Withdrawals

[The Other Harry]

I've done this several times now, and each time it gets worse.

My eyes run like faucets. I prespire. I have started getting
hallucinations. Last night I fed a baby crow. It was so real
that I would have thought it actually happened if I did not know
that it could not have.

Anybody out there who thinks things can't get worse, you are
wrong.

[JB]

"The Other Harry" <hc.me@ix.netcom.com> wrote in message
news:47q6svkg4qi0p14d1iir6k0dr23tind97g@4ax.com...
> I've done this several times now, and each time it gets worse.
>
> My eyes run like faucets. I prespire. I have started getting
> hallucinations. Last night I fed a baby crow. It was so real
> that I would have thought it actually happened if I did not know
> that it could not have.
>
> Anybody out there who thinks things can't get worse, you are
> wrong.

Harry,

FWIW, I hope you will immediately take John's advice..

I wish you well.

JB

[Bpyboy]

Harry, stop lying to your fucking doctor and get some help. Either you are
lying to us, or you are lying to your physician. No doctor of any quality would
suggest anything other than immediate hospitalization for such a problem if
they were aware of it.

It isn't funny, you can die from it, especially if things have progressed THAT
far.

You need some seriously urgent and intensive psychological and physical help in
this matter.

it's one thing to get a little edgy or sleepless when you quit, and quite
another to be talking to the fucking imaginary animals and angels and stuff
that come by to visit.

[The Other Harry]

[On 25 Nov 2003 15:22:41 GMT, bpyboy@aol.com (Bpyboy) wrote:]

> Harry, stop lying to your fucking doctor and get some help.

I'm not lying to the doc. I'm trying not to lie to anyone.

> Either you are
> lying to us, or you are lying to your physician. No doctor of any quality would
> suggest anything other than immediate hospitalization for such a problem if
> they were aware of it.

I can't really do that. That costs too much. I have to do it
some other way. The shrink isn't cheap, but she isn't $1000 a
day.

> It isn't funny, you can die from it, especially if things have progressed THAT
> far.

I don't think it's funny. Not in the least.

> You need some seriously urgent and intensive psychological and physical help in
> this matter.

I'm going after it. As best as I can.

> it's one thing to get a little edgy or sleepless when you quit, and quite
> another to be talking to the fucking imaginary animals and angels and stuff
> that come by to visit.

I know.

[Bpyboy]

Harry, what did the doc suggest? When I first talked with mine about the
problem, and my serious financial problems (I can't afford one of those AWESOME
hollywood rehab joints--hell, i don't think I would leave a "Rehab while
golfing" joints ever!), he laid down some choices, the first and least costly
of which was to continue drinking until I either died from it, or got arrested
for something stupid and died there, or had the state pay for re-hab. And some
other choices. I chose the (in retro, very stupid) route of just white
knuckling it at home. And my symptoms didn't involve hallucinations or
anything. but at one point I was so sickened that I couldn't dial up my
neighbor on the phone to have him give me a lift to the ER. I sort of passed
out, and the next day felt marginally better.

I'm not trying to be a prick about it, but i don't think ANY financial cost can
be balanced by the real possibility that you could die from not seeking serious
professional help.

Check it out on the web, talk with your doctor. Possibly if you explain it to
that person, they could deliver some kind of outpatient care? ( a lot cheaper,
and in the comfort of your home, but on the other hand, almost any doctor won't
do it, as drinkers like to mix the meds with the booze), or AT THE VERY LEAST,
get to a family member, a close friend, or someone else who doesn't want you to
die, to keep an eye on you, and get your ass to a hospital should you turn for
the worse. and i mean KEEP AN EYE on you. From what a couple of my friends in
residency tell me (i've never actually seen it happen), all kinds of crazy
seizures and things can result.

I don't know what to tell you. medical care DOES cost a fortune, but when the
alternative is much more severe, i don't see it as a real choice.

