The term "withdrawal" is usually associated with the condition of drug addicts during the period of refusal to use drugs. However, alcohol withdrawal can be no weaker. Modern cinema has colorfully described in many films this state among drug addicts. However, in real life, everything happens a little differently than in films. In the article, we consider the symptoms of alcohol withdrawal. We will also give tips on how to survive this condition.
What is withdrawal
Withdrawal syndrome in alcoholism is characteristic only for people with stable dependence. If a healthy person drinks a lot of alcohol at a party, then in the morning he will suffer from a headache, he will feel sick (the body thus gets rid of intoxication), and there will be a strong thirst.
Abstinence, or alcohol withdrawal, is a much more complex and serious condition. Often, a sick person sees only one way to get rid of it - drink any liquid containing ethanol. However, this is a vicious circle, since alcohol withdrawal will occur again and again. This will be observed until the patient completely refuses alcohol and enters into remission.
What to do if you have withdrawal
How to survive alcohol withdrawal? This is a difficult question. Much depends on how many days a person drank alcohol, what drinks he used, and in what quantity. After drinking heavily, hospitalization is necessary, since there is a high risk of developing delirium tremens. This condition is popularly called "squirrel." It is potentially life-threatening for the patient and his family. How to remove alcohol withdrawal yourself? Alas, often this cannot be done without qualified help and taking prescription drugs.
Being in a state of delirium, the patient may experience hallucinations and cause bodily harm to his roommates or even passers-by on the street. If there is a risk of psychotic behavior during the withdrawal period, be sure to consult a narcologist or psychiatrist.
What is the difference between a hangover syndrome and withdrawal symptoms
Hangover syndrome is expressed in the following symptoms:
- Headache.
- Nausea and vomiting.
- Pain in the epigastric region (most often this is observed if the patient has previously been diagnosed with gastrointestinal tract diseases).
- Short-term visual impairment, problems with coordination of movements.
How is alcohol withdrawal provoked by withdrawal symptoms? As a rule, a person feels much worse than with a normal hangover. Since the central nervous system always suffers from alcoholism and many neurons die, the symptoms are not only physical, but also psychological.
How to understand that you are ill with alcoholism
Diagnostic criteria in narcology are very vague, but there is one of them that makes it clear that a person has alcoholism. If a person cannot stop after one glass of beer or wine, then with a high degree of probability it can be argued that he has chronic alcoholism. Many of us in our lives have had situations where we just wanted to get drunk. Patients with alcoholism are in this state constantly. In them, it is not connected with life's difficulties.
We are accustomed to consider alcoholics only those people who, due to their vice, have lost their social status. As a rule, they have no job and no family. In fact, there are three stages of alcoholism. On the first person is still a full member of society. However, he already knows such a thing as alcohol withdrawal. The symptoms of withdrawal will be more painful after each new use. There is only one solution to the problem - a complete refusal to drink alcohol.
Symptoms of alcohol withdrawal
The signs of withdrawal from alcoholism are as follows:
- Sleep problems for about a month after the last ethanol intoxication. The patient has nightmares, they suffer from insomnia, their sleep phases are disturbed.
- Since the person does not get enough sleep, he constantly feels tired, his performance decreases.
- Drawing pains and discomfort appear in the right hypochondrium. This is a reaction of the liver and gall bladder to poisoning.
- Irritability, tearfulness, apathy appear due to the multiple death of cells of the nervous system due to intoxication. Many patients, amid depletion of the nervous system and psyche, think about taking their own life.
- The work of the organs of the gastrointestinal tract is disrupted. Pancreatitis may worsen.
- Immunity is reduced, therefore, during the period of withdrawal, there is a high risk of contracting viral diseases.
How long does alcohol withdrawal last
The standard duration of torment in acute withdrawal is about a week. Here a lot depends on the length of the abuse and the nature of alcoholism, drunken or daily.
In addiction there is also post-withdrawal syndrome. This is a kind of "swing", in frequency resembling a phase change during TIR. The duration of post-withdrawal syndrome is about a year. Only under the condition of a complete refusal to use ethanol-containing fluids, the patient can count on restoring the emotional background, psyche, and nervous system.
