Alcohol Detox Withdrawal Medications

According to Dr. Norman S. Miller of the University of Illinois College of Medicine and Dr. Mark S. Gold of the University of Florida Brain Institute, among other doctors and research scientists, openly assert that taking pharmaceutical drugs are good for people who cannot seem to maintain sobriety and go into alcohol detox, as their withdrawal symptoms will undoubtedly become life-threatening and severe. By using the specific medications in proper doses as instructed or administered by a licensed medical professional, brain damage or seizures are less likely with severe cases of withdrawal.

Benzodiazepines

• The drugs that have been found to be most effective at subduing these withdrawal symptoms are benzodiazepines. Marketed as Librium and Valium, these drugs comes in longer-lasting and shorter-lasting forms, depending on the patient they are being administered upon. The aforementioned drugs are longer lasting, while Ativan and Serax are shorter lasting. These drugs, like most, are prone to abuse, so distribution to a recovering alcoholic should be monitored closely.

Antabuse

• Once the withdrawal symptoms have subsided considerably but doctors still believe the recovering individual will drink again and needs to be taking drugs for the problem, Antabuse can be prescribed to help keep alcoholics from returning to the bottle. When taken consistently, Antabuse makes an alcoholic sick if he drinks again, causing nausea, dizziness and vomiting if any alcohol is consumed. However, the drug must be taken regularly for this to happen, meaning the recovering individual must want to get better.

Naltrexone

• Another drug that deters alcoholics from drinking again is Naltrexone, but this drug works in a far different manner. The drug effectively targets the brain's reward neurons and reduces the craving the alcoholic has for alcohol in general. However this is not always effective, and the drug must be taken consistently by the recovering individual under doctor's orders.