Detox In Chiang Mai Ram Hospital

[philo]

I had my last beer Wed Sep 30 at 8.30 AM. At 9 AM I managed to get myself from a hotel room 100 meters away from the hospital - I could hardly walk, my body trembling in spasms, my brain in paranoic early pshycosis (after drinking continously since Mon 2AM).

After seeing the doctor (a psychiatrist) around 10 AM I was admitted on the diagnosis of early/medium symptoms of Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome (wet brain). Read the link and you will think twice before you become a long time alcohol abuser.

The procedure at this hospital has given me faith.

After registering (I give them the passport only - no address or wife's name - I didn't want my wife to be responsible for the bill if I died), it was something like this (I was drunk when I came, so I don't rember exactly):

An interview of your drinking history, medication abuse history, eating (or not) history and your symptoms.

Signing papers concerning method of payment and accepting any treatment the doctors find neccessary.

Preliminary bloodtest for possible intoxication and acute diagnosises.

ECG to check your heart function.

X-ray of the chest to see if the heart is enlarged.

Liver function test to see if your liver can take the medication.

Once in your room you are given IV with nutrition, some medication and a shot of Diazepam.

Then:

Ultrasound of the liver, kidneys and intestines.

Blodtest (fasting, so not the first day) to check blood sugar, blood chemistry, diabetis and hepatatis.

And then the real treatment starts. You get two doctors - the psychiatrist for the withdrawal symptoms coming from your brain and nervous systems, and a generel internal medicine MD to take care of your heart, liver, kidneys and intestines. The nurses check temperature, blood pressure, heart beat rate and blood oxygen every 4 hours.

In 3 and a half hours I will reach 48 hours since the last beer (and that is a miracle after drinking more than a case of beer every day the two last months - and no eating too), and yesterday the phsychiatrist said I am doing so good that - if no complications - he will allow me leaving the hospital for two hours guided by AA members to go to a meeting sunday morning.

Happy and feeling good so far.

philo

PS I have been drinking for 35-40 years, the last 20 every day, and the last 4 from early AM till late PM.

Edited October 1, 2009 by philo

[K60]

Keep up the good work philo - you should be proud of what you've achieved so far - you took the first step in deciding to go through detox

[philo]

Thanks K60. I am going for a drink (coffee - pun intended) and a smoke on the balcony. Will be back.

[philo]

More funny reading:

Wernicke's encephalopathy

Korsakoff's syndrome

[StreetCowboy]

Very best wishes, Philo.

Please keep in touch when you come out of the hospital.

How are you feeling now?

SC

[TheAceFace]

Good luck Philo

May the force be with you

[philo]

Thanks to you all.

When this post is finished I have 72 hours off the piss. This night I slept from 9PM to 6.30AM, I guess mostly because of the Diazepam (Valium) and the Seroquel (scary shit - see Quetiapine).

My 20 years of diarrhea seems to start to go away, this morning I had a solid stool and could provide a sample for testing.

When the main doctor (the psychiatrist) comes, I will ask him to have the nurses remove my 'keep urin' bottle (they actually measure the amount I pee every day).

I feel good, when the urge comes I just think of the hel_l I was in for so long, and have another coffee and a smoke.

If I'm lucky I will be able to go to the AA meeting tomorrow 9.30AM with AA escort and maybe a nurse aid.

philo

Edited October 3, 2009 by philo

[jcgodber]

I am very happy that you have made the decision to enter the hospital for treatment. My sister took me to the hospital 30 years ago for detox. I then was lucky enough to have a live in home for people from my industry who were also afflicted .

The first 30 days is VERY important. Read the Big Book and stay very close to the A.A. people. You need to attend many many many mettings. I used to go to 3 and sometimes 4 meetings a day. You will also do well to find a “sponsor”, someone who you can talk to. I would guess that you also smoke but don’t try to stop smoking at this time. Detox is just the first step ( but very important) on the road to recovery.

With the help of your “Higher Power” you will get your first chip (30 days) and then on towards your first year. I can tell you that it is NOT easy at times. When you feel that you need a drink, you need to hit a meeting pronto

Please feel free to email me at anytime

Jim Godber

[email protected]

[philo]

In one hour I will have 84 hours without a drink. The longest I have had the last 20 or so years is 60 hours.

Midnight I will have three 'real' clean days (Thu, Fri, Sat).

