Addiction comes with a lot of shame and many of those who are addicted to alcohol wish that they could stop drinking. Others refuse to go to rehab believing that they can stop drinking any time they wish to without medical assistance.
As a premier drug and alcohol abuse treatment center in Kentucky, we often get people asking us whether it’s safe to stop drinking cold turkey. The answer is always, No!
Suddenly quitting alcohol after long-term use can be dangerous and even life-threatening, depending on how long you’ve been drinking. If you’re thinking of quitting drinking, it is always advisable to seek proper medical guidance.
Alcohol Dependence
To understand why it’s so dangerous to quit alcohol cold turkey, you need to understand how it interacts with the body. Alcohol is a depressant. This means that it lowers or slows down the functioning of the central nervous system. Chronic alcohol use creates dependency where the body becomes not only used to the alcohol but also comes to rely on it for normal functioning. It depends on alcohol to maintain the central nervous system and to keep the levels of neurotransmitters stable.
Once you quit drinking, the body goes into withdrawal as it attempts to get used to functioning without it. This throws the body out of balance.
Alcohol Withdrawal Symptom
Quitting alcohol may seem easy but it’s not. It often leads to withdrawal symptoms as the body attempts to get things back in balance. These symptoms are often uncomfortable and dangerous. The severity and extent of the symptoms you experience are related to how dependent you were on alcohol. They can range from headache, nausea, vomiting, and dizziness to more serious ones like hallucinations, delirium, convulsions, rapid heart rate, and tremors.
Quitting Alcohol Safely
Along with the withdrawal symptoms, you may end up with a strong craving for alcohol. All these combined increases your chances of relapse.
For this reason, you should only quit drinking alcohol under medical supervision. At the Robert Alexander Center for Recovery, we offer medical detox to those who want to stop drinking. After you check into our rehab center in Kentucky, we will conduct a series of assessments to check your vitals and determine your health. We then start you on the process of safely removing the harmful toxins left by alcohol from your body. If needed, we’ll give you medication to help with your withdrawal symptoms and cravings. All this is done under medical supervision in a calming and supportive environment.
Once you’re done with our detox program, you’re ready to proceed with the rest of your addiction treatment and can go on to our Intensive Outpatient Program or our Outpatient Program depending on your recovery needs.
It is possible to quit drinking alcohol safely. Get in touch with us today and we’ll get you started on medical detox.