Alcohol Withdrawal

December 14, 2010 by Leave a Comment
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Alcohol Withdrawal
Alcohol addiction follows 4 basic characteristics.

The urge to repeat the process of getting high on alcohol can be quite overwhelming, and can sometimes be stronger than the person’s will power, in spite of the full awareness of the risks

The urge to satisfy the craving for alcohol becomes the number one priority in the addict’s life, eventually becoming greater than any of the other needs of the body, including hunger, sexual needs, and even survival

Any emotional high or low can trigger the desire to drink, making it inextricably linked with almost every aspect of life

No matter how long a person has been sober, the risk of falling back into the habit is always there. An alcohol-abusing person can never be cured of his habit, but can only learn to control it.

The tolerance for alcohol increases over continued consumption, which leads the person to assume that he can now drink more. It also leads to him drinking more to achieve the same high. Over a period of time, with regular use of alcohol, the liver might eventually get damaged. This manifests itself as a reverse tolerance where the body’s tolerance appears to go down. This is a sign of an advanced stage of alcoholism.
First stage Alcohol withdrawal symptoms are::

  • Hangovers
  • Sleep disturbance
  • Irritability, anxiety and restlessness
  • Tremors or Morning Shakes
  • Physical weakness accompanied by a rapid heart rate
  • Mental sluggishness
  • Difficulty in thinking

If the person was not a heavy drinker or severely addicted, these symptoms clear up on their own after a period of abstinence. Second stage withdrawal can bring convulsions where the person experiences seizures after 12-48 hours of the last drink, unconsciousness and body control.

Third stage symptoms can be alcoholic hallucinates and delirium tremens. There may be a chance of death at this stage of withdrawal, without medical supervision.

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What To Expect In The Detox Stage

October 10, 2010 by Leave a Comment
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“Detox” is short for “detoxification”, the stage in which the body is undergoing both physical and psychological withdrawal from the substance of abuse, and metabolizing the drug for removal from the body as well as starting to repair the damage that has been caused from abusing drugs or alcohol. It is necessary that a person undergo detox before continuing in a drug rehabilitation program, and, unfortunately, it is not a pleasant experience.

The withdrawal phase is part of the detox stage. This phase can start as early as thirty minutes to an hour after the last drink or alcohol or last drug “fix”. Early signs include stronger cravings, excessive sweating and nervousness.

As a person goes longer without drinking or taking a drug, the body continues to react to the absence of the drug. The cravings become more intense, and the body begins to react in other physical and psychological ways. Nausea and vomiting may occur, either preceded or accompanied by severe abdominal cramps.

Muscle tremors start to appear, and become more pronounced as more of the drug or alcohol is metabolized and the levels present in the body begin to fall. The person may begin to suffer hallucinations or the feeling that insects are crawling all over his body, when indeed none are present.

Eventually, the withdrawal symptoms do begin to abate, but the detox process continues as the body works to rid itself of all traces of the drug or alcohol. It can sometimes take as long as a week for full detoxification to occur.

Many drug rehabilitation programs will not allow admittance until the detoxification phase has completely passed. Some facilities, however, are equipped to handle the detox phase, and will go ahead and admit the person. Once the detox phase has passed, the patient immediately begins the rest of the drug rehabilitation program.

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What Are Some Warning Signs Of Substance Abuse?

September 21, 2010 by Leave a Comment
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Substance abuse can manifest itself in physical, emotional, and psychological ways. Let’s look at them separately; however, remember that there are other signs, so none of these lists should be considered all-inclusive.

Physical: While it is true that some of the symptoms listed mimic actual illnesses, taken with the emotional and psychological symptoms, they can be considered as caused by substance abuse:

*Excessive sniffling or a runny nose: This can be a sign of drug use where the drug being used is inhaled through the nose.

*Bloodshot eyes: Can be a sign of alcohol abuse, marijuana abuse, or sleeplessness caused by using any number of drugs.

*Excessive sweating: Can be a sign of withdrawal (in other words, the person is needing to take more drugs).

*Muscles tremors (“twitching”): Can occur with methamphetamine use or as a sign of the “DTs”—severe alcohol withdrawal.

