Hi, in this video we're gonna talk about the big scary boogeyman of the alcoholics world the delirium tremens the DTS
this is the worst case scenario for alcohol withdrawal and
I'm going to tell you the warning signs the symptoms what to do about it what to do instead
I'm going to tell you what the doctors say
And I'm also going to tell you a personal story of mine about a grand mal seizure that I had as a direct result
From alcohol withdrawal, but first let me introduce myself. My name is James
I am a grateful recovering addict and alcoholic
I have been clean and sober for three years after drinking for two decades drinking and using drugs
I have experienced the full spectrum of jails institutions and death
I tell you my stories here every week in order to help you and loved ones that are suffering from addiction if you haven't considered
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Check out some of my videos in this
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Alcohol withdrawal what used to be a hangover?
We used to be a headache for half a day
gradually, if you drink like I did turns into a
Medical condition called Billy Graham tremens and what is a DT?
What is a delirium tremens well around five percent of people with alcohol withdrawal get delirium tremens
Often called the DTS. This extreme reaction is characterized by a severely confused state
disorientation hallucinations with and
Alcohol withdrawal seizures. The risk is greater
If you've been drinking for a long period of time people are hospitalized and deaths do occur. There are only two drugs on earth
can
produce the outcome of death from withdrawal and that is
benzodiazepines and
Alcohol, I have a personal story in 2010. I was roughly at the middle of my
Drinking escapades and my disease had progressed to the point of drinking every day this particular
episode
started with a two-week
run of drinking and using
This time was benzos
xanax, I
Was drinking and using so much that I was blacked out and I would wake up
And I would still feel the drugs and alcohol in my body
Benzodiazepines and alcohol affect the CNS the central nervous system
This is where the danger comes in with withdrawing from them
I had decided that I was going to go cold turkey
Off of alcohol as I often did up to this point as a young man
I had many times come away from a heavy drinking weekend and come off with no problem the years progressed
The hangovers became very intense
Sleepless nights sweaty days and I began to have the shakes
After periods of drinking I would shake so so bad that I couldn't hold a beverage I found myself
Shaking more as it got closer to my mouth and I would spill beverages and martinis were out of the question. I
Early on accepted the fact that I was never going to be a martini drink because then we're teeny glass
is
far from
stable in this shaky hand
Anyway around 2010. I had been drinking for two weeks and
Sunday rolled around and that was usually the day to sober up shut myself in a dark
room with a TV and water or Gatorade
To try to stave off the two weeks or ever however long that period have been
of
drinking heavily
well in this particular instance, I
Had a week or two off from work, or I wasn't working
I had decided to go on the wagon and do it myself
this is generally a bad idea and
I'm about to clarify why that night Sunday night after not drinking all day
Was a sleepless night
tossing target
sweaty
Nightmarish visions shaking feeling just like a shell of a person. I woke up in the morning ready with the worst of it
I thought had passed and this was Monday. What about my day?
This was far more than a hangover. I
Didn't have an appetite. I was exhausted but couldn't sleep
When I closed my eyes, there'd be this
flashing busy thoughts running through my head
Just confusion
racing thoughts
Really?
dark thoughts and just
Not well, well, that was Monday and then Tuesday came and I'm expecting a better day now
this this was
Slightly I felt slightly better was forcing myself to eat soup and stuff at this point. I
Was in a medical condition I was sick
But this is day two now. It takes about three days for any substance to clear up nicotine alcohol
Around the third day it's past
well the second day was
Because I'm comfortable first and then the third day came around and I fully expected to be better. Now. I
Felt better in ways, but there was one particular way that I was not feeling better in this particular way was different
This day I had planned to go over to my sister's house
My my mother was babysitting my niece my sister's daughter while she and her husband
Well my sister and her husband went out on a dinner day and I was gonna go hang out with my mother and my niece
Well during the day I remember of sunny out and I was in my apartment
getting ready to go over there in a few hours and I was
Going through my mail and I remember there was a blank spot in the form of like this black cloud
Over my right eye and I couldn't focus or see
what I was reading in my mail and I would try to cover my right eye and look through my left and
It still wasn't disappearing because this this black spot was as I later found out was in my head. I
was basically having
blank spots in my vision this was
This was alarming confusing
But I have done it many times before so I thought I'd do it this time too, although this was new so
I couldn't see for the life of me. I couldn't focus and I was starting to worry because in this particular
run of drinking and eating xanax I had
Fell flat on my face. My mother said I was at one point standing in her living room and
I was standing straight up. She said I'm six four. I was standing straight up and I
She said I fell over
Directly and she said shook the house with my this front part of my face and head hit the floor
This was upstairs stripped the house and I
Was worried now seeing black spots. I was worried that I had a concussion. I've had concussions before having spent a life
drinking and using
Behaving recklessly, I've had five concussions. So I
Fully expected that I had a concussion. I also was aware of the dangers of alcohol withdrawal
