Everyone Healthy Library
Alcohol Withdrawal
Condition / disease reference page from the Everyone Healthy database.
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Connected health information
Explore this condition in a clear order
Linked signs and symptoms
19Each sign/symptom opens its own page and links back to related conditions.
- Alcohol Withdrawal Symptoms
- Appetite Loss (Anorexia)
- Behaviour: Recent Reduction in Alcohol Use
- Behaviour: Restlessness
- Blood Pressure High (Hypertension)
- Heart or Pulse Rate Raised (Tachycardia)
- Insomnia
- Involuntary Trembling Or Quivering (Tremor)
- Mind: Anxiety
- Mind: Confusion
- Mind: Hallucination
- Mind: Irritability
- Mind: Restlessness
- Muscle Tension
- Nausea
- Seizures
- Seizures Prolonged or Repetitive
- Sweating (Perspiring)
- Vomiting
Linked drugs / medications
6Medication information is educational only. A doctor or pharmacist should advise whether any medicine is appropriate.
Treatments, therapies and supportive options
40Grouped by treatment type. These are educational database links, not personal treatment recommendations. Evidence labels are shown only where stored in the EH database.
Medical therapy
9- Blood Pressure MonitoringWeakly in Favour(Low Evidence)
- Cardiac MonitoringWeakly in Favour(Low Evidence)
- Catheter DrainageWeakly in Favour(Low Evidence)
- Fluid input and output monitoringWeakly in Favour(Low Evidence)
- Intensive Care (ICU)Weakly in Favour(Low Evidence)
- IntubationWeakly in Favour(Low Evidence)
- Oxygen AdministrationWeakly in Favour(Low Evidence)
- Pulse OximetryWeakly in Favour(Low Evidence)
- Ventilatory SupportWeakly in Favour(Low Evidence)
Lifestyle changes
3Counselling and support
5Alternative and complementary therapies
4Alternative medicine
1Alternative therapies
1Vitamins and minerals
4Vitamins
3Linked diagnostic tests and investigations
16These are pulled from both EH diagnostic-test link tables, including the older large test-link table.
- amylase concentration
- Blood Urea Nitrogen Tests
- Blood Uric Acid Concentration Test
- Carbon Dioxide Total Content (TCO2)
- Chloride Concentration (Blood)
- Creatine Kinase Concentration
- Folic Acid (Folate) Concentration
- Gamma-Glutamyltransferase (GGT) Concentration
- Glycosylated Hemoglobin (HbA1c) Concentration
- High Density Lipoprotein (HDL) Concentration
- Lactic Acid Concentration
- Luteinizing Hormone (LH) Concentration
- Magnesium Concentration (Mg, Blood)
- Red Blood Cell Distribution Width (RDW) Test
- Triglyceride (TGs) Concentration
- Urine Amylase Excretion Rate
Biological markers/agents
16This visual map shows biological markers/agents reported as increased or decreased with this condition. These are educational relationships only; test results must be interpreted by a qualified clinician because ranges vary by lab, method, age, sex and clinical context.
Often increased
13- AmylaseReference range exampleAdult ( > 16y): 25–125 units/LLinked diagnostic testsamylase concentration
- Carbon Dioxide Total Content (TCO2)Reference range exampleInfant (0 - 1y): 20–27 mEq/L; Newborn (0 - 1month): 13–21 mEq/LLinked diagnostic testsCarbon Dioxide Total Content (TCO2)
- Chloride (Blood, Cl)Reference range exampleAdult ( > 16y): 97–106 mEq/L; Birth - 2wks: 94–106 mEq/LLinked diagnostic testsChloride Concentration (Blood)
- Creatine Kinase (CK)Reference range exampleAdult ( > 16y), Female: 35–150 units/L; Adult ( > 16y), Male: 40–170 units/LLinked diagnostic testsCreatine Kinase Concentration
- Gamma-Glutamyltransferase (GGT)Reference range exampleAdult ( > 16y), Female: 6–30 units/L; Adult ( > 16y), Male: 6–38 units/LLinked diagnostic testsGamma-Glutamyltransferase (GGT) Concentration
- Hemoglobin (Hb)
- High Density Lipoprotein (HDL)Reference range exampleAdult ( > 16y), Female: 53–500 mg/dL; Adult ( > 16y), Male: 45–500 mg/dLLinked diagnostic testsHigh Density Lipoprotein (HDL) Concentration
- Lactic Acid (Venous Blood)Reference range exampleAll: 0.5–2.2 mEq/LLinked diagnostic testsLactic Acid Concentration
- Luteinizing Hormone (LH)Reference range exampleAdult ( > 16y), Female: 3–56 units/L; Adult ( > 16y), Male: 1.2–8 units/LLinked diagnostic testsLuteinizing Hormone (LH) Concentration
