The first step in recovering from alcohol addiction is getting it out of your body. This process is referred to as detoxification. There are several factors you need to know about alcohol detoxification. Continue reading to learn more about alcohol addiction in Lancaster, CA.
Alcohol addiction or alcoholism is a disease identified by overdependence on alcohol. It’s also referred to as alcohol use disorder. It involves a pattern of alcohol use and problems controlling your drinking and continuing drinking alcohol even after causing health problems. It also consists in experiencing withdrawal symptoms after rapidly stopping drinking or decreasing your consumption. Â
Alcohol addiction puts you at risk of alcohol-related health problems. It also involves binge drinking. Binge drinking means drinking five or more drinks within two hours if you’re a male. If you are a female, it means drinking at least four drinks within an hour.
Alcohol addiction can be mild, moderate, and severe based on the number of signs and symptoms that a person portrays. Some of these signs and symptoms include:
Heavy alcohol drinking can lead to several health problems. For instance, it might cause short-term effects such as memory loss, blackouts, and hangovers. It might also lead to long-term complications such as heart and brain damage, cancer, liver cirrhosis, and severe memory loss.Â
Heavy drinkers are at a high risk of dying from automobile accidents, suicides, and homicides. Alcohol addiction also harms your mental health. It can worsen existing conditions such as depression and anxiety or cause new problems such as severe memory loss.Â
Alcohol addiction doesn’t only affect the drinker. Spouses and children of the drinkers are at risk of suffering from sexual and physical abuse, neglect, and psychological problems. Women who drink alcohol during pregnancy risk miscarriage, having babies with low birth weight, and premature birth.
Alcohol detox or detoxification is a natural process. This process involves the removal of waste products and toxins associated with excessive or long-term alcohol consumption. It involves several methods, such as medication, medical observation, and counseling.Â
Alcohol detox is a preparatory step before a more comprehensive treatment process. It can be performed at inpatient and outpatient addiction facilities, but inpatient treatment is usually recommended for heavy users. This process usually involves three steps, including:
Alcohol withdrawal side effects are referred to as Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome. These are symptoms when someone physically dependent on alcohol reduces its consumption drastically or stops drinking. They include:
Alcohol’s effect on the body is complicated. However, two neurochemicals, Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glutamate contribute to the short-term alcohol effects. They also contribute to the development of withdrawal symptoms. GABA is the brain’s primary inhibitory chemical, while glutamate is the brain’s main excitatory chemical.Â
Once a person drinks an alcoholic beverage, its alcohol changes GABA’s receptor functioning and specific glutamate receptors. This shuts down the brain’s functioning, causing decreased anxiety and sedation.Â
The brain responds to the decreasing GABA amount by increasing glutamate levels. This adaptability function will continue as long as you consume alcohol. This is known as tolerance.Â
Suppose a person stops drinking alcohol or reduces their intake. This will disrupt the above brain activity, causing a hyper-arousal state that causes the range of withdrawal symptoms above. These symptoms can appear within several hours of your last drink.Â
The severity of withdrawal symptoms varies from one person to another. However, more than 80% of people with alcohol addiction experience these symptoms.
People struggling with alcohol addiction can choose between outpatient and residential alcohol rehabilitation. Residential alcohol rehab works as the better option due to its numerous advantages. Here are the benefits of residential alcohol rehab you should know about:
This is probably the most significant advantage of residential alcohol rehab. Residential treatment focuses on creating daily routines that will help you through your recovery. It also causes people struggling with alcohol addiction to trigger to encourage their disorder.Â
Alcohol detox comes with several symptoms. It may require medications to manage the complications associated with this process. Residential alcohol rehab offers the perfect environment for close monitoring during this crucial period. Medical staff can quickly adjust their medication based on the patient’s response.Â
After completing the alcohol detoxification process, patients in a residential alcohol rehab center will be in a recovery program. In this phase, medical staff members might use medications such as acamprosate, disulfiram, and naltrexone for long-term alcoholism treatment.Â
These medications have different effects on the patients. For instance, disulfiram causes discomfort when someone takes alcohol, while naltrexone minimizes alcohol’s impact on the body. Putting a person in an alcohol rehab center can make the process easier. Being in a controlled setting makes initiating these medications much easier and addressing their impact once they arise.
Alcohol detox involves several steps, including withdrawal. A residential alcohol rehab guarantees better results than outpatient facilities. The success of a residential alcohol rehab lies in the level of commitment, experience, and the environment it creates.Â
At Bellagio In The Desert Residential Treatment Center, we offer personal care to help you get through alcohol detox. If you need quality alcohol detox services in Lancaster, CA, we are here to help.Â
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