Current Events > Alcohol withdrawal hallucinations are horrifying.

(+) Yeah! (+)

I have had my issues with alcohol, and the last time when I relapsed I had my first encounter with some hallucinations.

My parents know I have a problem and they're okay with me coming over to just get myself back together as long as I have a day to get myself in a bit better of shape. This last time, I went through the normal shakes, cold/hot sweats, anxiety, etc, but at night I just started feeling this absolute dread. I fell asleep and when I woke up, there was this shadow figure on the ceiling that kept expanding. I noped the fuck out and went downstairs. A little bit later I felt very off and went upstairs and asked my mom to come downstairs, just in case I had a seizure or something. I fell asleep for a little bit and then was woken up by my mom shaking me. She said I was screaming in a way that she had never heard anybody scream before and that I had a look of absolute terror on my face when I came to. I have no idea what that dream was about, but I still get really anxious if I even think about that night.

After that, I couldn't sleep and I just kept hearing voices. They were making fun of me moving around, mocking me, saying things like "hahahaha he thinks he's going to sleep in that position?" and just things that. I just threw some comedy podcasts on and tried to drown it out. The next day the auditory hallucinations died down, no more voices, but I kept hearing songs in the background of the noise of the air purifiers my parents have in their house.

I had what is called Alcoholic Hallucinosis. A lot of people online who have had similar experience say it's "Delirium Tremens" when that's not true. I was aware that I was hallucinating. "Delirium Tremens" is when you lose control of reality and your brain spits out insane horrifying hallucinations that you cannot tell if they're real or fake because you can feel them touch you, etc.

This guy who has gone through real Delirium Tremens has some scary stories of extremely realistic hallucinations.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcNst8BNSwM

Here is a timestamp to "The Worst Hallucination of them All" which is absolute nightmare fuel. https://youtu.be/IcNst8BNSwM?t=2435

I highly recommend watching his entire video because not a lot of people talk about these hallucinations during withdrawal

I quit cold turkey May of last year. Went through over a week of DT, and most of the hallucinations were auditory coming out of the air conditioner. I couldn't sleep for 4 days because I'd have brain zaps/mild convulsions every time I'd doze off. Couldn't watch TV because of vertigo. So I laid there listening to entire albums coming from the AC. Nothing I'd heard before but it was so vivid I even walked outside at 2am to see if someone was playing music. Visual hallucinations were mostly things apparently moving. I kept thinking someone was in the house walking around and would hear weird banging sounds.

Yeah, it's scary stuff. 9 months later I still don't feel right and get that annoying vertigo and zappy feeling once in a while when I'm dozing off. It's crazy that the US is still regulating the hell out of things like cannabis while anyone over the age of 21 can buy a truckload of booze if they want to.

BowflexPeloton posted...

After that, I couldn't sleep and I just kept hearing voices. They were making fun of me moving around, mocking me, saying things like "hahahaha he thinks he's going to sleep in that position?"

Been there, I spent a night hallucinating that a couple of people were standing around talking about killing me.

At one point I straight up open-eye saw some of my friends hanging out playing pool and engaging with them and basically the reason I knew it was a hallucination was because I didn't have a pool table.

Ive drank a 1/4 gallon of whiskey almost daily for the better part of the 7 years, and whenever Ive gone cold turkey, Ive never even got the sweats. Im sorry TC, ive seen plenty of friends go thru them and it looks miserable.

I hate that Im a drinker, and always start back up again though, usually out of boredom or trying to make a fun situation even funner. How long have you been clean?

Yeah, I had hallucinations for almost two months when I stopped.

I saw six legged demon lizard things about a foot high and three feet long coming out of the junctions where ceilings met walls (no actual cracks there). Had a complete hallucination that I was in a jungle being chased by a monster and literally being hacked apart by its claws while in an mri.

The mri also triggered the entire scale of auditory hallucinations from machine gun fire, to music, to screams.

Minor ones for weeks afterwards like shadow people, floating upside down faces a couple times it was really pretty, like a giant fountain at a park multiplied and interwove until it looked like an entire park of shining water mostly not though.

