Understanding Medically Assisted Alcohol Detox

Have you ever drank too much one night and woke up the next morning with a pounding headache, sweating, and throwing up? Yes, I’m referring to a hangover.

Essentially, the way that alcohol interacts with your brain and the rest of your body throwing your biological systems out of balance. If you continue to drink heavily over an extended period of time, then your body beings to change the way it works to adapt to alcohol consumption. You will notice that over time you can drink more and more alcohol without experiencing a hangover. We refer to this as an alcohol tolerance. However, when you stop drinking alcohol, your body does not automatically go back to its regular balance. It takes time for your brain and body to re-adjust to a non-alcohol consumed state, resulting in a number of unpleasant and potentially dangerous symptoms.

Alcohol Withdrawal Symptoms

Restlessness
Anxiety
Lack of appetite
Nausea & vomiting
Tremors (shakiness)
Increased blood pressure
Increased sensitivity to sound, light, and touch
Hallucinations (auditory, visual, or tactile)
Seizures
Fever
Delirium with disorientation

Click Here to Review more Withdrawal Symptoms

In addition to being severely unpleasant and dangerous, these symptoms can cause serious mental distress. So, all of this can be deterring to an individual’s success. In order to assist with these symptoms, and increase an individual’s success in completing alcohol detox, our detox center offers a medically assisted alcohol detox program.

Medications Used for Alcohol Detox

There are a number of different medications that are used at different stages of the alcohol withdrawal process because they address the specific side effects. These range from sedatives and muscle relaxers to anti-anxiety medications. For example, different classes of medications used for alcohol detox include:

benzodiazepines & benzodiazepine anticonvulsants
gamma-aminobutyric acid analogs
skeletal muscle relaxants
beta-blockers
antiadrenergic agents, centrally acting
cardioselective beta-blockers

Other Medical Interventions for Alcohol Detox

Pharmaceutical drugs are not the only medical interventions medical detox facilities use. Therefore, a client experiencing withdrawal symptoms may struggle to eat regularly. Proper nutrition helps the human body deal with withdrawal. For this reason, vitamins are provided to supplement the client’s nutrition.

Another negative consequence of alcohol withdrawal symptoms is dehydration. An IV can be used to make sure the client gets enough fluids, in addition to being another method to administer vitamins.

Medically Assisted Alcohol Detox: It’s Not Just Medication

Medical detox centers do not rely solely on medication to help their clients. Medical detoxification actually refers to the use of medication in addition to therapy and other treatments for detox and recovery. Additionally, clients are recommended to a residential, PHP, or IOP treatment program after completing detox. One level of care is more intensive than the previous one. Therefore, a continuum of care is critical to the recovery process.

The Best Rehab Center in Florida for Medical Detox

Not coincidentally, Pines Recovery Life Detox is a Fort Lauderdale Drug & Alcohol Detox Center that specializes in medically assisted detox. Moreover, our medical detox program is specially designed to promote healing and comfort. We want you to achieve sobriety. Finally, call now and get started!

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