I wrote the guide for opiate withdrawal well after I quit opiates, but for this, I’m writing in withdrawal. I’ll probably end up editing this later to be more concise, but information is always good to have sooner rather than later. Alcohol is a bitch. With how prevalent it is in our world, it feels impossible to escape. I’m pretty well versed in alcohol withdrawal at this point, putting down and picking the bottle back up at many times repeatedly. This guide is written for people who heavily abuse alcohol. If you’re less of a heavy drinker than me, your symptoms may not be as bad. Alcohol withdrawal can range from minor insomnia and low energy to killing you. But some of these tips may still be helpful for those going through minor withdrawal.

Before Going To The Hospital

This might sound like insane advice, but the night before you plan on going to get help, pick up some alcohol, but downgrade yourself to something. Like if you drink hard liquor, switch to some low abv beers. In my case, I switched out my half gallon of vodka a day for a half a gallon of margaritas a day. Still, quite a bit of alcohol, but having less alcohol in your system when you choose to withdrawal will make a big difference. Last time, I went to the hospital because I was at half a gallon a day and woke up done with it and just wanted it over. While this time, I've been able to pretty much handle withdrawal with just one librium I took yesterday. It's been rough, but manageable, managed it completely without medical help this time though. If you don't feel like you can handle this, or just want to get it over with, this is a completely optional step.

Medical danger

If you are drinking enough to get the shakes when you don’t drink, it’s best to get some medical help. They can usually handle you at an urgent care, especially if its a mental health urgent care. If you can’t afford it, look for a friend with a benzo prescription that’s willing to help you out. All they’re going to do where ever you go is give you a benzo prescription, usually Librium (the one I also prefer the most for withdrawal) but a benzo is a benzo. It’ll help no matter what. If you’re getting them from the street, make sure they’re not fent presses. One thing I would take care to avoid is gabapentinoids (Gabapentin, Lyrica, Baclofen, ect.) to get through withdrawal. These drugs are far more similar to alcohol (VGCC drugs so similar action, producing repeatable euphoria) and their use will make any future alcohol withdrawals you may have much worse. They will also give you far more Gabapentin than they will benzos. I got 2 months worth of Gabapentin for alcohol cravings once and it did nothing but make everything worse. You’ll get a week’s worth of benzos at most, so even if you can’t handle benzos and abuse them, you won’t have to deal with any dependency.

Speaking of medical danger, you may notice that I do not have shrooms on this list if you read my opiate guide. I do not recommend microdosing shrooms during alcohol withdrawal. That's just asking for seizures.

Other symptoms

Benzos and weed as will help with the shakes, the headrush, the muscle pain, and temperature regulation issues. I don’t really get irritable during withdrawal, so can’t vouch for how useful they are for that. But even after that’s all taken care of, you still got more to deal with. Be near a toilet at all times. This part has been killing me. Loperamide is my preferred way of taking care of this. Also because of the diarrhea (and sweating), you need to stay extra hydrated. My outpatient doctors all strongly suggest sports drinks during withdrawals. If you don’t want sports drink for some reason, making a slightly more sour lemonade is worth it. Add a pinch of salt in there while you’re at it. For flavor and health. (Edit addendum: A commenter left a recipe for oral rehydration solution from the world health organization, this is a perfectly suitable replacement for sports drink, although I'd still suggest adding some citrus, has always helped settle my stomach) If you have it, I like adding a touch of rosemary to the simple syrup, it just has this nice freshness to it. Also helps clear your nostrils from the congestion.

As far as congestion goes, I strongly suggest 1st generation anti-histamines such as Benedryl, Promethazine, and Hydroxizine for the first 2 days of withdrawal, but not for the last 3 days. Alcohol releases a lot of histamine in your body. This is why people get red and puffy when they drink, they’re essentially having a very minor allergic reaction to alcohol. So anti-histamines really get rid of the worst of the more hangover based symptoms, such as nausea and just that “ick” you get after drinking. They can also be helpful for sleep during the first few days. The reason I do not suggest them for days 3-5 is because of restless leg syndrome. Maybe this is a personal issue, but anti-histamines have a known side effect of causing restless limbs. During days 3-5, I wouldn’t trust the anti-histamines to knock you out for more than 3-4 hours. So you’ll wake up, and the restless limbs of alcohol withdrawal will compound with the anti-histamines and you’ll just feel like shit. Days 1&2 are pretty much the alcohol clearing from your body, days 3-5 are your first “fully sober” days if that makes sense. You may also notice that the congestion leaves on these days because the alcohol isn’t releasing histamine anymore.

