Thank you. :) I treasure every day of my life now and am so glad I quit.

If you quit cold turkey you will start having detoxic symptoms such as cold sweats, tremors, insomnia. How do i know, cuz i have been there. You may want to see a Medical Doctor and ask to be given a prescription for Librium. Librium helps with the Detox Symptoms. I strongly suggest you to go to AA. It has helped me stay sober 14 months, you might not like having to go, but just keep going. Don't quit 5 minuets before the miracle happens...We all have to hit our own rock bottoms..

mental AND physical addiction
 

I don't know if your drinking is this advanced, but seizures and death can result from alcohol withdrawal [whereas with narcotics withdrawal, you just wish that you were dead]. This forum could offer you much support. But examine yourself - why do you want to quit on your own before going to AA. AA is not what people may think, and you can find lots of support there. If neither works, I would seek a detox center. :hug: and lots of luck - signed: been there done that billie

I just noticed the date that the OP posted this so for them my reply is probably too late. But for anyone in a similar situation, that has been a continual heavy drinker for an extended period of time - going cold turkey can be way more than just feeling really ill and having a monster hangover.

(I have under 10 post so have had to remove the hyperlinks - but I am sure you can find them with google. :) )

This is what happened to me after taking (I would guess) at least 60-70 units a day for a month.

Day 1 (day time) - Felt extremely ill with constant vomiting.
Day 1 (night time) - Started hallucinating faint sounds of music and voices.
Day 2 (day time) - Slight visual hallucinations, audio hallucinations remain.
Day 2 (night time) - Extreme cold sweats, shaking and what I called 'the fear'
- 'the fear' is when you are constantly on edge and you feel like you adrenal gland is going to pack in with the amount of adrenaline it is filling the body with. (trust me when I say, it is a really nasty feeling)

Now comes the bad part! - You start to feel like there are some form of parasites crawling all over your body, it is actually just muscle twitches but your brain is going into a type of psychosis that make it feel very real.

The next stage... and I don't know the best way to put it.... you literally go mad. You lose all grip on reality. Beyond that if not treated immediately, you will go into seizures then coma, then death!

Luckily I was rushed to hospital before the coma and (obviously! :) ) death part!

If you really want to stop immediately, I would either go to your local Alcohol clinic or your doctor and request a 5-7 day cycle of Chlordiazepoxide. This stuff is miraculous, and deals with all the withdrawal side effect brilliantly. You will also find that you appetite comes back almost instantaneously.

The one thing about Chlordiazepoxide is that it is highly sedative for the first couple of days, so if you work it would be best to take the week off.

Hi "Punk" ~ I'm sure there are ALOT of people who quit on their own and had no trouble. All i can tell you is how I did it. There was NO WAY I could do it on my own. I used to drink probably 12 beers per night, and when that was gone, I'd start on the booze. I'd usually pass out, and drive to work the next day in a black-out. Lord, how I hated that!!! I could NEVER remember getting to work. :eek: To think that I could have killed someone ! Thank God He was watching over me.

God literally took me by the collar and MADE me call AA. I didn't want to, but God MADE me. I tried to put the phone down, but I couldn't!!! I tried not to dial the phone, but HE made me!!! And when someone answered, HE made me speak. It was EERIE how it all happened, because I didn't do any of it. God was doing it for me. That was July 28th, 1993, and I've been sober since.

AA literally saved my fanny cause I would have been dead by now the way I was drinking. If YOU drink that amount of beer, you won't have a long life either because your liver won't be able to stand it. Right NOW you should have a liver panel done to see if your liver is functioning properly. That was the first thing I did when I got sober. I got lucky cause it was fine.

Best of luck to you but be careful. If you do this on your own, you could have DT's and those can be DEADLY. You should be under a doctor's care. God bless and remember to take it One Day at a Time. Peace, Lee ;)