If you struggle with an addiction to alcohol and have no idea how to break free without harming yourself in the process, a call to our experts in alcohol withdrawal in Nelsonville could be helpful.
Addiction to alcohol can be one of the most challenging dependency conditions to fight. While the cravings can be a burdensome enough challenge to fight by themselves, they are not what make quitting alcohol as hard as it is. If you are addicted and cease to consume alcohol, you can experience some of the worst withdrawal symptoms of any addiction. Permanent injury or death are not uncommon. Many addicts continue to use simply because they are not able to take on the painful challenge of withdrawal.
We have years of experience on our alcohol withdrawal treatment programs in treating alcohol addiction and in helping patients make their way out of this terrible condition. Addiction to alcohol is only insurmountable when you don't know how it works. With an expert by your side, winning can come easier.
To the user, alcohol and other drugs may feel somewhat different from one another; however, they essentially produce the effects that they do in the same way — they act on the brain's reward center to force release of large quantities of the neurotransmitters responsible for feelings of pleasure.
Such chemical interference, comes with an unintended consequence: by design, the reward center seeks to repeat actions that offer pleasure. If you are addicted, then, you are helpless resisting a chemically ingrained habit.
Repeated exposure to alcohol comes with another disastrous effect. It's called dependency. When prolonged use of large quantities of alcohol disrupt the brain's control over the reward center, the brain simply learns to yield to alcohol, withdrawing its own control over this important functional area. When the brain crosses this line, it is said to depend on alcohol.
This can be a problem when an addict attempts to quit alcohol. With the brain dependent on alcohol to guide and steer the reward center, it is suddenly left with no regulation, at all. As the brain's natural functions return, levels of neurotransmitter can shoot up to very high levels. It can take several days for chemical levels in the brain to stabilize, a period during which the addict can experience serious, life-threatening withdrawal symptoms.
The withdrawal symptoms of alcohol begin to kick in a few hours after the last drink begins to wear off on the brain. You may begin experiencing symptoms not unlike those brought on by a flu bug. You may feel tired and irritable, your head and stomach may hurt, and you may find it hard to sleep. Things tend to get much worse as the hours wear on.
Within two days of the last drink, the flu-like symptoms give way to effects much more serious: most addicts experience hot flashes, difficulties focusing, and extreme discomfort from erratic blood pressure and heart rate levels.
Three days after the last drink, the brain's neurotransmitter levels can be at their most erratic. The symptoms tend to mirror the turmoil in the brain. You may experience extreme agitation, seizures and convulsions, and a condition known as delirium tremens that involves disturbing hallucinations.
These withdrawal symptoms tend to be life-threatening in some patients, especially those with long histories of addiction to alcohol. Professional alcohol withdrawal treatment facilities exist for two reasons — to help protect the lives of those attempting to quit, and to provide the treatment and therapy needed to ensure that they succeed in the long-term in the attempt. Not many people who attempt to quit actually succeed in keeping the habit at bay for longer than a year.
Since alcohol withdrawal can be expensive to treat under medical supervision, many addicts do try to experiment with self-treatment. Often, they fall prey to hucksters on online addiction forums who peddle quack cures.
It's important to remember that withdrawal symptoms are more than just a hassle; they are life-threatening phenomena that occur in the brain. Studies point to a 5% mortality rate among those making DIY alcohol detoxification attempts. Professional care at an alcohol withdrawal treatment center is critical to safe and successful cessation of the habit. At our center for alcohol withdrawal in Nelsonville, our high success rates offer proof of the effectiveness of the medical treatment programs in Nelsonville.
To those who like the idea of quitting without resort to professional alcohol withdrawal treatment options, it's important to keep in mind the idea that quitting alcohol takes at least two steps — detoxification and therapy. Detoxification, the initial step that involves withdrawal symptoms, is the only part that one may even consider to try on one's own. The therapeutic part, if anything, is even more important than drug detox in Nelsonville.
Therapy involves seeking psychological and psychiatric care for help rebuilding healthy habits. Even when one does attempt detox at home, there is no way to avoid professional therapy. It makes sense, then, to go with professional care starting out.
If you aren't sure how alcohol addiction or alcohol rehab work, it's important to educate yourself. You should read up, and then talk to an expert. At our center for alcohol withdrawal in Nelsonville, our addiction experts educate patients and their families each day to help them better understand the right choices. We'd like it if you would call at (877) 804-1531.