Hi,

Someone I care about is going cold-turkey with alchohol and smoking. He's quit both at the same time because smoking is a trigger for him to drink. I suggested he see a doctor first but he said he didn't think he was at the stage where he would need that and since he quit drinking on Saturday afternoon and is still alive just now, I guess he was right. I've had a look at previous threads on this topic and am going to suggest milk thistle (and he knows he has to improve his diet but I'm keeping quiet on that just now). What concerns me is that as of last night he's started feeling like he has the flu, e.g. he's all bunged up and I don't recognize that as being a standard symptom of alcholol-withdrawal. I did suggest to him that maybe he did have the flu but he's been in the house by himself since Saturday so he doesn't see how he could have got it. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

Tx

sounds like a coincidence to me but i gave up the ciggs and solpadeines and my doctor said that withdrawing can cause headaches and various pains but they pass as your body gets used to life without them,
he'll be fine in a few days i would imagine,
milk thistle and alot of water is what he needs,
good luck and hes lucky to have a friend like you

It's quite common to get a cold or cold symptoms when you stop smoking, so I wouldn't worry about it, unless he develops a high fever, in which case you'd need to phone the gp.

Thanks for the support. He now seems to be over the physical symptoms of the detox but I've realized he has some serious underlying emotional issues to deal with. I'm not sure if this is the right forum for this but does anyone know of any councillors/therapists preferably in the (South) London area who could help with this?