Alcohol, benzos, and opiates – Withdrawal that might kill you
November 28, 2009 – 5:00 amAlong with teaching and telling stories, part of my goal here at All About Addiction is to get important information out to those who can benefit from it.
Most drug users who quit drug use “cold turkey” have to go through withdrawal of some sort. Withdrawal is never comfortable, but sometimes it can actually be dangerous. The list below outlines some drugs that should NEVER be quit suddenly without medical supervision. This is the reason why some rehab treatment is preceeded by a medical detox period lasting anywhere from 2 days to a week or more.
Which withdrawals can actually kill?
- Alcohol - Yes, after long term use, withdrawal from alcohol can kill. Alcohol withdrawal syndrome can take on mild, moderate, or severe forms. If while withdrawing from alcohol a person develops a fever, extreme nausea, diharrea, or DT (delirium tremens), they need to be rushed to see a doctor as soon as possible. In fact, alcohol withdrawal after heavy, chronic use is best managed under the care of a doctor or a professional medical detox unit. By using medications that relieve withdrawal symptoms, these professionals can essentially eliminate any of these risks.
- Benzodiazepines – Benzos were introduced as a replacement to barbiturates that were causing common overdose cases, many of which resulted in death. Nevertheless, withdrawal from extended use of benzodiaepines can kill. Whether Xanax (alprazolam), Ativan (lorazepam), Valium (diazepam) or other variations, long term use of Benzodiazepines requires medical supervision to be completed successfully with minimal side-effects and risk to the patient. Normally, the withdrawal process is managed by slowly reducing the dose and transferring the patient from a slow acting, to a long acting, form of the drug. Still, full resolution of benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome can take up to 6 months.
- Opiates - Many people are surprised to learn that in most cases, withdrawal from many opiates is not deadly. Still there are some very important exceptions. Methadone, a long-acting opiate often prescribed as a replacement for heroin can cause death during withdrawal if it’s consumed in high enough doses for a long enough period. The debate of whether the state should be prescribing something like this should be saved for a later date. It is one of the better ways of getting people off of heroin, though obviously, all it does is replace one addiction with another, more manageable one. Also, some of the recently popular methods of rapid-detox from heroin addiction can themselves cause death, and many other negative side-effects. Overall, I would recommend checking in with a physician and conducting opiate withdrawal in a controlled setting. Withdrawal under Suboxone or Subutex can be far less horrific. Still, I know many people who succeeded quitting without such supervision.
Much of the danger in withdrawal from all of these drugs has to do with the body’s response to the extreme changes in the chemical processes going on in the brain and the rest of the body. Alcohol, Benzos, and Opiates interference with the GABA system, the body’s most common downregulator.
Withdrawal from these drugs is like trying to turn the heat up in a cold house with a broken thermostat and an out of control heater – It won’t always lead to disaster, but it’s a bad idea.
The withdrawal danger summary
That’s pretty much it. “Cold Turkey” withdrawal from cocaine, marijuana, crystal meth, ecstasy, GHB (never mix GHB with alcohol though!!!), and many other recreationally used drugs will not lead to death in the vast majority of cases. While it may make you uncomfortable, and you may feel moody, constipated, dehydrated, hungry or nauseous, and a whole slew of other symptoms, the chances of someone actually dying from withdrawal are very small.
If you have any more specific questions regarding your case though, don’t shy from asking me!
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Tags: Alcohol, ativan, barbiturates, benzo, benzodiazepines, cocaine, crystal meth, death, depression, diharrea, doctor, dt, e, Ecstasy, GHB, heroin, marijuana, methadone, oxycontin, physician, suboxone, subutex, supervision, valium, withdrawal, x, xanax
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10 Responses to “Alcohol, benzos, and opiates – Withdrawal that might kill you”
Addiction, violence, civil liberties,crack cocaine, poverty, 2010 Olympics, drugs, prostitution, heroin, homelessness; and their impact on Vancouver’s Black Eye, The Downtown Eastside.
