by keeping him hydrated, lots of orange juice & cranberry juice for cleaning-out & vitamins. If he needs a sedative, give a cough medicine w/ codeine in it to knock him out for a bit, the small amt of alcohol in it will also help to take the edge off. There is really not much you can do other than that IME, his body has been chemically altered & that just takes time to adjust & heal from. I wish you both the best.

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    Default Re: What can help alcohol withdrawal symtoms?

    Everyone who's said that acute alcohol detox needs to be done under medical supervision is quite correct, and I am absolutely flabbergasted that your friend can't find anyone in your area who will help him. That being said, there is fairly good evidence for using clonidine and gabapentin for outpatient alcohol detox, and I personally have had pretty good success with them in cases where inpatient detox wasn't possible. Unlike benzodiazepines, neither or these medications is a controlled substance (in the US - I don't know anything about how the UK works), and it might be therefore be easier to get a GP in your area to prescribe them. The big problem is that it is a non-standard protocol, so you will have to find someone open-minded and daring enough to give it a try. Here's a link that might be useful: http://www.clinicalpsychiatrynews.co...e061aa47e.html

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    Veteran Member MiraMichele's Avatar
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    Default Re: What can help alcohol withdrawal symtoms?

    I know some people are probably not going to agree with me, but if there is no way he can get in and be detoxed under medical supervision, then the safest way for him to detox is with alcohol. This is how I detoxed safely when I was in a similar situation and could not get medical care. This will only work if a family member or a friend is around that can control the amount of alcohol he drinks and taper him off of it, you obviously don't want to leave a bottle of Vodka with him and trust an alcohol dependent person to detox themselves because that just won't happen.

    You also want to make sure he is eating well, getting vitamins and definitely staying hydrated. Depending on how his drinking habits were will depend on how the detox process needs to start out, I don't want to say exactly because everyone is different, he may need more or less than someone like me. I would start drinking first thing in the morning, so when I detoxed I would continue my same habits, but tapering down slowly. Your body goes through the worst withdrawals when your body is used to having alcohol so that is very important to remember for detoxing him.

    This page has some good tips on how to taper http://www.hamsnetwork.org/taper/
    Last edited by MiraMichele; 05-05-2014 at 10:36 AM.

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    Default Re: What can help alcohol withdrawal symtoms?

    I'm just rushing out to work now so can't reply individually but I will later-just want to say thanks so much to everybody for taking the car to reply, it means a lot
    Quote Originally Posted by Jessica1001 View Post
    (Oh, and also, allow me to excuse myself while I pick my mandible up from underneath my desk.)
    Quote Originally Posted by tempest666 View Post
    Holy shit dude! You look fucking awesome! Get a damn boob job..
    Quote Originally Posted by Sunnylexie View Post


    I have a feeling some men don't actually need a woman (or anyone at all) in their lives. They could marry their own penises and live happily ever after.
    Start the day with a smile and get it over with

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