withdrawal & alcohol

[[mo...]]

I read in the Ashton Manual that a glass of wine during benzo withdrawal (ativan) was O.K. I had my first 1/2 glass after

3 weeks of withdrawal and I feel just awful. Intense muscle pain in legs and head-in-vice feeling.  Why does alcohol intensify

the withdrawal symptoms? And is this a normal reaction to alcohol? Anyone have the same thing happen to them?? I definitely not do

this again!

[[Pa...]]

I'm so sorry you had to learn the hard way, we must have hundreds of threads on the forum about alcohol with most of the posts warning not to imbibe until you're recovered.  There are some who can drink moderately, but not many.

 

Alcohol works on the same part of the brain as benzo's, when alcoholics go to detox they're given benzo's to prevent DT's, we sometimes refer to alcohol as liquid benzo's. 

 

I get the feeling Professor Ashton was trying to let people know that they should try to keep their lives as normal as possible and if that included an occasional glass of wine then why not, but for many, the why not becomes painfully obvious.

 

Hopefully your symptoms will settle down soon, just try to avoid any stress and be kind to yourself while you're feeling this way.  Just in case you weren't aware, some people report that some supplements can cause symptoms to increase as well as stress, so be gentle with yourself. 

[[mo...]]

Thank you so much, Pamster. 

[[tr...]]

Be careful with anything fermented for now...kombucha, vinegars, etc. Those can affect people too. I literally felt a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar. But that was just my experience:)

[Guest [ba...]]

That was about my timing.  I tried a beer at three weeks and it didn't work well for me.  A few people are able to continue to drink a little alcohol, but it seems like most people have difficulty.

 

fwiw - I can drink just fine now.