More than 2 million syringes are handed out free every year. Clean mouthpieces for crack pipes are provided at taxpayers’ expense. Around 4,000 opiate addicts get prescription methadone. Thousands come to the injection site every year.
addiction is a state in which the body relies on a substance for normal functioning and develops physical dependence, as in drug addiction. When the drug or substance on which someone is dependent is suddenly removed, it will cause withdrawal, a characteristic set of signs and symptoms. Addiction is generally associated with increased drug tolerance common usage of the term addiction has spread to include psychological dependence. In this context, the term is used in drug addiction and substance abuse problems
Impelled by the horror show of the Downtown East Side, prodded by activists and convinced by reams of academic studies, the police and city government have agreed to provide hard drug users with their paraphernalia, a place to use it and even, for a few, the drugs themselves.
The Harsh Reality of Drug Addiction
Not for the faint-hearted, this video is graphic and shocking and shows the depths of depravity that the human soul can descend to.
After 11 months of sobriety from cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and other drugs this individuals mental state has sunk to an almost animal-like existence.
http://www.2010homelesschampions.ca/reality_of_drug_addiction.htm
2010 Homeless Champions supports The Servants of Hope Recovery House
a proven model of recovery recently acknowledged by Operation Phoenix and the Vancouver Province Newspaper
This website is dedicated to telling the stories of the unfortunate individuals living in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver in the hope that awareness of this problem will spur people to get involved, to let all levels of government know that something has to be done to alleviate this misery rooted in addiction, homelessness and depravity. To point the way to recovery from addiction, which we believe is the root of most of this situation. With the 2010 Olympics coming to Vancouver it is our mandate to record the transition and the extreme changes that are even now occurring and will continue to unfold in the Downtown Eastside.
http://www.2010homelesschampions.ca
By RECOVERED ADDICT on Nov 28, 2009
Wow I dint know this my BF has tried many times to quit on his own cold turkey is a meth addict and when he is feeling sick he experiences alot of abdominal pain why is this?? also what do the drug rehab programs offer?
By Esmeralda on Nov 30, 2009
Wow I dint know this my BF has tried many times to quit on his own cold turkey is a meth addict and when he is feeling sick he experiences alot of abdominal pain why is this?? also what do the drug rehab programs offer? he has never been in one.
By Esmeralda on Nov 30, 2009
Hi Esmeralda,
I’m not sure why your boyfriend experiences abdominal pain when withdrawing from meth. While meth withdrawal can be uncomfortable, it normally includes a lot of sleeping and eating since the body has been starved of both for quite a while. Perhaps his stomach issues are related to things like ulcers due to stomach acids.
Rehabs offer medicated withdrawal to ease the pain, although this is mostly offered for people withdrawing from heroin or other opiates, benzos (like valium), or long-time alcoholics.
How is your boyfriend doing now? Is he still managing to stay clean? What ever happened with the insurance?
By Adi Jaffe on Dec 2, 2009
Where can I go to find information about the degree of consumption and the likelihood of medical issues. I have been drinking every night for about a year and it is my new year’s resolution to quit, but now I’m worried that I might need medical help to do so after reading this. I don’t drink during the day, just at bed time, but I have about 3 drinks so basically I end up passing out. Is this a medical treatment deal, or am I safe to just quit and maybe take xanax for a week?
By Mike on Jan 5, 2010
Hey Mike, great question and good job doing some research before going further. Though I have to recommend that you see a doctor before making a final decision, given what you’ve told me (3 drinks per day for a year) I would say that you’re safe to quit without much of a problem or need for medical supervision. Believe it or not, there are people out there who get to the point of drinking a fifth of liquor (think whole bottle of vodka) every day. those are the type of individuals that definitely need supervision and most likely pharmaceutical help, to quit. Anything around and up to 3-5 drinks per day I would say can have a go with little more than determination. I would actually stay away from the xanax and brave the first week, difficult as it may be. If after that first week you still finding yourself anxious without the alcohol, definitely go to see a psychiatrist.
Good luck and all the best man – Keep me updated!
By Adi Jaffe on Jan 5, 2010