—Please Do Not Try to Stop Drinking on Your Own—
Alcohol withdrawal is one of the few withdrawal syndromes that can be life threatening. The degree of the symptoms depends on the amount and frequency of use.
Some of the symptoms that can occur are:
• autonomic hyperactivity
• sweating
• pulse rate at 100 or more
Other symptoms include:
• increased hand tremors
• nausea and vomiting
• psychomotor agitation
• anxiety
• grandmal seizures (involving spasms and loss of consciousness)
• Transient visual, tactile, and auditory hallucinations or illusions also are also common.
It is considered Alcohol Withdraw Syndrome if you have two or more of the above symptoms. Any patient manifesting these symptoms should be appropriately medicated with a gradual withdrawal of the medication to prevent medical complications from the withdrawal. This should not be attempted by a layman, but by a physician knowledgeable in the alcohol withdrawal syndrome.
—Lloyd Gordon, MD
Fellow of American Society of Addiction
