Severe alcohol symptoms begin within a few hours after you stop drinking, and withdrawal peaks in about 72 hours. It can be hell in life. The cravings are unbearable. The body and mind are so dependent on alcohol that it stops working properly without putting more alcohol into the system. You may experience high fever and uncontrollable negative thoughts, but that’s not all as it quickly becomes a very dangerous and serious health problem.
You may have hallucinations – hearing sounds that are not there, feeling things on your skin, and even visual appearances. These delusions can last for weeks in extreme cases and make you feel like you’re going crazy, and you’re probably right. You may have whole-body seizures 24 to 48 hours after your last alcohol intake. During all this time, you will feel confused, have difficulty processing information and making decisions. You will have trouble remembering, even remembering what you are doing now or what you did just moments ago.
Severe alcohol withdrawal can be fatal and you may need benzodiazepine or a similar medication to calm your overactive brain, prevent seizures, and lower / stabilize / restore normal blood pressure. Without drastic intervention and continued heavy drinking, health deteriorates rapidly. If you are binge drinking or binge drinking now, this is where you are headed. If you can’t stop once you start, you have a serious dependency problem and you need to take it seriously and get the help you need before it takes everything you have and eventually kills you (quote below).
Recently, with the CoronaVirus Crisis, those with severe alcohol addictions had so damaged their internal organs that their chances of death from Covid-19 increased significantly. We’ve all heard of comorbidities by now, right?
If you have a friend or loved one who has these serious symptoms, it is imperative that you give them help. Otherwise, it is very likely that you will not have them as friends or loved ones for much longer. Alcoholism is serious. Often times, alcoholics will not seek help on their own. Yes, unfortunately, some strong-willed people with alcohol dependence will, but most will not. Alcoholism ruins lives. Not only for alcoholics but also for those of us who love them despite their dependency.
Reference:
Alcohol Withdrawal Assessment: The Clinical Institute For Alcohol Scale (CIWA-Ar) Revised Withdrawal Assessment “, By John T. Sullivan, MB, Ch.B, Kathy Sykora, M.Sc, Joyce Schneiderman, MD, et. Al. British Journal of Addictions (1989) 84, 1353-1357.