How To Treat Alcohol Withdrawals At Home

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One of the first questions that many alcoholics ask others when they are trying to quit drinking is how to treat alcohol withdrawals at home.

The answer to this question is quite simple: if you are experiencing alcohol withdrawal symptoms or are expecting that you will be going through these symptoms due to the fact that you are quitting drinking, you should seek immediate medical assistance rather than treating alcohol withdrawal symptoms at home.

Should Anyone Treat Alcohol Withdrawals At Home?

image: businessman reflecting on his alcoholism When people who drink excessively try to stop drinking, they experience withdrawal symptoms. One of the first things that many of these people ask others about is how to treat alcohol withdrawals at home.

The answer to this question is very important:

People who are experiencing alcohol withdrawal symptoms should not treat these symptoms at home. Instead, they need to seek medical assistance immediately so that their doctor, emergency room personnel, healthcare provider, or urgent care center personnel can assess the severity of their withdrawal symptoms and suggest the best option for treatment.

To understand all of the reasons why people suffering from alcohol withdrawal symptoms should immediately seek medical assistance, please continue reading.

Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome

Alcohol withdrawal syndrome is a group of symptoms exhibited by individuals who stop drinking alcohol after a pattern of continuous and excessive consumption.

These symptoms can range from mild to moderate to severe and include both behavioral and psychological aspects.

image: young woman drinking wine while looking depressed The following represents mild to moderate psychological withdrawal symptoms that typically occur within 6 to 48 hours after the last alcoholic drink: anxiety, feeling nervous or jumpy, depression, fatigue, irritability, nightmares, rapid emotional changes, and difficulty thinking clearly.

The following represents mild to moderate physical withdrawal symptoms that typically occur within 6 to 48 hours after the last alcoholic drink: loss of appetite, nausea, rapid heart rate, vomiting, pulsating headaches, clammy skin, abnormal movements, sweating (especially on the palms of the hands or on the face), sleeping difficulties, tremor of the hands, looking pale, involuntary movements of the eyelids, and enlarged or dilated pupils.

The following represents severe withdrawal symptoms that typically occur within 48 to 96 hours after the last alcoholic drink: muscle tremors, extreme confusion, severe autonomic nervous system overactivity, black outs, convulsions, high fever, seizures, delirium tremens (DTs), visual hallucinations, and agitation.

Each year in the United States, roughly 5,000 young people under the age of 21 die as a result of underage drinking. This includes about 1,900 deaths from
motor vehicle accidents.

Most Alcohol Withdrawal Cases Don't Require Hospitalization

image: doctor checking status of alcoholic receiving alcohol withdrawal treatment Recent research demonstrates that it is important to treat every person who is experiencing alcohol withdrawal. Having said this, it can be pointed out that around 95% of the people who quit drinking alcohol suffer from mild to moderate withdrawal symptoms and can usually be treated on an out-patient basis by a healthcare professional.

The remaining 5% of people who experience withdrawal symptoms, however, suffer symptoms so severe that they must be treated in a hospital or in an alcohol rehabilitation facility that specializes in detoxification.

Currently, approximately 14 million Americans, 1 in every 13 adults,
abuse alcohol or are alcoholic.

Non-Drug Detox Programs

A number of different techniques exist for treating alcohol withdrawal. While some of these treatments use medications, many, however, do not. Indeed, according to current research studies, the safest way to treat mild withdrawal symptoms is without medications.

Such types of non-drug detoxification use screening and extensive social support throughout the withdrawal process. Other non-drug detoxification programs, moreover, use vitamin therapy (especially thiamin) and proper nutrition in treating mild withdrawal symptoms.

According to a research study undertaken by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University in 2005, every year, 1,400 American college students between the ages of 18 and 24 die from inadvertent alcohol-related injuries, including motor vehicle accidents, which accounted for the majority of the deaths.

Detoxification with Drugs

Alcoholism researchers claim that chronic alcoholics who cannot maintain abstention should receive drug therapy to treat alcohol withdrawal symptoms. By using medications, these alcoholics are less likely to experience possible brain damage or seizures.

Recent research demonstrates that the drugs most likely to produce effective results when treating alcohol withdrawal are the benzodiazepines: the longer-acting benzodiazepines like Valium and Librium or the shorter-acting benzodiazepines such as Ativan and Serax. Traditionally, when administering benzodiazepines, physicians have employed a progressive decrease in doses over the time-frame of the withdrawal process. In addition, due to the fact that these drugs allow for measurable dose reductions and do not linger in the person's system numerous authorities have suggested that intermediate to short half-life benzodiazepines should be used for treating withdrawal symptoms.

The 9.6% of American adult alcoholics drink 25% of the alcohol that is consumed by all adult drinkers.

Outpatient and Inpatient Detoxification Programs

The research on inpatient and outpatient detoxification programs is also important. Studies have shown that inpatient detoxification is more effective and longer-lasting than outpatient detox programs.

The important issue here is the following: the more severe the alcohol-related withdrawal symptoms, the more likely that inpatient detox programs should be used.

Do you drink and drive, operate machinery or mix alcohol with over-the-counter or prescription medicine? Are you pregnant or are trying to become pregnant and drink? Do you drink alcohol while you are in charge of the lives of small children? Do you fail to inform your doctor that you are a regular drinker? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you are
taking risks with alcohol.

Perhaps the most important lesson to be learned from the above discussion is this: When experiencing alcohol withdrawal symptoms, always see your healthcare provider or your doctor immediately so that he or she can assess the severity of your situation and suggest the best option for treatment.

In many instances characterized by dysfunctional living conditions, the result is that the codependent person or persons develop habitual self-defeating ways of coping in order to survive. If this vicious cycle is not broken, the codependents eventually become out-of-touch with their own emotions.

How To Treat Alcohol Withdrawals At Home: Conclusion

Equipped with the information articulated above, the next time someone asks you how to treat alcohol withdrawals at home, you can say to them: "You shouldn't treat alcohol withdrawal symptoms at home--you need to seek medical assistance immediately so that the seriousness of your withdrawal symptoms can be appropriately evaluated and the best option for treatment can be implemented."

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"Binge alcohol use" is defined as drinking five or more alcoholic drinks at one sitting on at least one day in the past 30 days. According to Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) in their 2002-2003 "National Surveys on Drug Use and Health," North Dakota had the highest rate (31.4%) in the nation for binge alcohol use by persons who were 12 years old or older while Utah had the lowest rate (15.9%).

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