Alcohol

[[er...]]

I've been off for a year and this has been non stop 24/7, I thought I was getting better but 2 weeks ago I drank a ton for 4 days straight and then been drinking a little socially every other night 1-2 drinks.

 

 

 

 

YOU  ASKING WHY YOU FEEL  SOOO BAD  

NO BOOZE , NO COFFE , NO MSG , NO SPORT DRINKS , NO DRUGS  ETC .

IS THIS SO HARD TO GET IT ?

 

Erika

[[er...]]

I have been drinking thoughout w/d, some weeks a drink and some weeks more, thought my GABA receptors would heal regardless of a drink or not. I feel horrible and not sure how long I will be in agony for but right now my symptoms are 24/7 and I'm miserable.

 

 

 

Maybe you should be in AA .

Why  you here if you drinking  when you taper benzo ??

Why you ask for help ? I dont' get it .

 

 

 

??????????????????????

 

Erika

[[wa...]]

Bmwzw,

You have been posting the same thing for 2 years that I know of, now. This goes back to when you were on BW.com..

I can't count how many times you have been told not to drink, smoke pot, take pain pills and the various other medications

and supplements you have ingested.

 

Two years later you continue to do the same things over and over and come on here begging for help.

Then you always claim that you didn't know you couldn't do those things.

 

Is this some kind of sick joke. You have to be kidding me. Leave the forum to those that want to heal and are actually

looking for advice that they will are going to follow.

 

I'm appalled that after all this time you have the nerve to come on here and act like you didn't know you could not

drink.

 

I feel for you these s/x are true hell but if you continue this self-destructive behavior, how are you ever going to heal??

[[os...]]

And all this time i just thought you were in waves for no reason.

 

That scares a lot of people and yet you have been drinking all along?

 

You should know by now alcohol affects receptors, i don´t believe you did not know this after being around for so long.

 

You will not recover if you do not put yourself into recovery, you have to want to get better, it is that simple.

 

Oscar

 

 

[[bm...]]

So if I have 1 drink every week once a week that ruins healing?

[[os...]]

So if I have 1 drink every week once a week that ruins healing?

 

Well it certainly isn´t going to help, you are the one that feels bad, leave it alone and get to an AA meeting... you do not have to drink.

 

Oscar

[Guest [ma...]]

I'm sorry. I have NEVER been rude or direct to anyone on BB in the year I have been on here BUT I have to ask.......Is this for REAL?

 

I have replied to your posts for help multiple times over the past several months and was very concerned as to why you were still suffering so much. On top of that it freaked me out during my acute w/d b/c I wondered if this was going to happen to me.

 

Now several months later we find out that you have been consuming alcohol.........I feel duped. Didnt you think this was an important piece of information to share with those of us who were trying to help you? This feels like a bad prank to me.

[[bm...]]

You guys are being really hurtful and disrespectful, I have been having 1-2 drinks per WEEK and had a bender going out hard for 3 days in a row. There are full weeks I go without having a single drinks, my question is can a small about of alcohol stop healing!? All of a sudden I'm an alcoholic, I need to join AA, I didn't think a small amount of alcohol per week, would make me feel this sick.

[[bm...]]

Btw merry Christmas to you guys who were really hurtful and disrespful, it's Christmas you guys should be ashamed of yourselves.

[[os...]]

You guys are being really hurtful and disrespectful, I have been having 1-2 drinks per WEEK and had a bender going out hard for 3 days in a row. There are full weeks I go without having a single drinks, my question is can a small about of alcohol stop healing!? All of a sudden I'm an alcoholic, I need to join AA, I didn't think a small amount of alcohol per week, would make me feel this sick.

 

You have not been honest here on the forum, you have been posting non stop about your suffering and others have tried to be supportive and yet you have not offered alcohol as a probable cause ever, so you have caused needless anxiety as others, myself included, have wondered why you seem to be going backwards all the time.

 

Forget disrespectful, you need to get your act together, alcohol is NOT helping you right now and the one person that should know that is you.

 

If you are not alcoholic, then it should not be a problem leaving it alone.

 

If you want to get well you need to be alcohol free for at least 6 months if not far longer.

 

At least we all know now what has been causing you to slide back and yes, it will be the alcohol, so do yourself a favor and quit, at least until you are well again.

 

Oscar

[[os...]]

Btw merry Christmas to you guys who were really hurtful and disrespful, it's Christmas you guys should be ashamed of yourselves.

