Symptoms & Signs
Alcohol withdrawal may involve psychological and physical symptoms.
Mild-to-moderate psychological symptoms:
* Anxiety or nervousness
* Depression
* Difficulty thinking clearly
* Fatigue
* Irritability or easy excitability
* Jumpiness or shakiness
* Nightmares
* Rapid emotional changes
Mild-to-moderate physical symptoms:
* Clammy skin
* Enlarged (dilated) pupils
* Headache
* Insomnia (sleeping difficulty)
* Loss of appetite
* Nausea and vomiting
* Pallor
* Rapid heart rate
* Sweating
* Tremor of the hands or other body parts
Severe symptoms:
* Agitation
* Delirium tremens — a state of severe confusion and visual hallucinations
* Fever
* Seizures
Diagnosis & Tests
When evaluating you for alcohol withdrawal, your health care provider will check for:
* Abnormal eye movements
* Abnormal heart rhythms
* Dehydration
* Elevated temperature
* General body shaking
* Liver failure
* Rapid breathing
* Rapid heart rate
* Shaky hands
A toxicology screen may be performed, as well as other blood tests.
Alcohol withdrawal: Overview, Causes
Alcohol withdrawal: Symptoms & Signs, Diagnoisis & Tests
Alcohol withdrawal: Treatment
Reviewed By : David B. Merrill, MD, Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.
