Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome is the set of symptoms seen when an individual reduces or stops alcohol consumption after prolonged periods of excessive alcohol intake. Excessive abuse of alcohol leads to tolerance, physical dependence, and an alcohol withdrawal syndrome. The withdrawal syndrome is largely due to the central nervous system being in a hyper-excitable state. Unlike most withdrawals from other drugs, alcohol withdrawal can be fatal. The Withdrawal syndrome can include seizures and delirium tremens and may lead to excito-neurotoxicity.
Sedative-hypnotics such as alcohol are well known for their propensity to induce physiological dependence. Alcohol withdrawal occurs as a result of neuro-adaptation resulting from chronic exposure to alcohol. A withdrawal syndrome occurs upon declining blood levels of alcohol which can be alleviated by reintroduction of alcohol or a cross-tolerant agent. Alcohol withdrawal is characterised by neuropsychiatric excitability and autonomic disturbances similar to other sedative-hypnotic drugs. Dependence on other sedative-hypnotics increases the severity of the withdrawal syndrome.
Withdrawal symptoms include the following:
* Agitation[8]
* Alcoholic hallucinosis[5]
* Anorexia[8]
* Anxiety and panic attacks[5][9]
* Catatonia[10]
* Confusion[5]
* Delirium tremens[5]
* Depression[11][12]
* Derealization
* Diaphoresis[8]
* Diarrhea[8]
* Euphoria[5]
* Fear[5]
* Gastrointestinal upset[8]
* Hallucinations[8]
* Headache[8]
* Hypertension[8]
* Insomnia[8]
* Irritability[5]
* Nausea and vomiting[13]
* Palpitations[8]
* Psychosis[5][14]
* Rebound REM sleep[15]
* Restlessness[5]
* Seizures and death[8]
* Sweating[8]
* Tachycardia[8]
* Tremors[8]
* Weakness[8]
* Hyperthermia(fever)
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Drug and Alcohol Relapse Prevention - Quit Smoking Cigarettes For Best Results
Smoking cigarettes can greatly increase the risk of returning to drug and alcohol use.
There is a growing body of evidence provided by research studies that shows that smokers have a significantly higher rate of relapse back to drug and alcohol use than non-smokers. This should come as no surprise when we look at nicotine use as consuming a drug.
Nicotine is a drug, it is mood altering, highly addictive, and a poison.
In drug and alcohol treatment, the concept of complete abstinence from all mood altering substances is almost universally accepted. Why has nicotine been traditionally excluded? I am not sure, quite possibly because of historical social acceptance of smoking. Condoning nicotine use for an alcoholic or drug addict is almost like telling an alcoholic to give up rum, scotch and beer...but tequila is OK.
There is a popular myth that trying to quit using nicotine products while giving up drugs and alcohol is too much to handle. The new evidence shows the reverse is true; people attempting to stop smoking while in treatment for drugs and alcohol actually have a higher rate of success. Arguably, for a smoker, a key element in their drug and alcohol relapse prevention plan is to stop smoking.
This higher rate of success makes sense if we look at some key elements of how to quit smoking and their ready availability during drug and alcohol treatment.
1. Getting support and setting a date. In treatment, counseling, encouragement and peer support is readily available.
2. Learning alternative coping skills. An important element in quitting smoking is to make concrete changes in dealing with situations where smoking occurred. For example, handling boredom or stress.
3. Preparing a relapse prevention plan. A prepared plan to handle difficult situations is like an insurance policy; you may never need it, but it is wise to have it in place.
These are important elements in any type of relapse prevention plan. There is a great deal of additional information available on relapse prevention and quitting smoking.
Article Source:Bill_Urell
There is a growing body of evidence provided by research studies that shows that smokers have a significantly higher rate of relapse back to drug and alcohol use than non-smokers. This should come as no surprise when we look at nicotine use as consuming a drug.
Nicotine is a drug, it is mood altering, highly addictive, and a poison.
In drug and alcohol treatment, the concept of complete abstinence from all mood altering substances is almost universally accepted. Why has nicotine been traditionally excluded? I am not sure, quite possibly because of historical social acceptance of smoking. Condoning nicotine use for an alcoholic or drug addict is almost like telling an alcoholic to give up rum, scotch and beer...but tequila is OK.
There is a popular myth that trying to quit using nicotine products while giving up drugs and alcohol is too much to handle. The new evidence shows the reverse is true; people attempting to stop smoking while in treatment for drugs and alcohol actually have a higher rate of success. Arguably, for a smoker, a key element in their drug and alcohol relapse prevention plan is to stop smoking.
This higher rate of success makes sense if we look at some key elements of how to quit smoking and their ready availability during drug and alcohol treatment.
1. Getting support and setting a date. In treatment, counseling, encouragement and peer support is readily available.
2. Learning alternative coping skills. An important element in quitting smoking is to make concrete changes in dealing with situations where smoking occurred. For example, handling boredom or stress.
3. Preparing a relapse prevention plan. A prepared plan to handle difficult situations is like an insurance policy; you may never need it, but it is wise to have it in place.
These are important elements in any type of relapse prevention plan. There is a great deal of additional information available on relapse prevention and quitting smoking.
Article Source:Bill_Urell
How to Quit Drinking Alcohol
Today, I will give you 5 tips to quit drinking Alcohol. There are a lot of tips out there, but I will give YOU five important ones.
1. First you need to make a decision to quit. Make this reason an important one, like I can kill myself from liver damage, or my children might become alcoholics because of me. Think why you need to quit drinking.