The doctor has given permission to go to an AA meeting 9.30 tomorrow Sunday, and has even given one of the hospitals car with a driver to take me and an AA friend there. The car will wait and bring us back. And for FREE. Good service! Normally pasients cannot leave the hospital while still inpatient, but he regards it at a part of the detox treatment.

I will definitely recommend this hospital to anybody who wants to detox.

philo

[TheAceFace]

Keep the updates coming in Philo and good luck on the road to recovery

[philo]

Went to the AA meeting 9.30 in an ambulance, and was picked up sfter the meeting by a smaller hospital car. Excellent service! The doctor let me go tomorrow also.

Now off the IV and injections - immidiate danger for zeisures or psychosis over. Only medication now is Diazepam (will have to taper down from 30mg a day to 0 in one month) and vitamins/minerals for the brain, nervous system and the liver.

Last LFT due tomorrow.

Last beer Wed 8.30 AM now gives me more than 100 hours without a drop, and at midnight today I will have 4 clean days (Thu,Fri,Sat,Sun).

Feeling good.

A special thank you to to lannarebirth.

[philo]

In one hour I have 5x24=120 hours without a drop - and am on my 5th clean day. No cravings. The only thing I am afraid of now is that the doctor said I would need one month to taper off the Valium. But one step at the time ...

Going to AA meeting today also - in an ambulance. VIP service (hehe)

philo

[dr_Pat_Pong]

In one hour I have 5x24=120 hours without a drop - and am on my 5th clean day. No cravings. The only thing I am afraid of now is that the doctor said I would need one month to taper off the Valium. But one step at the time ...

Going to AA meeting today also - in an ambulance. VIP service (hehe)

philo

Extra good effort. Keep at it and the best of luck.

[PeaceBlondie]

Great programs. My kid started AA at age 16

[philo]

Day 6.

Went to a meeting yesterday also, and today the doctor has allowed me to go to two meetings alone (one in the morning and one in the eveneing - still in hospital cars).

This night I slept from 8PM till 5AM (woke up because I had to p..). I felt asleep before the nurse came with my 9PM 10mg Valium 'sleeping' dose, so today I will ask the doctor to reduce the the dayly dose from 25mg to 15-20mg and let me taper down in 2-3 weeks instead of one month.

My last LFT showed dramatic improvement after just 120 hours without alcohol.

AA members come to visit me everyday - often 2-3 visits per day.

No urge to drink - but I know that the hospital is a kind of Wonderland - and sooner or later I will have to face real life outside.

Tomorrow morning 8.30AM it will be a week since I emptied the last beer. A miracle after 35-40 years of drinking, the last 20 every day, the last 4 from early AM till late PM, and the two last monts almost continously (18-20 hours a day).

I will save 20-30.000 Baht a month not drinking - and If I can stick to it: I will live!

The main doctor is a caring, sympatic and competent man. If anybody else want to get out of hel_l, or just take a week or two to get a break and clear up a bit, you will get all the info and help you need from the AA groups in Chiang Mai (please see here), or you can PM me.

Well, that was the morning 'sermon' from

philo

[philo]

A week today. Feeling physically good, but depressed by the fact that they will soon release me from the hospital.

I will have to face my wife, the immigration, the bottles on every corner and life's general shi_t.

But it has to be like this:

Rule 1. Don't take the first drink.

Rule 2. If the wife is bitchy, fuc_k the wife. Go to rule 1.

Rule 3. If anything else fuc_ks you up, turn your back on it and walk away. Go to rule 1.

Have a nice day.

philo

[philo]

Day 8.

Today they will discharge me. Far too early IMO. I will rent the hospital room on a day by day basis after being discharged (no medical care), and use the time to find a suitable room close to where other AA members live and eat in food stalls everyday.

I lied to my wife and said they will keep me in hospital at least one more week. I am afraid of meeting her again, but I have to. My NON Imm. O Thai Wife extention runs out Nov 2, so we should apply latest around Oct 20 in case of problems with the paperwork.

Today I will drink water, coffee and juice. Tomorrow I CAN get p!ssed if I WANT to. Saying that to yourself EVERY DAY is not too difficult. And hopefully the p!ss will never come ...

philo

Edited October 7, 2009 by philo

[timonase]

Hello Philo,

without knowing you, i have to say i am proud of you and the decisions you have made. I started reading your thread right when you started and follow it every day. Keep up your strenght and think day by day.

regards

Timo

P.S I will continue reading and checking in on you.

[philo]

Day 9.

Yesterday was a mess.

