Oh man, which time I quit? Lol. Let’s see though, in general the first couple days after a nasty binge, I would experience elevated resting heart rate, super easy to get winded, fatigue, tough time getting to sleep, inability to sleep for more than a couple hours at a time, random nausea, sometimes heart palpitations, brain fog, maybe some vomiting, off and on cold sweats and what I would like to call internal tremors where it feels like I’m shaking but my hands are steady.

Last time was the worst binge I’ve had and after a week straight of getting black out everyday on a couple liters of vodka a day, I ended going to the hospital to get some drugs to help me with the withdrawals. It was an insane and horrible feeling finally “coming to” saying where the fuck did this last week go and learning from my wife I not only almost died from alcohol poisoning, but I was trapped from the withdrawal symptoms. I tried cold turkey and I went four days straight with about 2 hours of sleep total. I was about to start hallucinating, I could feel it coming but I didn’t quite get there. Along with all the other symptoms I was also getting some serious anxiety and panic, I felt myself losing it and it felt like I was legit going crazy until my wife got me some vodka and after a few shots my system calmed down and I almost felt normal. It was at that point I knew I was trapped and wouldn’t be able to taper down as quick as I needed with the holidays ending and me going back to work and I decided I finally needed help so I went to the hospital. 0/10 not recommended, not my proudest time in my life…

Oh, and for the longer effect withdrawals. They seem to be less noticeable for me, but depression, increased need for sleep (probably paying off that sleep debt), still not feeling super sharp, either noticeably increased or decreased appetite, and little spikes of anxiety. But I also might just have some mental stuff I need to work on with a therapist as well. But I do notice that like the first couple days after I stop drinking, I feel worse in general, then a week after I almost feel weirdly good for a bit, then around week 1.5 to 2 I feel down and crappy for a few days (kindof a funk, then I even out.

Week 1 is dangerous for me because I’m feeling great and think I have it figured out so a few drinks on the weekend sounds nice and I surely won’t slip into a reckless binge like before…. lol. Week 1.5-2.5 is dangerous for me because it’s easy for me to slip back into drinking to deal with the funk and negativity I’m feeling. At a month it’s dangerous because I’ve forgotten most of the negative shit I went thru and maybe my wife is wanting a nice night cap and “I’m a changed man that can finally drink in moderation”.

Sorry, probably a ton more than what you were asking for but I find talking/writing about it cathartic and helps keep me going and I guess you happened to be my journal for the day, lol.

Oh man, yeah. Won’t go into it here either, but the thing about sex is spot on for me too. Totally makes sense considering alcohol floods your system with dopamine. Over time with continued use, that makes your brain basically dependent on alcohol for dopamine and your body seriously down regulates how much it makes normally for other things.

Dopamine isn’t just pleasure either, it’s a serious neurological regulator in a ton of different ways. Wanna know why you might have lost motivation for and get less enjoyment from doing things like going to the movies, mowing the lawn, working out, cleaning, working on that project that’s been sitting in the garage for months/years, etc? Used to be passionate about working on motorcycles, painting, hiking, meeting new people but now feel flat and uninterested? Your dopamine system is blown out, you’re desensitized and alcohol has subconsciously trained your brain to be its main and pretty much only source of it.

The… uh… intimates acts you’re referring to, whether alone or with someone is also a strong source (if not the strongest source) of natural dopamine and the nice buzz after knocking back a couple of drinks or shots real quick can almost feel similar. You’re just trying to not feel like shit and you’ve discovered one of the only ways you can do that right now is with those intimate acts.

Sleep will get better over the next couple days but as much as everything sucks right now, stick it out, cause the cool thing is that given some time your system will start to readjust itself to not having alcohol as an easy source of dopamine and it will come back to normal.

I bet it meant the world to your girl today the time you spent with her and the fact you did it clear headed. I’m glad to be here, and keep kicking ass man!