but having never had a seizure or
Delirium tremens to an extreme nature. I
Thought I could get away with it
One more time. Well, I couldn't see I called my sister. I told her
she
You know recommended I go see the doctor. I said no, I'm just gonna come over and I made the
Irresponsible decision to drive with a black spot over my vision now. Luckily. I
Made it to her house, but on the way I remember
Driving with one hand over my eye
trying to close one eye and driving trying to see and
simultaneously
reciting the Our Father I grew up Catholic and I remember the Our Father prayer and that's all I can say because
I was seriously scared. This was a feeling I hadn't felt before
this was the third day without drinking and
I knew something was happening
It was about a 20-minute drive to my sister's house. And I took the highway. I remember saying our father over and over
And closing one eye and I made it. No, I'm not religious but
It is suggested that sometimes for fools and drunks. God does for us what we cannot do for ourselves
Well, I didn't make it to my sister's house and I get in the door and I I immediately let my mother my brother-in-law and
My sister knit all of it sums up
When I sit down she gets me an ice pack and I tell him my symptoms. I just sat on my ice pack and waited
Then just like a thousand times before hoped that it would pass
They one other day my brother-in-law and my sister and my mother and my niece and I sat down to watch
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. I
Remember, my niece was on the floor. I was sitting here watching
And my mom was on the couch back there folding laundry. I
remember thinking as I watched this
Erratic animation with flashing colors and lights that
Computer-generated images at a high rate. The high speed wasn't too good for my condition
And it was making me feel
very uneasy and very uncomfortable and very
Scared I remember shutting my eyes and just hanging out
At this point I knew something
Something was pending was coming and it was a very scary feeling
My niece was into the movie
My mom whether or not she was watching the movie was folding laundry
Probably keeping an eye on me. But you know, I'm a big boy. I've handled things
None of us expected what was about to happen? I
remember
After having my eyes closed for a while just getting up and deciding to go
Into the kitchen and do some dishes
This was probably just like that our Father prayer in the car another foxhole
attempt
of a man in a desperate situation
To cleanse my spirits by doing something for another
Human being doing something good for a change. So I was doing my sister's dishes
and
I remember while doing the dishes
out of nowhere
The most vivid hallucination I have ever had
in my right eye there was a black and
negative white light pinwheel right off of dead center and I remember seeing it and putting the dishes down and
Standing up not standing up but backing away from the sink and looking right at it
And saying am I seeing this I am definitely seeing this. This is a very this is definitely a hallucination I later found out
After all of this occurred that this is called the aura
epileptics and people that experienced seizures
Report an aura which is different for every individual for me
It was this black and negative white light pinwheel clear as day. This was the alarm. I
Dropped everything I'm doing walked into where my chair was in the living room. My mom was there
Karras was right there and I sat down
my
chin
it felt like it was being pulled towards my
Shoulder and as it was I remember saying mom?
And this inflection of my voice this
accent she later told me was one she's heard before and it is one of
It means I'm in trouble. That was the last thing I remember was saying that woke up on the stretcher and
I looked at the paramedic or and whoever was carrying me and they said you've had a grand mal seizure and
He handed me a bucket and I knew immediately that was to throw up in because I was about to throw up
I threw up in the bucket. I
Remember the ambulance ride
long story short
the things to look out for if you're coming off of alcohol or
benzodiazepines or xanax klonopin ativan any of the benzos
black spots vision
Shaking dizziness nausea confusion. These are delirium tremens symptoms. This happened on around the third day
and
I
Ignored it until there was a serious
consequence grand mal seizure a
Term that still to this day scares the crap out of me. I
Saw the aura and luckily. I wasn't behind the wheel. Luckily I wasn't in a pool swimming luckily
I wasn't holding a child or operating machinery. These are the ways people died from seizures. That was my one and only
seizure from alcohol withdrawal and I'll remember it I
later
From that point on after having gotten back into drinking dan
discovered detox centers detox centers
It's usually a routine of about seven seven days. They
Medically treat you for alcohol withdrawal, ironically enough. This is with benzos ativan mostly which is a mild
Benzodiazepine prevents seizures and it's a it's a it's like a step down from that. Have you drinking four times? And
Around seven days are good to go. And that's when you go to rehab because if you drink again
Your body just elevates right to that level and then on and it gets more dangerous and more dangerous
Well, that's about it for this week. That's alcohol withdrawal and
Don't take it lightly and it's very serious. It's no longer a hangover if you've been drinking for years and drinking heavily
There is a real danger
question of the day scroll down
Answer in the comments. What have you experienced with alcohol withdrawal? Have you had a seizure? What did you experience before your seizure?
leave a comment for all of us to
to read
maybe we can get something from your experience strength and hope if you haven't considered consider subscribing and I'll be here every
I'll see you next week and until then keep it clean
Keep it real and just keep doing this damn thing because you're on the right track
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