First the doctor came and told me he will give me 3 more days inpatient. Good intentions indeed - but when you are an inch away from the next bottle or nervous breakdown, you do not like surprises and plan changing (hotel booking, telling everybody (friends and visitors - AA and not) that you are out tomorrow staying in another place from the day after tomorrow, AA 'nanny' deals to guide you back to the real world etc.).

Then I went for the appointment with an in-hospital dentist (180 degree X-ray equipment here). When I leave my room, one of my friends from Udon stands in the door - he has flewn Udon-BKK-CM only to visit me (he never told me, so may be it was good luck that I wasn't discharged).

So I was very stressed at the dentist's, and it also turned out that they had booked me the wrong dentist (what I asked for was a specialist in periodontitis). Also her clock went at a feverish speed - so after the X-ray and long time waiting - she's doing nothing, and the clock on the wall told me my friend had been waiting a loooong time alone in my room, I just said to myself: <removed> her, asked politely for the bill to be sent to my room and just left.

So I missed my morning AA meeting for a dental X-ray. And my friend was waiting an hour while I sat on needles getting more and more stressed ... (the dentist might have taken a nap for all I know).

I don't have the energy to tell about the rest of the sh!t:

BUPA, who was explicitely told by telephone AND fax that I am in CM sent an important claim document for my son to Udon.

The International Relations Department at RAM was told that their last chance to call my embassy about procedures of payment from my national healthcare is today friday - they couldn't care less - even if some of the forms they have to fill out are in a language they don't understand. When I leave the hospital on sunday, I won't give a sh!it either as to the payment.

I have to sign out for the meetings everyday (the hospital takes no responsability for me when I am not at the premises). I tell the nurses every day (several times) that they have to prepare the documents in advance - and fill them out properly, so I just sign and leave in the hospital car. What a joke.

Yesterday they were even out of forms, so I was almost 'arrested' by the head nurse in the ER room from which I get the car. So I just smiled and said (in Thai) that I have permission from my doctor to go, and if the nurses are not able to stock and fill out the forms, send them back to school (everybody in the ER room laughed). I headed for a tuktuk, and in no time the hospital car was there. I signed when I came back.

The forms for the two meetings today - I insisted that they prepared them yesterday night, and took a look at them right now. They were not - but are now - complete. So today I hopefully will go to two meetings without any problems.

The doctor has instructed the nurses that they don't have to measure the volume urinated every day any more and ask me: "Today pee-pee how many times. And poo-poo?" but they go on 5 times a day. They bring the 'urin collecting' bottle, I put it back under the sink, take a piss in the the toilet, and they say:' Oh, today you not pee-pee?"

And then the Immigration called...

I got the wrong food ...

The minimart (this is a BIG hospital) doesn't have telephone cards ...

No laundry shop to be found on or off premises ...

BUPA called for a copy of a document that I have told them is in Udon even if they have received a fax from me the very same day telling them that I am in Chiang Mai.

..........

..........

..........

Of course I came too late to the meeting, but I got to it. After the meeting a guy said:'After a sh!tty day you can always find 3 good things about it: "You didn't drink, It is over and You didn't kill anyone".

philo

[gerryBScot]

Philo well done mate. Just do your best every day, every hour. there is plenty of sh*t without having to look for it. sounds as if you are starting to sort out the debris that surrounds you. just do it gradually and bit by bit. remember you don't need to sort out your life in one day or one week or one year. take your time and on those days when it gets on top of you just concentrate on not drinking and regard anyday without alcohol as a good day. there will be many pleasant surprises ahead for you as well as the crap. you may hear the birds singing in the morning and notice things you haven't been aware of for a long time. you could go and see a movie.....you can start living again. keep posting about your progress and well done....just for today!

[Insight]

Great to hear you're recovering Philo! Things will only get better for you now.

Thanks for keeping us posted - best wishes for a full recovery.

[Sheryl]

Just want to add my best wishes, and also thank you for this thread. the information will be useful to others, I am sure.

Hang in there.

[sweeex]

Hi Philo!

My wery best to you! one step at the time. hold on!

[philo]

Thanks to all.

10 days.

Just back from the morning meeting (still in hospital service car).

Being discharged tomorrrow.

Will start to pack (my brand suitcase is a plastic bag). I have already booked and paid for a room at a hotel where many of the AA members stay on a monthly basis.

Will be back with details about the discharging procedure. Now I must have drink (coffee) and a smoke.

philo

[Ulysses G.]