How to establish a dream during the period of withdrawal
One of the most striking signs of alcohol withdrawal is the inability to fall asleep. The sleep of an alcoholic is sensitive and brief. A person often wakes up in a cold sweat from nightmares.
Drugs that can establish sleep during the period of withdrawal:
- Phenibut
- "Fitosedan" (herbal collection).
- "Atarax" (mild tranquilizer).
- "Tenoten" (anxiolytic agent).
- Theraligen (another popular anxiolytic).
Most of the drugs on the list can be purchased only by prescription from a doctor, since they relate to psychotropic medicines.
How to cope with irritability during the period of withdrawal
How to remove alcohol withdrawal at home if a person is very irritable and aggressive? This state of health and mood after intoxication of the nervous system is observed very often.
People who are far from the problem of alcoholism are sure that you can survive the manifestations of withdrawal without taking drugs. However, the patient himself experiences such an acute psychotic state that in some cases he can even lay hands on himself.
Folk healers are advised to take such funds:
- Infusion of anise seeds. You need to take 1 teaspoon without a hill of dry seeds, pour 200 ml of boiling water, insist and take 50 ml before meals.
- Infusion of hop cones. You will need to pour boiling water (250 ml) in 1 teaspoon of crushed raw materials, insist for at least 60 minutes, strain and take 100 ml before bedtime. The duration of the course is until the withdrawal disappears.
- Hypericum infusion. Need 2 tbsp. tablespoons of dry grass pour 1000 ml of boiling water and leave to cool. Drink 50 ml of the drug until the signs of withdrawal disappear.
Drugs prescribed by doctors in such situations:
- SSRI antidepressants (sold strictly according to a doctor’s prescription). This is Paxil, Fluoxetine, Amitriptyline. It is impossible to pick up an antidepressant on your own. Only a psychiatrist or narcologist can prescribe the medicine. Taking antidepressants gently brings the patient's psyche back to normal. A person becomes calm, irritability, tearfulness disappears, thoughts about the meaninglessness of his existence leave. The main condition for admission is a complete rejection of the use of alcoholic beverages during the course of treatment.
- Acceptance of mild tranquilizers, such as Atarax. This tool does not affect the production of neurotransmitters, as is the case with antidepressants. Reception of tranquilizers can establish a dream, calm irritability. However, these drugs will not be able to provide a radical change in the mood. Taking tranquilizers is a temporary measure, the purpose of which is to mitigate the manifestations of acute withdrawal symptoms.
- Reception of herbal infusions with sedative effect ("Fitosedan") or tablets with herbal extracts ("Novopassit"). However, with acute withdrawal symptoms or suspected development of delirium, this group of drugs will not help. If a person has a weak withdrawal syndrome, then it is quite possible to do with the use of mild sedatives.
Drugs for maintaining the functioning of the liver
Attention should be paid to the condition of your liver. This organ suffers more than others with alcohol abuse. As a rule, after heavy drinking or a single use of a large amount of alcohol, hepatoprotectors should be taken:
- Heptral. It retains the function of the organ during intoxication, has a mild antidepressant effect. Release form - ampoules for intravenous administration and tablets. This is one of the best drugs for use during alcohol withdrawal.
- "Essential". It contains phospholipids, which support liver cells and help to cope with intoxication. The course of treatment "Essential" - at least a month.
- "Carsil." Available in the form of dragees. As the main active ingredient contains silymarin. To restore liver cells requires a long reception - at least a month.
- Ursosan. Suitable for those patients who are diagnosed with cholecystitis. The drug facilitates the work of the liver and gall bladder, promotes the outflow of bile.
Sobriety is the best remedy for breaking
The most effective way to treat withdrawal symptoms is to maintain sobriety. With alcoholism, this is not easy. Alas, this disease can be fatal. However, there are cases when people completely get rid of their ailment.
If you continue to use, then alcohol withdrawal will be aggravated.
The appropriateness of treatment in rehabilitation centers
If a sick person is aware that he no longer controls the use of alcohol, then it makes sense to go to a rehabilitation center. There he is waiting for work with psychologists, psychotherapists, obtaining basic knowledge about his illness.
After staying in such an institution, a person can reconsider his views on life, get a good job, start a family.