Variants of alcohol withdrawal syndrome

Alcohol withdrawal syndrome was first described by Hippocrates back in 400 BC. Symptoms appear already 4-5 hours after the last portion of alcohol in an addicted person. Almost 15% of people with severe withdrawal symptoms die.

Alcohol withdrawal
What it is
Causes of alcohol withdrawal
Stages of alcohol withdrawal
Relieving alcohol withdrawal
Consequences of alcohol withdrawal syndrome
Diagnosis of post-alcohol symptoms
Types of alcohol withdrawal syndrome
Severe withdrawal
Alcohol syndrome in adults
Withdrawal syndrome in alcoholism in adolescents
Withdrawal syndrome in chronic alcoholism
Post-alcohol somatovegetative syndrome
Pseudo-withdrawal syndrome
Acute withdrawal syndrome
Difficulty of the alcohol withdrawal period
Treatment of alcohol withdrawal
Treatment in the clinic for alcohol withdrawal syndrome
Treatment at home
Drugs for the treatment of alcohol withdrawal syndrome
Center for drug treatment of alcoholism "AlkoZdrav"

Withdrawal syndrome in alcoholism

The name abstinence comes from the Latin word abstinencia, which means “abstinence.” This pathology is a sign of the second stage of alcoholism. A person with an addiction, if he starts drinking alcohol, cannot give it up just like that. When reducing the dose or stopping use, he will experience unpleasant symptoms, alcohol withdrawal syndrome.

At this stage of alcoholism, the addict begins to drink so often that ethyl alcohol is included in the body’s metabolic processes and becomes its need, which leads to withdrawal syndrome.

Complications and possible consequences

Alcohol withdrawal is the main trigger for binge drinking. When a person drinks alcohol in large quantities, he can face any kind of disorder. The list of the most common complications includes:

liver damage;
cardiovascular accidents;
impaired filtration capacity of the kidneys;
seizures;
mental attacks.

Another consequence of withdrawal is the progression of addiction. At the terminal stage of alcoholism, it is much more difficult to cope with the disease, and some pathological changes in health and personality are almost irreversible. If you or a loved one is struggling with alcoholism. Don't delay, seek help and start treatment.

Differences between a normal hangover and withdrawal symptoms

In chronic alcoholism, a patient develops withdrawal symptoms after drinking and even after taking a small dose of alcohol. In life, the same names are often used both for the pathological condition experienced by an alcoholic and for a hangover, which is experienced by a person who drinks irregularly.

A hangover occurs after excessive drinking in a healthy person, as well as in an alcoholic in the first stage of alcoholism. This condition looks a little like withdrawal syndrome, but its essence is completely different, as is the intensity of its manifestations.

Withdrawal syndrome in alcoholism gradually increases after alcohol withdrawal. This condition indicates that repeated drinking is “necessary.” The body of an alcoholic can no longer run its metabolic processes without his help. This situation confronts the patient with the choice of enduring painful and increasing symptoms or relieving them with the next dose. A dependent person, whose consciousness is clouded by alcohol withdrawal, often leans toward the second solution. This is how the drunken state begins.

But a drunkard who experiences a hangover reacts to the opportunity to drink again in a completely different way. He can't even think about alcohol. His body still perceives alcohol as poison, and being in a state of alcohol intoxication, does not want to poison itself even more. Therefore, even when thinking about alcohol, a person feels nauseous. And while drinking too much alcohol, he may vomit - a normal reaction of a healthy body to alcohol poisoning.

By the way, if a drunkard goes against his feelings and, following popular opinion, decides to “get better” with the help of alcohol, then he will become worse. But this is a good sign, because feeling better after such “treatment” means that you already have a physical craving for alcohol and are in the second stage of addiction.

Causes of withdrawal

The etiology of withdrawal syndrome has not yet been fully studied. But the most promising version, which the scientific community is leaning towards, is a disruption of the neurotransmitter system.

Ethanol is a psychoactive substance. It can change a person’s mood, behavior and feelings. When drinking, he feels cheerful and relaxed or peaceful: exactly how intoxication will affect the personality depends on which receptors ethanol binds to.

For example, the effect on dopamine receptors will give a feeling of euphoria, joy, high spirits and a sense of strength. When ethanol is metabolized, the condition gradually returns to normal. But if a person drinks regularly, his body reduces the production of its own dopamine, because its function is already performed by alcohol. Therefore, when sobering up, a person is faced with a lack of dopamine, which provokes:

depression;
apathy;
suicidal thoughts.

To return to a euphoric state, the addict unconsciously reaches for a new dose, thereby causing the progression of the disease.

