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Alcohol Detox Symptoms

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 Alcohol Detox Symptoms

  • What is it?

Excessive drinking of alcohol excites the nervous system. Drinking alcohol daily, over time makes the body dependent on alcohol. When this happens, the central nervous system can no longer adapt easily to the lack of alcohol. When a person stops drinking alcohol, realizes that he needs to detoxify, he will undergo alcohol detox symptoms or alcohol withdrawal symptoms. These symptoms may occur when a person who has been drinking too much alcohol every day suddenly stops drinking alcohol. Symptoms are usually present within six hours of the cessation of drinking and may develop while there is still a significant blood alcohol concentration in the blood.

  • Positives

Detoxification or ‘detox’ involves taking a short course of a medicine which helps to prevent withdrawal symptoms when one stops drinking alcohol. The most commonly used medicine for detox is chlordiazepoxide, a benzodiazepine medicine. The medication helps one to feel better while the body readjusts to not having alcohol.

  • Cautions

Once under detoxification, alcohol detox symptoms may include the feeling quite nervous or anxious for a few days; having some difficulty with getting off to sleep for a few nights; having some mild withdrawal symptoms but they should not be too bad and a lot less than if one was not taking the detox medicine.

  • Recommendations

Mild alcohol detox syndrome can often be treated at home. A family member or friend must stay with you to monitor your condition, make sure you go to counselling and visit the doctor regularly for routine blood tests. However, hospitalization may be recommended, if your symptoms are more severe. This is so a doctor can monitor your condition and manage any complications. You may require IV fluids to prevent dehydration and medications to help ease your symptoms. A successful treatment of alcohol detox syndrome is not an assurance that the person will stop drinking alcohol. The treatment of alcohol detox syndrome does not address addiction. Thus, it is recommended that the person will undergo treatment for alcohol abuse or alcohol dependence. Relatively brief outpatient interventions can be effective for alcohol abuse. However, a more intensive therapy may be required for alcohol dependence.

  • Learn More:

http://www.webmd.com/

  • WebMD talks about alcohol detox symptoms on its section entitled: Alcohol Withdrawal. WebMD provides valuable health information, tools for managing your health, and support to those who seek information. You can trust that our content is timely and credible.

http://www.uptodate.com/

  • UpToDate talks about alcohol detox symptoms on its section entitled: Management of moderate and severe alcohol withdrawal syndromes. UpToDate is an evidence-based, physician-authored clinical decision support resource which clinicians trust to make the right point-of-care decisions. More than 5,100 world-renowned physician authors, editors and peer reviewers use a rigorous editorial process to synthesize the most recent medical information into trusted, evidence-based recommendations that are proven to improve patient care and quality.

http://www.healthline.com/

  • Healthline talks about alcohol detox symptoms on its section entitled: Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome. Healthline focuses efforts on offering readers and visitors to our site objective, trustworthy, and accurate health information, guided by the principles of responsible journalism and publishing. Healthline’s editorial philosophy is to use relevant and accurate content to promote a healthy lifestyle and facilitate disease prevention, as well as to offer clinically significant, medically reviewed information for those who are seeking answers to their health questions.