Alcohol Withdrawels

Withdrawals Can Be Mild, Moderate or Severe

Alcohol withdrawal refers to a group of symptoms that may occur from suddenly stopping the use of alcohol after chronic or prolonged ingestion.

Not everyone who stops drinking experiences withdrawal symptoms, but most people who have been drinking for a long period of time, or drinking frequently, or drink heavily when they do drink, will experience some form of withdrawal symptoms if they stop drinking suddenly.

There is no way to predict how any individual will respond to quitting. If you plan to stop drinking and you have been drinking for years, or if you drink heavily when you do drink, or even if you drink moderately but frequently, you should consult a medical professional before going "cold turkey."

Withdrawal Symptoms:

Mild to moderate psychological symptoms:

• Feeling of jumpiness or nervousness
• Feeling of shakiness
• Anxiety
• Irritability or easily excited
• Emotional volatility, rapid emotional changes
• Depression
• Fatigue
• Difficulty with thinking clearly
• Bad dreams

Mild to moderate physical symptoms:

• Headache - general, pulsating
• Sweating, especially the palms of the hands or the face
• Nausea/Vomiting
• Loss of appetite
• Insomnia, sleeping difficulty
• Paleness/ Tremor of the hands
• Rapid heart rate (palpitations)
• Eyes, pupils different size (enlarged, dilated pupils)
• Skin, clammy
• Abnormal movementsInvoluntary, abnormal movements of the eyelids /


Severe symptoms:

• A state of confusion and hallucinations (visual) -- known as delirium tremens
• Agitation
• Fever
• Convulsions
• "Black outs" -- when the person forgets what happened during the drinking episode.

Heavy Drinking Dangers

I have faced enormous problems during my drinking days.These includes accidents of various forms.
Studies Reveal More Problems Facing Alcoholics...

Two more research studies have emphasized the serious health effects of long-term heavy drinking, from an increased risk for having accidents to developing liver cancer.

Heavy drinking has long be associated with other liver problems, such as cirrhosis, and now a new Italian study links heavy drinking to the development of liver cancer.

Researchers found that drinking more than 60 grams of alcohol a day, equivalent to four to five glasses of wine, was associated with an elevated risk of developing liver cancer for both men and women.

They also found that the risk of developing liver cancer was even greater for patients who had been diagnosed with either hepatitis C or hepatitis B.

Increased Injury Risks

The second study conducted by the Boston University Schools of Medicine and Public Health, revealed that recovering alcoholics are much more prone to injury than recovering users of cocaine, heroin and other illicit drugs.

The researchers found at the start of a detoxification program, alcoholics were about twice as likely to have suffered a serious injury in the previous six months as compared to illicit drug users.

The significant finding of the study was the surprising revelation that higher injury rates to alcoholics continued for the following two years of detoxification; alcoholics continued to be more accident prone than drug users even after they quit drinking.

Jeffrey H. Samet, the study's senior author, said, "Our hypothesis was simply that when it comes to substance abuse, the consequences vary for each substance and for the group of users. What the substance is may be an important factor in the outcomes of the user."

The Twelve Steps...

for Alcoholics (courtesy:Alcoholic Anonymous)
and it works...
It has been my personal experience that nothing can stop an alcoholic from Self-Destruction.Except for the will of an 'Higher Power',no medical practitioner,no medicine,no man ,no might on earth can save an alcoholic.The three prominent emotions that drive an alcoholic crazy are 'Resentments','Guilt',and 'Self-Pity'.And these emotions take him to a road of absolute destruction.His Self-Esteem is severely affected and he does not know how to salvage his life.The twelve steps of the 'Alcoholic Anonymous' Program is the only hope....
It worked for me and it can work for anyone.

The Twelve Steps

Step 1:
We admitted we were powerless over alcohol -- that our lives had become unmanageable.
After many years of denial, recovery can begin when with one simple admission of being powerless over alcohol -- for alcoholics and their friends and family.

Step2:
Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
It seems to be a spiritual truth, that before a higher power can begin to operate, you must first believe that it can.

Step3:
Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
A lifetime of self-will run riot can come to a screeching halt, and change forever, by making a simple decision to turn it all over to a higher power.

Step4:
Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
There is a saying in the 12-step programs that recovery is a process, not an event. The same can be said for this step -- more will surely be revealed.

Step5:
Admitted to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
Probably the most difficult of all the steps to face, Step 5 is also the one that provides the greatest opportunity for growth.

Step6: Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
The key to Step 6 is acceptance -- accepting character defects exactly as they are and becoming entirely willing to let them go.

Step7:
Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
The spiritual focus of Step 7 is humility, asking a higher power to do something that cannot be done by self-will or mere determination.

Step8:
Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
Making a list of those harmed before coming into recovery may sound simple. Becoming willing to actually make those amends is the difficult part.

Step9:
Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them.
Making amends may seem like a bitter pill to swallow, but for those serious about recovery it can be great medicine for the spirit and soul.

Step10:
Continued to take person inventory, and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
Nobody likes to admit to being wrong. But it is absolutely necessary to maintain spiritual progress in recovery.

Step11:
Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
The purpose of Step 11 is to discover the plan God as you understand Him has for your life.

Step12:
Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to others, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
For those in recovery programs, practicing Step 12 is simply "how it works."