As for supplements, I’d consider B12 to be a non-negotiable. B12 deficiency causes a lot of major issues, such as low energy, depression, and non-reversible dissociation. Seriously, I know a guy whose life pretty much totally turned around after he got on B12. Now, I’m not saying that’s anybody’s issues here, by god I’m schizophrenic. However, a B12 deficiency, something most alcoholics have, isn’t going to make the situation any better. Another supplement I’d consider important, but not quite as essential is magnesium. Magnesium is one that we burn through a lot when we drink. Magnesium will help relax your muscles, and make bowel movements easier.

And to mention it, shrooms are great after you're through the withdrawal. They're really good at bringing you more in touch with yourself, who you want to be. I quit fent after a shrooms trip where I looked in the mirror and just asked "what the fuck am I doing with my life?". I relapsed, but it took months of being required to drive out and buy them for my ex for me to finally go for it again. They really are quite amazing for addiction.

Things to do

First, the most helpful thing so far, has been going to meetings. Yeah, I know it sounds obvious and preachy, but being around people who understand you is good. I mean shit, that’s why we love Hexbear so much. I’ve even found some queer centric online meetings too! This really keeps me from just being a shut in and feeling like I have nothing better to do than drink. I personally attend NA and SMART meetings for the most part, SMART is secular while NA isn’t. I just like the people of NA a lot more, less chud types and I find the way that NA groups (that I’ve attended) handle the religion aspect is totally cool.

Second, shower. It just feels great. The hot water being on you makes all the nerve pain go away, all the muscle tension just go away. Also, you’re sweating off a lot of alcohol, you probably smell bad. It’s an act of self care, and that goes a long way too. Just actively caring about yourself. Go ahead and stretch while you’re at it. Take a deep breath and try to relax your muscles as much as you can.

Do some reflection during withdrawal. Another user on here suggested writing letters to myself and other people you never intend to show, and my therapist liked the idea so much she had me do it myself. Self dialogue can be difficult, so this is where reading can really help. I haven’t been into books much recently (need to get back into it) but I’ve been really liking NA’s daily reflections. They always get me thinking introspectively.

I’ve already said this, but it cannot be overstated, drink lots of water and/or sports drink. They swear by the stuff at rehabs for a reason. You’re sweating and shitting out all your water, and that’ll make your muscle pain so much worse.

Smoke some weed. Really helps you not lean on the benzos so much, and keeps things comfortable if your doctor tapered you.

Window shop for shit. Figure out how much you were spending on alcohol, and figure out something better to do with it. Personally I’ve always just bought the cheapest shit available, and in my state that’s really cheap. So me getting sober isn’t really saving me a ton. But I picked out a plushie that I’m going to buy next time I have the money, so I don’t spend it on alcohol.

Go for a walk. Sunlight and light physical activity are all good. I walked down to Dollar Tree this morning and it got me the energy to type up all of this in a day.

Listen to music, sing with it. Watch a movie, or play a game. Do something to help you not focus on how shitty you feel and how much you want to drink

Things not to do

Don't just lay in bed all day. While it may be tempting because of the low energy, it makes you feel more dependent on alcohol.

Don't avoid people. Even if you don't go to meetings, you need to get out and see some people. Go to the grocery store, hang out with couple friends, call some friends.

Don't try to use caffeine to power through. It will make you feel shitty.

Don't beat yourself up. Alcoholism is such a hard thing to deal with. I've failed so much as a person because of my alcoholism, but I have to move forward and do better. It's what we all have to do.

Conclusion

I created this comm so that we could have safe and honest discussion of drugs. I do not think there is anything wrong with any drug in and of itself, just the relationships we form with them. I have a problematic relationship with alcohol. I had a problematic relationship with opiates. I think it's part of the game we're in, whether we like it or not. I don't even plan on getting entirely sober because there are plenty of drugs I have no issues with, but it's been time for me to put down the bottle for a long time.

Edit: Already thought of more to add to this lol, also fixing formatting. Another commenter also added something that I think deserves to be in the full post. Also added the step of doing a soft "taper" for a day or two before you decide to ct something like half a gallon or more of hard liquor a day.

From @ReadFanon@hexbear.net

The World Health Organisation has a recipe they recommend for Oral Rehydration Solution (sports drink minus mark up for corporate profits and a massive marketing budget). This is it:

6 level teaspoons of sugar

½ level teaspoon of salt

1L water (just over 1 quart)

Less is more. Slightly undershooting this is better than putting too much sugar/salt in, especially with the salt.

You can add flavourings into this, you can use tea or herbal tea, a squeeze of lemon or lime etc.

As an alternative, orange juice is about as good as a sports drink.

You can use these for rehydration, whether after sports or during heatwaves/heat exposure, and detoxing. Everyone should be aware of this, especially with the soaring global temperatures.