how long do alcohol withdrawal symptoms last?

Hi Day16. Day15 (well, now day 19) here again. It is a great comfort to me, just knowing that there are others out there who are going through the same thing that I am. I was in denial for a long time, and made a lot of excuses to myself, but now that I have experienced this, I can honestly say that I am "scared straight". I have never experienced something like this before, and it was so frightening and uncomfortable that for now I am afraid to take so much as a sip of alcohol because I'm afraid it'll send me back into withdrawal-land.

As I said, I'm on day 19 now, and this is the first day that can say I felt GREAT, almost back to my baseline "old self". It helped a lot that it was a beautiful day with cool temperatures and blue skies, I drove to work this morning with the windows down and feeling happy that this thing seems to be finally winding down.

The past few weeks have been really awful... it is bad enough going through this, but to have to go to work and do your job and smile and pretend everything's okay when inside you feel like you're having an out-of-body experience or about to seize... ugh. Never want to go there again.

I do plan on returning to a "normal relationship with alcohol" (the "occasional beer") and feel confident that I can do so without backsliding into my old habits of abusing hard liquor. I don't think I'll wait as long as you, maybe a good solid month or two of abstinence.

Thanks to all who have shared your experiences and stories... this is a great thread and good support for someone like me, going through this for the first (and hopefully last) time.

Hey Day 19 (now 21), I was wondering how you've been feeling the last few days? Have you had any more withdrawl symptoms? I'm trying to gage my symptoms through yours since your a few days ahead of me. Monday I felt GREAT!! Tons of energy, slept great, felt like my old self. Then Tues and today feel like sh*t!! Tired, stomachache, headache, ect. Do you feel your out of the woods? I'm on day 18 and really hoping to feel fantastic like you did on day 19.

Well, I'm at Day 21 now and had another good day today. Each day at this point gets progressively better. I still have setbacks, still experience occasional bouts of mild dizziness/lightheadedness, usually in the mornings. Once I'm though lunch though, I'm usually golden 'till the next day. But at this point my symptoms are very mild, very manageable, and seem to be diminishing day by day. The first week or so, I felt like I wanted to crawl out of my skin. I feel happy and relieved now because I am seeing the light at the end of this dark tunnel. I've lost about 8 pounds but I imagine I'll gain it back, because the appetite has returned with a vengeance!

Hang in there! It gets better!

Hi. I wrote above on 7/20, and tomorrow will be 8 weeks without a drink for me. For the first month, I had to take a 2 hour nap just about every day, and just felt tired a lot of the time, but this past month the fatigue has pretty much gone away. The first 10 days were the worst, and now I'll go a few days before I even realized that I haven't had a thought about having a drink, and I haven't had any strong type cravings in well over a month. In the back of my mind, I tell myself that it will be OK to have a drink every once in a while, such as when a friend comes into town and we go out, but I know that I never would, as I would just feel too guilty the next day to ever do it. I never talk to my drinking buddies about my having quit, as I used to hate to listen to reformed alcoholics, but a couple of them have actually opened up and told me that they would like to quit as well, which kind of surprised me. I've always been an active person, and could never understand how I could be even a little overweight, and have finally realized that it was the alcohol. By not drinking and working out about an hour a day, my reward has been dropping almost 25pds, and actually feeling good, and not worrying about what the effects of drinking are doing on my body. Hope this helps, and good luck to everybody.

Hi again; I wrote on 9/3 (was at Day 21) and I may have spoken too soon. It appears I am not out of the weeds yet. I took a chance over the weekend at a neighbor's cookout and had one beer. The next day I felt fine most of the morning, but then had a wave of panic/anxiety that started in late afternoon and tapered off into the evening.

Then last night I was on an overnight international flight for business and there was "complimentary beer and wine" with dinner. I had been feeling pretty good all day so I again took a chance and had one beer, hoping it would help me sleep throught the night on the plane. Well, I hardly slept at all but otherwise felt okay, just tired (and cramped, from trying to sleep in coach!). Arrived at my destination today, got checked into my hotel, showered and got cleaned up just fine.

Then I got to my business meeting and that clammy feeling of panic/anxiety welled up on me again. At one point I felt like I needed to get up and leave the table but I muscled my way through it.

I don't know if the symptoms I felt over the weekend and today were due to drinking one beer the night before, or just the regular withdrawal working itself out, or being jet-lagged or exhausted from not sleeping on the flight, (or a combination of all of the above), but I am staying away from alcohol for a while longer than I had planned.

I am beginning to wonder if these episodes are the Post Acute Withdrawal Syndrome (PAWS) that others have described on this thread. I am at almost four weeks now since my last heavy binge, and I have only had those two single beers (on separate occasions) since then, within the past week. You would think the withdrawal symptoms would be done by now...?

