Archive for the ‘Fatigue’ tag
Need some help finding help…
First off - thanks to anyone who takes the time to read this and has any positive input / suggestions besides “stop drinking”, which I already have done.
Some background about myself as a person and my relationship with alcohol:
I am a 26 year old male (just turned), and started drinking at the age of 23. Before that I had not had a drop of alcohol besides that found in medicines. Since the age of 23 I have been going out and partying a lot on the weekends, mostly every weekend. It has been constant, but I do not drink every day nor do I possess any “cravings” for it. Honestly, the only reason I started to drink is because I found out it made me more open socially. I do however go for the harder kinds of alcohol (mixed drinks etc.) and shots.
Since Monday October 20th I've been having what I now think are alcohol withdrawal symptoms. It all started after going out to party for my birthday the previous Friday and Saturday nights (17th & 18th) and drinking hard. Since I work during the week I don't drink at all.
I've been to two different emergency rooms, an internal medicine doctor, and a Neurologist. I've had a brain EEG, MRI, and MRA done which I was told all came up "clean". I've had many blood tests from all the places I've been to and they have also came up "clean". No one has so far been able to help or tell me what direction to go in. The Neurologist was the one that suggested I was experiencing alcohol withdrawal symptoms, and when I asked him what to do about it he said "stop drinking" and left it as that.
My symptoms which seem to be completely random:
(I always feel "something" I have never felt 100% since this started happening.)
Fatigue, I don't feel "up to" doing anything that requires a lot of energy
Death is near feeling (not joking)
Brain fullness (feels like my head is swollen & going to explode)
Pain in lower back part of head (not a headache but a shooting pain)
Balance issues
Anxiety
Involuntary shaking at times (starts in chest region)
Some days I feel like I'm getting better, then the next I will be right back to where I was. I have been taking Vitamin B complex and Vitamin B1 hoping they would help some but haven't. I have also been trying to keep my diet on track by eating fruits and cereals with vitamins and drinking nothing but water. Everything is so random that I really can't tell what is helping and what isn't.
Total alcohol abstinence from now on. I do have the family and friend support already to make sure that will happen.
But for now if you can help:
With all the tests I've had done, would alcohol withdrawal not show up on any?
It's been 22 days since this began, how long should I expect it to go for?
What kind of doctor should I seek for help?
Shouldn't Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome or withdrawal symptoms show up on a MRI?
Some background about myself as a person and my relationship with alcohol:
I am a 26 year old male (just turned), and started drinking at the age of 23. Before that I had not had a drop of alcohol besides that found in medicines. Since the age of 23 I have been going out and partying a lot on the weekends, mostly every weekend. It has been constant, but I do not drink every day nor do I possess any “cravings” for it. Honestly, the only reason I started to drink is because I found out it made me more open socially. I do however go for the harder kinds of alcohol (mixed drinks etc.) and shots.
Since Monday October 20th I've been having what I now think are alcohol withdrawal symptoms. It all started after going out to party for my birthday the previous Friday and Saturday nights (17th & 18th) and drinking hard. Since I work during the week I don't drink at all.
I've been to two different emergency rooms, an internal medicine doctor, and a Neurologist. I've had a brain EEG, MRI, and MRA done which I was told all came up "clean". I've had many blood tests from all the places I've been to and they have also came up "clean". No one has so far been able to help or tell me what direction to go in. The Neurologist was the one that suggested I was experiencing alcohol withdrawal symptoms, and when I asked him what to do about it he said "stop drinking" and left it as that.
My symptoms which seem to be completely random:
(I always feel "something" I have never felt 100% since this started happening.)
Fatigue, I don't feel "up to" doing anything that requires a lot of energy
Death is near feeling (not joking)
Brain fullness (feels like my head is swollen & going to explode)
Pain in lower back part of head (not a headache but a shooting pain)
Balance issues
Anxiety
Involuntary shaking at times (starts in chest region)
Some days I feel like I'm getting better, then the next I will be right back to where I was. I have been taking Vitamin B complex and Vitamin B1 hoping they would help some but haven't. I have also been trying to keep my diet on track by eating fruits and cereals with vitamins and drinking nothing but water. Everything is so random that I really can't tell what is helping and what isn't.
Total alcohol abstinence from now on. I do have the family and friend support already to make sure that will happen.
But for now if you can help:
With all the tests I've had done, would alcohol withdrawal not show up on any?
It's been 22 days since this began, how long should I expect it to go for?
What kind of doctor should I seek for help?
Shouldn't Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome or withdrawal symptoms show up on a MRI?
Fatigue
Anyone else experience this in early recovery?
I am extremely fatigued.
I'm trying to get into a consistent habit of exercise and vitamins but I can't even get the motivation to go exercise in the first place.
I am extremely fatigued.
I'm trying to get into a consistent habit of exercise and vitamins but I can't even get the motivation to go exercise in the first place.
Day 4 sober: Multiple withdrawal symptoms
It's been 4 days now and I've experienced a few things that had been troubling me. I looked up alcohol withdrawal symptoms and sure enough they popped right out on the screen at me.
Depression
Fatigue
Bad Dreams (Nightmares)
Difficulty thinking clearly
Involuntary Eyelid Movement
The last one struck a chord as I've experienced this for a while now and never tied it to stopping and starting drinking.
Any suggestions to help combat some of these.
It is a long, hard road ahead.
Depression
Fatigue
Bad Dreams (Nightmares)
Difficulty thinking clearly
Involuntary Eyelid Movement
The last one struck a chord as I've experienced this for a while now and never tied it to stopping and starting drinking.
Any suggestions to help combat some of these.
It is a long, hard road ahead.
Another reminder
My cousin, Gary, is younger than I am, and is in the hospital with liver problems. When he was younger, he used to shoot up heroin and developed hepatitis. Despite treatment, he has had a lot of problems, hasn't been able to work for years because of fatigue/exhaustion.
I haven't heard the "official prognosis" of this hospitalization, but my years of being a nurse tells me his liver is failing. I haven't seen him in about 25 years, and he wasn't even in high school yet.
The doctors told my aunt and uncle that Gary "would not live to be an old man", and this was a long time ago. Years ago, we buried another uncle who's liver failed after surgery..he was 50, and had been a heroin addict.
If Gary dies, I can't even go to the funeral to support my family because of financial consequences I'm dealing with from MY addiction.
I hate this disease, but I'm grateful, today, that I have almost 18 months clean and so far, no long-term health effects from the years of my abuse.
Hugs and prayers!
Amy
I haven't heard the "official prognosis" of this hospitalization, but my years of being a nurse tells me his liver is failing. I haven't seen him in about 25 years, and he wasn't even in high school yet.
The doctors told my aunt and uncle that Gary "would not live to be an old man", and this was a long time ago. Years ago, we buried another uncle who's liver failed after surgery..he was 50, and had been a heroin addict.
If Gary dies, I can't even go to the funeral to support my family because of financial consequences I'm dealing with from MY addiction.
I hate this disease, but I'm grateful, today, that I have almost 18 months clean and so far, no long-term health effects from the years of my abuse.
Hugs and prayers!
Amy
