• H&R Moderators: VerbalTruist | cdin | Lil'LinaptkSix

Any advice / insight methadone alcohol cirrhosis

Leo - How are you doing? Have you been able to cut down on the alcohol? I read your post about not finding tumors and that must have been such a big relief to you. Maybe it even felt like you got another chance with life, and to work towards not drinking? You know we are here with our fingers crossed - sending you all the hopes and prayers we can, but we can't do the hardest part for you, which is to stop drinking. I hope you will think on that. I really want you to live, to be healthy and have a good long life.

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is right now.”
Your friend,
Dale
 
Wow! So not doing too well. I read on a few posts that a lot of
avid readers don't like when people just stop posting all the sudden and don't know what happened to them so I know that's been
. kind of what I've been doing but for good reason I've had nothing good to say so I didn't want to post something that's been negative or not encouraging anyone I I am taking 1 step forward and 2 back. I'm cutting back on my wine but a day or two later I have about the same as what I had before and I know it's detrimental to my stage 4 liver disease cirrhosis and what I'm doing , it's just so overwhelming. I know I have to have to have to stop with the drinking and I started to look into rehab/detox centers because I do have health insurance but the ones I've check so far and have gotten back to me have such a high co-pay that I cant afford them. I would love it though because I can get off of the alcohol as well as methadone and be done with it all but I just don't have the funds to take care of that .
I'm still totally encouraged by Dale and now hikstik( unsure of the exact username on that one but I've been reading it all the past few days) . I don't know... I guess I feel like no one is in the same boat as me with the cirrhosis and the fear of seizures with the epilepsy and it scares me to death I just don't know what to do. I guess I should maybe start a new post in another Forum as I'm not really sober living.... I don't know.
My husband just now says to me why you seem so fucked up have you been drinking tonight and I was like yeah a little bit and he's really upset and so am I.
I hate to post negative things on here but I'm outside taking a walk now and just venting I guess..
Sorry for any typos or a weird sentences I haven't gone back to check my grammar or anything else just not in the mood
 
I'm glad to see you back . Your in the right spot because you want to quit. I think coming off alcohol is the main concern now , then the methadone later . In your health state I believe quiting both at the same time would cause extreme problems. Once you quit both I would recommend a vivitrol shot once monthly. It would stop opiate highs and make alcohol less effective. I'm not one to recommend vivitrol usually, but your life would depend on it in this instance. Again I'm glad your back
 
Leo, please visit this sticky: http://bluelight.org/vb/threads/810176-Seeking-Comfort-Medication-Recipies-and-Detox-Protocols

I made a post about detoxing yourself off alcohol. I am in a similar situation as yours - I had alcoholic hepatitis in the past, then was sober for seven months and the symptoms subsided, but then I started drinking heavily again over the past two months and I'm just now coming out of it.

Since you have insurance, I would look into an outpatient detox which would be less expensive than inpatient. Either that, or see your own doctor and have a honest conversation about your needs. You can detox yourself with a course of benzodiazepines and additional comfort medications which I've listed in the sticky.

Post detox, if you can't find a rehab that is affordable, I would find a psychiatrist and psychologist/therapist that specialize in treating addiction and I would recommend immersing yourself in a support group whether it is AA/NA, SMART, or Refuge Recovery. I have mixed feelings about rehab. If I could afford the time off work, I would probably go just to let myself "check out" for a few weeks, but what I've found (having been in rehab several times) is that you're in this nice protected cocoon but sooner or later, you have to reenter the real world and the real world can really suck.
 
Last edited:
Hello Leo, Dale and I have missed you, nice to see you back.

For me personally the only reason I don't like it when people that were struggling stop posting,is because I am worried abut them and would rather they post even when they're not doing well.

There's no such thing as having nothing good to say or being too negative. This is YOUR thread, you write in it whatever you want, this is your journey. Everyone has their own, this is just where you're at right now and that's okay. Everyoe has to start somewhere.

You ARE in the right forum, you only have to have the desire to be sober to be here in SL, and you have that in spades. Plus we love you. This is your spot.

I think you're doing the best you can right now and it's a good step to come here and post again.

The guys/ladies with experience tapering down and quitting alcohol will be able to help you too I'm sure.

Hang in there Leo, you can do this and we will all be here for you.

Love and support,
your friend,
Ash.




