Common withdrawal symptoms from alcohol cessation
One of the main problems that people face when they decide to stop drinking after a prolonged period of drinking that lasts for longer than a few weeks to multiple years, is withdrawal symptoms. Withdrawal symptoms range from mild discomfort to actual medical distress. After a prolonged period of drinking the body becomes dependent on the chemicals that are contained in alcohol that make it extremely hard to quit drinking on your own. For this reason it is medically advisable if you are an alcoholic that you quit under the supervision of a medical professional.
If you or a loved one is thinking about quitting alcohol cold turkey it may be helpful to understand what is going to happen to your body as it deals with the absence of alcohol. First of all, there are two sets of moderate symptoms that you are likely to encounter, one set that is psychological as your mind adjusts to life without the substance and the other is a physical set that will impair the way you feel for the next several days in a very noticeable way.
Moderate withdrawal symptoms that you will experience in a psychological manner include feeling jumpy, shaky and on the edge, extreme anxiousness, emotional mood changes, irritable, tired, severe depression, bad dreams, and problems thinking clearly. Due to these symptoms it can be extremely hard to help a person through alcohol withdrawal and if you choose to you need to be aware that it is just the alcohol cessation talking.
Moderate withdrawal symptoms that are actual physical symptoms that will interfere with your life include a pulsating headache, extreme sweating, vomiting, and nausea. Along with these symptoms that can make you feel as if you have an extremely bad hangover, you may also suffer from insomnia, heart palpitations, hand tremors, and eyelid twitches.
Past the moderate symptoms you may also face severe withdrawal symptoms, which is why medical supervision is recommended. Some of these symptoms include delirium tremors which cause extreme confusion that is followed with hallucinations, fever, blackouts, and convulsions. If the symptoms are severe enough they can even cause stroke or a heart attack to occur.
3 Responses to “Common withdrawal symptoms from alcohol cessation”
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Hello
This is extremenly helpful. I am trying to come off alcohol after many years of heavy beer drinking. I have had no psychological symptoms – I am well organised mentally and a naturally optomistic and energetic person. However the “shakes” have been dire, so I am tapering off. I was on 20 units a day on Monday. 4 days of tapering and I am now on 12 units.Tomorrow it will be 10 units and so on until I am clear.
I am a retired chef so I am aware of the nutitional aspects so I am drinking Powerade for the electrolytes; and eating lots of meat soups for the proteins and wholewheat bread for fibre.
If anyone can help me re the shakes I’d be glad to hear from you.
i just wanted to say the pictures u post on this page are insensitve and untrue. the VAST MAJORITY of alchohlics in north amarica and europe are not some people sitting in a ditch like you show in your website. we are regulaur poeple. that photo makes me sick.
I’m trying too. I come from a family of alcoholics, so I know I’ve dug myself a little too deep. It’s “in my blood.” And my recovered dad always said, alcohol is an issue, when it’s and ISSUE. I worked in a restaurant for 9 years which didn’t help. I want to quit, I really, really do, but my problem is that I feel SO shitty after a stint, and I want to sweat it out, but I know a drink will make me feel better. And I hate it! I don’t even want it. I’ve been trying to taper off, I finally got out of the bar job, and want to be healthy. I’ve started drinking Traditional Medicinals Detox and taking Milk Thistle to try to calm the withdrawals. The sweating and the tiredness is the worst. I went to an AA meeting cuz I thought I was losing it, but for me it’s not the mental so much, but the physical repercussions that are so hard to get through. Nine years, drinking five days a week, many times binge-drinking, with my cronies from work; I’m hurting! I’m done with it!