Long story short ive been a hardcore alcoholic since living in japan (shocker) especially as of these past few weeks. As of right now i feel as though I literally cant not drink because the second all the alcohol leaves my system, my body freaks the fuck out and i start hyperventilating, sweating and shaking. I havent slept in god knows how long and i’ve tried visiting a few hospitals but they dont really seem to care or be able to provide me with anything. I know my body very well and i know that i really need help to get through this. This entire situation has made me realize how little fucks japan gives about this sort of thing, at least for a foreigner. If anyone can recommend me a place to seek treatment or help that would be much appreciated. Im just drinking enough to keep me going so that the symptoms dont start but i cant sleep for shit.
11 comments
Kurihama Medical and Addiction Center
https://kurihama.hosp.go.jp/english/
I don’t know where you are located but this hospital handles alcoholism.
Maybe you can also ask TELL hotline for assistance and information.
https://telljp.com/lifeline/
Hope you get better soon.
where in Japan are you?
you gonna need time to wean yourself off this.
and you are likely gonna need some support. how are you placed for those?
been there and done that, went cold turkey(not wild),
what i did was take time off work and told everyone what I was doing. I encouraged everyone to drop in and talk if they had time. But maybe just one good support person would have been enough. DTs suck but they do go away.
Try [here](https://dararehab.com/drug-alcohol-rehab/japan/) good luck and well done recognizing your problem.
Can you speak Japanese well enough to articulate wtf is wrong with you?
Literally so common here isn’t it. Taking time off during Natsu yasumi just made it easier to drink and I went down a dark hole.
It’s really a battlefield of the mind. What I’ve learned is to force yourself to talk to people even if you have no desire or will to. I’ve made some excellent Japanese friends like that. Even though they also love drinking, you can learn from those with healthier drinking habits.
Hello there. I just went to a normal hospital and they basically wanted to force me into withdrawal treatment (I was there for a different reason) so sorry that this is happening to you.
Firstly where are you?
You need a medical detox. If you try going cold turkey, as you have experienced, your body will go through drastic withdrawals and in some cases you might die. You have to go to a specific hospital that deals with alcohol and barbituate withdrawal. Most regular hospital are not equipped to deal with alcohol /barbituate withdrawal.
Search specifically for alcohol detox centers.
Best of luck man !
Source: used to work in a detox back home in Canada.
Take a look at r/Alcoholism_Medication/ and when ready consider Naltrexone, its pretty cheap and has a very good success rate if you follow the Sinclair method.
If you are committed to stop or greatly reduce your drinking you can try this as you still drink, you just do so at a greatly reduced level. Good luck.
And good for you for recognizing some issues and putting your hand up. Best of luck to you.
There is plenty of helpful medication. I know someone who was helped with the assistance of a psychiatrist. They are fine now! You can do it.
Remove yourself from situations and people where alcohol might appear. Throw out every drink in your house. Avoid bars, and friends who hang out there. Find other activities to fill your calendar completely full, particularly activities where alcohol is just not possible to come across. Full stop.
The greatest challenge to addictions is telling yourself “just one more, I’ll quit tomorrow”. Tomorrow never comes; you need to stop today. I wish you the best of luck 🙂
If you think you can taper yourself and get yourself better you might have some luck getting a scrip for benzos. If you are having difficulty finding a place to treat your addiction you could find a mental clinic and tell them you have severe anxiety which you do, and can’t sleep which is also true…
Tell the doctor you have had anxiety for a long time and you were taking Valium (benzos with a long half-life, benzos with a short half-life after likely to work but are more addictive like Xanax for example.. You want Valium or Ativan.. Make sure you know the Japanese names for both). You don’t have any more and you have run out and your anxiety is out of control… You can’t work … Also kind of true.
You might be able to get some medicine this way. You can use it to get yourself off of the booze and get some sleep.
You will need to do research so you actually sound like you know what you’re talking about and also how to use benzos to get yourself off of booze.
It’s really addictive stuff so you could potentially be getting yourself into some more trouble. But this is only a stop gap until you get the proper help that you need. It’ll help you wean off the booze and get some sleep. I say this all of this as a person who has had an alcohol problem and a problem with benzos. I was able to quit by weening myself off of both but this isn’t how I did it. It took about two years to kick the habit.
But just thinking about your time constraints and your situation this might be an avenue to explore. I would suggest that if you do go this route to be very careful. You’re not supposed to mix benzodiazepines and booze. I did everyday and it is dangerous and very risky.
Anyway, this could be a way for you to get some relief until you find therapy and medical tension that you need.
I hope you get better.