Stopping Drinking: Alcohol Withdrawal Symptoms & the Detox Timeline

If you’re even a ‘casual’ drinker, there’s a good chance you’ve experienced some alcohol withdrawal symptoms. If six to twelve hours after an episode of drinking you’ve ever experienced trouble sleeping, tremors or shakes, extreme anxiety, a craving for even more alcohol, or any of the symptoms of a hangover, (think headache, nausea, sweating, that overall ugh-I-have-to-call-out-of-work feeling), then welcome to the not-so-great club. You’ve experienced alcohol withdrawal, so be it a mild version.

For those considered alcoholics, those who drink alcohol excessively and/or problematically, withdrawal symptoms become much more severe. This is why we want to be straight-up with you and let you know right off the bat that quitting alcohol as an alcoholic is hard. The symptoms mentioned previously are all more likely to occur within the first six to twelve hours after stopping.
 

The Detox Timeline

Those six to twelve hours afterward make up phase 1 of something called a detox timeline. A full detoxification from alcohol for a heavy drinker usually takes a full week. That is NOT to say that alcoholism or the addiction to drinking is cured in that time. This is ONLY to say that the human body completely rids itself of the presence of alcohol in approximately 7 days.

Throughout the course of this detox week, different phases of alcohol withdrawal symptoms may occur. In general, there are four phases, the first of which has been briefly discussed already:

• 6 – 12 hours after stopping
• 12 – 24 hours after stopping
• 24 – 48 hours after stopping
• 2 days to 7 days after stopping

Most of the rest of this article will consider the four phases of the detox timeline, followed by some facts and thoughts to reassure you, or whoever is quitting alcohol, that the correct decision is being made. Seven days of withdrawal is well worth preventing a lifetime of alcoholism. Over 85,000 Americans die every year due to alcohol-related causes. Those seven hard days are very much worth becoming a statistic. Let’s take a look at this seven-day period, starting with a more in-depth look at phase 1 of the detox timeline. You should know what you’re getting into and why.
 

The First 3 Phases Of Detox

Phase 1: Six To Twelve Hours

Headache

Alcohol can lead to dehydration by causing the body to lose fluid. There are also certain chemicals in alcohol that may cause further dehydration. This lack of fluid decreases blood flow to the brain, resulting in an unpleasant head throb.
 

Nausea/Vomiting

Alcohol is not exactly a mild substance. Ethanol, the type of alcohol used in adult beverages, is also used as an antiseptic, in some soaps, and as an occasional rocket fuel. That being said, excessive drinking irritates your stomach/intestinal walls and also increases the amount of stomach acid produced. This often leads to nausea and/or vomiting. Yuck.
 

Excessive Sweating

You’ve probably heard someone talk about how a shot of whiskey or rum can ‘warm up’ the body — or you may have experienced it. Well, contrary to this popular belief, alcohol does not raise your temperature. Alcohol causes your heart rate to increase, which causes your blood vessels to dilate, which oftentimes leads to sweating. Because most alcoholics finish drinking during PM hours and then fall asleep past out, this alcohol-triggered sweating becomes the ‘night sweats’.
 

Trouble Sleeping

Most people think alcohol helps them sleep. Wrong. Alcohol helps people fall asleep, but actually lowers the quality of the sleep itself. Sleep occurs in stages. There is the first stage, where you are barely asleep, the middle stage, which is the REM (rapid eye movement) stage, where dreams happen, and then there is the final stage, which is deep sleep. There is no eye movement and there is no muscle movement during deep sleep. When entered into natural non-REM sleep, it is the most restorative and beneficial stage of sleep.

Alcohol causes the first and middle stages to be skipped, and enters you directly into deep sleep. This is why falling asleep drunk is referred to as passing out — you enter directly into a deep unconsciousness. This unfortunately does not last long, and as the effects of alcohol wear off, your sleep becomes lighter and lighter until you are consciously being disrupted. (This is when you would toss and turn and punch your pillow.)

Phase 2: Twelve To Twenty-Four Hours

Loss Of Appetite And/Or Malnutrition

The reason quitting can cause a loss of appetite and/or malnutrition 12–24 hours later is really quite simple. Most alcoholics either don’t eat enough or eat extremely unhealthy. These tend to become habits, just like the drinking itself. After stopping, if you were someone who didn’t eat much, you will likely experience loss of appetite, and if you were someone who ate unhealthily, you may begin to experience malnutrition. These symptoms can be a result of past eating habits and/or a continuation of the habits.
 

Dehydration

An insufficient amount of water in the body occurs not too long after drinking begins, actually, but the worst of the effects of dehydration will likely occur 12–24 hours after stopping. Essentially, take all of the aforementioned symptoms related to dehydration and worsen them. (Trust us; this process of detoxification is still 100% worth the fight.)
 

Hallucinations

A combination of the release of extra dopamine (a neurotransmitter associated with reward), and the fact that alcohol causes vitamin deficiency and low blood sugar means hallucinations may occur as part of the withdrawal process. This is known as alcoholic hallucinosis, usually has a sudden onset, but is never fatal, although highly unpleasant.

The first phase of your detox timeline may seem like it has to be the worst, but it is definitely not the most dangerous. In fact, the next phase is not even the most dangerous. It is phase 3, between a day and two days, during which fatality is actually a real possibility. This makes phases 1 and 2 very important — they are the prep for the really tough stuff.

Phase 3: Twenty-Four To Forty-Eight Hours +

This is by far the most dangerous and most crucial part of the detox timeline. One to two days removed from heavy drinking, the body and brain begin to do some pretty funky things. This is no laughing matter, though. Both Amy Winehouse and Miss Ellie died of alcohol withdrawal, and many more do every year. Please remember though that the path to recovery, although hard to travel, is the most rewarding thing you can possibly do as an addict.
 

Mood Swings

Let’s start with something relatively benign, and purely psychological. Quitting anything can make someone irritable and go through mood swings, and with alcohol there’s no exception. One second you may be cooperative and the next you may be cursing at the gods. One minute you might be telling your significant other how much you love them, and the next you might kick them out of your place. This up-and-down is just an effect of your brain healing itself back to a normal emotional stasis. Your mood will level out, and hopefully no lasting damage will be done to any relationships in the meantime.
 

Low Blood Sugar

Not only do most alcoholic beverages contain lots of sugar, but also alcohol causes the liver to malfunction and not release glucose into the bloodstream. This results in low blood sugar, AKA hypoglycemia.
 

Grand Mal Seizures

OK, here is the precursor to the most dangerous aspect of alcohol withdrawal. Approximately 4% of those withdrawing from alcohol addiction experience grand mal seizures 1–2 days after quitting. The seizures occur as a result of being deprived of nutrients, water, and rest. A grand mal seizure can also occur due to exhaustion, sleep deprivation, or a caffeine overload.
 

Delirium Tremens

Again, about 4% of those quitting alcohol will experience delirium tremens. It consists of a rapid arrival of extreme confusion, and often includes intense seizing, shivering, sweating, increased heart rate, overheating, hallucinations, and death about three percent of the time.

The ‘DTs’ occur because the body is undergoing something called a biochemical cascade, during which essentially the brain is responding and reacting in a haphazard manner, causing the plethora of uncomfortable symptoms.

The first phase of your detox timeline may seem like it has to be the worst, but it is definitely not the most dangerous. In fact, the next phase is not even the most dangerous. It is phase 3, between a day and two days, during which fatality is actually a real possibility. This makes phases 1 and 2 very important — they are the prep for the really tough stuff.