how long do alcohol withdrawal symptoms last?

Sounds like me. I drink (drank, hopefully) approx. 4-6 drinks every night, unless I have a deathly bad hangover. Usually 4 shooters of vodka, and then a 22 oz. of beer. All-day drink fests with blackouts on weekends. Sometimes mixed alcohol with a benzo. Bad liver enzymes. This has been going on for 5 years. Before that my drinking was limited to binging to blackout on the weekends. That had started at approx. age 17. I'm 34. So basically I have been a drunkard version of myself for 50% of my life.

Yesterday I had 'only' 1 beer with dinner. That was approx. 24 hours after drinking to the point of blackout (~8) the day before. Withdrawal started at around 12:00 a.m. (midnight). Sweaty, dizzy, poor body temperature control, insomnia (5mg of ambien eventually knocked me out at 3:30), weird thoughts, trembling hands, restless legs, feeling in brain like it's clogged with water, mild auditory hallucinations (e.g., when my cat pushed his bowl across the tile kitchen floor, the normal scratching noise was accompanied by a high pitched bell that lasted for 15 seconds), substantial confusion and difficulty arranging words into sentences, irregular heartbeat, fluctuating blood pressure, anxiety to the point of panic, numb/tingling hands. The 'peak' of this sensation lasted approx. 1-2 hours.

I was convinced I had suffered a mild delirium tremens, based on what I was feverishly reading online. That "convincing," of course, was during this heightened anxiety and panic, so my brain very well could have been magnifying things. But still, those are surely symptoms of alcohol withdrawal.

What's interesting is that I actually had a beer that night with dinner. I'm assuming that my one beer, albeit not zero, versus my normal 4-6 drinks per night routine, caused my brain to experience hyper-excitement, which is the neurological cause of alcohol withdrawal (with the persistent depressant effects of alcohol removed, or substantially diminished, the neurotransmitter over-compensation that has built up over time is not being dampened, causing it to be flooded with 'electrical' activity). Given that I had mild to moderate alcohol symptoms (and perhaps a mild DT) even WITH that one beer, I wonder if it's wise and safe to try to go without any drinks at all today.

You are an excellent writer. Have you thought about blogging?

i have been drinking -- hard -- for 42 years. Near daily. The last few years have gotten very bad: like 12-18 drinks a day and interspersed with heavy binges on vacations, weekends, sporting and other events. I've tried to more times then I can count -- all failures. Im coming off months of daily use and my latest week-long heavy binge and have tried to quit. I'm nearly 57 years old, have a cardiac history, but am otherwise in decent shape -- people would hardly finger me for being a daily abuser, judging by appearance... Im at 72 hours now and have experienced all of the "normal" symptoms of mild and moderate
withdrawal. but I'm deathly afraid now from all I've read about what can happen 72hours+ through the next few weeks. At present I still have higher BP, body and headaches, lethargy, insomnia, anxiety, depression and mood swings.

Just go to the pub and get bolloxed

Hello tapering drunks, I have had a serious problem with hard drugs and alcohol, and although I really liked the idea of tapering because it always appeared easier than just going cold turkey, in the end looking back I feel like all that tapering ever did for me was prolong my misery. I have successfully tapered off alcohol, I have done so many times. But I always ended up having to do so again, and again, and again.. so how successful was it?

Hospital's will help you if you need medication for alcohol withdrawal, (they will not for opiates but real actual alcohol withdrawal is treated with an IV of fluids, vitamins, and ativan or librium). Call your primary care provider or go to the emergency room, and tell them the truth. I have done this many times as well.

Once you have successfully detoxed and if you are an alcoholic of my variety, now comes the real work. Staying sober, aka not drinking again. This is what recovery is all about, and for me and many others I've spoken with, I truly had to have a spiritual awakening in order to do this. There are many ways to achieve this, but the most common is to seek help out of desperation by working a program of recovery and living a radically lifestyle. 12 step programs like aa can be of great benefit, also excercize daily. Sex is great too. Sex is one of many great things in life that can remind you how good it can feel to be alive and healthy and sober.

Everyone has their own journey and I wish all of you the best.....

My husband has the same problem with alcohol. At first, I even didn't understand what a big problem it was. But now I don't know what to do with him. I've tried almost everything to overcame this addiction. I decided to send him to one of the rehabs for men that I found on ***this post is edited by moderator *** *** posting of web addresses is not allowed*** Please read our Terms of Use. Could you tell me how long can his recovering last and something about alcohol withdrawal symptoms?

Alcohol is a serious thing, after six months of rehabilitation I just started to return to real life!

I understand exactly how you feel. I quit once for two years and I didn't go through what I'm going through now. I'm nauseous when I try to eat and that scares me because I was told two weeks ago from my Dr. that my liver alt number is 86 and I quit two weeks ago and I haven't told my family.

Alcohol withdrawal symptoms normally last for about 2 weeks

I have been drinking on average about a litre of spirits a day for the past ten years have lost my wife my kids wont talk to me lost all my friends i need to stop just dont know where to start