Alcohol Withdrawal in Leesburg, VA

Alcohol withdrawal is the painful and potentially life-threatening health condition that occurs when a person addicted to alcohol attempts to quit. Withdrawal from alcohol can cause harmful symptoms in both the body and brain. If you're planning to get off an alcohol habit, the first order of business that you should be concerned about is finding excellent treatment for alcohol withdrawal in Leesburg.

What Happens with Alcohol Withdrawal?

Every addictive substance mimics the function of certain natural brain chemicals. It's how these substances work. It is this effect that makes it possible for them to stimulate the brain's pleasure center, and bring about feelings of deep pleasure. Addiction treatment programs in Leesburg can help you overcome your addiction.

The brain does have its own precise and controlled ways of activating the pleasure center, and it identifies such outside interference as harmful. The brain's attempt, then, is to shut the interference down. It does this through a response method called tolerance — the brain gauges the quantity of alcohol in the brain and raises its tolerance to it. This means that it refuses to allow the pleasure center to respond to the quantity of alcohol currently sensed.

People who like to drink, however, respond to this protective measure with dismay — they no longer feel high. Of course, they drink even more to see if it will help. It does help. It overwhelms the brain's protective tolerance function and stimulates the pleasure center as much as desired.

It is in the nature of biological systems to adapt to harmful interference. In circumstances involving the presence of external chemicals that control the pleasure center, the brain's adaptive mechanism is to sense that it is no longer needed to control the pleasure center. It assumes that the task now belongs to the alcohol coming in, and merely withdraws from controlling the pleasure center.

This makes things very difficult for the user; while he may have started using alcohol for pleasure, now, he actually needs to consume alcohol to make the pleasure center function on a day-to-day basis. He finds that he's unable to feel any pleasure at all in the absence of alcohol. To say that this person is addicted to alcohol is another way of expressing the fact that he needs alcohol to help his brain function.

If he stops consuming alcohol, his brain does attempt to get back in control, but it's a slow process that involves terrible fluctuations in internal hormone and neurotransmitter levels. Over the several days that it takes for the brain to stabilize, there are terrible effects experienced, both mental and physical.

What Do These Withdrawal Symptoms Feel Like?

Alcohol withdrawal symptoms can begin to show up within hours of quitting. The initial symptoms may include anxiety and agitation, and over the following 72 hours, these may develop into various combinations of disorientation, physical pain, nausea, tremors, and insomnia.

It's important to remember that when it comes to the intensity of which alcohol withdrawal symptoms are felt, much depends on how long you've been addicted, and how much alcohol you consume each day. This means that each day that you put off finding rehab treatment, is a day that you end up making your own withdrawal that much harder. Among the deepest addictions, these withdrawal symptoms can include cardiac arrest, seizures and delirium tremens (a condition that includes hallucinations and very high body temperatures). Each one of these conditions can prove fatal.

Then There Are The Cravings

Alcohol is one of the hardest addictive substances to withdraw from. The powerful cravings involved are one reason why this should be so. Cravings appear for the simple reason that the function of the brain's pleasure center is closely tied to the function of the brain's learning center. Anything that gives you great pleasure, the brain learns a deep habit of it. The more you drink for pleasure, the more the brain learns an unshakable faith in the goodness of alcohol. It can produce very deep cravings in withdrawal. Alcohol Withdrawal in Leesburg is tough, but with proven treatment programs, you can live a life of sobriety.

The Good News Is You Don't Need to Worry About These Symptoms

There used to be a time, not long ago, when there was nothing much that medical science could do for someone who needed to quit. Today, however, there is a wide range of medical interventions available. Each difficult symptom of alcohol withdrawal can be treated in medical detox in Leesburg. All you need to do is to find good alcohol withdrawal treatment facilities and have them treat you symptomatically

A certain amount of work does go into finding good, effective, evidence-based alcohol withdrawal treatment options. Not all alcohol withdrawal treatment programs out there offer treatment that is in line with modern medical science. Nevertheless, it only takes a little work to look for CARF or JA accreditation. Such proof of quality can help you come by excellent treatment for alcohol withdrawal in Leesburg. Call Leesburg Drug Rehab Centers now for help (877) 804-1531.