Surprising Aspects of Alcohol Withdrawal
If you are reading about alcohol withdrawal, it means that you are seriously considering taking the first step of drug rehabilitation: detoxification, the process of ridding the body of drugs and alcohol. As you probably know, this will cause withdrawals to kick in. Withdrawal can be quite severe for alcoholics, so you should learn what you can in order to best plan and manage your treatment.
Preparation
Without preparing for withdrawal, you may face considerable risk. Obviously, the treatment center will be run by experts, who will help you decide upon a plan of action. But, patients who have not made an internal commitment to recovery may not follow these plans.
Addiction is hard to beat. It changes the way your brain functions and it triggers cravings that may not feel manageable.
Don’t worry. The more that you learn, the more prepared you will be. You wouldn’t make other huge changes in your life without giving them serious thought, would you?
Reading this post should help you to truly understand detox and withdrawal. If some of the lesser known aspects of withdrawal manifest in your case, you won’t be completely surprised and you will be able to communicate with your care provider.
Alcohol withdrawal is one of the more dangerous withdrawals. You will need professional, structured rehabilitation. But, even with all your research, how will you know what your should do? What treatment center will work in your case? Ask the experts. Withdrawal.org can answer all of your questions, help you figure out funding, and direct you to quality care that will meet your needs and the needs of your addiction. Call 888-602-1971(Who Answers?) today.
Detox
Sleep problems and headaches are common symptoms of alcohol withdrawal.
Obviously, you can’t start treatment while your body is still full of drugs. This is why detoxification comes first. That means, you need to understand detox, right?
You have heard the term detox before. It pops up in alternative medicine and health circles all the time. Yoga cleanses and juice fasts are often labelled types of detox. It has come to refer to any process of eliminating toxins from your body. Drug detox is also about removing toxins (drugs) from your system, but it is a medically sound practice with protocols. It isn’t something you can do at home with some juice and sweating.
At its most basic, alcohol detox is simply an assisted transition from acute intoxication to a physical state free of drugs and alcohol. Traditionally, detox emphasizes “symptom reduction and prevention of complications.” It lessens withdrawal effects and protects you against the medical emergencies that can be triggered by the process. Lately, newer approaches work to slow the clinical urgency of kindling, a situation linked to multiple withdrawals.
Withdrawal
Because detox focuses on guiding you through withdrawal, you should understand what sorts of symptoms are caused by withdrawal. There are likely quite a few that will surprise you. Withdrawal can be severe and many patients will want to return to drinking to ease the symptoms, but a managed detox program can make sure you get through it in one piece.
Expect withdrawal to kick in between six and twelve hours after your final drink. Don’t think your body has to be completely free of alcohol for the onset of withdrawal; it can begin while you still have alcohol in your body.
The US National Library of Medicine details the following withdrawal symptoms:
- Moodiness
- Agitation
- Mood changes
- Uneasiness/worry
- Despair
- Fatigue
- Enlarged pupils
- Headaches
- Sleeping problems
- Vivid dreams and/or nightmares
- Muddled thinking
- Increased perspiration
- Speedy heart rate
- Clammy skin
- Shaking of the hands and/or other body parts
- Lack of hunger
- Vomiting and/or nausea
- Pasty skin
- Serious confusion
- Fever
- Hallucinations, particularly auditory and visual ones
- Seizures
Among all possible symptoms, delirium tremens (DTs) are the most dangerous. Although the situation only affects five to twenty percent of all detoxing patients with an alcohol use disorder, it kills 5 percent of them.
Kindling
You probably are completely unfamiliar with a condition referred to as kindling. But, you should know about it because it may affect you.
Did you know that each withdrawal attempt affects your future attempts?
Every time you binge, your body triggers your central nervous system. When you stop drinking, the CNS is in overdrive. Because it is going top speed, you will be more sensitive to withdrawal symptoms. Each time you stop, that sensitivity grows.
This is called kindling. “Both clinical and experimental evidence support the existence of a kindling mechanism during alcohol withdrawal.”
Your withdrawal is manageable and we can help you do it. Call 888-602-1971(Who Answers?) and get the professional treatment you need to minimize withdrawal.