2. Get rid of all the alcohol bottles in your home. Don't keep anything including beer, wine, or any other liquor at home. Make sure no one brings it to your home. Let everyone know of your choice, and tell them to respect you.
3. Don't be in an environment where people are drinking alcohol. This means you must not attend parties with alcohol in it, go to bars, or even work at a place that serves alcohol. You should know that if you are at a place where everyone is drinking you might be tempted to do it as well, so stay away from those places.
4. Consider joining a support group who are against alcohol. If you don't know of any, make one yourself, and invite others to it. Join AA groups, or any other group like that.
5. Get involved with some other hobby that you really like to give yourself a reward for not drinking! You could go bike riding, do puzzles, play a board game, even begin to create your own fun things to do.
There is so much to do in life when your sober. Enjoy life and make the most out of it!
Article Source:Alya_Nuri
1. First you need to make a decision to quit. Make this reason an important one, like I can kill myself from liver damage, or my children might become alcoholics because of me. Think why you need to quit drinking.
2. Get rid of all the alcohol bottles in your home. Don't keep anything including beer, wine, or any other liquor at home. Make sure no one brings it to your home. Let everyone know of your choice, and tell them to respect you.
3. Don't be in an environment where people are drinking alcohol. This means you must not attend parties with alcohol in it, go to bars, or even work at a place that serves alcohol. You should know that if you are at a place where everyone is drinking you might be tempted to do it as well, so stay away from those places.
4. Consider joining a support group who are against alcohol. If you don't know of any, make one yourself, and invite others to it. Join AA groups, or any other group like that.
5. Get involved with some other hobby that you really like to give yourself a reward for not drinking! You could go bike riding, do puzzles, play a board game, even begin to create your own fun things to do.
There is so much to do in life when your sober. Enjoy life and make the most out of it!
Article Source:Alya_Nuri
Alcohol and Quitting Smoking - You Don't Have to Stop Socializing to Stop Smoking
Drinking is one of those things that many people say will cause you to relapse into smoking. When you quit smoking, you're supposed to quit drinking, partying, and seeing your friends...and that doesn't sound fun at all. It's enough to make you not want to quit smoking.
Well, luckily that's not the case. You don't need to stop drinking to quit smoking. If you were to quit smoking the way that almost everyone thinks how people quit, however, you would have to quit drinking, or really doing anything at all, because all of those things can make you pick up smoking all over again...if you've quit the wrong way.
So, you're asking, what's the right way to stop? The way I see it, there are two ways that people quit smoking. They either force themselves to not smoke, or they become non-smokers.
There's a difference between those two. Someone who forces themselves not to smoke still wants to smoke, they're just denying themselves cigarettes. Someone who has become a non-smoker couldn't really care less about smoking. As such, someone who has become a non-smoker could easily go to the bar or hang out with their friends without wanting cigarettes, because they don't want them anyway.
In other words, the best way to quit smoking is to not want to smoke any more. If you don't want to smoke any more, then you won't think about cigarettes when you normally would, because you don't feel the need to smoke.
Now that we've figured all of that out, you're probably wondering just how you go about stopping your want for cigarettes, since otherwise all we've done here is change the name of the problem without really coming up with a solution. Want to know how to stop wanting cigarettes? Read this book on quitting and by the time you're done, you won't want to smoke any more. Sounds scary? The book even asks you to smoke while you're reading it. Pick up a copy and become a non-smoker today!
Since curing yourself of your smoking addiction is a mental process that you can be walked through, you don't need to be completely mentally ready to quit smoking just yet. You can even be smoking as you read this, trying to decide if you're even ready to quit, and these guides to quitting smoking will help you quit! Without stopping the mental addiction of smoking though, you will always in the back of your mind be a smoker.
Article Source:Susan_L_Roberts
Well, luckily that's not the case. You don't need to stop drinking to quit smoking. If you were to quit smoking the way that almost everyone thinks how people quit, however, you would have to quit drinking, or really doing anything at all, because all of those things can make you pick up smoking all over again...if you've quit the wrong way.
So, you're asking, what's the right way to stop? The way I see it, there are two ways that people quit smoking. They either force themselves to not smoke, or they become non-smokers.
There's a difference between those two. Someone who forces themselves not to smoke still wants to smoke, they're just denying themselves cigarettes. Someone who has become a non-smoker couldn't really care less about smoking. As such, someone who has become a non-smoker could easily go to the bar or hang out with their friends without wanting cigarettes, because they don't want them anyway.
In other words, the best way to quit smoking is to not want to smoke any more. If you don't want to smoke any more, then you won't think about cigarettes when you normally would, because you don't feel the need to smoke.
Now that we've figured all of that out, you're probably wondering just how you go about stopping your want for cigarettes, since otherwise all we've done here is change the name of the problem without really coming up with a solution. Want to know how to stop wanting cigarettes? Read this book on quitting and by the time you're done, you won't want to smoke any more. Sounds scary? The book even asks you to smoke while you're reading it. Pick up a copy and become a non-smoker today!
Since curing yourself of your smoking addiction is a mental process that you can be walked through, you don't need to be completely mentally ready to quit smoking just yet. You can even be smoking as you read this, trying to decide if you're even ready to quit, and these guides to quitting smoking will help you quit! Without stopping the mental addiction of smoking though, you will always in the back of your mind be a smoker.
Article Source:Susan_L_Roberts
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