Alcohol Detox Timeline – What to Expect During Rehab

Substance abuse, regardless of the substance that is being abused, can have an enormous impact on an individual’s mind as well as physical health.

Individuals that decide to rid themselves of the addiction need to know that the rehab process is personal and they need to take into consideration that their own history, personality, and addiction stage play an important role in the recovery process.

Alcohol consumption creates an imbalance in the brain, inducing the need to consume more. This imbalance makes alcohol addictive when abused.

What happens when you have realized you have an alcohol addiction, and you decide to go to rehab and regain control over your life?

Here’s what to expect.

Things to Expect During Alcohol Rehab

The moment you decide to go through an alcohol rehab process, the withdrawal symptoms start to be noticed after a few hours you stopped drinking. As we said before, each person is different and withdrawal symptoms are different. Some people can experience mild withdrawal symptoms while others experience severe withdrawal symptoms.

Factors that determine the intensity of the withdrawal symptoms are:

●        If you drink heavily

●        Have been drinking for a long period

●        Have experienced withdrawals in the past

●        Have other health conditions

Each person’s anatomy also influences the amount of time the alcohol takes to leave the bloodstream. Moreover, the detox process also depends on things like:

●        Age

●        Gender

●        Genetics

●        History of alcohol abuse

●        Overall health

You will start feeling the effects of not drinking the moment the alcohol in the bloodstream drops below the level a person is used to and what has become normal to them.

Maybe you are not a heavy drinker, but you do consume alcohol in smaller amounts. This is another situation where withdrawal symptoms can occur, but they can be harder to detect.

Symptoms of Alcohol Withdrawal

When a person goes under an alcohol detox program, they can experience symptoms like:

●        Anxiety

●        Headaches

●        Tremors

●        Extreme tiredness

●        Insomnia

●        Mood swings

●        Gastrointestinal issues

●        Palpitations

●        Elevated blood pressure or heart rate

●        Abnormal breathing

●        Hallucinations and seizures

Alcohol Detox Timeline

While it is difficult to predict a specific timeline for alcohol detox, as a general guideline the process can look something like:

●        A few hours after having the last drink, from 06 to 12 hours, a mild range of symptoms can be noticed, such as headaches, some anxiety, insomnia, and tremors.

●        After 24 hours some people can experience hallucinations.

●        24 to 72 hours after you might start to feel more intense symptoms. During this period you should be monitored by a professional.

The period of time these symptoms last can be up to a few months, yet the success rate for alcohol rehab is very high with a proper medical detox program.

If you or someone close suffers from alcohol addiction, look for help. There are many programs able to provide the care and assistance to successfully recover.