Stages of Alcohol-Withdrawal Symptoms From Day 1 to Day 30 and Beyond

[Chip (OP)]

see also Pros and Cons of Tapering Down Alcohol Intake

Read about people's real-life experiences when they decide to quit drinking



For those who experience withdrawal symptoms when they decide to quit drinking, the two most often asked questions are "Is this normal?" and "How long does it last?"

The problem in trying to answer those questions lies in the fact that there is no "normal" when it comes to alcohol withdrawal. People can experience a wide range of different symptoms—ranging from mild to moderate to severe—and those symptoms start and stop at different times for each person.

Almost 8,000 responses were gathered to the question, "What were your toughest withdrawal symptoms and how did you cope?" These comments reveal a wide variety of symptoms and experiences among those going through the early days of alcohol abstinence.

See what these people experienced each day after they quit drinking, from day one to day 30 and beyond. You'll notice that the experiences vary greatly, even on the same day. While some experienced mild symptoms in the early days, others reported severe, sometimes frightening symptoms.

Most of those who experience severe alcohol withdrawal symptoms do so because they're going through their detoxification period "on their own" without the benefit of medical help.

Those who sought help from their healthcare providers and were given medications to alleviate their symptoms reported milder symptoms overall and seemed to experience those symptoms over shorter periods of time.

Without medical help, you too can experience some of the severe symptoms reported here, but with help from your doctor or another healthcare provider, you can avoid much of the suffering that these people experienced.

If you do decide to seek medical help before quitting, be sure you are completely honest with your healthcare provider so that they can develop an accurate treatment plan for your situation. Then, be sure to follow your doctor's advice exactly.

If you decide to decline medical help and you try to detox on your own, make sure that someone healthy and responsible is around to keep an eye on you in case you get into trouble with severe withdrawal symptoms.

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