What is a Safe Alcohol Withdrawal Protocol to Follow?
What is the proper alcohol withdrawal protocol? Well the first thing you want to do is if you happen to get the shakes at all and have your hands shaking even a bit when you stop drinking, then you should probably get some medical attention for your problem. If it is really bad then you need to go to the emergency room because this is a life threatening condition. If you do not get the shakes at all then you might not need a detox protocol as badly but it is still a good idea to get into a treatment center if you can and let the medical staff there make that decision.
When you go into an alcohol treatment center or a detox unit, they will ask you how much you’ve been drinking and how often and when your last drink was and all of that information. Based on your answers to all of that, they will make a decision as to how to treat your withdrawal from alcohol.
In the old days they used to give sedative medications such as Valium or Librium in order to detox people from alcohol, but those medications are addictive and may not be necessary in most cases. Now they can use other medicines that have an anticonvulsant property and are not addictive. This medication will be given several times each day, usually 4 times, and then after a few days of this schedule they will taper you down off the medicine.
This is the standard protocol for alcohol detox in treatment centers these days. They give you medicine that helps prevents shaking and seizures and try to keep you hydrated, fed, and well rested. That is pretty much it in a nutshell.
photo credit: swanksalot
Now while you are in detox and coming out of your withdrawal, they may or may not encourage you to go to residential treatment and start attending groups and such. This is probably a good idea for most anyone who is seriously interested in quitting drinking, because they will need to learn some things about how to live a sober life when they get out of rehab if they are going to have any chance at sobriety. The fact is that most people relapse very shortly after leaving detox, so it is in your best interest to learn as much as you can about a program of recovery while you are in rehab.
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{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
It would be a good idea to point people straight to the er for AC. Withdrawal. I’ve. Seen. A lot of. People get seriously injured or died from not getting. Proper help. In. Time because they were at the wrong place far from help.