Alcohol Withdrawal Symptoms and Detoxification Programs

Alcohol Detoxification after You Stopped Drinking Alcohol

First step in alcohol detoxification program is that we have to do an absolute and personalized medical evaluation and analysis of the physical, psychological, and social psychopathology of each alcoholic patient. This assessment comes with a detailed examination and diagnostics in rehabilitation for alcoholism, as well as psycho-diagnostic tests and psychopathology, which may establish the characteristics of the alcohol addiction and its intensity, the existence of mental illnesses associated with consumption of alcohol, and the impact of addiction on the patient's family, work and friendships. This clinical procedure is crucial to determine the type of medical and pharmacological intervention that each patient needs, and provides information to design an individualized strategy of psychotherapy that can be performed after the patient leaves the hospital or special detoxification center for alcoholics.

After these tests and evaluation, pharmacological interventions are conducted, oral and intravenous, which allow recovery of neuronal functions of the brain structures that have been damaged by the alcohol (for example, NMDA, serotonin, and GABA systems), so that the treated neurons can maximize their ability to use oxygen and quickly normalize neuronal membranes. The main achievement of this pharmacological procedure on alcoholic’s hospital is to provide the amount of medication necessary to ensure alcohol detoxification to be comfortable and safe, without craving and without alcohol withdrawal symptoms. By increasing the capacity of the treated neurons to use oxygen available, the neuronal membrane functions are normalized quickly.

Simultaneously, the treatment and alcohol detoxification program in specialized care includes nutritional and psychological aspects of patient: on the one hand, seeks to maintain an adequate fluid balance, electrolyte correct deficiencies and to address the nutritional deficiencies that often accompany the addiction the patient. In this aspect, the nutrition of the brain, these detoxification centers for alcoholism, implies a diet enriched with salts, trace elements and amino acids essential for neuronal recovery.

On the other hand, it makes available to the patient a personalized psychotherapy based on clinical history and psycho-diagnostic tests for the patient restore harmony to his family and personal life, clarify misconceptions about their disease and to promote changes in attitude and lifestyle. This psychotherapy and pharmacological control are the process the patient is still ambulatory after leaving the hospital in rehab for alcoholism, and allows the patient to participate actively in their own derived therapeutics.

Under these conditions, the detoxification for alcoholism has four immediate goals:

- provides a safe withdrawal from alcohol dependence and allow the patient free of substance not prescribed,
- provides a withdrawal that is humane and thus protects the dignity of the patient,
- provides a recovery of cognitive and affective processes, and
- prepares the patient for ongoing treatment of their dependence.

The alcohol detoxification programs involve the cleaning of toxins. However, in people with a chemical dependency, detoxification is usually associated with withdrawal, that is, with the predictable set of symptoms and signs that follow an abrupt or a rapid decrease in the taking of a substance has been consumed steadily and compulsive over a period of time.

Alcohol Withdrawal Symptoms when Stopping Drinking

In fact, withdrawal is the main obstacle to recovery from alcohol addiction and the main obstacle to be overcome in the treatment of alcohol detoxification centers. Alcoholism withdrawal symptoms are the main obstacles. That's because people with alcohol dependence, and abrupt cessation of drinking untreated can cause, during withdrawal, among other serious problems, delirium, shock VOLEM, convulsions (which may be recurrent), and even death. On the other hand, the risks of Withdrawal for the patient and society are not limited to the severity of physical disturbance, especially when the detoxification was carried out on an outpatient basis. Because patients in outpatient alcohol detoxification at risk of self-medication to alleviate withdrawal symptoms and the interplay between this self-medication and physician-prescribed medicines may cause overdose or brain damage.

Some withdrawal symptoms alcohol that can occur within hours of the last intake alcohol and generally are intensified between 24 and 36 hours after the last intake of the substance. Early withdrawal symptoms include anxiety, agitation, insomnia, diaphoresis, nausea, vomiting, tremors, tachycardia and hypertension.

But these early signs may be followed by attacks of withdrawal symptoms, which can be persistent and occur mostly within 48 hours after they stop drinking alcohol. Delirium tremens or chronic symptoms usually begin between 48 and 72 hours after the last intake of alcohol, and precedes the first signs and symptoms of abstinence, although these symptoms can mask or delay associated diseases or taking medication. Signs of sympathetic hyperactivity (such as tachycardia, hypertension, fever and diaphoresis or excessive sweating), are hallmarks of delirium by Alcohol Withdrawal, and often profound. The mortality rate is estimated between 1% and 5%, but increases if diagnosis is delayed, if done improperly treat, or concurrent medical conditions.

