Addiction to alcohol is one of the most serious and difficult addictions in the world. Part of this is the result of alcohol's legal status, but another is the occurrence of delirium tremens. Many people addicted to alcohol drink to avoid this serious problem, but it can be beaten with proper treatment. However, some people are advocating self-tapering as a safe withdrawal treatment. Is it?
Why Delirium Tremens Must Be Avoided
When you quit drinking alcohol, there's a chance that your body will fall into severe withdrawal symptoms. These include headaches, agitation, and severe alcohol cravings. However, people with severe cases of alcoholism may fall into a state of delirium tremens. This often occurs 48 to 96 hours after the last drink, but can occur up to a week to a week and a half after. This serious and life-threatening condition causes a variety of symptoms, including:
- Tremors
- Mental confusion
- Disorientation
- Excitement and fear
- Hallucination
- Mood changes
- Sleepiness and fatigue
- Sensitivity to sensation
- Severe physical seizures
- Nausea
- Chest pain and heart palpitations
These symptoms can build off of each other to create a situation that many people don't survive. That's why alcohol withdrawal treatment is necessary. However, a group known as HAMS promotes the idea of tapering off of alcohol, rather than going through medical therapy. Is this a safe alternative to medical treatment?
Self-Tapering Is Possible, But Difficult
The idea behind HAMS self-taper is that the person suffering from the alcohol addiction could control their input of alcohol by slowly decreasing it over time. The idea is to stave off withdrawal symptoms by slowly detoxifying the body from the comfort of your home and on your own terms. But is this effective?
The founder of HAMS, Kenneth Anderson, cites his own case as an example of the success of self-tapering. Anderson used to drink a whole bottle of whiskey four days a week. By self-tapering, he is down to just one bottle of whiskey in a week.
This improvement, he says, is realistic to his abilities and has helped him avoid delirium tremens. Unfortunately, he's still drinking heavy amounts of liquor and is likely doing serious damage to his body, including his liver and heart.
Medical Treatment May Be Necessary
While self-tapering may be possible, it requires a lot of self-control that many people who suffer from alcoholism may not possess without medical help. Medically-assisted tapers will use a variety of replacement medicines, such as benzodiazepines, anesthetic agents, and barbiturates to take the place of alcohol in the body and to decrease the occurrence of withdrawal symptoms.
Talking to a drug rehabilitation specialist is crucial to finding an alcohol withdrawal solution that works for you. Beating withdrawal and delirium tremens is only the beginning of the battle. Professional rehab will also manage the psychological symptoms of addiction, something that self-tapering, unfortunately, cannot do.
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