You’ve made a huge life decision. You’ve gone around your entire home and tossed out every bit of alcohol you own. It’s time for you to detox and kick the habit for good.
A few days later and you come to regret this decision. The withdrawal symptoms are intense and leave you laid out on your bed for most of the day.
You’ve got to figure out how to detox from alcohol while getting around the pain you feel. If not, you may end up turning back to the bottle to make your symptoms fade.
We can teach you how it’s done. Check out this guide to learn safe alcohol detox techniques that will help you drop the stuff for good.
Can You Detox at Home?
Before you begin your self-detox, it’s important to ask yourself if it’s safe to. Many complications occur when people quit cold turkey. The main one is the withdrawal symptoms.
They can be so painful that they send you right back to square one. Dealing with them while you’re alone or with someone who doesn’t have proper medical training can also be dangerous.
If your alcohol dependence is bad enough, you may experience intense hallucinations, seizures, and rapid heart rate when you try to quit. It would be much better if you went to a medical center.
Due to the possible complications, detoxing from alcohol should typically be done under the supervision of a professional in an outpatient program like that offered by Arista Recovery. However, if you can’t afford to go or insist on handling this alone, there are ways to do it. You’ll need to do your research before you begin, or the results could be life-threatening..
Clear Your Schedule
The first step of self-detoxing is clearing your schedule. Take the next few days off of work. If you go to school, email your professors and tell them that you’re not going to be in class for a few days because you’re sick.
It won’t be a lie. Most alcohol withdrawal symptoms include headaches, fatigue, insomnia, irritability, shaking, sweating, nausea, heart palpitations, and heightened blood pressure. You would experience many of these same things with the common cold, and you would take a day off for that.
You also need the space to focus on your recovery, not worrying about a paper or getting a presentation ready for work.
Taper Yourself
The worst thing you can do is stop drinking immediately. The abrupt stop will shock your system and make the withdrawal symptoms worse.
Instead, taper yourself off. Drink a little less each day until you find that you can get through an entire afternoon without taking a sip of booze. You’ll still experience withdrawal, but it won’t be near as bad or life-threatening.
Remove Alcohol From Your Home
Now that you can get through an entire day without alcohol, you can begin going around your home and throwing out every bottle that you own of the stuff.
This will remove the temptation, which will make it much more likely that you will succeed. If the cravings do ever hit you, head to an AA meeting instead of driving yourself to a bar somewhere.
It’s not the same as going to a rehab center, but being around a few like-minded individuals will help. Never underestimate the power of having a support system.
Keep Yourself Busy
The best way to beat the alcohol withdrawal symptoms is to not think of them. The only way you’re going to be able to do this is to keep yourself going.
Taking up a relaxing hobby is a great way to stay distracted. Exercise is a good option as well. Not only does physical activity keep you on your toes, but it can relieve the stress that’s often associated with detoxing as well.
Don’t Be Afraid to Ask for Support
If you must detox at home, don’t do it by yourself. A family member or friend can’t help you in a medical emergency, but they can at least call 911 if you begin to have a seizure.
You’re going to feel sick, so it’s going to be hard for you to do things on your own. Having someone who can help you out around the house will do a world of good. It’s also nice to have a shoulder to cry on when the psychological effects begin to get too rough.
Stay Hydrated
Again one of the main symptoms of withdrawal is sweating and vomiting. You’ll need to replenish the fluids you lose, or you’ll become dehydrated. To this end, always keep water on hand.
Staying hydrated will keep fatigue, headaches, and other common withdrawal side effects down to manageable levels.
Go to a Rehab Center
If none of these steps seem to work or you begin experiencing life-threatening side effects of quitting cold turkey, you need to get medical attention ASAP.
Even if you don’t have these things going on, it might be a good idea to go to look into Detox Programs instead of trying to handle things on your own.
You’ll have 24-hour access to a doctor who can monitor your symptoms and administer medication. You’ll be surrounded by other people who are going through what you’re going through, which gives you a much-needed support system.
There are psychologists you can talk to about mental health problems associated with drinking, and people who attend an inpatient program are less likely to relapse.
How to Detox From Alcohol and Never Go Back
Kicking alcohol to the curb is one of the best decisions that you can make for yourself, but you have to do it right. If you try to quit cold turkey, it might end up causing more harm than good.
If you must handle the problem on your own, learn how to detox from alcohol first. Following these steps will ensure that you get through the withdrawal symptoms as smoothly as possible. If you’re looking for more ways to quit drinking, visit the Health section of our blog.