In addition to dopamine receptors, other receptors are also involved in the formation of a hangover:

GABA;
NMDA et al.

Therefore, the motives for drinking alcohol among addicts may differ: one needs another serving of alcohol to improve their well-being, another needs to suppress sad thoughts, and a third needs to calm down. The patient constantly increases the amount of ethanol consumed, the body's tolerance increases, so over time, even severe intoxication does not bring him pleasure.

Symptoms and treatment of withdrawal syndrome in alcoholism

The symptoms of alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AAS) are quite extensive. Such painful manifestations, which befall an addicted person partially or in total, are quite capable of forcing him to drink continuously.

Changes in blood pressure.
Loss of orientation in space.
Impaired coordination of movements.
Malfunctions of the gastrointestinal tract: nausea, diarrhea, complete loss of appetite.
Tremor of arms and legs.
Violation of thermoregulation.
Redness of the whites of the eyes and skin in certain places.
Loss of performance, loss of strength.
Depression.
Behavioral disorders.
Tachycardia, shortness of breath.
The patient has a fever.
During withdrawal syndrome, disturbances in sleep and wakefulness and insomnia occur.
Hallucinations.

During alcohol withdrawal syndrome, a person is completely inadequate, his behavior becomes antisocial, he may end up in an unpleasant or dangerous situation, or in an accident. And the symptoms themselves are life-threatening and can lead to organ pathologies or even death.

This is why withdrawal symptoms require treatment. Withdrawal syndrome in alcoholism appears approximately six hours after the alcoholic takes the last dose of alcohol. The symptoms gradually intensify, and with each passing hour the patient has less and less strength to endure them. If withdrawal symptoms are not treated under the supervision of a narcologist, the patient will either continue to binge or experience physical and psychological suffering.

“Happy hormone” dopamine – friend or foe?

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter in the human brain, also called the “happiness hormone,” which is responsible for connections between nerve cells. Acetaldehydes suppress the production of dopamine and accelerate its breakdown. With regular abuse of alcoholic beverages, the reserves of this neurotransmitter in the body are depleted, and it is replaced by alcohol. At the first stage of addiction, a person begins to feel the need for alcohol due to a lack of dopamine and vivid sensations, then at the second stage, the addict’s body begins to adapt to new conditions, resulting in additional synthesis of dopamine.

Due to its deficiency, an addicted person experiences increased anxiety, nervousness, irritability, increased blood pressure, and disrupted sleep patterns. If the level of this hormone in the body increases 3 times, delirium tremens occurs - “delirium tremens”.

How is alcohol withdrawal syndrome treated?

The first sign of such a pathology as alcohol withdrawal syndrome is a strong craving for alcohol. It represents the greatest concern along with critical conditions. After all, it is precisely because of the painful desire to drink that the patient continues to be in a drunken state.

To relieve this craving, a narcologist carries out urgent detoxification of the body, this reduces the intensity of withdrawal symptoms. Detoxification is carried out using intravenous drips based on saline solution. This treatment allows the patient’s blood to be cleansed of toxins as quickly as possible. But this is not always enough, so along with the basic components of any dropper for alcoholism, medications are added to it that reduce cravings for alcohol.

Complications of withdrawal syndrome

Withdrawal syndrome caused by alcoholism, without treatment, can lead to frightening consequences. And we are not writing this for the sake of a nice word, because often the patient’s relatives, trying to stop their drinking, put him under house arrest, but do not turn to a narcologist for help.

They really stop drinking alcohol, but alcohol withdrawal syndrome does not disappear. And if the binge has been long, then such an abrupt cessation of alcohol intake is especially dangerous for a patient without medication support.

A patient with alcoholism may experience convulsions and even seizures; this condition can also lead to alcoholic epilepsy. Alcohol-dependent people who suffer from epilepsy are at particular risk during the period of withdrawal syndrome, but an attack can also happen to those who are not normally prone to epileptic seizures.

An alcoholic, deprived of alcohol and treatment, may also develop mental disorders. These signs appear in a less pronounced form during normal intoxication, but now they acquire a pronounced character, and there is a feeling that the person is going crazy. During the period of increasing withdrawal syndrome, his consciousness may be confused, the patient may be disoriented in space and time. Hallucinations are also common in such cases.

Complications from long-term drinking bouts

Please note that each time the binges become longer and longer, and the withdrawal symptoms become more intense. With chronic alcoholism, it is especially difficult for the patient to survive the first three days of withdrawal symptoms without treatment. Convulsive seizures alternate with involuntary urination, a strong desire to drink is accompanied by depression and mental disorders. And only on the fifth day does a person feel better without treatment. How many people can withstand this and not break down?