Anyone have any experiences to share that might shed some light on my situation? I am out of the country on this trip for ten more days. If I am still feeling this way when I get home, time to get to my doctor because I am beginning to worry that there is something else more seriously wrong with me. :-(

My 82-year-old mother will have been 21 days alcohol/pain pill free as of tomorrow. She went to a detox center on 8/19, but had to be sent to the emergency room by Friday morning, 8/21, because her atrial fibrillation got way out of whack. She was in the hospital for 12 days and was then dishcarged to a skilled nursing facility to handle the a-fib and the continuing withdrawal symptoms. She's very hostile, paranoid, doesn't sleep, and keeps asking her "sitters" to pour her a little Tequila. She has "sitters" because she cannot be left alone at this time. She will be going back to the detox center to continue her 30-days, in-house treatment once she has a clearance from the cardiologist. Her drugs were Vodka and Methadone (for back pain.) Of course, with or without the drugs, her back always hurt.

I was glad to read about the AWS and PAWS. This is great information to know that a person is on the road to recovery even if he/she doesn't feel like it.

Thanks.

Well I'm on 25 days now, and just want to say I feel GREAT!! I feel so alive and healthy!! I don't miss drinking one bit!! We went to the coast this last Labor Day weekend and let me tell you, it is such a different feeling to be among drunks and not drinking. It's very annoying to watch and hear people carry on after a few drinks. I kept thinking to myself, how sad that I was one of them for so long. So glad I found the light to pull myself out. When folks on here say that the first 3 weeks are hell, they aren't kidding!! It is, but don't give up. There is a new you just waiting to see the rewards of sobriety. I have done things in just the last week alone that I haven't been able to do in probably 3 years, like go out without panic attacks or that paranoid feeling.

I still have somewhat of a problem sleeping, but the overall rewards are wonderful!! Best of luck everyone on this journey!!

Hi 9/3 aka 21 days. Well, my personal opinion would be that you didn't give your brain long enough to be off the acholol. I think that when we stop the booze our brains are screaming for more. And when you feed it just a little it goes back into the mode of more more more. The natural epinepherine our brains produce gets overactive causing the panic attacks. I will be on 30 days tomorrow and haven't had a panic attack in over a week which is such a wonderful experience. There is life without panic attacks I am gladly learning.

Best of luck to you on this journey, are you still having the panick attacks?

Hi, I have been drinking hard (8+ beers to +1/2 of a fifth a night? rough estimate) for about a year. I am twenty two and I want to stop. However, I'm in school right now. I can't really stop going to class for a week. Are the symptoms of withdrawal so severe it would render me useless? Like...could I go to class and just sit there or would that be impossible?

Thanks for the advice. Feels like I'm finally starting to feel better, took until the 4-5 week mark to start feeling good again. Back from my biz trip now and feeling okay. Went to an Oktoberfest last night and drank two beers. Felt ok today, just tired and a bit groggy. I am really hoping the panic attacks and anxiety are behind me now.

Short answer is, "it depends". People's withdrawal symptoms vary widely - from severe shakes, hallucinations and convulsions (these are the DT's or "delerium tremens") to very mild discomfort to no symptoms at all. It all depends on your body's ability to handle alcohol and how physically dependent you've become. You're young, and have been abusing for a relatively short time (about a year, you said) so your metabolism might have been able to handle all the alcohol you've thrown at it without becoming too dependent.



Unfortunately, there's no way to predict how bad your symptoms will be (provided that you even have them), until you actually stop drinking. I would advise you to see your doctor and be honest about your consumption before quitting, but few alcoholics take that advice (myself included). As others have said, withdrawal can be dangerous (you can have seizures), and doctors can prescribe meds to help with the symptoms. If you decide to try to go it alone, be very careful (for the first week or so especially), and if you feel yourself spinning into some uncomfortable territory, get to a doctor ASAP.



Best of luck to you.

