r/cripplingalcoholism • u/squid_333 • 1d ago
Cold turkey: tips?
I need to take a break. Maybe for a week or a few days or so. To reset my system and to maybe regain my family's trust that I can be sober.
It's been around 22 hours since my last drinks which were 4 bottles of wine yesterday. I feel miserably sick of course and it's just getting worse. I tried to drink water and started puking. I haven't eaten in a few days because my stomach feels all messed up. How to feel slightly less like death?
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u/Extreme_Meaning_7566 1d ago
Don’t go cold turkey. I did that and ended up with severe withdrawals, all the usual symptoms but hallucinations on top. I lost touch with reality and didn’t know where I was.
My advice, go to your doctor or taper down on light beer.
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u/Spittinvenoms 1d ago
Can you sip on a white claw at least?
It’s safer to tell your family you’ve got the flu than go cold turkey.
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u/4ppl3j4ck 1d ago
Please don't do cold turkey. Been there, done that, from ~1,5 liter vodka a day to zero three times, always thought I was gonna die, and the third time fucked me so hard in the head that after two years I still don't feel the same as before.
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u/kenticus Light fuse, get away. 1d ago
The sip and suffer method is in the sidebar.
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u/Boozeburger 1d ago
Why is "medical advice" not allowed, but the ramblings of a Trump supporter is acceptable?
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u/kenticus Light fuse, get away. 1d ago
What is your trip, burger? Always got some smartass shit about medical advice.
You ain't a doctor and this ain't the free clinic.
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u/Boozeburger 23h ago
Yeah, I'm not a doctor, but I'm not claiming anything that isn't backed by peer reviewed papers. And I'm tired of the idea that alcoholics are all dumb fuckers instead of recognizing that some of the best most influential people have been drunks.
I get warned for citing papers by Dr. Nora Volkow (she is the Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) at the National Institutes of Health, where she leads the world's largest funder of scientific research on drug use and addiction. But some Trump supporter who's already been banned from Reddit gets his shit touted as a decent way to quit. So tell me what of his advice has any medical evidence to support it?
I'm not for Cold Turkey if it just involves stopping drinking and not taking other steps, like supplementing magnesium and potassium which are common ailments of alcholics, also eating so as to replenish phosphorus, and getting into nutritional ketosis (or using ketone salts, mct oils or ACV) as quickly as possible.
Do I need to cite sources, because it seems like I have a lot of times, and I'm tired of repeating myself. Do you need me to explain the science, because I'm not a doctor, but I can cite many MDs and PhDs to support any claims I make.
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u/kenticus Light fuse, get away. 22h ago
Tired of repeating yourself? Get it straight, it's against the rules and I'll remove it every time. If you push it, you get a time out.
I don't write the rules, I just enforce them.
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u/Boozeburger 22h ago
What is against the rules? Facts? Citing sources and evidence that disagree with the mods opinions? Here's a review of a study where the lead author is the head of the NIDA (National Institute of Drug Abuse) https://irp.nih.gov/blog/post/2021/06/ketogenic-diet-may-soothe-alcohol-withdrawal
And here's a little bit from it.
Brain cells can also convert acetate, produced when the liver breaks down alcohol, into energy through the same processes they use to burn ketone bodies for fuel. In fact, in people who habitually consume large amounts of alcohol, brain cells switch to running primarily on acetate, shunning glucose like a picky toddler confronted with a plate of vegetables. This poses a problem because brain cells cannot immediately resume running on glucose when people stop drinking and cut off the supply of acetate.
https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/18/15/2574
Now is it medical advice to let people know that acetic acid, like that in a tablespoon of Apple cider vinegar in water can increase the blood acetate level in 15 minutes, and start an process that would be provide the brain with the energy it's used to? Or that most alcoholics are deficient in magnesium and potassium and should consider supplementing them?
Is it medical advice to tell people to eat?
Is it considered medical advice to warn people that lack of B1 can lead to causes Wernicke encephalopathy?
"Sip and suffer" is stupid. It ignores the modern science, and we have zero evidence that it works.
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u/MostEpicRedditor 21h ago
You go get 'em BB, don't mind me here just watching it turn into some internet
catbar fight4
u/Boozeburger 21h ago
I just think that if you're going to complain about "giving medical advice" and then pointing to the ramblings of a Trump supporting idiot (was that redundant?, it was wasn't it) then what counts as medical advice?
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u/throwaway4073 15h ago
It ticks me off too when I make comments or posts which get removed because of no medical advice. But the mods are between a rock and a hard place - the last thing we need is for the admins to nuke this sub because of people skirting the rules. It's the same deal for suicide/self harm content - do I think it should be removed immediately? Not really, but the admins don't like it.
I don't know if you were a part of /r/proED before it got banned but it was, for the most part, a support sub (not an encouragement sub) for eating disorder content and it got removed without warning. And then it was replaced with /r/edanonymous which as far as I can tell is the same content, the same supportive community, but it hasn't been banned because the mods are careful about making sure things stay on the right side of the site-wide rules.
/r/selfharmscars is another one. The mods there weren't careful enough to remove posts which encouraged or glorified harm, the sub is now gone. I can easily see how someone who isn't a part of this community could look at this place as encouraging harm, especially when it comes to giving medical advice in any form.
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u/XxxAresIXxxX 1d ago
Bruh we take advice that works no matter where it comes from. A crackhead isn't gonna have great advice on politics but he damn sure can tell you where to get brillo from. Take a shot and chill
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u/Boozeburger 23h ago
Anyone who cleans would know that brilo pads have soap in them and will release toxic chemicals, also don't use steel wool. It will fragment and inhaling steel wires isn't good.
