Alcoholism Medication

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When an alcoholic abruptly quits drinking, he or she typically suffers from alcoholism withdrawal symptoms.  Some individuals, moreover, experience such extreme withdrawal symptoms when they stop drinking that they require alcoholism medication to help manage and control their withdrawals. 

This type of alcoholism treatment can be found in an alcohol rehabilitation facility that specializes in alcoholism detoxification or in a hospital.

Alcoholism Medication and Alcohol Withdrawal Symptoms

More than a few alcoholism research scientists and medical practitioners believe that chronic alcoholics who cannot maintain their sobriety and individuals who suffer from severe alcoholism withdrawal symptoms should receive alcoholism medication to regulate and control their withdrawal symptoms.

Another important reason for the employment of drug-oriented treatment protocols, moreover, is that with this type of therapeutic intervention, alcoholics are less likely to encounter possible seizures and/or brain damage.

Some of the current findings in the research literature have concluded that the medications with the highest probability of generating effective outcomes when treating alcoholism withdrawal symptoms are the benzodiazepines.

Examples include the longer-acting benzodiazepines such as Librium and Valium and the shorter-acting benzodiazepines such as Ativan and Serax.

From a historical standpoint, when doctors have utilized benzodiazepines, they typically employed progressive dosage decreases over the total time-frame of the withdrawal protocol.

Moreover, since the shorter-acting benzodiazepines do not stay in the person's body for a disproportionate amount of time and due to the fact that these medications allow for quantifiable dose reductions throughout the entire withdrawal process, a number of medical practitioners and alcoholism researchers have stated that short to intermediate half-life benzodiazepines should be utilized when treating alcoholism withdrawal symptoms.

Alcoholism Medication and Drinking Relapses

After a person's detox condition has been stabilized and the person has overcome his or her withdrawal symptoms, other doctor-prescribed medications such as naltrexone (ReViaT) or disulfiram (Antabuse) can be administered to help prevent the individual from returning to drinking after he or she has experienced a drinking relapse.

For a real-life example of this type of intervention, consider the above mentioned drug entitled antabuse.  Due to the fact that antabuse elicits extremely unpleasant consequences such as nausea, flushing vomiting, and dizziness if alcohol is consumed, it has proven to be a powerful deterrent to drinking even with individuals who are chronically addicted to alcohol.

From another perspective, therapeutically speaking, Naltrexone (ReViaT) is employed in am entirely different way in that it targets the brain's reward circuits, thereby reducing the alcoholic's craving for alcohol.  With either drug, fortunately, the person who has relapsed is receiving alcoholism medication that has a proven and effective treatment track record that will certainly help the person continue towards his or her goal of sobriety.

Alcoholism Medication: Inpatient versus Outpatient Status

Alcoholism research scientists and healthcare practitioners have found that inpatient alcohol treatment is longer-lasting and more effective than outpatient treatment.

As a result, the more extreme the alcoholism withdrawal symptoms, the more likely that inpatient treatment programs should be employed.

Alcoholism Medication:  Conclusion

5% of the individuals who stop drinking alcohol suffer from dreadful withdrawal symptoms that necessitate inpatient treatment in a hospital or in a rehab facility that specializes in alcoholism detoxification.  The main "weapons" employed to treat these excessive withdrawal symptoms are alcoholism medications such as shorter-acting benzodiazepines like Serax and Ativan.  After the alcoholism withdrawal symptoms have been regulated, the individual can then let his or her body naturally eliminate the alcohol that was consumed.  

Other medications such as naltrexone (ReViaT) or disulfiram (Antabuse) can also be utilized to help prevent the individual from returning to drinking after he or she has encountered a drinking relapse.  It is unmistakable that the alcoholism medication protocol provides effective and doable treatment options that simply do not exist with many other rehab and detox interventions.

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