If you have an alcohol use disorder (AUD), you may find that if you don’t drink, you experience serious withdrawal symptoms. These problems that happen when you stop indicate that you have a serious alcohol addiction. However, you must get through these symptoms if you want to start recovery. To keep yourself safe, you need medical alcohol detox. At Tides Edge Detox, this medical detox program is one of the many detox options we provide.
Why Does Alcohol Use Disorder Cause Withdrawal?
Alcohol use in excessive amounts over a long time produces withdrawal symptoms. The more you drink, the greater your body depends on functioning with alcohol in it. Stopping alcohol intake suddenly, especially if you drank heavily, can cause moderate to severe withdrawal symptoms. If you needed to increase your drinking to get the same effects, you may have a higher likelihood of worse withdrawal symptoms than someone who did not need to drink more. If you only occasionally drink, you may have milder alcohol withdrawal symptoms because your body can function with less alcohol in it.
In addition to the amount you drink, your habits and previous symptoms will determine whether you will have a higher chance of needing medical alcohol detox. For example, if you have previously tried to stop drinking and experienced seizures, you should seek medically supervised detox. Other signs of serious dependency on alcohol and a greater need for detox include the following:
- Anxiety
- Irritability
- Drinking in the morning
- Retching early in the morning
- Tremors
- Blackouts or amnesia
What Are Alcohol Withdrawal Symptoms?
Symptoms of alcohol withdrawal typically appear six to eight hours after your final drink. The worst of the symptoms often come between 10 and 12 hours after you had a drink. Often, these problems will ease within a few days, but treatment typically takes 10 days in an alcohol detox center. Withdrawal symptoms may include the following:
- Delirium tremens in severe cases
- Sweating
- Hallucinations
- Anxiety or hyperactivity
- Nausea or vomiting
You may not experience all these symptoms. However, if you are among the 5% of those who experience delirium tremens, you may need sedatives given by a doctor to keep you from hurting yourself or falling into exhaustion.
What Is Medical Alcohol Detox?
Medically supervised detoxification from alcohol is required for those who have a history of heavy alcohol use. For example, if you drink between seven and eight pints of beer, four and five pints of wine, or one pint of hard liquor daily, you are considered a heavy drinker. In addition, if you have had a drinking problem for a decade or longer, you also have a higher chance of severe withdrawal that will require medical alcohol detox.
Medical detox centers provide supervision and medication-assisted treatment to keep you safe and healthy while your body naturally processes out the alcohol. After medical alcohol detox, treatment continues at an alcohol addiction rehab center for lasting recovery.
Where to Get Help for Medical Alcohol Detox in Florida
If you need help with heavy alcohol use, you could put yourself in danger by trying to stop drinking at home. Don’t give up on recovery, though. You may have let alcohol control your life until now. However, you can push back and get the help you need. For medical alcohol detox in Florida, contact Tides Edge Detox at 866.723.3127. We can help you through the serious detoxification steps and prepare you for therapy in whatever continuing treatment you choose. You can find a sober life. But it will only be on the other side of detox and treatment for alcohol use disorder.