- Red Blood Distribution Width (RDW)Reference range exampleAll: 11–14.5 %Linked diagnostic testsRed Blood Cell Distribution Width (RDW) Test
- TriglyceridesReference range exampleAdult ( > 16y), Female: 32–137 mg/dL; Adult ( > 16y), Male: 35–155 mg/dLLinked diagnostic testsTriglyceride (TG's) Concentration, Triglyceride (TGs) Concentration
- Uric Acid, BloodReference range exampleAdult ( > 16y), Female: 2.5–7 mg/dL; Adult ( > 16y), Male: 4–8 mg/dLLinked diagnostic testsBlood Uric Acid Concentration Test
- Urine AmylaseReference range exampleAdult ( > 16y): 400–6,700 nkat/dayLinked diagnostic testsUrine Amylase Excretion Rate
Often decreased
3- Blood Urea NitrogenReference range exampleAdult ( > 16y): 6–18 mg/dL; Child (< 10y): 5–15 mg/dLLinked diagnostic testsBlood Urea Nitrogen Tests
- Folic Acid (Folate)Reference range exampleInfant (0 - 1y): 14–51 ng/mL; Child (0 - 16y): 5–21 ng/mLLinked diagnostic testsFolic Acid (Folate) Concentration
- Magnesium (Mg, Blood)Reference range exampleAdult ( > 16y): 1.3–2.6 mEq/L; Birth - 2wks: 1.4–2.2 mEq/LLinked diagnostic testsMagnesium Concentration (Mg, Blood)
Introduction / full article
Alcohol Withdrawal
Efficacy of Alternative and Other Treatments According to GRADE* Ranking:
Megavitamin Therapy (Multivitamin, Vitamin Supplements) [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]:
Please Note that while supplements are effective in correcting deficiencies in the body, their long-term usage is not helpful in preventing diseases like cancer and heart disease. To prevent these illnesses one should eat the natural foods which these vitamins and minerals come from. Replacing natural sources with artificial supplements actually increases the risk of heart disease, cancer, and other diseases. Supplements should be taken only as a balanced multivitamin supplement that contains no more than 100% of the recommended daily allowance. It would be most helpful in people with restricted food intakes, pregnant women and women of childbearing age.
Recommendation: Weakly against. (There is no evidence that Megavitamin therapy can prevent or treat alcoholism. In fact, long term therapy can lead to increased risk for other diseases)
Grade of Evidence: moderate quality of evidence
Red Pepper (Capsaicin):
Please note, this management does NOT treat the condition itself. It is proposed only as a weak supportive symptomatic support, and even then, has insufficient evidence to back up this claim at present.
Recommendation: no recommendation (There is insufficient evidence to support claims that red peppers help to treat or prevent alcohol withdrawal)
Grade of Evidence: very low quality of evidence
Magnetic Therapy:
Recommendation: no recommendation (There is insufficient evidence to show that Magnetic Therapy can help with Alcohol dependance)
Grade of Evidence: low quality of evidence
Hypnosis:
Recommendation: no recommendation (evidence has shown that hypnosis is not effective in helping people treat Alcohol dependance)
Grade of Evidence: low quality of evidence
Meditation:
Recommendation: no recommendation (There is insufficient evidence to show that Meditation can help with Alcohol dependance)
Grade of Evidence: very low quality of evidence
Thiamine [8]:
Recommendation: Weakly in favor (Early studies show that thiamine may be able to help treat alcohol withdrawal. More studies are needed)
Grade of Evidence: Low quality of evidence
Folic Acid [8]:
Recommendation: Weakly in favor (Early studies show that folic acid may be able to help treat alcohol withdrawal. More studies are needed)
Grade of Evidence: Low quality of evidence
* www.gradeworkinggroup.org
Summary References
Treatments:
1. Ades T, Alteri R, Gansler T, Yeargin P, "Complete Guide to Complimentary & Alternative Cancer Therapies", American Cancer Society, Atlanta USA, 2009
2. http://www.cancer.org/Treatment/TreatmentsandSideEffects/ComplementaryandAlternativeMedicine/HerbsVitaminsandMinerals/orthomolecular-medicine
3. http://archpedi.ama-assn.org/cgi/reprint/163/2/192.pdf
4. http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/ortho.html
5. http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/72/5/707
6. http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/no-index/about-ama/13638.shtml
7. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17327526