Those that are recovering from alcohol use disorders, especially those trying to quit alcohol on your own, often have a lot of questions about the alcohol withdrawal symptoms that occur when first stopping alcohol use. First of all, it is important to know and understand the symptoms of alcohol withdrawal, as well as the alcohol withdrawal timelines.
Alcohol Withdrawal Symptoms
Alcohol Withdrawal Timeline
Though the exact timeline depends on how much alcohol you usually drink, how long you have been drinking, your unique health conditions, and the patterns of your alcohol use; generally the timeline for alcohol withdrawal seen in patients with a dependence to alcohol is as follows:
Stage 1 Alcohol Withdrawal
After taking the last drink of alcohol, someone who is chemically dependent on alcohol with begin feeling the early alcohol withdrawal symptoms within 8 hours. Within the first 8 hours to 24 hours of alcohol cessation, you can expect the following symptoms – starting as mild-to-moderate, and getting increasingly worse:
- Anxiety
- Insomnia
- Gastrointestinal Upset, Stomach and Abdominal Pains
- Headache
- Heart Palpitations
- Anorexia (loss of appetite and purposeful abstinence from food or even fluids)
Stage 2 Alcohol Withdrawal
After the first 24 hours without drinking, the alcohol withdrawal will begin to move into stage 2, characterized by worsening day 1 symptoms and the addition of the following symptoms of alcohol withdrawal:
- Increase in Blood Pressure
- Increased Body Temperature
- Abnormal Heart Rate, Palpitations
- Confusion, Trouble Focusing
In between stage 2 and 3 comes the peak symptoms of acute alcohol withdrawal. It is in this timeframe that severe alcohol withdrawal symptoms, or delirium tremens (the DTs) will make themselves known.
Symptoms of Delirium Tremens (DTs) Include:
- Seizures
- Dangerously High Blood Pressure
- Extreme Confusion
- Hallucinations (Primarily auditory hallucinations, but mild sensory and visual hallucination can occur)
- Fever, Dangerously High Blood Pressure
- Tremors, Uncontrollable Shaking
- Paranoia
- High Anxiety, Panic Attacks, (Feeling like you will have a heart attack or die is common, as your body is sending signals that something is very wrong)
- Sleeping an Entire Day or Longer (In some cases of DTs the patient goes into a sleep patter through the DTs, a semi-comatose state)
Stage 3 Alcohol Withdrawal
In most cases, stage 3 marks a decrease in the intensity of stage 2 symptoms. After 48-72 hours, the symptoms slowly decrease in their intensity until “stabilized” within 2-3 days. This decrease should continue for the next few days until the symptoms are more or less resolved. However, because of the possibility of prolonged alcohol withdrawal, post-acute withdrawal syndrome (PAWS), and a number of other factors, a person may feel alcohol mild withdrawal symptoms in some form or another for up to 6 months.
