Alcohol detox: How long does it take

Information provided on Forbes Health is for educational purposes only. Your health and wellness is unique to you, and the products and services we review may not be right for your circumstances. We do not offer individual medical advice, diagnosis or treatment plans. If you’re experiencing distressing symptoms, talking with a doctor who’s trained in integrative or signs of alcoholism functional medicine may provide clarity and methods for a safe, effective protocol. Many functional medicine programs also analyze specific genetic variants to help individuals determine if they are having a personal issue with detoxification. Genetic, psychological, social and environmental factors can impact how drinking alcohol affects your body and behavior.

1. Submit your number and receive a free call today from a treatment provider.
2. They’ll want to know if you’ve ever gone through withdrawal before.
3. This is especially true for those who have a history of lung or heart diseases, or other medical conditions, as withdrawal symptoms can quickly worsen.
4. When that person cuts out alcohol, there is a period when their brain hasn’t yet received the message and still overproduces the stimulating chemicals.
5. You can also talk with them about the symptoms you are experiencing, as well as if you are in any pain.

If you’re having difficulty sticking to your goal or just want some extra guidance, consider reaching out for professional support. Maybe you’ve never been interested in logging your innermost thoughts, but journaling can be a great tool to track your feelings as you work on quitting alcohol. Feeling at your best physically can boost resilience and emotional strength, equipping you to weather challenges that trigger the desire to drink. Letting others know about your choice to stop drinking may help motivate you to stick with your decision. What’s most important is looking at your drinking habits and finding a way to cut back that works for you. Using alcohol and marijuana in combination increases your risk of experiencing uncomfortable side effects due to increased absorption of THC.

If you turn to alcohol to manage emotional distress, the added overwhelm can prompt the urge to drink, making success seem even more out of reach. It’s possible to develop a better relationship with alcohol and make more mindful, informed choices about drinking without total sobriety. Becoming more aware of your alcohol triggers and reasons for drinking can help you plan ways to help manage the urge to drink. Maybe you don’t think you depend on alcohol exactly, but you still wonder whether you might be drinking too much. Your symptoms may last a week or more, typically hitting their worst within hours. You’re more likely to stick with a detox program when you have lots of help.

Take some time to explore your relationship with alcohol

Avoid taking prescription drugs that your doctor hasn’t prescribed to you. If withdrawal is so uncomfortable that you’re turning to drugs for comfort, you should contact your doctor or a rehab center to discuss medically supervised withdrawal. Late symptoms begin between two and four days after the last drink, and they usually include changes in heart rate, breathing and blood pressure. Serious symptoms caused by delirium tremens include hallucination and seizure. If you have questions about alcohol withdrawal treatment or home detox, call The Recovery Village to speak with a representative about how professional treatment can help you.

How to Manage Alcohol Withdrawal Symptoms at Home

Many people are under the impression that detoxing from alcohol isn’t as dangerous as detoxing from other drugs. There are serious, potentially life-threatening risks when does alcohol withdrawal brain fog go away involved with detoxing from alcohol—especially when you’re doing it on your own. If you need alcohol for your body to feel normal, then you likely need help.

to 24 hours

If don’t have much of an appetite, you may want to take a multivitamin or drink a beverage high in electrolytes, such as a sports drink. If you take prescription medication, continue to take it as directed. There has been some research conducted on how abstaining from alcohol detoxifies your liver over time. For people who experience hallucinations as part of alcohol withdrawal, these may begin in the 12- to 24-hour time frame.

Talk to your doctor or a drug treatment specialist about what to expect as you experience alcohol withdrawal. Identify a family member or friend who you can call on to provide emotional support. Treating alcohol withdrawal is a short-term fix that doesn’t help the core problem. When you talk to your doctor about symptom relief, it’s a good idea to discuss treatment for alcohol abuse or dependence.

You don’t need to be diagnosed with alcohol use disorder in order to quit drinking. If alcohol is interfering with your health or your personal, financial, or professional life, consider quitting. According to a 2015 article, an estimated 50 percent of people with an alcohol use disorder go through withdrawal symptoms when they stop drinking. Doctors estimate that 3 to 5 percent of people will have severe symptoms.

Alcohol Detox Timeline Summary

Hallucinations and panic attacks are common during this time as your body rids alcohol from its system. As you approach the end of the first 24 hours of detox, symptoms may become increasingly severe. Alongside the effects felt from the first 12 hours, additional symptoms may involve disorientation, hand tremors and seizures.

Crystal Raypole has previously worked as a writer and editor for GoodTherapy. Her fields of interest include Asian languages and literature, Japanese translation, cooking, natural sciences, sex positivity, and mental health. In particular, she’s committed to helping decrease stigma around mental health issues.

Medications Used During Alcohol Detox

If you’re unable to reduce how much you drink, you may have a disease called alcoholism that requires professional addiction treatment. Alcohol rehab helps you taper off alcohol, and it treats other side effects and causes of alcoholism. If you’ve been unable to quit on your own, you should consider attending an alcohol rehab center. It teaches you healthy ways to cope with stress and techniques for overcoming the underlying causes of alcohol addiction. The key point to remember is that’s never safe to self-detox from alcohol at home.

However, when alcohol makes up part of your typical routine, drinking can become something of an automatic response, especially when you feel stressed or overwhelmed. Turner notes the importance of bringing along a trusted support person when attending events that involve alcohol. It’s often easier to turn down a drink when you don’t have to do it alone. Family and friends can provide encouragement and support when you stop drinking. By opening up about your relationship with alcohol, you might also encourage others to explore their own drinking habits.

Overly restrictive diets can also lead to a lack of essential nutrients. And for those already suffering from medical conditions like type 2 diabetes, certain detox routines may even exacerbate their underlying illness, continues Dr. Fenster. But don’t confuse the need for vitamin and mineral supplementation to mean that all detox “supplements” you see on store shelves or promoted on social media are helpful. A community of understanding and empathetic people can help you recover. These support groups require no commitment from attendees, and you can attend meetings online.

Call now to connect with a treatment provider and start your recovery journey. There are many resources available for anyone who is ready to stop drinking for good, or who wants to reduce the harm alcohol signs of a functioning alcoholic is causing in their life by cutting down. As you continue to commit to long-term recovery, support group meetings like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) or online support communities might be helpful.

“For patients who are left with cirrhosis after severe injury to the liver from alcohol, even one drink of alcohol is toxic to the liver,” cautions Dr. Lindenmeyer. Behavioral therapies can help those struggling with alcohol abuse focus on avoiding old patterns and identify the root causes of addiction. Following successful completion of detox, an inpatient or outpatient rehabilitation program may be recommended to allow further work toward recovery and relapse prevention.

You may want to speak with a loved one or therapist about a strategy to prevent relapses from happening. On the other hand, binge drinking is generally defined as four drinks for women and five drinks for men within a two-hour period. And even occasional binge drinking episodes can have profound effects on your liver’s health over time. If you’re keeping up with this average (or less), the damage from alcohol is most likely minimal. “Nutrition optimization is actually the most evidence-based and most important intervention aside from stopping drinking,” points out Dr. Lindenmeyer. This is because, for a lot of people who experience some kind of liver dysfunction, it makes them at risk of not getting enough proteins, calories or vitamins.