Addiction and Substance Abuse

Post withdrawal symptoms

05/11/2008 10:08AM

Question:

after abrupt discontinuation of alcohol,and bipolar meds(celexa,seroquil,lithium )is it possible for a chonic alcoholic to suffer withdrawal symptoms 9 days after last drink and bipolar meds --hallucinations,altered mental status ,confusion,agitation and memory loss of such episode--can acutr withdrawal symptons last a long time

Answer:

Thank you for the good question. Alcohol withdrawal can occur in two phases. An initial phase that lasts for 3-4 days is characterized by:

sweats

shakes

insomnia

anxiety.

Then a delayed phase ("DT's") that can occur 3-7 days after the last drink, typically lasts for a few to several days once it begins, and is characterized by a reoccurrence of the sweats and shakes accompanied by:

delirium

confusion

hallucinations

and no memory after it has resolved.

It sounds like this may have been what happened. DT's are rare (~3% of people with sever drinking problems have them) and are very serious sometimes being fatal.

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Response by:

Ted Parran, MD
Clinical Associate Professor
Department of Medicine
University Hospitals
School of Medicine
Case Western Reserve University