Alcohol Detox at Home

Alcohol detox at home can be done but it isn’t recommended.

When it comes to alcohol detox at home, there is a rule of thumb that holds true for nearly everyone: you can, but you probably should not. If your addiction to alcohol is serious enough to require detoxification, professional assistance and supervision is definitely in your best interest.

What Would it be Like to Detox at Home?

If you are thinking of home alcohol detox, you need to know about withdrawal symptoms associated with detoxification. While withdrawal is not pleasant for anyone, it can be even more serious than you may realize. Withdrawal will affect both your mind and your body.

Physically, you are likely to experience vomiting, nausea, and shivering. Your body temperature will increase, and you will experience excessive perspiration. As your body has grown accustomed to alcohol, your body will react to no longer having it. At its worst, alcohol withdrawal can result in a stroke, seizures, or a heart attack.

Alcoholics who have abruptly quit drinking may experience delirium tremens. This is commonly referred to as the DTs. In addition to increasing the physical complications of detoxification, delirium tremens also affect the mind. Severe depression, fear, anxiety, irritability, agitation, and even hallucinations may occur.

These are only a few of the many symptoms you may experience during alcohol withdrawal. While symptoms are generally at their worst a couple of days after your last alcoholic beverage, some can persist much longer. Even if you do not have complications which threaten your life, there can be other repercussions to home alcohol detox. When you are experiencing withdrawal symptoms, you could accidentally injure yourself, or harm someone else. You may decide withdrawal is too difficult to deal with, and reach for a bottle.

Think Carefully Before Trying Alcohol Detox at Home

You want to recover from your alcohol addiction, but you want to do it the safest, easiest way. Although it is never easy, and safety is never guaranteed, detoxification at home will increase all of the risks. The risks of injury to yourself or others, or even death, are all increased if you detox at home.

In contrast, reaching out for help is better for yourself and your loved ones. No matter how independent you are, the ability to ask for help is an asset. First, it shows you are more concerned about achieving longterm sobriety than seeking instant results. Second, it shows you care about the effects your alcohol problem has on your family. Third, it shows you are willing to do what it takes to recover.

If these reasons are not enough to bypass home detox, there is another reason. There is no purpose in going through unassisted withdrawal when you have options. Making an appointment at an alcohol detox center means you will have caring, competent professionals by your side. You may have become addicted to alcohol on your own, but you do not need to begin breaking free of it alone. The people who staff a detox center care about alcoholics who want to recover. This means they care about you.