Need HELP..My boyfriend quit drinking just about a month ago and he is going to group etc. organized thru his job. We didn't think he had as big of a problem but evidently does and showed signs of dependancy.. We have been together for over 3 years and living together for the pasdt 3-4 months..We were happy in love, having normal relationship issues occasionally (bickering etc.) nothign crazy we're pretty calm people. The problem I am having is that I want to be there for him to get through this as he gets occasional headaches, craves sweets (and is not a junk food person), irritable, not smiling anymore etc. We merged our families to be a family and I am not sure what has happened. just before he quit he'd always do little things to let me know he cared (like make my morning coffee etc) we just got a puppy for the kids and I thought we were doing great. All of a sudden within 2-3 weeks of not drinking he wants to be alone and says he feels numb inside and has little to no feeling anymore..we were so in love and I moved my son and myself in with him away from all of his friends so that we could all be happy together..I am so scared that he doens't love me anymore..not sure what happened or how to help..do I go away, do I leave for good. it's not a great feeling when all of a sudden your partner wakes up and can't tell you that he loves you anymore or that if he wants the family you both worked so hard to build. Has anyone gone through this? I need advise. I don't know who to talk to but it brings tears to my eyes and i feel empty myself feeling like I am loosing him over this battle. All I want to do is support him but dont' know if I should give him space..his social worker thru work advised that if I was willing to leave for a week it could be beneficial? I packed myself and my son and the dog up and was going but it's soo much and I don't want to put my son thru this, i want him to have some stability to! The social worker said that if I was willing to go and it wasn't inconvenient (how could it not be?!) that it would give him a chance to think and miss me, miss the family. So confused, gosh 3-4 weeks ago he was saying how happy he was and how great it felt to finally have someone love him as much as he loved them. Any advice is welcome, i'm lost..

thanks for listening..

Guest wrote:

Guest wrote:

9 days sober now, still feel really strange, can't sleep at nights, feel depressed, dizzy, slightly nauseous at times, loss of appetite, weak. I started eating vitamins and lots of fruit and fish and exercise every day to try to help my body along, don't know how bad I would have felt without doing these things. Haven't told my family that I have drinking problems.

Hope you're doing better now. I'm on day 7, though I've had a few beers each day to cope. I was drinking tequila almost everyday for at least two years, so I was hoping the beer would be like the patch. I'm cutting that back as well, though.

I came here looking to see if my symptoms were from withdrawal, and it appears they are. I'm incredibly anxious, depressed, nauseous, achy, etc. And it didn't get this bad until about day 5.

My family doesn't know either. I don't have insurance, so I'm here looking for ways to cope with the continued withdrawal. This is scary, but I have to stay on course.

Hey I have been to the bottom. Get out and go for a walk when you feel the worst. I works!!!!!.
Good luck all xoxxoxox

hi,
im undergoing treatment right now for sever w/d from alcohol. im 23 in the military and they have me on high doses of naltrexone and lorazepam. im not to found of either and feel that im just trading one empty feeling for another. is there a better way? i was a heavy drinker, it helped me cope with stress at work and stress in life. is there a more natural way to avoid the night sweats, the tremors, the seizures, the hot and cold flashes. if anyone could give me a little more incite it would be most appreciated. it seems the only thing that actually helps take my mind off of things is to go skateboarding...

my father died from the complications of abusing acohol at the age of 55, too young and very sad. i am a definate candidate and have gene. i have been drinking way to much for at least seven years, approximately a 1.75 liter bottle of vodka for every two to three days.
for no reason other than the obvious i decided one week ago to quit drinking all together and i made a contract with a very important person in my life, my girlfriend, who holds me very strictly to things. from day one i had major back pain in the lower back, shoulder pain and overall body aches, mainly at night and very bad too. i had the fog in my head from day one also, and it worsened at night.

i never had one shake at all and did the tests daily and went by the admission test sequence that are used in house, no dt's, no tremors or blackouts and no other serious side affects but the ones that i had were bad enough, felt like total c**p for the past week and to boot i think i had a bit of the flu in there too, it was miserable and i dont want it again. my craving was not for the actual taste of the booze at night, it was for the something to put in my hand and keeping my hand busy, i wont lie and say it wouldnt have been nice to have a stiff drink watching tv but my being without was more of the habit and the routine of things and certainly not to deny i can drink one after the other at almost any given time. i feel great this morning, the fog and the ringing in my ears are gone and i felt full of energy for the first time and that was preceded by the fact that last night i had almost zero back and body pain which was a nice break. it is rough and it can be done but it is worth it. i have read every blog on the net and with a serious look at each one, there are many motivational stories out there and the end of it is always it can be done, hang in there, think about why you are doing it or not doing it and take a look at someone you love very much and think about what you have missed or where you have gone wrong with them and how you know that booze cannot help you with it, but being without is the best possible thing.

i have kept my motto with this simple this time, i ask myself daily "why do i have to drink" "what is necessary about drinking that i need it" "what is my purpose in drinking" it is working for me, being totally honest with my girlfriend about what i want out of this is a huge part as well, my contract is firm with her, and i will live by it. if i cannot be without until feb 15 for a re-evaluaiton (which will be no drinking) i am going to the local military base treament center and going at it again, i am confident and feel great, becuase i know at the end of the day it is all about me having the will to quit, with all the outside help pushing me along. good luck to all