what to expect befor going alcohol detox?
Wednesday, September 8th, 2010 at
6:56 pm
Tagged with: Alcohol • befor • Detox • expect • going
Filed under: Alcohol Detox
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Everyone is different when it’s time to detox, though there are some common things you can expect to happen. The first two or three days will be uncomfortable as your body detoxifies itself. You may sweat profusely, have shaking or trembling in your hands and legs. You may sleep some, a lot, or barely at all. Your dreams may seem overly vivid and real or you may not dream at all. You may experience bouts of nausea and loose bowels. You can count on flu-like symptoms like a low-grade fever, flushed skin, aches and pains which will more than likely make you restless and irritable.
There are ways to alleviate some of these symptoms like hot baths or showers to sweat out the toxins, gentle music to quiet your mind, easy exercise routines, lots of liquids, vitamins or vitamin drinks to restore any deficiencies and anything else that will help make the detox easier. Nobody likes going through detox but it is a necessary process on the path to healthier living and well being.
If you are an alcoholic or a problem drinker, the alcohol in your system will not leave overnight. For someone who has drank heavily and consistently for a while can expect a total detox from 90 to 180 days. But don’t let this alarm you. Alcohol has the innate ability of storing itself in the fatty cells of your body and will release itself, off and on, throughout that 90 to 180 day period. During that time, you may have sudden urges or cravings to drink. This is normal. If you are attending the appropriate aftercare meetings like Alcoholics Anonymous, you will have a support group of friends and a sponsor to help you through those uncomfortable times. Overall, you may not notice most of detox process. The initial detox that you will be aware of may last from just a few days to a week or two which will be done in the safety and comfort of the treatment facility. Compared to other drugs, alcohol leaves the body quickly and the initial detox is relatively short.
I worked in a detox facility for about a year.
This is what you can expect:
To feel like crap.
How bad the detox is depends on how much you drink and how often. Your blood pressure is probably going to shoot up, you will be shaky, sweaty, nauseated, achy, and out of it.
More than likely they will give you mild sedatives to help ease the detox, but it still won’t be pretty. However, for whatever reason, the worst is usually over by day 3. It only takes 5 days for your body to finish detoxing, however psychologically it’s going to take you a lot longer to recover.
Alcohol detox is some of the worst I’ve ever seen, and it’s also the only detox you can die from (aside from certain prescription meds) if you take the most common detoxs (cocaine, herion, and alcohol) into consideration.