*Extreme weight loss: Caused by not eating at all or not eating enough because the body is not sending hunger signals.

*Sores, scabs, or physical signs of injection on the body, especially in the crook of the elbow or other places where easy access to a vein is possible.

Emotional and Psychological: Since many of these symptoms can actually be both emotional and psychological, they are listed together:

*Inappropriate reactions to immediate situations, such as laughing at a serious moment, or unexplained crying when there is really no good reason.

*Little or no reaction to any situation, immediate or otherwise.

*Paranoia.

*Hallucinations. This is often common when a patient is suffering from alcohol withdrawal.

*Extreme mood swings, from happy to sad or extreme anger when it is unwarranted.
Inability to remember recent events. This can occur after excessive drinking; it is sometimes referred to as “blackout.”

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The Two Types of Addiction

September 21, 2010 by Leave a Comment
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There are actually two types of addiction: physical and psychological. In the physical type, the body is actually reacting to the absence or withdrawal of the drug because it has become used to having it; in psychological addiction, the urges and cravings, as well as the physical symptoms, are present.

Psychological addiction can occur after just one use, as can be the case with crack cocaine or methamphetamine. That is because the first high from these drugs is so intense that the parts of the brain that record pleasure are stimulated to try to mimic that feeling again and again.

The same thing can also occur with nicotine. Nicotine is metabolized through the body within three days after a last cigarette has been smoked. No nicotine is left in the bloodstream, but the craving for a cigarette is still present.

Physical addiction manifests itself in true withdrawal symptoms when it is time for another “fix” or drink. The body actually begins to react to the absence of drugs. Symptoms can include nausea and vomiting, excessive sweating, muscle tremors, and other physical signs.

It is perhaps the psychological addiction that is responsible for those who have stopped using alcohol or drugs to refer to themselves as “recovering” addicts; in other words, it is an ongoing process. Once a person has stopped drinking or using drugs, a conscious effort must be made not to “slip up” and have just one drink or just one more ” fix.”

The recovering addict must be on the alert for signs that a relapse-an episode where alcohol or drug use does occur-is imminent and take steps to remove himself from the situation. This may mean not attending social functions where alcohol is served, or physically and emotionally distancing himself from those people with whom he shared the addiction.

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Medications Used In Drug Rehabilitation

September 3, 2010 by Leave a Comment
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Some rehabilitation facilities and programs utilize medications in drug rehabilitation. When combined with other rehabilitation methods, including therapy and support groups, these medications often help a person suffering from drug addiction to achieve more success in his rehabilitative efforts.

Some of the medications used in drug rehabilitation are listed below:

Suboxone®: This is the brand name for the drug buprenorphine. Suboxone is used to treat people who are addicted to substances with an opium base, such as the “street” drug heroin or the prescription drug oxycodone.

Suboxone works by easing the withdrawal symptoms that come from ceasing heroin, oxycodone, or any other drug that have an opium base and by helping calm the physical and psychological cravings and urges that come with opium addiction. A small amount of the drug naloxone, which is also used as a drug addiction medication, is added to Suboxone. Doing this makes it harder for a person to dissolve and inject Suboxone into a vein.

Some people do this either in the mistaken belief that the relief symptoms will take effect quicker, or that they might be able to achieve the “high” that the opium-based drug gave them. The only thing injecting Suboxone does is make a person go into the withdrawal stage more quickly, something that is not very pleasant at all.

Methadone: Methadone has been used for more than 30 years. It, too, treats opium-based addictions, such as addiction to heroin or codeine. Methadone works by replacing the receptor in the brain that is triggered from opioids being metabolized in the body due to heroin or codeine use with the synthetic medicine found in the Methadone. By “filling” this receptor, Methadone causes a stabilizing effect. This in turn allows users to be able to withdraw from heroin or codeine use without suffering withdrawal symptoms.

Antabuse®: Antabuse® is used to treat alcohol addiction. It works by causing actual physical reactions to the ingestion of alcohol, such as nausea, chest pains, breathing difficulties, headaches, and other unpleasant symptoms. These symptoms appear within ten minutes of ingesting alcohol and can last for an hour or more.

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