Alcohol Detox

Before we go any further, this needs to be said right up front: If you are going through alcohol detox, then the safest route of treatment is to get yourself to a treatment center or even to a hospital or an Emergency Room.

The reason for this is because alcohol withdrawal can be fatal. Seriously, not taking a drink can actually kill you. Depending on the person, it can be extremely dangerous to come off of booze. If you or a loved one has stopped drinking suddenly and are experiencing severe withdrawal symptoms, then if you are wondering how can I help an alcoholic you should get medical attention immediately even if it means going to the ER for alcohol addiction treatment.

This medical warning also points us to the best way to detox from alcohol, which is under medical supervision.  Not only is this the safest way to detox, but it is also the most comfortable way for most people.  This is because the medical staff that is treating the alcoholic can provide medications that can help to ease the withdrawal symptoms.

Years ago they used to treat alcohol withdrawal with addictive pills, and some places still do.  But many rehabs use non-addictive medications these days, and even places that don't use these new medications can still get most alcoholics completely weened off the pills within a week or so.  So do not fall into the trap of thinking that you will be hopelessly hooked on addictive pills if you try to stop drinking. 

The reason medications are necessary to detox the alcoholic are because of the threat of seizures.  Many alcoholics who have never had a seizure before in their entire life will have their first one when they stop drinking alcohol.  Everyone thinks they are immune to this possibility, but I work in a rehab center, and I see it over and over again.  People who stop drinking suddenly are prone to seizures, even if with the medications that are designed to control the possibility of seizures being used.

For starters, don't. Just don't if you can help it. Get to a treatment center or drug rehab if you can. If you cannot get into such a place with medical supervision then it is actually safer to continue to drink until you can get into such a place. Ask or beg your friends and family to get you to a drug rehab or a treatment center if you can afford it or have insurance to cover it. Otherwise you might be in for a rough ride. If you start to tremor uncontrollably then just go to the ER immediately as your life is in danger.

If you want to try to stick it out on your own then you should have someone slowly dole out very small amounts of booze to you. Again this is not really recommended and you would be much safer in a medical setting. There they can give you medications that will calm your nerves and keep you safer from the threat of seizures. It can be done at home but it is not really safe to do so.

In addition to this, if you do end up in treatment or rehab, you will have many more resources available to you as far as your treatment goes. For starters you will be in with a lot of peers who can help you learn how to stay clean and sober. You will also have access to therapists or counselors who can help you to talk about any issues you might have, and also get you set up with an aftercare program for when you leave alcoholism detox treatment.

Alcohol detox is complicated when other drugs are in the picture as well.  By far the most dangerous complication comes from taking a class of drugs known as Benzodiazipines.  These drugs have a sedative effect and they have similar withdrawal symptoms to alcohol.  Because of this, anyone who is taking these kind of pills and also drinking booze is in danger of having a very serious detox.  The likelihood of having a seizure increases by a lot if this is the case, and it is much more likely that the person will go into what is knows as DT's (delirium tremors).  Many people who are coming off these pills and alcohol at the same time will start hallucinating and will not know where they are or what is going on.  At such times you will have to monitor them constantly and will not be able to leave their side even for a moment, or they could seriously hurt themselves.  If you or someone you know is in this situation or experiencing these symptoms, then you need to get them to an ER immediately because this is pretty much as bad as it gets.  Violent tremors, hallucinations, and seizures are just one step away from dying from alcohol withdrawal.  It is possible and it does happen, so watch out for these signs and take the appropriate action!