As a side note, my VW mechanic, this old Viet Nam vetran, who took to SERIOUSLY
heavy drinking after he returned home to Alabama. And so then, he took to
drinking "hooch" or local moonshine.

He built his shop "the year I was laid up drunk". His dad finally, during a
fight, punched him in the head, knocked him out cold, and "detoxed" him the old
way, by chaining him to a fucking stall in the barn for a couple days.
It damn near killed him, and he was SO sickened by it that he hasn't had a drop
in about 20 years--no AA, no religious experiences, just an intense fear
repeating that experience.

I wouldn't wish that shit on my worst enemy's dog. I think the medical route
is light years beyond the old school "sink or swim" route.

I'm no doctor, but there must be a very good reason that so much attention and
study is paid to addiction therapy. It isn't a bullshit waste of time. it's a
service that tons of folks need.

[George &The Dragon]

> I've done this several times now, and each time it gets worse.

Then make this the last time, Harry. When you get to your 3 week stage where
the Dragon convinces you that you can't live without alcohol, tell him to
get lost.

Never go back.

George

[Moonraker]

"George &The Dragon" <george@dragon.ca> wrote in message
news:G5Mwb.6921$Eq1.831649@news20.bellglobal.com.. .
> > I've done this several times now, and each time it gets worse.
>
> Then make this the last time, Harry. When you get to your 3 week stage
where
> the Dragon convinces you that you can't live without alcohol, tell him to
> get lost.
>
> Never go back.
>
> George
>
>

Harry will have to get permission for such an action from his mental health
duo, Nancy and Rosemary.

[Jonathan Bratt]

In message <47q6svkg4qi0p14d1iir6k0dr23tind97g@4ax.com>, The Other Harry
<hc.me@ix.netcom.com> writes
>I've done this several times now, and each time it gets worse.
>
>My eyes run like faucets. I prespire. I have started getting
>hallucinations. Last night I fed a baby crow. It was so real
>that I would have thought it actually happened if I did not know
>that it could not have.

You think that's bad? I was convinced that my flat was being attacked by
armed teenage anarchists who set fire to it then pursued me through the
streets trying to kill me until I reached the local cop shop. They were
very kind and took me to hospital. To this day, the memories of that
incident are as real and clear as any other real incident. The DTs can
be scary, scary things. That should have been warning enough for me, but
of course I knew better.

--
Jonathan Bratt

[Blue Moon]

On Tue, 25 Nov 2003 09:46:10 -0500, The Other Harry
<hc.me@ix.netcom.com> wrote:

>I've done this several times now, and each time it gets worse.
>
>My eyes run like faucets. I prespire. I have started getting
>hallucinations. Last night I fed a baby crow. It was so real
>that I would have thought it actually happened if I did not know
>that it could not have.
>
>Anybody out there who thinks things can't get worse, you are
>wrong.

Indeed. And it'll get still worse. You think your choices are as
simple as "do or die"? There is another ... carry on drinking and NOT
die, yet live in the permanent hell and insanity of a wet brain, an
insanity you still cannot even imagine, with no respite, isolated on
the inside, unable to put names to faces when a close relative visits,
and having a diaper changed several times a day.

And yet physically, you'd remain relatively fit, meaning you'll be
denied even the relative dignity of death. Death would be welcome
compared with this reality for 20+ years.

Such people do exist, yet are never found in bars, and never found
either drunk or sober in AA meetings.

--
Blue Moon

[Rick Guenther]

"The Other Harry" <hc.me@ix.netcom.com> wrote in message
news:47q6svkg4qi0p14d1iir6k0dr23tind97g@4ax.com...
> I've done this several times now, and each time it gets worse.
>
> My eyes run like faucets. I prespire. I have started getting
> hallucinations. Last night I fed a baby crow. It was so real
> that I would have thought it actually happened if I did not know
> that it could not have.
>
> Anybody out there who thinks things can't get worse, you are
> wrong.



when I read your post I laughed been there-did that stay strong
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1