17 Sep Detox From Alcohol at Home: When to Get Emergency Care
Addiction and Crisis Notice: If you or someone you know is experiencing a medical emergency related to alcohol withdrawal — including seizures, severe confusion, hallucinations, or difficulty waking — call 911 immediately. For substance use treatment referrals, contact SAMHSA at 1-800-662-4357 (free, confidential, 24/7) or visit findtreatment.gov. Do not stop drinking abruptly without medical supervision if you have been drinking heavily — alcohol withdrawal can be life-threatening.
Alcohol withdrawal can range from mild symptoms to a potentially life-threatening medical emergency. It is not always possible to tell in the first hours how severe a person's withdrawal will become, and a household cannot reliably make that assessment on its own. Whether to detox from alcohol at home is primarily a question of medical risk rather than comfort. Alcohol belongs to a small group of substances where the withdrawal itself, not the drinking, is what can turn dangerous. Severe withdrawal, including delirium tremens, is treated as a medical emergency.
[caption id="attachment_76062" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Photo by MEUM MARE[/caption]