 

Do you not realize how many others you may have freaked out with your "healing"

 

That is not on bmwzw, you can only be responsible for your own healing in this and it´s about time you started.

 

You knew it was the alcohol and yet you said nothing until now and i know for a fact you are smart enough to know better.

 

Now do something about it and get well.

 

Oscar

[[wa...]]

The true disrespect is to the members that have tried to help you. And the poor people suffering that read your panic posting and get totally freaked. You have posts over 1 1/2 years ago where you talk about your drinking. There are also replies where members talk to you about the dangers of drinking. Some of these members make references back to the other site BW.com and that you had the same problem back then. Claiming now that you didn't know drinking may harm you is ridiculous. Maybe someone will copy and paste them here for you to refresh your memory.

[[os...]]

bmwzw, your taper was quite fast and so was your jump point, i do not blame you for resorting to drinking as i know you have felt bad but honestly, others here have been and are going through this too and still reach out, if you don´t respect yourself enough to do this properly, at least respect those that are in this also and try and help you with your journey.

 

I am not mad at you anymore but enough of the denial, in order to get well you need to stay OFF the booze until your GABA receptors upregulate, that may be awhile off so get used to it, if you find it hard going, you might give AA a shot, maybe not but it´s there for not just alcoholics but for people that have a desire to stop drinking... that is all that is required.

 

Now you know this you can start to get better for real OK?

 

Oscar

[[su...]]

Hi, BMW,

 

To answer some of your questions;  benzos and alcohol both affect GABA,  they also exhibit cross tolerance, and  mixing the two can be very dangerous, as in lethal.  Also, here is a link explaining kindling:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kindling_(sedative-hypnotic_withdrawal)

 

While some people occasionally drink a glass of wine and may tolerate it,  others don't and avoid alcohol at all costs.  Maybe you are one of those that don't tolerate it.  I've kept a journal since Sept, 2010 and it has helped me identify things that don't agree with me. I don't drink alcohol, but I was able to see other things in my diet that caused problems for me.    Have you considered a journal?  If you tracked your symptoms and alcohol consumption in ounces consumed on a daily basis for a few weeks,  maybe you might see a pattern.  I hope you can get this sorted out and get to feeling better....

 

Sunnyside

[[Ho...]]

Bmwzw,

You have been posting the same thing for 2 years that I know of, now. This goes back to when you were on BW.com..

I can't count how many times you have been told not to drink, smoke pot, take pain pills and the various other medications

and supplements you have ingested.

 

Two years later you continue to do the same things over and over and come on here begging for help.

Then you always claim that you didn't know you couldn't do those things.

 

Is this some kind of sick joke. You have to be kidding me. Leave the forum to those that want to heal and are actually

looking for advice that they will are going to follow.

 

I'm appalled that after all this time you have the nerve to come on here and act like you didn't know you could not

drink.

 

I feel for you these s/x are true hell but if you continue this self-destructive behavior, how are you ever going to heal??

 

I can understand the level of frustration on this thread. It's hard to have gone through withdrawal and feel so rotten then see where another member has been drinking which could be messing with their healing. I do understand that. However, I would ask that the members who have contributed to this thread to please watch your tone.

 

wantmylifeback, You can certainly express your frustration but please take a step back. I know this is a very emotionally charged issue as you're aware of the history but I still need you to take a breath before posting on this thread again. Please keep our rule of respectful posting in mind.

 

bmwzw, as has been pointed out, alcohol can have a profound affect on healing during withdrawal, as has been pointed out on this thread many times and has been pointed out to you on other occasions (at least since I've been a team member). I hope the message you can take away from this thread is to do yourself a favour and stop drinking until you are well healed.

 

 

[[Fl...]]

To my knowledge there is zero evidence that alcohol prevents healing. That doesn't mean that it DOESN'T affect healing, but you all have no basis to state unequivocally that alcohol is the cause of x or y problem or that "you will never heal if you consume alcohol".

 

I drank alcohol throughout my taper and wd. Early on I drank a lot. I completely stopped for periods of time and never noticed any difference in my symptoms when I did or did not consume alcohol. I have healed slowly and steadily ever since I came out of acute wd. Is it possible that it set me back? Maybe. Is it possible that it helped me? That isn't a rationalization for drinking. Seriously, what if it did? They give people benzos to detox alcohol, why wouldn't alcohol have a similar effect on benzo wd? Maybe it helped me sleep? (I think it probably did, actually) I don't know whether any of this is true, I am simply trying to point out that none of us know. Some people seem to tolerate alcohol, others don't.

