Do you feel that you’ve been drinking way too much for the past few months, or even years? Or perhaps you feel that you’ve come to depend on alcohol to get you through the day. Either way, you may try to stomp on the brakes of your drinking to change your life and habits. While your efforts are admirable, you need to know that quitting cold turkey can be more harmful than you know. Here’s why:
You May Experience Withdrawal Symptoms
The hard truth of the matter is that people have died from the withdrawal symptoms associated with alcohol dependence. Such symptoms include hallucinations, agitation, convulsions and fever. In addition to identifying alcoholism, going to a recovery clinic can help you both avoid and deal with the symptoms associated with alcohol withdrawal. Another danger of withdrawal is the fact that it can take as many as three days before symptoms kick in, making you think that you’re fine up until that point.
You Can’t Go Through This Alone
No matter how strong-willed you are, chances are that you cannot stop drinking all on your own. That’s because you’ve developed a dependence on alcohol. Unless you have the right training and educational background, you likely lack the tools and knowledge necessary to kick your habit and not relapse, putting you right back where you were before you tried to stop drinking. Know that your battle is just as psychological as it is physical.
You Need To Know What To Eat
Alcoholics aren’t known for being the healthiest of eaters, which means that your body is likely lacking in proper nutrition even before you start to stop drinking. Combining malnourishment with withdrawal is most certainly not a picnic by any stretch of the imagination. Unless you’re a nutritionist, you probably don’t know what food and drink you need to give your body the strength required to keep going, nor do you know just how much healthy drink and food someone of your weight and lifestyle needs to remain healthy.
You Could Be at a Higher Risk of Fatal Symptoms
Maybe this isn’t your first time trying to quit cold turkey. If it’s not and you’ve experienced minor withdrawal symptoms in the past, trying to quit again can put you at a bigger risk than someone who hasn’t gone through withdrawal before. Before you try quitting on your own again and risk having another drink, consider going to a recovery clinic instead to get the help you need and deserve to break your dependency.
Your Helpful Friends May Not Be Medical Professionals
Turning to your friends to help you is admirable, and even having a friend or two offer to watch over you while you detox is a kindness. That said, unless your friends are medical professionals, they don’t know what to look for. A seemingly minor symptom of withdrawal could be the precursor to something life-threatening. It’s best that you go to a detox center where you can be monitored by experts.
Boost your chances of getting off alcohol and staying off by turning to recovery and detox centers rather than going at it alone. Your results are sure to be better, and you’re less likely to relapse in the future.