The very first thing that you need to know is that, if you have a serious problem with alcohol and display the withdrawal symptoms described on the 'effects' page, it is dangerous for you to simply stop drinking.
Earlier on the site the phrase "Why don't you just stop ?" was quoted. Many, if not all, drinkers will have heard this at some point. Well here is the reason.
Remember, this is not an EXCUSE, it is a REASON and an important one.
The brain controls all of our bodily functions, heartbeat, breathing, muscle coordination, the senses, bowel and bladder control and many more besides. After a period of usage the body chemistry changes (there are many sites on the net by professionals where you can find the specifics of this) and the brain gets used to functioning with a certain level of alcohol in the bloodstream. When you take away that level of alcohol, the brain, which has been previously depressed, 'wakes up' ! Neural links start to fire up again and all sorts of things happen biologically as a result, in effect the brain gets overloaded as the body adapts to living without alcohol.
Sympoms of withdrawal for the occasional drinker after a heavy night will most likely amount to mild nausea, headache, dehydration, hunger and the 'washed out' feeling known as hangover. These symptoms go away within hours after a period of rest, rehydration and replacing body minerals.
However, for the alcoholic the symptoms are a lot worse and can carry a very real risk of coma and/or fatality through respiratory failure, heart attack and other causes.
The author is NOT a qualified GP or Alcohol Counsellor and therefore is unable to diagnose the level of alcoholism of any individual within these pages and incapable of predicting any potential withdrawal symptoms.
If you feel that you need to be assessed...in the first instance go to your GP.. He/she may then decide to refer you to a specialist who will be able to advise you on a suitable course of action.
UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES ATTEMPT TO STOP DRINKING OR GO 'COLD TURKEY' WITHOUT FIRST SEEKING AND SECURING PROFESSIONAL ADVICE !
Symptoms of withdrawal for the alcoholic become noticeable within a few hours after the last drink and include : dehydration, tremors (The Shakes or DTs, Delirium Tremens), sweating, nausea, retching, incoordination, nervousness, anxiety, irritability, palpitations..
As more of the alcohol is expelled the symptoms may progress to vomiting, dizziness, fainting, aural and visual disturbances (hallucinations), crawling (where the skin feels as though insects are crawling across it, indeed in severe cases the drinker can become convinced they can 'see' the insects and more commonly spiders!), blackouts, fever and agitation.
In the most extreme cases the body can fit, convulse, slip into coma where there is a risk of choking on vomit and at the top end of the scale die.
Not a pretty picture is it ? And, whilst the author will tread carefully here, it explains why having another drink or 'hair of the dog' stabilises these symptoms and allows the brain to function back at it's 'normal' level of alcohol saturation.
Research shows alcoholism is indeed connected to genetics...More men than women are alcohol dependent...Alcohol problems are more common between the ages of 18-30...Most alcoholics are unable to 'cut-down' and gradually stop drinking...Alcohol is involved in nearly 50% of driving fatalities in the US and 5% in Britain...Americans spend over $ 90billion per year on alcohol...In the UK 1 in 4 acute male hospital admissions are related to drinking...33,000 deaths in England and Wales per year are alcohol related...36% of PEDESTRIANS killed in road accidents are over the legal drink-driving limit...alcohol is the by-product of yeast consuming sugar and is called ethanol...Moderate alcohol use may reduce the risk of dementia in later life...If your liver ceased to function you would die within 24 hours...Mixing alcohol with other drugs is extremely dangerous...In the UK it is illegal to drink under the age of 18, the only exception being if you are 16 or above and having a meal in restaurant...The legal drinking age in the US is 21, in China there is no minimum !...The world's oldest known recipe is for beer...Drinking coffee will not sober you up, only time can do that...The country with the highest consumption of alcohol per capita is Portugal.
