How to Withdraw from Alcohol

Anyone who has had a hangover has experienced a degree of alcohol withdrawal. True withdrawal however, is much more serious and requires medical attention. Here is how to withdraw from long term or heavy alcohol use.

Things You'll Need

• Valium (diazepam) or Librium (chlordizepoxide) or rarely other benzodiazepines though they are not as effective.
• Vitamin B, specifically Thiamin
• Multivitamin
• Electrolyte drink
• Rest

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Instructions

• 1

  If you or someone you know has an alcohol problem you know it is excruciatingly hard to deal with. To not lecture I will not get into how counterproductive it is to nag, shame, guilt or otherwise degrade an alcoholic; trust me they do enough of that themselves. You need not remind them of their actions during this fragile period either.

  The first step for a true withdrawal of long-term or heavy "bender" drinking is to chemically detox the person.

• 2

  In order to achieve this I prefer to use diazepam (Valium). The first step is for the alcoholic to stop drinking and get rid of all the alcohol. With the diazepam you should give what is called a "loading dose". This is a dose that is enough to make the alcoholic feel comfortable.

  When I say comfortable I do not mean snug in a bed with tv and a warm cup of tea feeling fuzzy and nice. Even comfortable under this circumstance is NOT comfortable, but rather tolerable. The person will have shakes, tremor, feel like they are "rattling" on the inside and be clammy and sweaty. They will also likely have days of insomnia ahead of them, even with massive amounts of benzodiazepines.

  Once a loading dose is established (this can be as high as a COUPLE of HUNDRED mg of diazepam (despite common medical usage which dictates suffering to be part of the "process". At best the person will be sedated. From the loading dose then give 10mg-20mg every 2 hours as necessary for 24 hours, even at night as waking will be common.

  On day two you should now be using 5-10mg every 2-4 hours as needed. This will slowly go down to 5mg every 6 hours after day two and through day four.

  Equivalent dosages of Librium can be substituted for withdrawal.

• 3

  The last step which is very important is to hydrate the person. Gatorade is a great source of electrolyte replacement. Vitamin B, Thiamin specifically is important to prevent Wernicke-Korsakoff's Syndrome (aka "wet-brain"). A multi-vitamin and slow return to a balanced diet are the final steps.

  I do not discuss 12 step or other programs as I find these to be personal decisions.