Eating healthy: A healthy diet can provide you with energy as well nutrients your body was previously lacking. This new diet could help decrease fatigue during detox and potentially speed up the recovery process. Drinking water : One of the best home remedies for alcohol withdrawal is to drink a lot of water. Especially if you vomited or are sweating excessively, your body is losing a lot of water.
Drinking water can reduce the risk of dehydration and symptoms such as headaches and fatigue. Replenishing electrolytes: Not only is your body losing water, but also it is losing electrolytes.
Another home remedy for alcohol detox is to drink sports drinks or other beverages containing electrolytes. Focusing on relaxing : Going through an at-home alcohol detox can be stressful. To not let it get the best of you, practice different relaxation techniques. Try controlled breathing, meditation, yoga, or a warm shower. Finding support: Too many people try to detox from alcohol alone. While you may be able to handle the physical symptoms, managing the psychological symptoms on your own can be much more challenging.
How well a person does depends on the amount of organ damage and whether the person can stop drinking completely. Alcohol withdrawal may range from a mild and uncomfortable disorder to a serious, life-threatening condition. Symptoms such as sleep changes, rapid changes in mood, and fatigue may last for months. People who continue to drink a lot may develop health problems such as liver, heart, and nervous system disease. Most people who go through alcohol withdrawal make a full recovery.
But, death is possible, especially if delirium tremens occurs. Call your provider or go the emergency room if you think you might be in alcohol withdrawal, especially if you were using alcohol often and recently stopped. Call for an appointment with your provider if symptoms persist after treatment. Go to the emergency room or call the local emergency number such as if seizures, fever, severe confusion, hallucinations, or irregular heartbeats occur.
If you go to the hospital for another reason, tell the providers if you've been drinking heavily so they can monitor you for symptoms of alcohol withdrawal. Reduce or avoid alcohol. If you have a drinking problem, you should stop alcohol completely. Total and lifelong avoidance of alcohol abstinence is the safest approach. Being able to talk to someone who understands your feelings and takes them seriously can ease your emotional turmoil.
If your feelings of depression continue, you may be experiencing a substance-induced mood disorder, or you may have had a pre-existing mood disorder that was masked by your drug use. Either way, your doctor or therapist can help get you proper treatment.
Anxiety is also usually worse during withdrawal than what you experience during everyday nervousness. It is often more like the experience of having an anxiety disorder , but doesn't normally last as long. As with depression, some anxiety during withdrawal is to be expected. If you took a drug or drank to help you relax, your body will adjust during withdrawal and you will feel tenser.
Also, people who have been using drugs or alcohol to self-medicate may be fearful of what will happen without their usual way of coping. Anxiety can be physically and mentally uncomfortable. Physical symptoms often make you feel as if something scary is happening. Your breathing and heart rate can increase, sometimes to the point that you feel you can't catch their breath, or that you are having a heart attack, even when you are not. It is important to remind yourself, and for those around you to remind you, that you are safe, and the anxiety you are feeling is your body is going through a normal healing process.
However, if your anxiety symptoms intensify and are accompanied by other physical symptoms, you may be experiencing more significant withdrawal and should contact your physician.
It is not uncommon for people going through withdrawal to have rapid fluctuations in mood. One minute, you might feel exhausted, with no energy, and as if life is not worth living. The next minute, you could feel like you need to run away because something awful is about to happen. This back-and-forth can be very draining, both for you and for those around you.
It is important to remember that life is worth living, that life will get much better once you have quit, and that you have nothing to fear from putting your addiction behind you. If your mood swings are interfering with your ability to function, see your doctor. A therapist can also help. There are many techniques you can use to calm your nervous system and challenge the negative thoughts that come along with feelings of depression and anxiety. If mood changes are severe, last longer than other withdrawal symptoms, or include thoughts of harming yourself or suicide, seek help immediately.
If you are having suicidal thoughts, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at for support and assistance from a trained counselor. If you or a loved one are in immediate danger, call For more mental health resources, see our National Helpline Database. As with anxiety and depression, feelings of fatigue are common and normal among people withdrawing from drugs and alcohol.
Your body has to recover from the damage that drugs and alcohol do, as well as from lifestyle factors that go along with alcohol and drug use, such as sleep deprivation, sleep disturbance, and over-stimulation. Your doctor may also perform a toxicology screen , which tests how much alcohol is in your body. Healthcare professionals may use this test to diagnose AWS. It can also be used to determine the severity of your symptoms.
The scale measures the following 10 symptoms:. According to a study , the use of the Objective Alcohol Withdrawal Scale OAWS was more useful for treatment because it can be used as a framework and tailored to individual cases.
Treatment for AWS depends on how severe your symptoms are. Some people can be treated at home, but others may need supervised care in a hospital setting to avoid potentially dangerous complications such as seizures.
The first goal of treatment is to keep you comfortable by managing your symptoms. Alcohol counseling is another important treatment goal. Mild symptoms of AWS can often be treated at home. A relative or friend must stay with you to monitor your condition. Their job is to make sure that if you develop any worsening of symptoms, they get you to a hospital or call immediately.
They should also make sure you attend your counseling appointments and visit the doctor regularly for any routine blood tests that may be ordered. You may also need tests for alcohol-related medical problems. If your home environment is not supportive for staying sober, talk with your doctor.
Your doctor may be able to connect you with shelter programs for people recovering from alcohol addiction. If your symptoms are more severe, you may need to stay in the hospital. This is so your doctor can monitor your condition and manage any complications.
You may need to get fluids intravenously , or through your veins, to prevent dehydration and medications to help ease your symptoms. Symptoms of AWS are often treated with sedatives called benzodiazepines. The most prescribed benzodiazepine is chlordiazepoxide, which is only available as a generic in the United States.
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