Entire experience was horrifying.

bump, anyone else have experiences with this?

Not with alcohol, but I went cold turkey off prescription sleep meds. Worst week of my life but long term it was the best thing I've ever done.

I won't touch anything for sleep these days. Sometimes I get Benadryl IVs but I don't really have a choice in that and it's always early in the day so I never get a habit of doing it at night.

Holy shit, I had no idea alcohol withdrawals hit like that. It sounds terrifying.

ItsNotA2Mer posted...

Holy shit, I had no idea alcohol withdrawals hit like that. It sounds terrifying.

Alcohol withdrawal is the worst thing in the world to have withdrawal from. Even worse than shit like heroin or methamphetamines

Tyranthraxus posted...

Alcohol withdrawal is the worst thing in the world to have withdrawal from. Even worse than shit like heroin or methamphetamines

It and benzo withdrawal can straight up kill you.

Only substances I'm aware of with that particular distinction.

Tyranthraxus posted...

Alcohol withdrawal is the worst thing in the world to have withdrawal from. Even worse than shit like heroin or methamphetamines

Fuck. I feel for anyone that has to go through something like that.

JTilly posted...

Ive drank a 1/4 gallon of whiskey almost daily for the better part of the 7 years, and whenever Ive gone cold turkey, Ive never even got the sweats. Im sorry TC, ive seen plenty of friends go thru them and it looks miserable.

This is the case for me too. Early last year I went cold turkey for about 5 months after drinking a litre of vodka every night for at least a year (built up to that over 15 years) and had no withdrawal symptoms. Im almost suspicious that its an omen for what might happen if I go cold turkey again.

Dark_Arbron posted...

This is the case for me too. Early last year I went cold turkey for about 5 months after drinking a litre of vodka every night for at least a year (built up to that over 15 years) and had no withdrawal symptoms. Im almost suspicious that its an omen for what might happen if I go cold turkey again.

I'm not sure if it would apply to you but alcohol detox has a phenomenon called "kindling."

Basically, in a lot of people each time gets worse.

Stronger/more symptoms, longer lasting, more dangerous.

Dark_Arbron posted...

This is the case for me too. Early last year I went cold turkey for about 5 months after drinking a litre of vodka every night for at least a year (built up to that over 15 years) and had no withdrawal symptoms. Im almost suspicious that its an omen for what might happen if I go cold turkey again.

It's been a long time since I've drank heavily but I never got any hangovers (well not from alcohol at any rate) and my friends were always mad about it. People sometimes just don't react the same way.

Not suggesting you push your luck or anything. I don't have anything against intoxicants in general but I think life is better without them.

I think i had mini strokes or something
i legit had trouble reading words for a whole week

I thought my brain was gonna be like that forever
I was okay with it after a day or 2
I was like I guess this is my life

DrizztLink posted...

It and benzo withdrawal can straight up kill you.

Only substances I'm aware of with that particular distinction.

I'm going off benzos in the next couple weeks. That should be fun ( -_-)

When I quit I only had shakes for a few days, night sweats and restless legs at night. My buddy on the other hand had hallucinations. He had the same thing with music playing behind his fan. He saw what you saw, this creepy face on the ceiling and just weird shapes. He went through them alone too. He was clean for years but unfortunately got mixed up with an even worse crowd and died from fentanyl last summer.

DrizztLink posted...

I'm not sure if it would apply to you but alcohol detox has a phenomenon called "kindling."

Basically, in a lot of people each time gets worse.

Stronger/more symptoms, longer lasting, more dangerous.

My first time quitting was in 2015. Had zero symptoms for a week besides hunger pains (my drink of choice was beer, so probably more to do with the sugar) followed by a morning panic attack, then nothing further from then on. That panic attack may have been unrelated.

Second time was in March 2023, just before going before a judge (wanted to get it over with before the possibility of prison). Zero symptoms period.

Did I dodge two bullets?

Dark_Arbron posted...

Did I dodge two bullets?