Often, as a result of binge drinking and abrupt cessation of alcohol, acute conditions associated with the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract occur. It's no secret that peptic ulcer disease is a faithful companion to alcohol addiction. After all, the poisons of alcohol reach the delicate mucous membranes of the stomach and intestines, sometimes even without food. But during the period of heavy drinking and withdrawal syndrome, the gastrointestinal tract is especially difficult.

At this time, it is necessary to carefully monitor the patient. If bloody discharge appears in the vomit, and you also see almost black feces, which acquires this color due to congealed blood, then you need to urgently call a doctor or go to the clinic. This may be a sign of open bleeding in the gastrointestinal tract.

In addition, during the withdrawal syndrome, banal constipation and diarrhea are observed, and hemorrhoids may develop or worsen.

Without treatment, withdrawal symptoms sometimes lead to swelling of the brain. In this case, a person suffering from alcoholism most often falls into a coma and dies.

Symptoms

Withdrawal syndrome is one of the typical manifestations of second stage alcoholism. The initial symptoms of withdrawal syndrome are manifested mainly by asthenic/vasomotor-vegetative disorders: headaches, chilliness, scleral injection/facial hyperemia, sweating , sensations of pain in the heart, tachycardia , increased blood pressure, muscle/joint pain, dizziness , trembling and large-scale tremor of the limbs, psychophysical weakness and a feeling of physical malaise. Somewhat later, dyspeptic disorders appear: unpleasant taste in the mouth, dryness, loss of appetite, thirst, nausea , less often vomiting , diarrhea . Patients complain of weakness/weakness, pain in the right hypochondrium, and night sleep disorders.

In some patients, the symptoms are limited to these disorders, while in others, after some time, the symptoms of withdrawal syndrome are supplemented by mental disorders in the form of dysphoria , depressed mood, irritability, anxiety , and fear at night. The patient’s inability to “stop” in the structure of the withdrawal syndrome changes the nature of the abuse of alcohol-containing drinks and leads to uncontrolled absorption of alcohol with regular hangovers, i.e., to daily drunkenness, gradually forming a constant/binge type of alcohol abuse. The need to drink alcohol loses its connection with circumstances, and tolerance to alcohol increases in relation to the original up to 5-6 times.

Against this background, symptoms such as depression , suspicion , inadequate assessment of the actions/words of others develop, and patients develop a feeling of remorse/guilt, sometimes with suicidal attempts. Night sleep suffers (frequent awakenings, nightmares that cause a feeling of fear, visual hallucinations). Patients are characterized by increased suspicion. Which often manifests itself with ideas of jealousy.

Signs of coarsening and moral and ethical degradation increase outside of intoxication. The lability/intensity of emotional manifestations increases. Psychopathic-like states/premorbid personal characteristics are formed, which is manifested by aggression, mental rigidity, amnesia of fragments of the period of intoxication/total loss of memory during this period, brutality of affect.

In 30% of cases, the structure of alcohol withdrawal syndrome includes convulsive seizures, which are a precursor to the development of acute alcoholic psychoses. As the “experience of alcohol abuse” increases, the manifestations of withdrawal syndrome become more intense, which is reflected in the specificity of drinking alcohol in order to eliminate withdrawal disorders. Symptoms are especially intense 3-4 days after stopping drinking. The attraction to alcohol becomes compulsory and leads to binge drinking.

Worsening of symptoms is expressed in fluctuations in blood pressure, heart rhythm disturbances, and dysfunction of systems/organs that are dysfunctional in premorbidity. The presence of chronic somatic diseases usually intensifies withdrawal symptoms.

Treatment of binge drinking and alcohol withdrawal

As you understand, drunkenness is not always possible to stop and cure at home. Especially if it is accompanied by an exacerbation of chronic diseases, or the withdrawal syndrome has acquired the nature of complications. In this case, the patient must be placed in a drug treatment clinic.

However, today much of the treatment or relief of alcohol dependence can be done at home. Narcologists now effectively and efficiently treat patients at home, so in cases of short-term binge drinking, you can safely call a specialist to your home.

How to get rid of withdrawal symptoms

It is necessary to distinguish the relief of withdrawal symptoms from its treatment. Complete recovery from alcohol addiction implies a system of medical care, consisting of the complete restoration of the functionality of internal organs, consultations with a psychologist, psychiatrist, and the patient’s adaptation to society. Before drawing up a course of therapy, the psychiatrist determines the cause of the binge drinking.

Mild and moderate forms are treated on an outpatient basis. Severe cases - under stationary supervision.

