Initial 6 to 12 Hours
Believe it or not, you can start feeling withdrawal symptoms only a few hours after you take your last sip of alcohol. This will vary depending on how advanced your addiction is. Some people may not start feeling symptoms until a day has passed.
Most of the symptoms associated with early withdrawal during detox are mental. You may feel more anxious, you may have mood swings, and it’s likely that you’ll have trouble sleeping.
Physical symptoms include nausea, other types of gastrointestinal distress, and shakey hands. You may also have splitting headaches.
These symptoms mimic common flu symptoms.
12 to 24 Hours
During the first day of detox, you’ll end with more intense physical symptoms. The initial symptoms won’t go away, so these will be on top of the 6 to 12-hour symptoms.
It’s normal for mild shakiness to turn into full hand tremors at this stage. This is frightening, but it’s a normal part of the withdrawal process. You may also feel confused or disoriented during this time.
It’s not common, but some people experience seizures at this stage of detox. Make sure that you have someone nearby who’s able to monitor you in the event that you need medical attention.
24 to 48 Hours
Around the 48-hour mark, seizures become more common. You may start to experience more serious physical symptoms (that again, mimic serious flu symptoms).
It’s normal for people going through withdrawal to hallucinate or become delusional. Because this is upsetting for friends and family, it’s best if a medical or mental health professional is nearby to help.
Hallucinations are often auditory, but tactile and visual hallucinations happen as well.
You may experience a high fever accompanied by excessive sweating. You may also start experiencing more intense nausea and vomiting.
Delerium Tremens is a risk of alcohol detox. It happens during extreme alcohol withdrawal. Most people won’t experience it, but one out of every twenty will.
On top of the other symptoms, people with Delerium Tremens experience hypersensitivity to light and touch, agitation, confusion, and they’re more likely to experience seizures.
Final 2 to 3 Days
Some people find the final 2 to 3 days the worst while others find that their symptoms start getting less severe.
People who have serious symptoms at this point, they may extend beyond those 2 to 3 days. Some people experience acute withdrawal symptoms for weeks. This isn’t a cause for concern as long as you’re detoxing with professionals.
You may experience loss of consciousness, continue experiencing Delerium Tremens, or have seizures. You’ll also continue experiencing mental health symptoms from the previous days.
Some people go through post-acute withdrawal syndrome (or PAWS, for short). This means that symptoms of withdrawal can continue for up to a year, though they won’t be as intense as they were during the initial withdrawal period.
You may experience fatigue, trouble sleeping, irritability, and depression. You may notice that you feel dizzy and your balance is off. Your memory may not be as sharp as it was before the detox period.
It’s normal to experience intense alcohol cravings during this period.