When you stop drinking or severely cut back, your brain activity is disrupted, which results in a hyper aroused condition and a variety of danger of alcohol withdrawal that might start to show up. However, the withdrawal symptoms that an individual experiences, as well as the degree of each, may vary widely from one person to the next.
Stages of alcohol withdrawal and severity
The effects of quitting alcohol on your body depend on several variables. For various people, the severity of acute alcohol withdrawal varies depending on the degree of physiological alcohol dependence. As these symptoms can get very nasty, people may go down the way of self-harm. Three probable stages that a person going through withdrawal may go through are listed by here:
Stage 1 (mild): Symptoms may include a headache, trouble sleeping, anxiety, trembling hands, gastrointestinal problems, and heart palpitations.
Stage 2 (moderate): In addition to elevated blood pressure or heart rate, confusion, mild heat, and rapid, irregular breathing, symptoms may also include Stage 1’s mild symptoms.
Stage 3 (severe): Symptoms include Stage 2 symptoms in addition to seizures, confusion, and attention deficit disorder.
Timeline for Alcohol Withdrawal
Some persons can quickly advance from Stage 2 to Stage 3 without receiving medical attention from a qualified healthcare provider. While the exact time frame for alcohol withdrawal varies from person to person depending on a variety of variables (such as the average amount and duration of heavy drinking behavior, the presence of physical and mental health conditions at the same time. A typical symptom timeline for alcohol detox might look something like this:
- Early withdrawal symptoms, such as headache, moderate anxiety, insomnia, minor tremors, and stomach discomfort, may start 6–12 hours after the last drink.
- Some people may start to have tactile, aural, or visual hallucinations after 24 hours.
- Many symptoms may have peaked within the first 24 to 72 hours and started to level out or disappear. After the last drink, seizure risks may be at their peak, necessitating strict monitoring and seizure prophylaxis. After the last drink, DTs (withdrawal delirium) may develop 48 to 72 hours later.
