Alcohol detox symptoms

Introduction

When a person who normally consumes excessive amounts of alcohol abruptly stops the harmful habit, it is normal for him or her to start experiencing certain symptoms of alcohol withdrawal. Sometimes people refer to those symptoms as the alcohol detox symptoms simply because the treatment required for the stopping of the harmful habit is called alcohol detoxification. The treatment requires supervision from a healthcare provider and is commonly the beginning of an alcoholic treatment program. The medications used during the treatment come from the group of benzodiazepines. Regular consumption of excessive amounts of alcohol leads to the condition in which the person’s brain gets adjusted to the alcohol so it cannot function normally anymore without the required amounts of alcohol. Regular use of alcohol brings the development of physical tolerance and the person’s needs get gradually increased over time. Alcohol withdrawal symptoms triggered by an abrupt stop may last for days and sometimes even weeks before the body can return to its normal state. The symptoms of alcohol detoxification are the responses of the body and the brain because they lack the excessive amounts of alcohol to function properly.

Mild to Moderate Alcohol Detox Symptoms

There are certain mild to moderate alcohol detox symptoms and they usually occur within 6 to 48 hours since the ingestion of the last alcoholic drink. They may or may not include loss of appetite, abnormal movements, nightmares, clammy skin, depression, tremor of the hands, anxiety, rapid emotional changes, pulsating headaches, enlarged and dilated pupils, fatigue, nervousness, excessive sweating on the palms and the face, pale skin, difficulty thinking clearly, irritability, nausea, vomiting, insomnia, rapid heart rate, sleeping difficulties and involuntary movements of the eyelids.

Severe Alcohol Detox Symptoms

A person who abruptly stops drinking excessive amounts of alcohol may also experience certain severe alcohol detox symptoms. They are commonly of behavioral and psychological nature and they usually take place within the period of 2 to 4 days after the ingestion of the last alcoholic drink. Depending on the individual case, a person may or may not experience different types of seizures, visual hallucinations, increased depression, extreme anxiety, increased difficulty thinking clearly, excessive irritability, black outs, fever, convulsions, muscle tremors, severe excessive activity of the autonomic nervous system, extreme emotional changes and delirium tremens. It is very important to stress out that all women who are pregnant and those who are trying to become pregnant should avoid all types of alcoholic beverages.