It's INCREDIBLY variable, and my own personal withdrawal cycle isn't necessarily typical.

Like, some people just aren't going to have the same symptoms because they're related to physical withdrawal and they never developed a full on physical dependency.

Those people can certainly still have other symptoms, just not necessarily the textbook detox stuff.

For me, I'm at the point where drinking twice in a row will send me right back into physical dependency, but that's not super common outside the professional alcoholics.

Thankfully what hallucinations I had were fairly mild and mostly just auditory, the shakes however, whoo boy were they bad. Spent nearly a week stuck in bed from them because I couldn't even stand they were so bad.
But the absolute worst shit was the insomnia and headaches that came after. I'd maybe manage as much as three or four hours of sleep every week or two. The headache would get so bad I'd end up barfing, and that shit lasted for the better part of a year.
I'm just gratful I had some fucking awesome friends to support (and house) me over it. As well as my niece who, as fucked as it was that my sister just up and abandoned her two week old infant on me, proved to be the motivation I needed to finally get clean and who, eighteen years later, is still motivating me to do better.

For me that took about 9 years.

I was drinking 2/3rds of a handle of vodka a night, for about 5/6 years. Girlfriend drank the other 1/3rd, handle is 1.75 L.

I was always the guy that never seemed drunk and was up at 3am drinking everclear and grape juice after everyone else was passed out.

It didn't hit me hard until the restaurant I had been managing was sold and I wasn't sweating it out everyday. I had like two years rent/utilities saved up so I wasn't in a hurry to find a new job, kept drinking like that, near the end stopped eating as well and was just getting all my calories from the alcohol.

Not a good place to be.

That tolerance can really bite you in the ass once dependance kicks in.

First of all, bravo to you for being so open about something so personal, sounds like a nightmare in more ways than once.

But also, those actual hallucination nightmares sound atrocious, have you dealt with them before?

DrizztLink posted...

It's INCREDIBLY variable, and my own personal withdrawal cycle isn't necessarily typical.

Like, some people just aren't going to have the same symptoms because they're related to physical withdrawal and they never developed a full on physical dependency.

Those people can certainly still have other symptoms, just not necessarily the textbook detox stuff.

For me, I'm at the point where drinking twice in a row will send me right back into physical dependency, but that's not super common outside the professional alcoholics.

Yeah I guess you have to differentiate between a physical dependence on a substance and a psychological one.

If I recall Charlie Chaplins father died from cirrhosis at my age. And Im nowhere near that despite drinking a bottle a night. Do people who end up like that literally pass out and then immediately start drinking again when they wake up? Because thats never been me. For better or worse Ive always been a functioning alcohol abuser. Never had issues showing up to work drunk or anything. That was always the last thing I did in the evening, knowing it would take me through to bed time.

I've taken other substances recreationally, and those alcohol hallucinations are on a whole different level.

I only ever dealt with them for that one long stretch, the freaky part was they were occurring before I stopped drinking as well. Impossible to tell from real life until it gets weird.

I saw a pickup pull into my apartment complex, park, the door open, and then it all went up in glittering smoke.

I had actually commented on the truck as we were waiting for someone, then just went "ah nvm, it's not them"... and pretended like nothing had happened.

Eh, it's the internet (bravo)... plus I did the whole AA thing and spoke a prepared speech a few times as I had just been so completely fucked up. Sharing about it here is nothing compared to a hundred odd people in real life.

Alteres posted...

I've taken other substances recreationally, and those alcohol hallucinations are on a whole different level.

I only ever dealt with them for that one long stretch, the freaky part was they were occurring before I stopped drinking as well. Impossible to tell from real life until it gets weird.

I saw a pickup pull into my apartment complex, park, the door open, and then it all went up in glittering smoke.

I had actually commented on the truck as we were waiting for someone, then just went "ah nvm, it's not them"... and pretended like nothing had happened.

Eh, it's the internet (bravo)... plus I did the whole AA thing and spoke a prepared speech a few times as I had just been so completely fucked up. Sharing about it here is nothing compared to a hundred odd people in real life.

