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Suffering from alcohol addiction or know a loved one who is? Here we go into detail about detoxing from home, what alcohol withdrawal is and the tools you can use to treat alcohol addiction from home.
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- Detoxing From Alcohol At Home
Alcohol rehab is used for patients who need support for their alcohol addiction. As you develop a tolerance and dependence on alcohol, you may notice that all you think about is how you’re going to drink and the level of units you want to indulge in.
You will notice that some addictions are more prevalent than others, but can everyone use the same techniques, treatment options, and environments to treat alcohol use disorder?
Before you or a loved one decides whether you need a full alcohol rehab plan with medical professionals, it is worth understanding what alcohol withdrawal is, the symptoms you can expect and what tools you can use to detox safely from home.
What Is Alcohol Withdrawal?
As the pursuit of alcohol grows and you begin to notice (or are oblivious) to an alcohol use disorder, you may, unfortunately, begin to see some drastic withdrawal symptoms during the time when you’re away from drinking alcohol.
Whether you drink on a frequent basis, abuse units of alcohol (or both), the rise in need for alcohol can cause physical and psychological withdrawal symptoms that can become uncomfortable. Ultimately, if you have a physical dependence on alcohol, you will experience withdrawal symptoms when you stop drinking.
When you drink excessively and consistently, these withdrawal symptoms will begin to become more prominent and challenging to deal with. The main cause for withdrawal symptoms is due to the chemical reactions that occur in your brain when you’re not drinking alcohol.
As you drink or abuse alcohol, your neurotransmitter GABA will be altered – adding to the excitability and influence of your central nervous system functions. Additionally, once you begin to drink alcohol, you will feel at ease – because of the shift and drop in glutamine levels.
Both of these combined will lead to a relaxed, but an exciting feeling which can become extremely addictive.
However, over time, you will begin to notice that drinking the same amount as you used to will not feel as good as it once did. This is when tolerance and alcohol dependence increase, making alcohol withdrawals harder to deal with over time.
Overall, because your neurotransmitters are not experiencing the same response that alcohol results in – it will be difficult to deal without these changes that alcohol causes in your neurotransmitters – leading to unpleasant withdrawals.
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Alcohol Withdrawal Symptoms Explained
- Headache
- Similar symptoms to the flu
- Differ in appetite
- Opposing mood swings
- Cravings for alcohol
- Anxiety and depression
- Irritated by small occurrences
What is an Alcohol Detox?
In regards to the question ‘what is an alcohol detox?’, it is where you completely discard alcohol from your daily schedule, cleansing your body of the substance.
Drinking excessive amounts frequently is something that ends during this process – meaning your body will be disposed of any alcohol still in your system.
Nonetheless, you can either detox in stages with minimal decreases in alcohol intake, or you can completely remove it (cold turkey) from your life. We would recommend you do it in small increments, as it can be tough on your body and unsustainable if you remove it immediately.
You can either endure an inpatient detox from alcohol which would consist of visiting a rehab centre to get medically assessed. Medically assisted inpatient detoxification is typically carried out if the addiction is a serious problem in the person’s life.
Whereas, the other type of detoxification (outpatient detox at home) can primarily take place at your home with only sporadic or regular appearances at your local rehab clinic. This will generally take place with people in a less intense addiction phase, so they can be trusted more at home.
The detox stage will take anyone from 3-10 days in total to complete, varying from each individual. However, there have been cases where it will take longer than 10 days – due to the extremity of the alcohol addiction.
Therefore, the detox procedure will not be a long-term burden – thus, if you’re looking to remove alcohol from your life and become alcohol or drug-free – detoxification is paramount in the beginning.
Guide to Alcohol Detox at Home: Safe Outpatient Treatment
Having all the resources given to you by your local rehab centre is the next stage if you’re going to carry out a safe detox at home. Of course, you can choose a medical detox in an inpatient environment but for those who could be eligible for an alcohol detox at home – here is what you will need to do.
If you’re eligible for a home detox kit via the questionnaire that we supply you with, you will be able to detox from home by yourself with our resources.
Taking it steady, rather than completing your detox ‘cold turkey’ is what our expert team would recommend making it easier and sustainable for you.For example, if you’re detoxing alone and have been provided with a home detox kit – we would suggest that you decrease your alcohol intake by 10% each day during the detox phase. However, if you’re finding the withdrawal symptoms to be prominent – reduce this percentage down to something more comfortable.
Patients often thrive at home by diminishing their alcohol use by 5-7% each day. Although this will take longer than a 10% decrease, you may react better to this solution – giving you a better chance of staying sober after detoxification.
Nevertheless, if you’re suffering from a serious addiction, at Rehab Centres UK, we would advocate that you choose a medical detox (inpatient treatment) – as it will present you with a safe and professional space to deal with the potential intolerable withdrawal symptoms.
Yet, if someone were to detox, it will only eliminate the alcohol or drugs out of their system – instead of focusing on the mental and behavioural traits that the patient may have developed over time.
Hence, other stages of rehab such as addiction therapy and aftercare should be additional recovery options that a patient receives – in order to aid and target that particular area.
Therefore, if you’re struggling with alcohol addiction, do not hesitate to reach out for support, as we’re here to give you the help you deserve, today!