Treatment in a drug treatment clinic

Placing a person with alcohol addiction in a clinic has its undoubted advantages:

Constant monitoring of doctors. The ability to monitor the patient’s condition over time and, if necessary, promptly change prescriptions.
The clinic offers resuscitation and intensive care facilities, as well as hardware for detoxification and treatment.
The hospital has the opportunity to conduct urgent laboratory tests or functional diagnostic procedures.
Here the patient will not be able to obtain alcohol under any pretext. But at home there is always the risk that with the help of cunning or persuasion, for which chemically dependent people have a special talent, he will get the much desired “product”.

As we have already noted, placement in a clinic is not always a free choice; sometimes, when treating alcohol addiction, it becomes a necessary measure to preserve the health and life of a sick person.

How long does it last?

The appearance of abstinence in the general dynamics of alcoholism has individual timing. Usually, at least 5-10 years pass from the start of regular use. For people with high ethanol sensitivity or poor underlying health, it takes about three years for the disease to progress.

Withdrawal syndrome occurs 6-48 hours after the last alcohol intake. The average duration of AAS is from 2-3 days to 2-3 weeks. Normalization of the condition is gradual, some symptoms may become permanent.

Treatment at home

Treatment at home, which is carried out by a narcologist, essentially differs little from how binge drinking and alcohol withdrawal syndrome are treated in a clinic. In addition, of course, the doctor in the hospital has access to hardware therapy methods, and he can promptly request laboratory tests.

Modern outpatient care is provided at the highest level. Today you don’t have to be afraid that a paramedic or nurse will come to you, provided that you are going to a reliable clinic. The specialist has with him all the equipment that is necessary for work, as well as a set of medications to relieve withdrawal symptoms and detoxification.

For the patient and his relatives, this decision has its advantages:

There is no need to organize transportation of the patient to the clinic. This is a troublesome task even when contacting a special service.
The familiar home atmosphere is psychologically comfortable for an addicted person.
Relatives can provide quality care and provide dietary nutrition. At the same time, everything is nearby, “at hand,” and there is no need to rush to the clinic.

Diagnostics

The doctor makes a diagnosis depending on what symptoms have already appeared by the time you contact a narcologist. One of the most important symptoms is the continued craving for drinking. Questioning the patient helps determine the exact diagnosis and what stage the disease is at.

The list of factors that the doctor needs to know includes:

Duration of drinking strong drinks.
How strong is the craving for drinking the next day after drinking, how quickly does it make itself felt and what is the degree of its intensity.
Does the patient get better from drinking a new portion of alcoholic beverages?
Is the person ashamed of his addiction?
Is there motivation for sobriety?
Do you have any chronic diseases or allergic reactions to foods?

In addition to the interview, a physical examination is required to establish a diagnosis, which helps identify clinical manifestations.

“Help” is always nearby

Modern narcology provides patients with alcohol addiction with high-quality treatment for conditions such as binge drinking or withdrawal symptoms. There are also excellent methods of treatment and rehabilitation of alcoholism, which allow you to get rid of the problem completely and forget about temporary measures forever.

In this case, the main task of the relatives is to find a proven narcology clinic, where high-quality treatment methods are provided and qualified specialists work. There is now a large selection of drug treatment clinics, which, on the one hand, is good, but also makes it difficult to choose. It can be difficult for a non-specialist to sort through such a sea of offers, to understand where a reliable clinic is and where the services are not of the highest level.

That is why turning to a drug addiction counseling center today is becoming not a luxury, but a necessity. This is a guarantee that you will be offered only reliable clinics and centers with effective treatment methods. Our specialists will help you select a treatment that suits your budget and level of comfort - we always have something to choose from.

In case of acute conditions, long-term heavy drinking or complications of alcohol syndrome, as well as if you need to select a course of treatment or a rehabilitation center, you can always count on a quick and qualified response from our specialists on the toll-free 24-hour hotline. Its number is indicated on the website page. Call and receive only high-quality drug treatment help.

Content:

Causes of withdrawal syndrome
Signs and symptoms
Consequences of withdrawal
Diagnostics
How to get rid of withdrawal symptoms
How can you help a patient suffering from alcohol withdrawal?

Alcohol withdrawal is a serious condition that occurs after a person who has been drinking alcohol for a long time suddenly stops taking it.
A new dose of alcohol helps to make you feel better. This creates a certain cycle in which the addict can no longer painlessly stop drinking, even if he wants to. As a rule, withdrawal syndrome appears in the later stages of alcoholism. It is sometimes confused with a hangover. However, in case of intoxication resulting from prolonged drinking, a new dose of intoxicating drink will not improve, but will only worsen the person’s condition. How long does abstinence last, what are its causes, how to relieve the main manifestations - let's figure it out together.