experiences (and/or opinions) please-
Quitting cold turkey, what does it involve and how bad is it (alcohol)? I will seek help for the rest of i (non-phsyiolocically) , trust me, but wondering about the physical part. This is new for me (since the surgery); obviously I'm a classic case of transferrence. Didn't really mind overeating-it didnt affect my daily life. Now I can't eat at all and I (over-) compensate with the beer. My kids obviously are picking up on the drinking and they don't like it. I don't either...so, I am looking for cold turkey experiences, both PRO and CON...I trust you guys and I value your input and experiences--I mean, where else can I go for this type of advice, really?! Sometimes I think I am the only one struggling with this, but I know I'm not. I hope I'm not. No, I KNOW I'm not.
Well, you ask a really good question. First of all, it depends on how much you drink and for how long. If you consume a large amount of alcohol, and do it daily, you may experience the DTs, which can be dangerous. I do not know the threshold of this, so you may want to consider speaking to your family doctor. Some alcoholics need to go through detox, where there are medical professionals there to provide medications to help the detoxification process safely.
Now, for me, I did not drink daily. I did not experience a strong physical withdrawal. My withdrawal was emotional. I needed the support that I get from Alcoholics Anonymous. The people in AA are available and willing to help a newcomer. I strongly recommend you go to an AA meeting and see what I am talking about.
I hope this helps. Sorry I cannot be more specific. Good to see you working on dealing with this.
Hugs,
Trish
Speaking as an addict and a nurse I agree with Trish 100%. You may want to consider asking your MD for guidence. You do not need to be ashamed. He/she has heard it before and will help you decide what is the safest thing for you. If you have been reading Michelles posts her Dr is working with her outpt to help her stablize and get thru it with certain meds. Each of us is different. I too was not a daily drinker so I did not have a physical withdrawl. I had to go thru an emotional one. I have had withdrawl from medications and while it was unpleasant feeling( not physically painful) it was tolerable. I too used and still do a 12 step program to deal with it. I sincerely wish you the best and hope you stay around.
Laurie
As Laurie suggested, perhaps you could go back over the last few weeks and read some of my posts.
I too am the queen of transferrence 
I was drinking daily in the evenings on workdays and on the weekends, I'd begin around 2-3 pm and drin****il bedtime. Beer was also my beverage of choice, although I danced with Ron Bacardi from time to time also. I had also started smoking again after surgery (after not smoking for about 8 yrs), and I used marijuana almost daily.. I quit drinking, cigs and marijuana all on the same day - cold turkey. It just got to the point that I was totally out of control, and I knew it. For me personally, this method is the most effective because I will TRICK myself if I try to taper off any kind of substance or behavior. I justify and make excuses and find that I simply can't just "cut back" on anything - I don't have that kind of control. I am however, a very stubborn girl, and the cold turkey method works for me.
I won't lie - the first 4 days were sheer HELL. I wasn't just taking it one day at a time, I was taking it one half minute at a time!! Of course, I don't think I had alcohol withdrawal DT's - no shaking etc, but I'm pretty sure the tobacco withdrawal was the worrst. I was a mess - it was like PMS multiplied by 100. I was edgy, tense, emotional and just very distraught. I knew from when I quit smoking years ago, that it would be 3-4 days before that part of it passed, so I just resigned myself to the fact I'd feel like crap for a few days and bit the bullet. I went and got several paperback books so I could kind of lose myself for a while - and that really did help. I did go see my doctor during those first couple of days, and I made a therapy appt. I was honest with both. The doctor gave me xanax for my nerves and ambien to help me sleep for the short term. It really helped.
Once I had the psych appt, I'd been sober for almsot 3 weeks. I followed up with my pcp and was given Lexapro for anxiety disorder. The doctors think my abuse of alcohol was an attempt to self-medicate the anxiety in addition to some compulsive tendencies I have (compusive oral fixation). I was told that it's pretty common for people with depression or anxiety (and the OCD is in the anxiety family) to self medicate with food, alcohol, drugs and that I probably didn't have a pysical addiction to alcohol (because of no DT's etc), but I would have developed one over time if I continued with that behavior. What I DO have is a tendency to self-medicate, so I promised my doctor to see him every two weeks until we're sure the medication is working for me.