Over the past year and a half Ive had to share sensitive things in groups, and Ive found it surprisingly easy. Thats the benefit of no-judgment zones. But of course I cant speak for anyone but myself.

I can go a few days without drinking but I always start right back up when the weekend hits. Thankfully it's only beer and maybe 5-6 drinks max.

The biggest symptom of withdrawals I've had was trouble sleeping. My Wife's ex husband had hallucinations and he talked about killing so that's one of the biggest reasons she left him.

I really want to start a good 2 week streak of not drinking to prove to myself that I can do it. Working out helps a little. I bet some gummies or something would help too but I don't want to replace one bad habit for another.

I feel your pain. I spent 25 years at the bottom of a Jack Daniel's bottle. When I quit it was the most brutal thing I've ever gone through. I had a three hour conversation with a friend that had been dead for five years. I swore he was sitting on the end of my bed talking to me.

bump

Can't say that i have but I wish you luck on your recovery journey.

Tales from the Trip covered stories of hallucinations caused by alcohol withdrawal a while back in one of his videos and they convinced me never to let myself get to that point.

Its a real shame that YouTube demonetized his entire channel since he was one of the best at warning of the dangers of substance abuse since hed narrate real stories sent in by people who had actually went through the harrowing ordeals being described in his videos, yet whoever decided to demonetize him claimed he was glorifying drug use or something equally foolish given how that was the exact opposite of what he was doing in his content.

Agent_Stroud posted...

Tales from the Trip covered stories of hallucinations caused by alcohol withdrawal a while back in one of his videos and they convinced me never to let myself get to that point.

Its a real shame that YouTube demonetized his entire channel since he was one of the best at warning of the dangers of substance abuse since hed narrate real stories sent in by people who had actually went through the harrowing ordeals being described in his videos, yet whoever decided to demonetize him claimed he was glorifying drug use or something equally foolish given how that was the exact opposite of what he was doing in his content.

That's such a bummer. It seems like a lot of people just do not talk about this at all.

I truly believe Alcoholics Anonymous would help, but I see a decline in how effective it has become within the last few decades

I dont see how there was a breakthrough in the 1935 and just dont hold much as of now

Alteres posted...

Yeah, I had hallucinations for almost two months when I stopped.

I saw six legged demon lizard things about a foot high and three feet long coming out of the junctions where ceilings met walls (no actual cracks there). Had a complete hallucination that I was in a jungle being chased by a monster and literally being hacked apart by its claws while in an mri.

The mri also triggered the entire scale of auditory hallucinations from machine gun fire, to music, to screams.

Minor ones for weeks afterwards like shadow people, floating upside down faces a couple times it was really pretty, like a giant fountain at a park multiplied and interwove until it looked like an entire park of shining water mostly not though.

Entire experience was horrifying.

That's a lot different than the pink elephants.

That's fucking crazy. Best of luck mate.

Hope you get better tc

OriginalPlain2 posted...

I truly believe Alcoholics Anonymous would help, but I see a decline in how effective it has become within the last few decades

I dont see how there was a breakthrough in the 1935 and just dont hold much as of now

It's pretty much always had the same efficacy.

About 5%, up to 10 or 12 depending on who you ask.

The first ~35 years or whatever of AA's life also saw them being kind of the only game in town, but nowadays we have plenty of other options.

I know you've already heard this, but man be careful. One of these days the relapse and detox cycle will get you killed. Don't want to hear news about your death buddy.

mario2000 posted...

Hope you get better tc

DarthDemented posted...

I know you've already heard this, but man be careful. One of these days the relapse and detox cycle will get you killed. Don't want to hear news about your death buddy.

It's tough, I'm working every day at not just staying at home and being lonely. That's my biggest trigger for drinking. I've always been a really shy person who just sits in his room on his computer. My issue is that when I start, it escalates FAST and there really isn't any way of me getting myself under control without the help of my parents, which I hate having to rely on them for something that's somewhat my fault.

Tag for later.

bump