Exclusive Feature Serial on www.thisisUll.com Part One - Diaries From Detox

Alcohol Awareness

For most people alcohol is an enjoyable part of their lives. However, for a minority it equates to being in a prison from which it is a nightmare to escape. It is one of the most pernicious, socially acceptable, underestimated poisons on the market. Many people are unaware that as well as the threat of liver disease, it affect the central nervous system, mental faculties, circulatory system, stomach and bowel functions to name just a few.

I will not go into the whys and wherefores and the underlying issues regarding my own personal need to drink heavily over the last few years but what follows is a record from my first day in detox (ification) in Hull (lasting 2 weeks), straight to a rehabilitation unit for six months (ouch!) in Plymouth (any further and I'd be in the bloody Atlantic).

It will perhaps come across as a stream of conciousness but I intend it to be an honest account of the biggest battle of my life - to regain it. continued below..

Alcohol Awareness continued Part One - Diaries From Detox

Day 1 Woke up in a panic at 8.30 as I had to be at Miranda House Detoxification Unit by 9.30 and hadn't yet managed to pack 6½ months of clothes/books etc (my middle names are 'Completely' and 'Disorganised'). The packing was accompanied by a rather tasty bottle of Le Piat D'Or, ostensibly to stave off the terror of incarceration but also as a final farewell to my best friend or rather, should I say, my worst enemy.

Having arrived 2 hours late much to the units disgruntlement, I was questioned and prodded and poked. This was to ascertain the amount of Chlordiazepoxide (Librium) I needed to be given to stave off the horrendous withdrawal symptoms (these include sweats, shakes, vomiting, cravings and in extreme cases fits and hallucinations. Hence, to come off alcohol safely it must be done under closely monitored medical supervision.

By 3 O'clock I was in a terrible state - weepy, anxious, desperate for a drink, wishing I was anywhere else but here.

Librium has the closest chemical make-up to alcohol, making it the chosen drug of the medical profession for use in my situation. Four times a day I am administered 30mg which over a period of two weeks will be reduced to nothing as Librium is highly addictive. Over the course of the evening I had to have an extra 10mg as I felt my head was going to explode. Bed at mignight (I normally keep vampire hours so this experience was most strange). I woke at one, then two, dripping in sweat. Another 10mg of Librium was needed and then I managed to sleep until 7.50am - another strange time of day for me, being used to only seeing 7.50 in the evening.

Continued on www.thisisull.com...... Part Two - Diaries From Detox.

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