Symptoms & Stages of Alcohol Withdrawal florida
Alcoholism (AUD)

Symptoms & Stages of Alcohol Withdrawal

ByPines Recovery Life Staff
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Symptoms and stages of alcohol withdrawal

Getting sober is frightening for a reason. Alcohol withdrawal can make you very sick, and for some people it is dangerous.

Alcohol withdrawal should never be managed alone. Learn how medical detox in South Florida at Pines Recovery Life provides 24/7 physician supervision.

Getting sober is frightening for a reason. Alcohol withdrawal can make you very sick, and for some people it is dangerous. Alcohol detox is hard, and withdrawal symptoms run from mild to severe. Deciding to stop drinking is still the right decision, and you do not have to do it on your own.

While alcohol withdrawal can be dangerous, it is possible to safely detox from alcohol. The timeline and symptoms of alcohol detox vary by individual, but there are three common stages of withdrawal. Detoxing from alcohol in a medically-supervised environment can be a safe and effective way to get sober and avoid deadly withdrawal symptoms.

What is alcohol detox?

Alcohol detox is the first step in treating an alcohol addiction. Alcohol use disorders include binge drinking, alcohol misuse and alcohol dependence. Alcohol misuse damages the mind and the body. When someone decides to stop drinking, they have to go through alcohol detox.

Detox is how the body clears alcohol and the waste it leaves behind. Long-term heavy drinking loads the body with toxins and builds tolerance, and it changes the body’s chemistry. Alcohol pushes the body into a false balance, and that balance is thrown off the moment someone stops drinking. That is what leads to alcohol withdrawal syndrome.

Diagnosing alcohol withdrawal

A doctor or caregiver can run the assessments that diagnose alcohol dependence and withdrawal. They look at your symptoms and at how much those symptoms are affecting your day.

Typically, at least two of the following symptoms must be present to diagnose alcohol withdrawal:

No two people go through withdrawal the same way. Because detox is unpredictable, it is safer with a doctor who can diagnose what is happening and decide what you need.

Who experiences alcohol withdrawal?

Not everyone gets withdrawal symptoms, but heavy drinkers who stop usually get some. For many people the symptoms stay mild to moderate. For someone who has been drinking heavily for years, they are worse.

There are some conditions that can increase the severity of alcohol withdrawal, including:

  • Drinking heavily every day
  • Drinking heavily for more than five years
  • Previous alcohol withdrawal symptoms
  • Poor nutrition
  • Poor physical condition
  • Decreased liver function
  • Simultaneous drug use

Stages of alcohol detox

Doctors usually describe three stages of alcohol withdrawal. Some people go through all three stages of withdrawal symptoms, others only some, and a few almost none. There is no way to know in advance which it will be for you, because too many things affect how bad withdrawal gets and how long it lasts.

That unpredictability is the reason to detox with medical care. What follows is the common outline of how withdrawal goes. Nobody can promise you a schedule. The three stages move from least severe to most severe, and symptoms usually get worse over the first few days. By day 5, most people feel much better.

Stage 1: least severe

First-stage symptoms run from annoying to moderately severe. They can begin within six to eight hours after the last drink, though some people feel nothing for a full day.

Within the first 6 to 24 hours, symptoms are usually milder. What you feel differs from person to person, but common withdrawal symptoms in the first stage of alcohol detox include:

  • Anxiety
  • Depression
  • Anger
  • Fatigue
  • Insomnia
  • Foggy brain or confusion
  • Mood swings
  • Loss of appetite
  • Stomach pain
  • Nausea or vomiting
  • Heart palpitations
  • Tremors

For some people stage one is minor. For others it is severe. Not everyone goes through the whole first stage, but most people get some of these symptoms at some point during withdrawal.

Staying hydrated matters in the first stage. Nausea and vomiting make it hard to keep liquids down, and diarrhea takes more out of you. In medical detox, the nursing staff can give you the fluids you need.

Stage 2: more serious

The second stage can start a day after the last drink and run for several days. Symptoms usually get worse, and this is the point where people detoxing at home give up. In a treatment facility there are nurses and staff whose job is to get you through it.

Common withdrawal symptoms during this stage include:

  • Fever
  • High blood pressure
  • Confusion
  • Increased heart rate
  • Sweating
  • Trouble breathing
  • Mood swings
  • Irritability
  • Restlessness
  • Loss of appetite
  • Depression

Sweating dries you out, so fluids matter here too. You may get some of these symptoms or all of them. In a treatment facility the nursing staff checks your heart rate, blood pressure and temperature so nothing dangerous goes unnoticed.

Stage 3: most dangerous

The third stage is the dangerous one. It usually starts about three days after the last drink. For some people it lasts a day or two. For others, withdrawal symptoms drag on for 3 weeks or more, and some of what happens at this stage can be fatal.

Common symptoms for the third stage of alcohol detox include:

  • High fever
  • Seizures
  • Hallucinations

Plenty of people never get this far and notice their symptoms easing after the third day. But seizures, high fever and hallucinations are all emergencies. A seizure can be fatal on its own, or through a head injury or choking.

Should you stop drinking cold-turkey?

You can stop all at once or taper down. Which one is right depends on your drinking history and your health, and that is a call for a doctor who has assessed you. Cold-turkey under medical supervision works well for some people. Others do better tapering.

Professional medical detox

Detoxing at home is dangerous. There is no set timeline for alcohol detox and symptoms vary a lot from person to person, so the safest place to do it is under medical supervision. Depending on how severe the alcohol use disorder is, a doctor may recommend inpatient or outpatient treatment. Either way the point is to watch the withdrawal closely and keep you as comfortable as the process allows.

Nurses and physicians watch you through every stage. A doctor can prescribe medication to take the edge off the worst symptoms, and staff are there when something goes wrong in the middle of the night. That is the part you cannot reproduce at home.

Additional resources

  1. httpss://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/national-helpline
  2. httpss://www.webmd.com/mental-health/addiction/alcohol-withdrawal-symptoms-treatments#1
  3. httpss://www.health.harvard.edu/a_to_z/alcohol-withdrawal-a-to-z
  4. httpss://www.google.com/search?q=Stages+of+Alcohol+Withdrawal

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