What Happens to Your Body When You Stop Drinking Suddenly

It is laudable when anyone makes the important decision to stop drinking. Alcohol abuse is extremely damaging to health, mental health, relationships, and careers. However, quitting alcohol should never be undertaken impulsively, as alcohol detox can pose serious risks. To better understand the risks, it helps to know what happens to your body when you stop drinking suddenly. To learn how to safely discontinue drinking, please read on.

What Happens When You Stop Drinking Cold Turkey?

Quitting alcohol cold turkey is risky because it can cause the body systems to become highly destabilized. This is directly related to how alcohol dependence and addiction develop in the first place. Continued heavy drinking leads to increased tolerance. This means the body has developed a resistance to the effects of alcohol and causes the person to consume more. As neural pathways become altered over time, the brain relies on the alcohol to maintain homeostasis, or a state of balance. When someone suddenly stops drinking, it causes dopamine levels and GABA levels to dramatically drop. This prompts the body to try to stabilize, resulting in severe physical and mental withdrawal symptoms. This is referred to as acute withdrawal syndrome and illustrates **what happens to your body when you stop drinking suddenly**.

Acute Withdrawal Syndrome When You Stop Drinking Alcohol

Acute withdrawal syndrome is the term that comprises the phases and symptoms of alcohol withdrawal. Alcohol withdrawal symptoms are the overt signs that someone is dependent on alcohol, that their brain pathways are altered. Over time, the sedating effects of alcohol lead to the over-production of norepinephrine and serotonin. Thus, when someone stops drinking, it triggers overactivity of the autonomic nervous system. This is the part of the nervous system that manages our response to stress. In the absence of alcohol, the body seeks to restore homeostasis and stabilize by rebalancing brain chemistry. This results in withdrawal, or the unpleasant physical and psychological symptoms that occur as the body purges the alcohol. This process offers a clear picture of **what happens to your body when you stop drinking suddenly**.

Why You Need Medical Detox When You Stop Drinking

When you are ready to commit to sobriety, your first step is to enroll in a medical detox program. Going through detox on your own without support is not only risky, but is likely to fail as withdrawal symptoms mount. The withdrawal symptoms can become so severe that you will simply give up on detox and return to drinking. A supervised medical detox allows you to stop drinking safely while being continually monitored by a health professional. **What happens to your body when you stop drinking suddenly** can be highly unpredictable, which is why you need oversight. Throughout the detox and withdrawal process, your symptoms will be closely observed and medication provided as needed. The detox team guides you through the withdrawal process to prepare you physically and emotionally for transitioning into active treatment.

What Happens to Your Body During Alcohol Detox?

If you are curious about **what happens to your body when you stop drinking suddenly**, this section offers helpful information. Within 6-12 hours of your last drink, the withdrawal symptoms begin to emerge. The alcohol detox proceeds in three distinct stages and lasts about one week. Here is what to expect:
Emerging symptoms: During the early phase of detox, you are likely to experience nausea, abdominal pain, foggy thinking, insomnia, sweating, and anxiety.

Peak symptoms: The symptoms will peak on days 2-4. You may experience fever, tremors, cravings, high blood pressure, increased body temperature, profuse sweating, heart palpitations, agitation, irritability, and confusion.

Subsiding symptoms: On days 5-7, you’ll notice the symptoms starting to slowly fade. However, some psychological symptoms, such as depression, anxiety, and sleep disturbance may linger. These lingering symptoms are referred to as post-acute alcohol withdrawal syndrome, or PAWS. It features a cluster of physical and psychological symptoms that persist after the detox has been completed. PAWS is more common in those with a long history of alcoholism.

What Does the Delirium Tremens Do to Your Body?

A supervised detox can help avoid a rare but possibly fatal event called the delirium tremens (DTs). The DTs may emerge on days 3-4 and feature severe mental confusion, hallucinations, delusions, seizures, shallow breathing, shaking, rapid heart rate, disorientation, and coma. Those with a long history of chronic alcohol abuse or repeated detox attempts are most at risk for the DTs. The medical detox team is trained to notice the early warning signs of the DTs and intervene swiftly. While the exact cause of the DTs is still not fully known, some risk factors have been noted. These include:

• Being middle age or older
• Having a history of seizures during prior alcohol withdrawals
• Abnormal liver function
• Having a co-existing mental health disorder
• The number of attempted detoxes in the past
• Extreme alcohol cravings

Rehab Helps You Stop Drinking Alcohol Long-Term

You may have completed detox and feel great, thinking you can safely manage your behaviors on your own. However, the truth is that detox alone will not change addictive behaviors. These are behaviors that developed over time and kept you trapped in the addiction cycle. After you complete the detox, your next step in recovery is alcohol rehab. This program involves a broad range of therapies and activities that help you make those crucial behavioral changes. Treatment includes:

• Psychotherapy. A therapist works with you to help identify any dysfunctional thought and behavior patterns and help you to change them.
• Group. Group therapy sessions help peers in recovery build an additional source of support.
• 12-step. The 12-step program from A.A. is a core theme in the treatment process.
• Education. Classes help you learn how alcohol impacts the brain, and how to avoid a relapse.
• Holistic activities. Holistic methods like yoga, meditation, acupuncture, art therapy, dance movement therapy, and equine therapy offer multiple mental health benefits.

Wellness Recovery Retreat Center Alcohol Detox and Rehab

Wellness Recovery Retreat Center offers individuals who struggle with alcoholism a new life in recovery. Wondering **what happens to your body when you stop drinking suddenly**? If so, you will benefit from our medical detox program and expert support to help you through alcohol withdrawal. Please connect with us today at (877) 237-1290.