If you already have alcohol use disorder, it’s important to seek counseling and medical care as soon as possible. The goal is to safely and gradually decrease your dependence on alcohol so that you can resume your daily life. Patients presenting with alcohol withdrawal syndrome should receive thiamine and folate supplementation as they are often nutritionally deficient.
Alcohol Detox: Symptoms, Timeline, and Detox Treatment Centers
In fact, an estimated one-third of people who receive treatment for alcohol issues are sober one year later, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Multiple factors can affect how long it may take you to withdraw from alcohol. A doctor will consider all these factors when estimating how long-lasting and how severe your symptoms may be. Doctors may prescribe other medications to treat withdrawal-related symptoms. One example is a beta-blocker (such as propranolol) to reduce high blood pressure. Crystal Raypole has previously worked as a writer and editor for GoodTherapy.
Gradually Taper Your Alcohol Intake
Outpatient treatment may be available for mild-to-moderate symptoms of alcohol withdrawal; however, should symptoms become severe, inpatient care may be required. Blood pressure, pulse, and alcohol breath analysis should be obtained whenever possible. The assessment should also include a validated measure of withdrawal symptom severity, ideally with the same instrument as the initial assessment. Alcohol withdrawal syndrome can range in severity from mild to fatal, making it crucial for patients to present to care for evaluation of their symptoms.
- If the medication begins to cause unwanted side effects or interferes with the detox process, another remedy can be used.
- The experience of withdrawing from alcohol can be uncomfortable and difficult.
- The prognosis (outlook) for someone with alcohol withdrawal depends greatly on its severity.
- When alcohol withdrawal syndrome has resolved, patients ought to be evaluated for AUD and offered treatment, if appropriate, including pharmacotherapy and behavioral treatment.
- Vitamins such as thiamine and folic acid will need to be supplemented.
When to seek help and where
Explore Mayo Clinic studies testing new treatments, interventions and tests as a means to prevent, detect, treat or manage this condition. “Clinical management of alcohol withdrawa[…] A systematic review.” Industrial Psychiatry, July 2013. Symptoms of AWS are often treated with sedatives called benzodiazepines.
- Alcohol consumption spans a spectrum ranging from low risk to severe alcohol use disorder (AUD).
- These programs involve working with a team of mental health professionals in a group and individual setting.
- You’re also at risk for AWS if you’ve previously had withdrawal symptoms or needed medical detox for a drinking problem.
- A self-detox can be dangerous because you don’t have access to medical care for the most severe symptoms of alcohol withdrawal.
Approximately one-half of patients with alcohol use disorder who abruptly stop or reduce their alcohol use will develop signs or symptoms of alcohol withdrawal syndrome. The syndrome is due to overactivity of the central and autonomic nervous systems, leading to tremors, insomnia, nausea and vomiting, hallucinations, anxiety, and agitation. If untreated or inadequately treated, withdrawal can progress to generalized tonic-clonic seizures, delirium tremens, and death.
- Doctors may prescribe other medications to treat withdrawal-related symptoms.
- This is why some people may be hesitant or afraid to quit drinking.
Symptoms of alcohol withdrawal
This disorder also involves having to drink more to get the same effect or having withdrawal symptoms when you rapidly decrease or stop drinking. Alcohol use disorder includes a level of drinking that’s sometimes called alcoholism. Alcohol withdrawal is widespread among people with alcohol use disorders who decide to stop drinking or reduce their Alcohol Detox intake. If you’re experiencing alcohol withdrawal, your body might be going through an array of uncomfortable physical and mental changes. Withdrawal symptoms are common for people with alcohol use disorder who stop drinking, but many respond well to treatment. Alcohol withdrawal is a potentially serious complication of alcohol use disorder.
Tapering increases the length of the detox process, but it might be better for you in the long run. They also note that a person can experience alcohol withdrawal syndrome whether they have been drinking for weeks, months, or years. While a person goes through alcohol detox, they can develop several symptoms of withdrawal. For serious alcohol use disorder, you may need a stay at a residential treatment facility.
- Your healthcare provider will recommend and encourage treatment for alcohol use disorder.
- This is what causes withdrawal symptoms such as headache, fever, nausea, irregular heartbeat and hallucinations.
- This includes beer, wine, and liquor, as well as products that contain alcohol such as rubbing alcohol and vanilla extract.
- When that person cuts out alcohol, there is a period when their brain hasn’t yet received the message and still overproduces the stimulating chemicals.
The medical professional who evaluated your AWS symptoms may suggest daily follow-ups via telephone or video chat to check on your symptoms and progress. Research shows that only a small portion of people with AWS require medical treatment. When you stop drinking, after doing so heavily for a long time, the depressant on your central nervous system stops, causing your nervous system to become overexcited. Your body may get overloaded because it has no alcohol to counteract your now perpetually excited nervous system. In some cases, AWS can be a medical emergency and — if complications arise — potentially life threatening.