Alcohol Detox

Alcohol abuse can lead to serious health complications that can dramatically impact a person’s mental health. To add to these challenges, it can cause problems in relationships. Despite this, an alcohol detox center can help you break away from alcohol dependency. When drinking becomes unmanageable for an individual, it’s time to seek professional help. Best of all, our Atlanta alcohol detox and treatment program helps wean people off alcohol and teaches them to live life sober.

What is Alcoholism?

Alcoholism is a progressive disease that takes over a person’s life. Despite the risks for physical damage, such as liver damage, heart attack, brain damage, and stroke, alcohol use disorder causes an individual to become unable to stop drinking on their own. Consequently, the body relies on alcohol to the point that withdrawal symptoms develop if the person tries to significantly cut down or stop their alcohol consumption. Moreover, some of these withdrawal symptoms are dangerous and potentially deadly.

A person who suffers from alcoholism requires assistance in the form of a medically-supervised inpatient alcohol detox facility to ensure healthy stabilization during the detox process. Those wondering about our detox process shouldn’t hold back their need to recover from alcoholism. Our alcohol detox in Atlanta provides the type of medical monitoring that helps a person safely detox from alcohol. Once they become stabilized, they can begin to work on the underlying aspects of their alcoholism, hence working towards long-term sobriety from alcohol.

Alcohol Withdrawal Symptoms

Alcohol withdrawal symptoms can be life-threatening and potentially fatal. For this reason, medically supervised detox proves necessary for those individuals struggling with alcohol abuse who wish to stop drinking. 

Some of the symptoms of alcohol withdrawal include:

• Tremors
• Fever
• Sweating
• Digestive disturbances
• High blood pressure
• Irregular and rapid pulse
• Insomnia
• Confusion
• Seizures
• Delirium Tremens
• Hallucinations
• Anxiety

Our facility offers a medical alcohol detox Atlanta program that helps reduce and eliminate many withdrawal symptoms.

Signs You Need Alcohol Detox in Atlanta

There are several signs that an individual is struggling with alcohol abuse. They present in behaviors, physical and emotional signs that can be seen by those closest to them. 

The following are some of the signs of alcohol abuse:

• Problems with work, school or family that stem from drinking
• Difficulty maintaining healthy relationships
• Failed attempts to stop or cut back on alcohol consumption
• Continuing to drink despite the negative impacts of alcohol consumption
• Isolating from others
• Drinking alcohol to feel better
• Becoming ill when unable to drink alcohol
• Not being able to limit drinking amounts
• Experiencing depression, anxiety or irritability
• Giving up on hobbies and social activities in order to drink

If an individual recognizes themselves as experiencing these signs, they need alcohol detox in order to help them stop drinking.

Can I Detox From Alcohol at Home?

Attempting to detox from alcohol at home can be dangerous and even deadly. The difficult nature of the withdrawal symptoms that occur when detoxing from alcohol means that most people who attempt to detox at home give up and return to drinking. Despite this, however, some do not recognize how dangerous some of the withdrawal symptoms are and do not seek help when they occur. Thankfully, people who complete detox and stay sober long-term typically have completed a professional detox program, rather than trying to white knuckle their way through the process at home.

What to Expect from Alcohol Detox Services in Atlanta

Our alcohol detox Atlanta program offers medically supervised detox that helps guide people through safe detoxification. Furthermore, we provide gender-specific detox programs—one for women and one for men. 

Lastly, we provide several types of therapy, including:

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) – Helps teach healthy coping skills that keep a person from reaching for alcohol after they get sober.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) – Modifies negative thought patterns and reduces stress.

Individual Therapy – Supports people establishing a healthier relationship with themselves and understanding the root causes of their addiction.

Group Therapy – Helps create healthy relationships and provides peer support with like-minded people in recovery.

Family Counseling – Further helps families establish healthy boundaries and repair damaged relationships.

Moreover, we also help people plan their next treatment steps after they complete our detox program. People who leave detox without any follow-up treatment typically fail at staying sober for long. We make sure you know what your next steps should be and help you prepare for transferring to them.

Alcohol Detox Timeline

The exact amount of time alcohol detox lasts depends on the individual, the severity of their addiction, and which withdrawal symptoms occur. There are 3 stages of alcohol detox:

Stage 1: Begins within several hours of the last drink. Symptoms include headache, nausea, anxiety, and mild tremors. This stage lasts for a day or 2.

Stage 2: Begins 1 to 3 days after the last drink. Initial symptoms often worsen, and the person may experience fever, sweating, insomnia, nightmares, and hallucinations for example. This stage lasts 2 to 5 days. 

Stage 3: Begins 4 to 6 days after the last drink. Psychological symptoms become heightened in this stage, including depression and moodiness. All symptoms peak during this time period and then begin to subside and end over the next several days.

Individuals who develop delirium tremens often experience a slightly longer withdrawal time, but it generally ends after 2 or 3 weeks.

Medications Used to Detox from Alcohol

A powerful incentive to use a medically supervised alcohol detox Atlanta program involves the use of medications that help a person through the detox process. These FDA-approved medications help people deal with things like cravings and withdrawal symptoms and can make drinking again unpleasant or ineffective.  The medications include:

Naltrexone: Helps reduce cravings for alcohol. If a person does drink, it helps block the effects so that the person does not get intoxicated. This takes away the incentive to consume alcohol.

Acamprosate: Helps reduce withdrawal symptoms and cravings for alcohol. It can assist in repairing some of the damage to the brain done during alcoholism.

Disulfiram: Helps take away the incentive to drink alcohol. This drug causes a person to experience negative and unpleasant side effects, like nausea, vomiting, headache, and weakness if they drink.

All medications used during alcohol detox work best when combined with some type of talk or experiential therapy. 

Begin Alcohol Detox in Atlanta

The Retreat of Atlanta offers individuals who struggle with alcohol abuse a safe, effective detox program. We offer treatment around the Alpharetta, Athens and Atlanta areas. Our alcohol detox Atlanta and Alpharetta program is staffed 24/7 by professionals trained and experienced in helping people complete the detox process with as little discomfort as possible. Lastly, we accept PHCS, Anthem/Blue Cross insurance and Beacon Health to help with coverage.

Contact the Retreat of Atlanta now and learn how to live without alcohol.