I enjoy one or two small, cold bottles of beer with a meal on a hot day and have no further use for alcohol.

Thank God!

[philo]

Just back from the 2nd meeting today. The day has been good - listening to people that have been even more insane than yourself, but now are serene, genuinely caring and happy with what is left of their once wrecked life - gives hope.

I am still a little paranoid: The Dental Department, who was explicitely asked to bring the bill for dental services to my room so that it could be paid in cash, sent it to the Inpatient Cashier Department, and it ended as two posts on the medical bill. So I ran around for an hour or so to find out how to get it paid and removed from the medical bill (dental services are not covered by my national health care and would have 'polluted' the bill). I succeded.

Don't feel much like sleeping tonight, don't want to leave the hospital. But that is what it is - a hospital, not a rehab where you can stay a month.

I have seen many threads here saying that CM Ram is expensive. Not so in my case - the accrued cost pr. today is less then 50k for 10 days. When my children and wife have been to private hospitals in Udon and BKK, it has been more like 10k a day (flu, pneumonia, diarrhea, constipation, high fever etc. - no operations or real serious stuff).

The nurses asks me everyday: "Khun loong, tam arai yuu?" (Mr. Uncle, What are you doing?), when I write these posts on the computer just outside their counter. Makes me feel old (everybody else here are using it for dating sites, games or pink colored Thai shopping websites).

It has finally reached my brain that tomorrow I will be on my own. I will miss the nurses on this floor. Strange feeling - when I wander around in the hospital (12 floors) all other medical staff is just that - medical staff. But after only ten days I have learned about the personalities, interests and thoughts of the 'girls' on 'my' floor.

This very second one of the nurse aides came to do the 'every 4 hours' routine (if I am on the computer, they do it here - no need to go to the room). BP 110 over 70 (was some 150 over 90 when I got in here), HBR 81 (used to be 110-120 when drinking). I have decided I will give them the cash for another McJunk treat when I leave tomorrow (the first one was like a childrens birthday party).

And I can only say good things about the the two doctors I have had here - especially the phsyciatrist (he is well known in the AA groups here).

And of course AA - it was one of the local CM AA guys who cut short his holiday in Udon to escort me up here.

Need another drink - this time I will go for orange juice.

philo

[gerryBScot]

Well done Philo you are doing great. I would be terrified about being discharged too but you have done the right thing by checking into a place where other AAs live. It is nothing short of remarkable how quickly the body can recover. I was measured at the end of my drinking days as having 8200 irregular heart beats in 24 hours; three years after stopping drinking I was discharged from cardiology with a clean bill of health, free of all meds, and told that the same test revealed 2 ['two'] irregular beats in 24 hours. The cardiologist told me he was quite clear it was all drink related and told me if I drank again I was signing my death certificate. The mental recovery takes much more time but......<deleted>! I am spending a few days in Chiang Mai next week, hope to bump into you at meetings and I'll buy you a coffee. Keep going strong and when you get out there, just don't drink and don't test yourself.... avoid wet places in the first instance........ and be grateful, cultivate an attitude of gratitude. Well done

[Robroy]

Philo, I join the general congratulations re your choices. Addiction's a hard one to beat.

You have the 'ring of authenticity' too: the self-understanding that one who's been to the bottom often has.

I'm curious: if you've been drunk for 20 years, how have you managed to earn a living, travel, & now to admit yourself to Bumrumgrad?

[elektrified]

Well done Philo. Hang in there. You are doing great. I know it's easy for me to say, but try not to stress out about things. Remember that you are in Thailand where people and life in general is pretty laid back. Just take a deep breath and try and relax. Keep going to the AA meetings.

[andyc2006]

Philo,

I just caught this topic in the weekly summary of new topics, and I want to wish you luck. I hope you can turn this corner.

My grandmother's brother took a path similar to yours, and was able to stop drinking at a very advanced age (after a night in Las Vegas that he couldn't remember, but walked away from 6 figures poorer). Both he and his doctors were amazed at how well his organs recovered from the years of damage. He's now in his 80s, alcohol free, relatively healthy, and loving his life and extra time.

I noticed you mentioned your wife. I don't know you or her, but I do know the wives of some alcoholics (including some here in Thailand), and my thoughts are that they'd be gleeful and excited if their husbands entered detox programs. I hope that your wife gives you the support that you need. But if not, keep up the efforts on your own.

Good luck.