Alcoholism Recovery & Treatment

Question by Nathaniel: Help me understand changes a recovering alcohol addict goes through and the difficulties they face?
What physical changes does a person go through during recovery from alcohol and/or drugs? How does their body crave the alcohol or drug they are recovering from? Can someone also help me understand by explaining the different physiological difficulties an addict has while going through recovery?

Anyone who can give the most detailed and accurate helpful answers, with possibly a link to a reference gets 10pts. Please help!

Best answer:

Answer by Kristy B
They will get the shakes,vomit (sometimes with blood depending on how long they have been drinking),become paranoid, body aches.

Really if you have ever seen a movie with someone coming off of heroin or something like that it can be very similar. especially with heavy drinkers

Add your own answer in the comments!

Question by Jesse D: Writing a paper about alcoholism? Help with topic ideas?
I have an eight page paper about alcoholism due this Friday. I’m brainstorming what I want to write about and trying to come up with questions I can answer within my paper, relating to the disease, of course.

So far, I’ve thought of:

Basic statistics (How many people are affected by alcoholism in the US? How many are men/women? What’s the economic/social level of those affected? Age range? Race?…)
Risk Factors
Possible causes (I’ll only touch briefly on this, since no one really knows whether it’s inherited or not. I will present both sides.)
Symptoms
Diagnosis (Using the AUDIT/CAGE testing system, etc…)
Treatment (How many treated actually stay sober, as opposed to going back to the bottle? What are the treatment options?)
Other health issues that stem from being an alcoholic (Liver failure, cancer, depression, bi-polar disorder, etc…)
What could be done better/more to inform the public about alcoholism

What else would you like to know about alcoholism, if you were reading my paper? Do you have any other topic ideas I could touch on? Thanks!

Best answer:

Answer by njyogibear
costs to business community for employees with alcoholism–a, absenteeism/lost productivity and b, expense for health insurance/rehab

social stigma/public view of alcoholism

portrayal of alcoholism in popular culture ie literature, movies, tv-has it changed over time?

drinking age and its correlation to alcoholism; contrast USA to other countries where younger poeple can drink

Add your own answer in the comments!

Question by Joe: Ways to help stop me from drinking alcohol?
I want to stop drinking because every morning after i always feel really embarrassed from what i did (starting fights for no reason or saying stupid things to people) but I cant have fun when im out unless I drink. I’ve tried not drinking but its sooo boring when I don’t and im really uncofident when im sober. What do you suggest i do?

Best answer:

Answer by bbycakes
Buy none alcoholic alcohol, that way no one knows that your not drinking so I guess you could act drunk, you don’t get left out and no bad feelings the next morning.
Don’t worry about the way you feel in the morning, loads of people feel anxious the next day
x

What do you think? Answer below!

Question by mcqueen: Alcohol recovery, Im having SEVERE depression, help?
I’ve been drinking every day for 4 years. I lost it last Friday after getting laid off, losing my boyfriend, and having an eviction notice sent to me all within 24 hours. I bought a case and drank 20 beers within a 24 hour period (I think, I can’t even make sense of it. I was alone). I asked my boyfriend to come over and talk when I woke up and he said no, so I immediately bought another case and drank about 10 more.

I woke up Sunday and from what I could tell I had a seizure. I went to the ER and admitted what I had done and went thru detox there, then was given Xanax to detox at home. I am still detoxing but after all this time I am now noticing severe and awful depression. I am sitting here crying since I can’t just drink everything away but it seems more psychological now.

Has anyone been thru this? It’s like there is no hope. I’m guessing this will pass but it was bad yesterday and is worse today. Thoughts?

Best answer:

Answer by Alex
First of all, you are going to have physical and mental withdrawls from alcohol. Even without the emotion from the alcohol, you just lost your job, boyfriend, and house. OF COURSE your going to be depressed. What you need to realize is, this is because you drink. The only way you’re going to get through this is by not drinking. That being said, you ARE going to go through hard times. If you don’t stop, you’ll go through worse. My suggestion to you is to accept that this is going to be hard, but afterwards life will be better. Call your parents, siblings, family or for last resort friends. Preferably parents or siblings. Tell them you have a drinking problem and you need a place to stay to get back on your feet. Start going to AA meetings and find another job. After awhile you’ll get over this withdrawl, you’ll get your own place, you’ll get a job, you’ll get a new boyfriend (or even maybe your ex if he sees how well you cleaned up since he probably left you because of drinking) and you’ll be happy.

Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!

Question by william m: How to help a alcoholic?
I need help !! How can I get inpatient treatment for alcoholism with out having health insurance? I am so sick of drinking that i’d commit a misdemeanor just to get locked up for a few days as long as it’s not anything real bad. Anyone known anybody that might have went thru some thing similar? Any help in this matter i’d be very thankful!! I got bad anexity problems, so going to AA meetings are almost out of the question.

Best answer:

Answer by Summer
You definitely need the right mind set on wanting to stop drinking..”and it seems as though you maybe there”

Try going to an Addiction Psychiatry Doctor, he will then tell you whether or not you need the Inpatient treatment, and if so..he can guide you to some of the ways for people without insurance..ie..sliding fee scales or low income..

I personally went through the above, and decided i wanted to try the pills on my own at home..He put me on Campral & Naltrexone, and it worked for me. He also gave me Librium for the first 3-4 days if I needed it, going through the withdrawels..never used them! He did want me to go to AA, but like yourself I too had anexity, and didnt go..

Its been 7 months since I quit, and I feel great! Alot of good came from it..I lost weight, got rid of my anexity, feel alot better about myself..

Good Luck in what you decide

What do you think? Answer below!