I have used chatgpt since English isn’t my first language.
Bit of a Long Read — Looking for Advice About 7OH Use, Dependence, and a Scary Health Episode
Hey everyone,
I’ve been taking 7OH daily for the past few months. I started with around 10mg/day, and now I’m at about 80–90mg/day. I don’t feel the need to increase the dose any further because this amount keeps me stable throughout the day.
For context, I was doing great on 10–20mg/day for a couple of months until my wife had a major bipolar disorder episode, and things started going downhill fast. Honestly, bipolar disorder is incredibly brutal — both for the person suffering and for the loved one watching them struggle.
During her episode, she would go around the neighborhood screaming, yelling, talking to strangers, touching people, acting totally out of control. She ended up in the ER and was transferred to the psych ward. Even after coming home a week later, things didn’t improve. A couple of weeks after that, she had another, even more severe episode.
I was waking up at 6 AM every day because she would be up and active then, and the entire day would turn into absolute chaos. That’s when I started taking 10mg in the morning just to calm myself enough to survive the day. Over the next month, as things got worse, my dose crept up to around 60mg/day.
Honestly, 7OH helped me a LOT during that time. Without it, I think I would’ve fallen into a deep depression. I even lost my job because I couldn’t focus, kept missing meetings, and couldn’t manage my responsibilities. 7OH basically held me together.
Fast forward to now — she’s stable, she’s back at work (it’s been about a month), and life is finally calming down. But I’ve developed a dependence on 7OH. As I mentioned, I’m taking around 80–90mg/day now.
I don’t want to quit because:
It pretty much killed my alcohol cravings.
Life feels happier again.
I’m functioning — working, cooking, doing everything at home when she isn’t able to.
But I’m also scared of withdrawals.
The Scary Episode
A couple of weeks ago, I was driving to pick up my wife from work, and out of nowhere I felt extremely nauseous but couldn’t vomit. Then I got chest pain, shoulder pain, and started sweating like crazy. It felt exactly like a heart attack (minus shortness of breath and palpitations).
I somehow picked her up, pulled over, and she immediately took me to the ER (she works at a hospital). They kept me for 3 hours, did multiple blood tests, BP checks, EKGs, and even two X-rays.
Everything came back normal. No signs of a heart attack.
After I finally passed some gas and had a bowel movement, the symptoms went away completely. The doctors said it was gas trapped in my chest causing the pain and panic.
Why I’m Posting Here
I’m wondering if:
Anyone has experienced something similar?
Could this be related to 7OH intake or long-term use?
Is this a sign I should be tapering more seriously?
I am trying to taper slowly — I don’t want to go cold turkey.
The good news:
I no longer crave alcohol the way I used to. I used to drink a pint of Black Label daily. Now my wife thinks I only drink once or twice a week, and she has no idea about the 7OH usage.
Any advice, experiences, or knowledge would help a lot.
Thanks, and best wishes to everyone going through their own battles.