The Early Stages of Alcohol Withdrawal

By : Talk Rehab

For those that are unsure if they have a drinking problem or not it is important to recognize the early stages of alcohol withdrawal. Recognizing the problem early on is important because alcohol dependency grows worse as time goes on. This can lead to serious health problems that can be avoided with early detection and treatment. I can attest to this from personal experience.

When I started feeling the early stages I did not know where the problem was coming from. I felt a slight sense of anxiety. It was if if something was wrong and I didn’t know what was bothering me.

One example was when I was driving on a fall evening. I was completely sober and the cold air was really bothering me. As I was driving a leaf blew across the street and I thought “What if that was an animal?” The irrational thinking consumed me. However, I knew it was just a leaf. The withdrawal was causing me to dwell on negative possibilities. It even caused my heart rate to increase.

I also remember that I would break into a mild sweat relatively easily. In addition, my hands seemed a little unsteady. I remember being at work one day lifting boxes. It wasn’t anything overly grueling yet I broke into a sweat as if it was. I also remember that I had difficulty writing because my hands would shake. I thought, “What is bothering me? There is no reason why I should be feeling nervous right now.” I had no idea that my body was trying to tell me that I needed a drink.

Another thing that I noticed was that I felt the need to have a drink at night in order to unwind from a long day at work. If I had a drink or two I would sleep soundly. If I did not I would lay awake for hours.

The symptoms were so mild that I honestly could not figure out was was wrong with me. I thought it could have been the weather or the stress of my job. I even went to see a therapist.

My therapist and I discussed my situation in detail. She kept asking me if I drank but I didn’t want to tell her about that part of my life. The end result was that I was diagnosed with mild anxiety.

I began taking anti anxiety medications in hopes that it would help. The medications however seemed to have little impact. This caused me to do further research on my condition.

I began reading about the symptoms one by one. After weeks of research I came across the symptoms of alcohol withdrawal. They matched exactly what I was experiencing. I even took a couple of drinks to prove my theory. The drinks stopped the symptoms immediately.

What I did not understand was that the drinking was the root cause. I actually thought it just fixed my problem. I thought by drinking I would stop the alcohol withdrawal symptoms. I thought I was self medicating.

Eventually I realized that the drinking was what caused my problems in the first place and that there would be no solution to the problem until seeking treatment. It was a scary and difficult step to make, but my life is much better because of it.