I'm to continue the therapy and I've even been to a couple of AA meetings (after some initial hesitation). I found it helpful to be around people who truly understand the whole dynamic of trying to stop a behavior over and over again and failing.
I'm not sure what was the "magic pill" this time, but it had to do with the fact that my kids were getting REALLY affected by my behavior.
NOpe you are NOT the only one struggling with this, and I'm here for you anytime if you want to exchange email or instant messages. Cold turkey was best for *ME* personally, but only you can decide what is best for you. I do encourage you to reach out to your doctor. Believe it or not, mine was soooooo supportive, and I thought he would scold me or think less of me. It was actually the opposite. He told me he was PROUD of me for being strong enough to try and get help and stop the self-destructive behavior. I've honestly found that being straight up with EVERYBODY has gotten me much more support that I'd ever dreamed possible.
Hang in there - we're here for you if you need us! This board is awesome as are the people here!
Big hugs 
Michelle
I was drinking daily in the evenings on workdays and on the weekends, I'd begin around 2-3 pm and drin****il bedtime. Beer was also my beverage of choice, although I danced with Ron Bacardi from time to time also. I had also started smoking again after surgery (after not smoking for about 8 yrs), and I used marijuana almost daily.. I quit drinking, cigs and marijuana all on the same day - cold turkey. It just got to the point that I was totally out of control, and I knew it. For me personally, this method is the most effective because I will TRICK myself if I try to taper off any kind of substance or behavior. I justify and make excuses and find that I simply can't just "cut back" on anything - I don't have that kind of control. I am however, a very stubborn girl, and the cold turkey method works for me.
I won't lie - the first 4 days were sheer HELL. I wasn't just taking it one day at a time, I was taking it one half minute at a time!! Of course, I don't think I had alcohol withdrawal DT's - no shaking etc, but I'm pretty sure the tobacco withdrawal was the worrst. I was a mess - it was like PMS multiplied by 100. I was edgy, tense, emotional and just very distraught. I knew from when I quit smoking years ago, that it would be 3-4 days before that part of it passed, so I just resigned myself to the fact I'd feel like crap for a few days and bit the bullet. I went and got several paperback books so I could kind of lose myself for a while - and that really did help. I did go see my doctor during those first couple of days, and I made a therapy appt. I was honest with both. The doctor gave me xanax for my nerves and ambien to help me sleep for the short term. It really helped.
Once I had the psych appt, I'd been sober for almsot 3 weeks. I followed up with my pcp and was given Lexapro for anxiety disorder. The doctors think my abuse of alcohol was an attempt to self-medicate the anxiety in addition to some compulsive tendencies I have (compusive oral fixation). I was told that it's pretty common for people with depression or anxiety (and the OCD is in the anxiety family) to self medicate with food, alcohol, drugs and that I probably didn't have a pysical addiction to alcohol (because of no DT's etc), but I would have developed one over time if I continued with that behavior. What I DO have is a tendency to self-medicate, so I promised my doctor to see him every two weeks until we're sure the medication is working for me.
I'm to continue the therapy and I've even been to a couple of AA meetings (after some initial hesitation). I found it helpful to be around people who truly understand the whole dynamic of trying to stop a behavior over and over again and failing.
I'm not sure what was the "magic pill" this time, but it had to do with the fact that my kids were getting REALLY affected by my behavior.
NOpe you are NOT the only one struggling with this, and I'm here for you anytime if you want to exchange email or instant messages. Cold turkey was best for *ME* personally, but only you can decide what is best for you. I do encourage you to reach out to your doctor. Believe it or not, mine was soooooo supportive, and I thought he would scold me or think less of me. It was actually the opposite. He told me he was PROUD of me for being strong enough to try and get help and stop the self-destructive behavior. I've honestly found that being straight up with EVERYBODY has gotten me much more support that I'd ever dreamed possible.
Hang in there - we're here for you if you need us! This board is awesome as are the people here!
Big hugs
Michelle 
Going through DT's without medical supervision can be dangerous. You can go into seizures which can be very dangerous...the prescribe Librium for this to prevent the seizures. You may want to consider a short stay unit at a hospital that can treat you for this. Cold turkey can be sickly and dangerous. Good luck with whatever you decide.
Kelly
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