Delirium Tremens: When You Wait Too Long With Looking Into Cures for Alcohol Withdrawal!

Delirium Tremens: everybody knows the word, but not a lot of people know what it means exactly. It is important to look into cures for alcohol withdrawal as soon as possible, in order to avoid a very hard and difficult process! Delirium Tremens is the phase after drinking with highest change of risk. It is vital to act fast!

1. Risk Factor

Delirium tremens usually happens with people above 40 years of age that have been heavy drinking for over 8 years. Under heavily drinking we understand around 翻 litre (1 pint) of liquor or 2.5l (96 oz) of beer, which equals around 100 grams of alcohol a day. The patient which experience withdrawal symptoms when abstinent, and suffer from Hepatic Cirrhosis (chronic liver disease) already.

2. Timing

The symptoms last typically around 5 to 7 days after you quit drinking alcohol, with its peak around 1-3 days. It is essential to look for a good follow-up as some of the symptoms are very dangerous for your health.

3. Symptoms

The time after starting your cure for alcohol withdrawal can be divided into three stages. The first three days are crucial: if you don't pass those well, you risk of going into a Delirium Tremens! Here you can find a chronological description of the first days after you stopped alcohol, divided in the 3 main stages:

a) 6-12 hours after abstention

This is the initial stage, where the body feels something is different than usual. The main symptoms are anxiety or panic attacks, shakes, fevers, chest pain, vomiting,... Those symptoms are not life threatening, but can be very annoying.

b) 24-72 hours after abstention

In this phase the body really needs alcohol, and is demanding it. Here the symptoms are a lot worse and include confusion, hypertension, vomiting and diarrhea, restlessness and so on.

c) 72-96 hours after abstention

This is the phase where someone can go into Delirium Tremens. The body can't cope any more without alcohol and blocks out completely. The symptoms here are very dangerous, and can lead to death. The less severe symptoms during this stage are visual hallucinations, disorientation and delirium, hypertension and fever.

4. Treatment

The best remedy for Delirium Tremens is a treatment with Benzodiazepines. In case of acute danger, high doses may be necessary. In the past, the mortality rate of people suffering from Delirium Tremens was 35%. Nowadays this number has change significantly to 5-10%, due to intensive care and advanced pharmacotherapy.