Alcohol Detox

man with bottle of alcohol

There are some drugs that can be stopped “cold turkey.” If alcohol consumption was high enough for long enough, alcohol is not one of them. Sudden cessation of alcohol consumption after months or years of heavy drinking can be hazardous, even fatal. Alcoholics wanting to enter an alcohol rehab program may have no choice but to work with medical practitioners to get through the initial detox.

What happens as soon as that detox is done has everything to do with the person’s ultimate recovery. The Narconon drug and alcohol rehabilitation program takes recovering alcoholics who have been through an initial detox and gives them a big head start on a drug-free, alcohol-free life.

How Narconon Helps Those Withdrawing from Alcohol

The Narconon drug and alcohol rehabilitation program is completely drug-free meaning that no drugs are prescribed for the purpose of addiction recovery. When alcoholic starts their recovery at a Narconon center after any required medically assisted alcohol detox, they receive nutritional and staff support that gets rehab off to a tolerable, even comfortable start. Alcoholics and drug addicts are normally in poor condition due to malnutrition and unhealthy lifestyle. Several vital nutritional elements are often lacking, such as thiamine, calcium, magnesium and electrolytes that are necessary for metabolism. With special formulations of specifically for the recovering addict helping them recover physical and mental stability, an individual can rapidly gain hope for a complete recovery.

Alcohol Withdrawal Symptoms and Usual Protocols for Alcohol Detox

Not every alcoholic will suffer the severest forms of alcohol withdrawal. At its worst, alcohol withdrawal is a life-threatening condition requiring constant monitoring and medical intervention. The National Institutes of Health explains that after long periods of constant drinking, a person’s nervous system adapts to the constant presence of alcohol. When alcohol is suddenly withdrawn, the nervous system goes into an overly-excited state and the person starts to manifest symptoms.

These symptoms include:

  • Restlessness, agitation, anxiety, insomnia, nightmares
  • Elevated heart rate, blood pressure or breathing
  • Loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and heavy sweating that can lead to dehydration
  • Tremors, spasms, seizures of extremities
  • Disorientation, poor focus or memory
  • Auditory, visual or tactile hallucinations
  • Delusions and paranoia

At its worst, alcohol withdrawal can also include grand mal seizures, high fever and delirium.

Symptoms are normally managed with administration of benzodiazepines, fluids, thiamine, electrolytes and magnesium, with constant monitoring of blood alcohol content, vital signs and blood panels to detect organ stress or breakdown.

Alcohol Withdrawal Can Result in Death in a Small Percentage

Death during alcohol withdrawal can result from severe seizures, too high a body temperature, heart failure, falling blood sugar, liver failure, stomach or intestinal bleeding, among other causes. This is why a complicated alcohol withdrawal must be done in a medical environment, possibly even intensive care.

How Narconon Supports the Recovering Person

When the initial alcohol detox is complete, it does not mean that the person is ready to return to daily life. They are very likely to continue to have cravings and want to solve (or cover up) their problems with alcohol. Recovering all the way to a clean, sober lifestyle usually requires much more physical repair and the rebuilding and restoration of self-esteem and personal values.  That is what is delivered at a Narconon drug and alcohol recovery program.

After an initial phase of nutritional support and monitoring, a recovering alcoholic then completes a unique and proprietary detoxification that takes alcoholism recovery many steps farther than a medical detox. Precisely administered nutritional supplements along with exercise and a dry-heat sauna brings about a whole new level of cleansing. This program enables the body to flush out drug and alcohol residues that lodge in the fatty tissues. The presence of these residues have been found in a multitude of cases to be involved in the triggering of cravings, confusion, foggy thinking and repressed emotions.

When this phase of the program is complete, a recovering person knows they have made large step forward toward a brighter viewpoint and future.

Life Skills Training Enables Former Alcoholics to Take Back Their Lives

It takes understanding what situations can lead to alcohol abuse and how to manage them to stay sober. One must know what kinds of associates can lead one into trouble and how to keep that from happening. And one must learn how to take responsibility for past mistakes and so prevent from making them in the future, as set a path for positive progress in the future.  All of these enhancements are part of the Narconon drug and alcohol recovery program that every participant completes before going home. The Narconon rehab program is perhaps the most comprehensive holistic drug and alcohol recovery program available anywhere.