 

My guess is that alcohol probably isn't "good" for benzo wd or during benzo wd, and it probably does have an adverse short term effect on some people, but it probably doesn't have the long term consequences that people on this thread are making it out to have. It isn't fair to the OP to chastise him from trying to get back to leading a somewhat normal life. He is obviously a casual drinker. Benzo wd SUCKS and plenty of people who are not consuming alcohol are in a world of hurt, even at a year or more off.

 

The common refrain on BB is "they both affect the same receptors, so alcohol is essentially the same as a benzo" . I can quit drinking alcohol at any time and I have zero withdrawal. When I stopped the benzo I got hit with a freight train of symptoms. If they are identical, my body would react the same to both. Yet there is a night and day difference. One created a debilitating dependency. The other seems to have no effect on me whatsoever when I stop. They might be similar, but they are absolutely not the same.

 

All of that said, as I am getting closer to recovery I seem to be less able to tolerate alcohol. By 18 months off I was only able to consume a few drinks. It also seemed to make me feel a little worse in the morning. I have only consumed alcohol one time in the past month or so. Two beers. And I had a wave the next day. I don't know whether or not the alcohol had anything to do with it, but I'm taking it easy with the drinking for now because it seems that in my case I don't seem to be tolerating it as well as I continue to heal.

 

The bottom line is that we just don't know how alcohol affects benzo wd. Bmwzw is here for help just like everyone else, and he doesn't deserve to be chastised while looking for support.

 

 

[[Ri...]]

Bmwzw is here for help just like everyone else, and he doesn't deserve to be chastised while looking for support.

 

 

But if he drinks, that forfeits his ability to complain.

[[bm...]]

I rarely drink.

[[bm...]]

I'm not gonna have a single drink and I'm gonna report back here in 2 weeks and see if I feel any better.

[[os...]]

Booze seems to affect the same receptors so any amount cannot aid the healing process, i think Ashton was wrong to say in moderation it is OK, i have yet to hear of anyone that drank whilst in withdrawals that was fine with it... we are temporarily compromised, it is just how it is unfortunately.

 

Oscar

[[os...]]

I'm not gonna have a single drink and I'm gonna report back here in 2 weeks and see if I feel any better.

 

Good to hear.

 

Don´t be mad at others here, most have tried to help you and i know we all just want you to get healed.

 

Just stay off all alcohol and see how you feel... chances are you will feel better.

 

Oscar

[[Ho...]]

BMWZW, on this thread (19 months ago) http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=32004.msg465644#msg465644 , you stated that you knew in order to get better, you'd have to quit the alcohol. Also, many people on that thread gave warning of using alcohol in withdrawal. I'm assuming you forgot? I hope you can remember this one from now on, buddy.

 

Also, I've read where alcohol set some people back months, not weeks. Maybe that is not the case for you.

 

Feel better soon.

[[Ri...]]

Bmwzw is here for help just like everyone else, and he doesn't deserve to be chastised while looking for support.

 

 

But if he drinks, that forfeits his ability to complain.

 

What I meant to say was, some  members would not feel a sense of betrayal if you had included alcohol use in your signature.

[[ge...]]

I would suggest waiting longer than 2 weeks to report back. That is not enough time in benzo w/d to see substantial improvement, if any at all. It takes months. I think reporting back in 2 months you would be able to gauge better whether alcohol is, in fact, setting you back.

 

Good luck with refraining from alcohol

[Guest [Th...]]

Benzos and alcohol are almost the same as far as your GABA receptors are concerned.  Stay away from the drink until you are truly healed, and only then you should keep it under control.

 

Take some dextromethorphan.  It won't help a lot, but it will keep your brain cells from dying due to excitotoxicity.  You should be okay within 5 days but could have lingering symptoms if you are not healed from benzo w/d.  Use a very small dose of benzo if you have severe symptoms, or go to the ER.  Tremors and hallucinations would be a warning sign that you need help.

 

Be strong.  Watch some bad movies and eat, and if you can exercise that will help.

 

i get tremors and hallucinations on a daily basis, and i have been drinking beer/alchohol everyday for the past week and a half.

if i take a benzo would that set me back to day one, am i already set back to day one. i have been off xanax for 2 months now