Alcohol Detox at Home How to Detox from Alcohol Safely

If you feel comfortable doing so, discuss your challenges with your primary healthcare professional. Finding a therapist can also be a great starting point if you’re uncomfortable opening up to your healthcare professional. Exploring, in writing, what you find difficult and when you most want to drink can help you notice patterns that offer more insight into your alcohol use.

In addition to feeling less anxious and having better digestion, you may notice bigger changes a few months into sobriety. For instance, your doctor might find that your heart and liver are in better shape, or your skin may have a certain new glow. It’s common for the first symptoms to appear within a few hours after your last drink. Intensive outpatient treatment involves a scheduled series of visits that are longer and more in-depth than a traditional outpatient program. You may do this after partial hospitalization, detox, or residential rehab.

Many people attempt to self-detox at some point, and it’s often a string of failed attempts of self-detoxing that lead an individual to enter rehab in the first place. That’s not to say, however, that people haven’t successfully self-detoxed from alcohol on their own. Detoxing from alcohol at home is not universally recommended due to varying levels of safety for different people. The withdrawal process can be dangerous, and its symptoms vary depending on the severity of alcohol use. Within just a month of not drinking, your body can begin to reap the benefits. Your liver can start to heal, your risks of heart disease and cancer go down, and you may begin to sleep better.

Dr. Streem says that if your goal is to stop drinking altogether, you’re more likely to have success quitting all at once, rather than weaning off alcohol. But that advice changes if what to look for in a substance abuse counselor you’re living with alcohol use disorder. Typically, alcohol withdrawal symptoms happen for heavier drinkers. Alcohol withdrawal can begin within hours of ending a drinking session.

  1. Normally, we would recommend getting professional support before you try to cut down your drinking.
  2. If you taper off alcohol slowly or with medical supervision, the brain has time to adapt without causing severe side effects.
  3. At-home alcohol detox is especially dangerous for people with alcohol use disorder (AUD).
  4. Multiple factors can affect how long it may take you to withdraw from alcohol.
  5. Maybe you don’t think you depend on alcohol exactly, but you still wonder whether you might be drinking too much.

It’s important to find the strategies and techniques that resonate with you and support your individual needs and goals. Remember to listen to your body and give yourself permission to rest when needed. Taking breaks and engaging in self-care activities can help you navigate the detox process with more ease and resilience. AddictionResource aims to present the most accurate, trustworthy, and up-to-date medical content to our readers. Our team does their best for our readers to help them stay informed about vital healthcare decisions.

Download our comprehensive eBook now for insights, strategies, and real-life stories to guide your journey to recovery. Calls to our general hotline may be answered by private treatment providers. We may be paid a fee for marketing or advertising by organizations that can assist with treating people with substance use disorders. There are several pros and cons to detoxing at home for alcohol dependence. Once you can start eating again, it’s important to focus on eating a healthy diet.

What Is Alcohol Detox?

This may be helpful for combating withdrawal symptoms such as stomach upset and feelings of fatigue. Benzodiazepines (tranquilizers) are the main treatment for symptoms of withdrawal, like the shakes, and are also key to preventing serious complications such as delirium tremens (DTs). If you are experiencing symptoms of delirium tremens (DT), contact emergency services immediately. Symptoms of DT include confusion, changes in blood pressure, excessive sweating, fever, hallucinations, and seizures. If attending a service isn’t possible, perhaps because you are isolating, you can use this advice on safely detoxing from alcohol at home. In addition to the sober individuals, many people among the remaining two-thirds are also drinking less and experiencing fewer alcohol-related health problems after one year.

All the same, “a quick drink” often turns into three or four drinks. When you’re having a good time, you find it hard to stop, especially in the company of friends having the same amount. To stop drinking alcohol, you first need to understand your relationship with drinking.

Making the Decision to Detox

These goals can serve as a roadmap for your recovery journey and provide you with a sense of purpose and direction. Online support groups provide a valuable platform for individuals going through alcohol detox. These groups offer a safe and anonymous space to connect with others who how to identify meth are on a similar journey. By sharing experiences, offering advice, and providing encouragement, online support groups can be an essential source of motivation and understanding. In addition to medical interventions, it’s important to focus on self-care during the detox process.

Symptoms timeline

That said, If you’ve been drinking excessively, then stopping drinking cold turkey can lead to withdrawal symptoms. 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. “For psychologists, many of them are addiction-informed, and in their advertisements or on their websites they will mention that specifically,” Dr. Lembke said. To get started, try searching a directory like Psychology Today or Inclusive Therapists, both of which have filters you can use to look for specific support around substance use.

You’re more likely to stick with a detox program when you have lots of help. When the alcohol level suddenly drops, your brain stays in this keyed up state. By Buddy TBuddy T is a writer and founding member of the Online Al-Anon Outreach Committee with decades of experience writing about alcoholism. Because he is a member of a support group that stresses the importance of anonymity at the public level, he does not use his photograph or his real name on this website. When you are drinking less than 10 units a day, you can try to stop drinking altogether.

The person should aim to plan his goals and identify the triggers. This will help him create strategies and identify the support system to whom he can turn for help. The risks of alcohol detox at home far outweigh the benefits for several reasons. Daily drinking can have serious consequences for a person’s health, both in the short- and long-term. Many of the effects of drinking every day can be reversed through early intervention. Alcohol withdrawal causes a variety of different symptoms including fatigue, anxiety, depression, loss of appetite, nausea, and vomiting.

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