I agree with 4theboys on a lot of things with some small modifications. I've spent a lot of time reading about the physical impact of alcohol, and while everyone is different, there are a lot of chemicals that are impacted by your drinking.
4theboys> From day one you will get jumpy and restless and irritable.
As a long-term drinker, your body is probably obtaining a majority of glucose (blood sugar) from alcohol. Cutting down will cause you go low sugar. You'll get headaches from this. Your body may overcompensate and go high sugar, and you may experience heat fluctuations. All of this makes sleeping very difficult. At the same time you have a serotonin low which means you will be very depressed. You can't directly ingest most body chemicals, because digestion breaks them down. You can try taking Topamax and/or 5-HTP. But don't do this if you are already taking any Serotonin drug like an SRII inhibitor. Don't take tylenol or acetominophen because liver damage may result from alcohol byproducts in your body. Iibuprofin, motrin and Aspirin is ok.
4theboys> Sleep will be an issue for a few days and Benedryl seems to work for most. But after 3-6 days you will sleep like a newborn baby on you own.
Agreed. I use a single unisom at night. I'm experimenting with serotonin 3mg at night. It seems to help in place of my former "nightcap". But plan on being restless and irritable. It's part of getting your body back.
4theboys> Be prepared to get stupid. Days 4-8 it will seem like your head fell off and you may forget just about everything.
For me, night 2 is bad and night 3 is awful, and things clear up ok after that. It may be simply that I'm pumped up with sleeping pills, which have a secondary effect of keeping you relaxed. By all means if you get shakes, or start having increased symptoms, go to a hospital. There are some very serious problems if serious signs of withdrawl happen between day 3 and day 7.
> *DO NOT* try and balance your check book at this time as it will only worsen your headaches!!
Agreed don't do tough tasks. But actually routine items can help your serotonin. Knitting, sewing, solitaire, whatever your mind finds repetitive and easy can be a good way to get through the first few days. Choose little things that you can "win" because winning helps. I also keep a bag of treats (cookies, chocolate covered cherries, dried fruit) around, and eat one for every hour of being sober. It's a bit stupid, but it works for me.
> IMO the weaning only keeps the alcohol dependency alive in your system...
I agree here. I think they key is to get your whole body back in balance. Only after you know what your normal body feels like, then start testing to see how much you can moderate without affecting your sleep or mood swings. Glucose imbalance takes 3-4 days, serotonin may take 5-6. I get a histamine imbalance (post nasal drip) and it won't clear up for 8 days or more. In addition, we have a number of bad habits to break, and it takes time to build up ingrained new habits to replace the bad ones.
All just my opinions. I'm not a doctor.
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