SOS - Post here if you need help (No General Chat Please)

[Boris Bike]

Well, I have now eaten some soup at least.

Other things I could do today is the washing up and have a bath. I have been in the same clothes, boxer shorts for eight days straight, not removing any clothing at night time. So whether or not detox comes soon, I will be contained by the government as a biohazard before long.

[SoberBoots]

Yep, do that Boris. Do it now. It's a manageable thing and you'll feel tons better for it. Come back in a bit and tell us how fragrant you are!

[Topcat]

Hi again Boris (replied on Relapsing).

Glad you've had some soup. Stay safe until the detox appointment won't you?

TC xx

[Boris Bike]

I have had a bath. I'm afraid that I will have to disappoint you on the fragrancy. I do not have the correct unguents and ointments to announce myself to the world as fragrant. I just smell of water if we can envision such a thing..

[SoberBoots]

Water's good!

Great improvement on stale alcohol sweat

[Boris Bike]

That's true

If you don't take your clothes off at all for eight days it's your groin that gets grimmest. In the past I have sat and slept in my clothes for seven weeks. It's a surprise I was actually able to take my clothes off again at all after all that time. The clothes could have become partially absorbed into my body. And I don't think I was even drinking then. I have mental health issues.

[Boris Bike]

Does anyone know about vision distortion/blindness?

I remember there's been stories in the news about some corner shops selling vodka that has something in it that can harm the eyes. When I go to the shop he generally doesn't have enough Smirnoff for me so he gives me a random brand.

I'm sitting here and I am having vision distortion having spent today drinking "Imperial Czar Vodka" and I don't know whether I'm just having this distortion because I'm intoxicated; whether I'm in partial withdrawal due to taking it very slow today or whether I've been given one of these vision killing brands. I've stopped drinking that brand now.

[Boris Bike]

Never mind. It would appear my plight is caused merely by dehydration of the eyes due to computer use and smoking in here.

I'll stop posting in SOS now and close this tab.

[SoberBoots]

I don't know Boris. I had all sorts of weird things go on when I drank heavily. Alcohol's a poison anyway, so it's probably hard to tell whether it inoxication from that or whether a dodgy addititive is at work too. You could always call the Drinkline, the NHS resource, if you're in the UK, for a chat?

[Boris Bike]

Thank you. If my eyes are the same after a night's sleep I will try them. Good idea.

[Boris Bike]

Just thought I'd post an update so that those who welcomed me back so wonderfully know what's going on.

I have had 2 days of sobriety now. The day just prior to those I had 8 shots the entire day, starting in the morning and finishing at night. I gather that came to 8 units in 14 hours.

It's half three in the morning and I'll likely stay up all night and have another sober day.

I have the appointment with the clinic at 2:30pm but I can't imagine much will be offered there since I have sobered up by myself. But I shall undergo their assessment and answer their questions and then just see what they say.

I hope you're all doing well.

[Tai]

It’s good to hear that you’re making such good progress Boris, not at all easy but so very worthwhile. I do think it’s still worth making it to your appointment this afternoon if you can. They may not offer much but they may offer something and at this stage any help is worth grabbing on to. It must all feel very daunting at the moment but know that your mates here on BE are rooting for you every step of the way xx Jos

[Boris Bike]

Thank you, Jos.

There's little question of me failing to make the appointment as it's going to be on the phone due to you know what. All I have to do is be here at my desk at the appointed time.

Thank you for the hugs.

[Sheila]

Hi Boris, I'm really sorry to read of your situation, but it sounds like you're doing all you can to get back on track

I agree with Jos, even if they can only offer a little help at this time it's worth grabbing.

Take care, good luck with the phone appointment, and please keep us updated

[SoberBoots]

That's awesome Boris. Thanks for posting, I was wondering how you were getting on. There may be on-going support on offer from the clinic, and monitoring for the next week or so as alcohol withdrawal takes a couple of weeks. What you're done isn't easy, and you should be really proud of yourself.

[Boris Bike]

Thank you both very much for the kind thoughts.

I had the "meeting". It turned out it's not a clinic. Or, at least, I didn't establish that it was. It's a charity funded by my local council.

She assessed me for 90 minutes! She asked me pretty much everything except the colour of my shirt. So it was a series of questions that not only covered my drinking but all and any other health matters going on with me.

The result is that I am to hear when I can have an appointment with a nurse. I think the idea is that - and I should have clarified - the nurse will also assess me and see if there's any drugs I could have in the home such that if I get terribly anxious and that edges me towards taking a drink I would take the drug instead.

She had some bad news for me. I have been feeling quite bouyant today. Twitter has been making me laugh a lot. But what the assessor told me is that I drank enough last week to still have alcohol in my bloodstream. So, by her reckoning, it's tomorrow that cravings will strike. This is bad news as I kinda thought I'd gotten away with it. So tomorrow may be a real test.

At the end she asked me if I had any questions for her? So I said "yes, if I feel myself wanting a drink, maybe I have it in my hand and I'm just staring at it, what do you advise me to do?"

She said "post on your forum." (!)

(I had told her I was on a forum for dealing with these issues.)

So you may see me back tomorrow. x

[SoberBoots]

This all sounds like good stuff Boris - thorough, and some follow up support. I think initial alcohol withdrawal lasts about 14 days. Cravings can strike any time really, but it's good that she's warned you to be on your guard.

[Trojan]

Boris, that all sounds pretty positive

Just as well to be forewarned of possible delayed withdrawal too, and to have your response worked out

[Boris Bike]

14 days!? Oh God!

What I'd like to ask you guys is some good threads to sign up to when in my case? I see the warning that we can't have general chat on here, so I don't want to break any rules. But I'm struggling to find good threads to be on right now, except "The First 7 Days".

I'd be grateful for your ideas.

Thanks for all the hugs and support.

[SoberBoots]

Hey Boris, the withdrawal symptoms aren't all the same over time. I was always defintely over the worst by the third day - but would then often think "oh, I'm all right now, I'll have a drink, just the one or two..." and bang I'd be right back where I was. It wasn't until I started to understand that this was part of the withdrawal process that I began to be able to break the pattern.

How about "general chat and suppport as a thread?

This is the 14 day graph of physical symptoms that you often see

AWS graph.jpg (13.14 KiB) Viewed 2762 times