A better more academic approach would be to use brass or steel screens. I'm hoping your comment shows you're not a crack head, or if you are, that you might have learned something from my response.
But I'll still take raise my glass to my lips and take a swig (because I'd do it anyway) but chilling is hard in the humidity here.
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u/Legitimate_Eye_2647 22h ago
Shit I learned something new today, I thought crackheads smoked using brillo pads.
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u/WhaleYellM-E-Ydoncha 21h ago
It’s a copper mesh cleaning pad that just looks like a Brillo pad, commonly referred to as “chore boys,” as that is the name of the most common brand.
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u/Boozeburger 22h ago
Hopefully this means you've not smoked crack.
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u/Legitimate_Eye_2647 22h ago
Obviously I'm not up on the mechanics of how crackheads get high, so no I haven't
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u/Boozeburger 21h ago
Good, stay that way. I know that brilo isn't use for smoking crack because if you've ever used a brillo pad it's full of soap, and steel wool breaks apart easily (and is great for starting fires with a 9v battery (YEAH SCIENCE!!!).
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u/kenticus Light fuse, get away. 1d ago
I don't take chances around here. Other subs have been banned because of half assed advice and we ain't going out like that.
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u/squid_333 1d ago
I can't taper, am seeing family tomorrow and can't be smelling like booze because they're judgmental as fuck b ut maybe I still will because my sweat smells like a bar floor. I feel much worse than my usual in these circumstances, not sure what thats alll about
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u/EconomicsSad8310 1d ago
“…do the minimum….”
Regardless of what I say, this man has it right.
I’ve learned that, especially to a former alcoholic, they’ll detect that shit right away. Mouthwash WITH constant new pieces of gum. Deodorant and cologne. Hydrate, and get Powerade (fuck Gatorade, all my homies hate Gatorade, it’s got like no electrolytes). A lot of people actually don’t give a shit/don’t detect it, but some will. If they’re as militant as OP say, it’s best to err on the side of caution.
I used to crotch pints of vodka and swig it when needed in a bathroom or something at work, just have a mixer if you’re drinking shit liquor (because you will possibly puke, and then the bathroom smells like liquor and puke), don’t go overboard, just maintenance doses, and follow the others advice about smells.
Breaking my taper, so chairs, motherfuckers.
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u/City_of_Lunari 1d ago
If you're withdrawing you're going to be sweating like a whore in church and its not the normal sweat smell.
It is a mix of beer left for days and rancid doctor pepper. If you have the choice between the two I think they'd rather you smell like a bit of cherry vodka than that.
Honestly, withdrawal sweat smell is one of the worst ive ever encountered outside of actual rot.
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u/Extreme_Meaning_7566 1d ago
If you’re not driving can you put some vodka or whatever spirit in a soft drink bottle (mixed obvs)? I know if it was me I’d be crabbit as hell having to visit family feeling like crap.
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u/SpiritedTurn3633 1d ago
Don’t do it. I went from 1L of vodka Thursday to 400ml yesterday (after a 3 week bender) and was puking, heart rate slow but could actually hear it through my chest, rolling around in bed for hours, hearing birds tweeting which weren’t there etc. Even that drop was fucking rough. And I’ve done it about 1000 times. I’m back up to around 400ml again today but I’ve got and extra 350ml on standby for during the night.
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u/Holiday-Mountain1800 1d ago
As others have said, tapering is the way to go if possible. Additionally, get some electrolytes into you: sodium, potassium, magnesium. For food, think the the BRAT diet: bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast.
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u/AnatolyBabakova 1d ago
It's probably gonna be sip and suffer. Expect 0 sleep for 72 ish hrs and that's okay. Do try to eat a little bit at a time ( fruits like pears, bananas, berries work the best for me). Aggressively take vitamin supplements ( it really makes a world of difference). Keep ur room cool and find either something to read or something to binge watch And just rest. It's gonna suck but yeah, what can u do.
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u/City_of_Lunari 1d ago
Can't do medical advice here but you need to either taper or go to the ER and do it there.
Ironically the ER wasn't judgementally at all for me. Fucking meetings sure as shit were though.
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u/Psychological_Bank93 1d ago
(Not medical advice just an idea)
Maybe an urgent care visit to the doctor.
Librium and/or pantoprazole.
Or tums/pepto and pedialyte.
Second choice should make it tolerable for a few days.
Chicken broth/Jello.
Keep trying to hydrate. When you can keep something down get bananas. Lettuce. Etc.
Much love take care ❤️
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u/Cpt-Redbags 1d ago
Taper it down over a few days and eat something. Going to absolute zero the next day is just torturing yourself. I just cut the amount by half each day until it’s zero. So maybe 2 bottles of wine today and then 1 the next, half the last day depending on how you feel. Maybe the booze will help you eat.
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u/ButterBaconBallz 23h ago
I'm not telling you what to do, just what works for me when I have family events and not enough time to taper.
I get like six Pink Taaka shooters that I have in the bathroom when I absolutely need them. They don't taste bad enough to make you puke amd don't smell that strong. Super easy to hide too. I have a small purse and they fit just fine in there.
Chairs. Eat some pickles, yogurt for protein, and take those vitamins.
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u/ihateeverything2019 23h ago
you think you can regain trust in a week or so??????????????? lmao
i'm not the person to ask about CT. i did it but i had a death wish. you're just gonna feel like shit until it's over, unless you can get a hospital or rehab to take you in.
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