Wow! So not doing too well. I read on a few posts that a lot of
avid readers don't like when people just stop posting all the sudden and don't know what happened to them so I know that's been
. kind of what I've been doing but for good reason I've had nothing good to say so I didn't want to post something that's been negative or not encouraging anyone I I am taking 1 step forward and 2 back. I'm cutting back on my wine but a day or two later I have about the same as what I had before and I know it's detrimental to my stage 4 liver disease cirrhosis and what I'm doing , it's just so overwhelming. I know I have to have to have to stop with the drinking and I started to look into rehab/detox centers because I do have health insurance but the ones I've check so far and have gotten back to me have such a high co-pay that I cant afford them. I would love it though because I can get off of the alcohol as well as methadone and be done with it all but I just don't have the funds to take care of that .
I'm still totally encouraged by Dale and now hikstik( unsure of the exact username on that one but I've been reading it all the past few days) . I don't know... I guess I feel like no one is in the same boat as me with the cirrhosis and the fear of seizures with the epilepsy and it scares me to death I just don't know what to do. I guess I should maybe start a new post in another Forum as I'm not really sober living.... I don't know.
My husband just now says to me why you seem so fucked up have you been drinking tonight and I was like yeah a little bit and he's really upset and so am I.
I hate to post negative things on here but I'm outside taking a walk now and just venting I guess..
Sorry for any typos or a weird sentences I haven't gone back to check my grammar or anything else just not in the mood
 
Hi. Thank you guys for all of your kind and encouraging words and not forgetting about me. I really appreciate it. It's nice to know you all are still out there.
I wasn't able to see the link from aihfl, it gave me an error message, I'll pm you so maybe I can find it another way.
I think I figured out why I started all this madness again(aka drinking)
I think I was feeling a false sense of well being/health?! I dont know what to call it, but from when I first was diagnosed w/cirrhosis (Jan '17) I had extreme edema, legs like tree trunks, huge ankles, feet, stomach(I even had a woman at a job I just started ask if I was pregnant), yellow skin/eyes, constant nausea and my Dr. telling me I needed 6 mos w/no alcohol to be put on the transplant list to now where my swelling is slight, usually just ankles, my belly is still a bit distended, but nothing like it was, my color is normal, bloodwork is "normal"
(for me anyway.. meaning certain things are always way high or low when you have cirrhosis) and my Dr telling me I'm too "healthy" to be put on transplant list now...even at stage 4!! My MELD score is too low now. I still can't believe it.
I guess I thought I'm doing so well, I might as well have a couple drinks and on from there...
Well, I guess it doesn't take a genius to figure all that out, but whatever.
I quit before for a whole year and a half, so I can do it again. I was given Librium after I got out of the hospital, which I dont have now, but I do have Xanax which I understand to be about the same, as well as Flexeril that I know helps with achiness, muscle spasms/cramps, stuff like that when you're getting off of pretty much anything.
Anyway, I've rambled on enough for now.
 
Hi Leo, I sent you a PM where I cut and pasted my self-detox protocol from that sticky. It's a work in progress so Toothpastedog may have set it to so that only moderators can access it. I hope it is helpful. I don't recommend trying to detox with Xanax because of it's short half life. Librium or Valium are best, or if your liver function is impaired and/or you are prone to seizures, Ativan is best. There's a link to an article from American Family Physician that details detox protocols, along with a link to a benzo equivalence calculator, along with a list of comfort medicines that will help you get some sleep. I should have added Ambien to that list. I got a script for it on Wednesday when I last saw my own shrink and it is lights out before you even know what is happening.
 
Look into baclofen OP. It may be really helpful maintaining abstinence from booze, as well as coming off booze.

Alprazolam is better than nothing for coming off alcohol, but it isn’t quite as effective as a longer acting benzo like Librium.

You’d probably benefit more from a diazepam taper or baclofen than alprazolam, but work with what you have.
 
^ TPD, baclofen is not an effective med for detox. It's used when detox has been completed, to help maintain abstinence. It's far from guaranteed, though. I was on it for years and I still drank heavily at times while taking it. I also really have to strongly caution against using Xanax for withdrawals. Due to its short half life it requires frequent re-dosing compared to Librium or Valium. As a result, if one tried to detox off alcohol using Xanax, one would just end up dependent on Xanax instead of alcohol. It's precisely because of the long half life of Librium and Valium that allows doses to be tapered down over five to seven days.
 
^good to know. It certainly doesn’t seem like it would be a very effective first line detox med, but considering people have mentioned phenibut helped them detox I figure baclofen would be worth exploring if nothing more appropriate was available.

Have you ever tried taking gabapentin or baclofen to help treat alcohol withdrawal? Certainly don’t seem like they’d be as effective as something like diazepam, I’d just assume they were better than nothing (or alpazolam for that matter).
 
Gabapentin has some use in detox as a comfort med but none of the agents you mentioned other than benzos are effective anticonvulsants and the real danger of alcohol withdrawal are seizures. As someone who has been through multiple inpatient and outpatient detoxes, a taper using a long half life benzo is really the only safe way to go. Phenibut should be completely avoided as someone withdrawing from alcohol is already has an increased seizure risk and phenibut at high enough doses can induce tonic-clonic seizures.
 
Thanks for the info aihfl! It always scared me when folks said there were using phenibut to try and detox from booze. Ugh...
 
Top