In summary, alcohol withdrawal produces symptoms opposed to direct pharmacological effects alcohol. In the central nervous system, the alcohol interferes with the processes by which certain nerve cells were ordered to be turned on or aroused. Similarly, intensifies the processes by ordering certain cells to show restraint. Thus, the ethanol acts as a nonspecific biochemical inhibitor of the central nervous system activity.

During the abstinence, as noted, the central nervous system experiences a reversal of this effect: the processes of excitation are increased while inhibitory processes are reduced. Such changes may have resulted in a hyper activation of the central nervous system when suppressed intake alcohol.

Clinical researchers have measured this over activation in alcoholism patients. They have found that even in people with moderate alcohol withdrawal symptoms, you may feel that hyperactivity in the sympathetic nervous system, together with increased production of adrenal hormones, cortisol and norepinephrine, which can be toxic to nerve cells. Cortisol, on the other hand, can damage neurons in the hippocampus, a part of the brain that is considered especially important for memory and control of affective states.

Thus, repeated alcohol abstinence untreated can result in direct damage to the hippocampus. And here we must remember that the hardness of the syndrome Alcohol Withdrawal carries a very high risk of relapse, especially during its early stages. In part because the craving for consumption of alcohol is easily provoked by thoughts of stimuli associated with drugs, it is strongly recommended to undergo medical treatments. According to research, these relapses, i.e. repeated periods of abstinence in the same person without proper treatment can produce further abstinence with serious negative consequences. Many researchers believe that alcoholics they can not maintain abstinence should receive treatment centers specialized alcoholism, drug therapy to control symptoms of this withdrawal and thus reduce potential attacks and brain damage.

For these reasons, treatment of alcohol detoxification without medical management and an appropriate level of care are a major health risk and even the lives of patients. Therefore, the specialized treatment centers for alcohol detoxification are the best alternative at present.

Alcohol Detoxification Programs / Alcohol Rehabilitation Programs

If you are planning to stop drinking alcohol and you are determine to maintain the best decision for the rest of your life by not drinking again, you should also take into consideration to take some time preparing for an alcohol detoxification programs. This plan can help you wash away the toxins that have been absorbed by your body through heavy drinking. Alcohol detoxification programs can help you a lot and can be a firm weapon in terms of decreasing alcohol withdrawal symptoms and can ease up your sufferings without any hassles whatsoever. Undergoing to an alcohol detoxification procedure can also prevent cravings as it lessens the alcohol’s addictive substances by rinsing out the bad chemicals. It can also wean off alcoholic’s desires to drink again providing chances of sobriety and increasing the possibility to quit drinking easily. These programs can also grant a good starting point to have a healthier life after quitting drinking.

If taken literally, as the name suggests, alcohol detoxification is a way of cleaning the body from substances that created huge damages to your body while you are hooked to alcohol addiction. We want to kick off the terrible elements that may have caused you troubles when it comes to health issues. We want to start new life after quitting drinking by means of washing away all these addictive chemicals and maintain it that way by not drinking again. If it is possible, invest in some detoxification programs to ensure that you washing away all the toxins in your body. Engaging to alcohol rehabilitation facilities can help you in regards to this matter as they provide effective programs like liver detoxification and good circulation of blood.

In other instances, alcohol detoxification programs are the process in which the patient abruptly quit drinking alcohol and is introduce by synthetic drug to substitute the substance creating a situation wherein the person can withdraw from alcohol without or at least decreasing the possibility of withdrawal symptoms. With this process, the person can give up alcohol but will experience light to moderate withdrawal symptoms thus making it easier for him to quit drinking.

There are many types of alcohol detoxification programs; from natural alcohol detoxification programs to procedures using synthetic drugs to cleanse the body’s system. All these process have one the same denominator: to make the body recover from such addiction. Therefore it is a good thing to undergo these programs in order to get the best results in quitting drinking.

In old times, alcohol detoxification programs only stop grand mal seizures. They only focus on the general symptoms bypassing small signs of withdrawals. These programs often treat big issues of withdrawal symptoms and are not design to cure many tiny forms of pains and sufferings when it comes to alcohol withdrawal symptoms.

If you are thinking of engaging into an alcohol detoxification programs, be sure to ask alcoholism experts about the consequences it may bring to you. You should secure an advice from alcohol detox facilities to give you an insight of what will happen if you undergo this procedure. It is also advisable to know and understand the real score before taking these alcohol detoxification programs as it will put you to high risks and health danger if you are not properly informed.