If you are thinking of trying to quit drinking cold turkey, you may want to learn more about the effects of alcohol addiction and withdrawal first. While you may be able to stop drinking on your own, it may be dangerous or at the least very uncomfortable.
At the very least, anyone trying to detox at home should make sure there is a support system and someone who can call for help if there is a medical emergency. Alcoholism is a serious disease, and the effects can cause great harm, especially when someone is going through withdrawal.
What Happens During Alcohol Withdrawal?
If you drank alcohol for a long period of time, sometimes just for weeks, you can experience mental and physical symptoms when you try to stop or cut down significantly. Not everyone experiences it the same way, but you are more likely to suffer from withdrawal if you suffered it in an earlier attempt to quit drinking cold turkey or slow down.
Because alcohol acts as a depressant on your system, your central nervous system gets used to that level of alcohol. When you stop, you can experience all sorts of symptoms. Milder symptoms may include insomnia, sweating, nausea and headaches. You may also feel anxious or worried, without being able to pin down a reason.
More serious withdrawal symptoms include hallucinations, which can happen 12 to 24 hours after you stop drinking and can be quite frightening. Delirium tremens, or DTs, are very dangerous and should only be treated by a medical professional. Some individuals experiencing DTs have died, Possible symptoms include shaking, high blood pressure and seizures.
Can Someone Quit Drinking Without Treatment & Medicine?
A doctor can assess your situation better, but it might be safer to take some medication while you are in the beginning stages of sobriety. Working closely with someone who has experience with addiction treatment can help you feel better faster, so you can get well and go back to being a productive member of society.
Some drugs help deal with the physical and mental discomfort that comes when you stop drinking, and some drugs can even block the euphoric feeling that an alcoholic may feel when drinking. Antabuse depends on the user, because it causes severe discomfort to anyone taking it who tries to drink. Sometimes antabuse is a punishment from a court, but it may also help individuals who work well with that kind of motivation.
Because alcoholics also have other habits that may cause them to forego taking care of their health, you may also need to have your teeth cleaned and checked for cavities. Many in the end stages of alcoholism have poor diets, so they benefit from vitamins to help their bodies start the recovery process.
Alcohol Rehab, Therapy, and Support Groups
There are so many kinds of discomfort when someone is trying to stop drinking, and different kinds of therapy can help deal with both mental and physical symptoms of withdrawal. In the beginning, individual therapy will assist recovering individuals who are dealing with personal issues, and it will help them sort out which issues are really the important ones that need to be dealt with. An alcohol rehab program, like the one at Rise in Malibu, can also be an avenue that can provide you with the treatment needed to recover for good.
Family therapy is important, because most of us have not dealt with our family relationships well enough and resolving any conflicts will help us put those traumas behind us. It is always best if a family is willing to work with you, but you can still succeed if your family doesn’t support your recovery from the beginning.
How the Detox Program at Rise in Malibu Can Help You Quit Drinking
A good facility which can help individuals who are really wanting to deal with their addictive past will start by helping them with their early withdrawals. It is necessary to get past this dangerous time in order to start making progress on all the issues that enabled you to drink for so long.
If you are looking for a detox program in Malibu at the Rise in Malibu, a luxury addiction treatment facility can help. We provide you with all the tools you need and tell you how to get sober, but you will need to do all the hard work yourself. Contact us today or verify your insurance benefits to begin the process today.
