Does Seroquel Help With Alcohol Withdrawal?

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Is Seroquel Helpful for Alcohol Withdrawal?

Suppose you drink a lot of alcohol regularly but then quit suddenly. In that case, you might end up going through both emotional and physical issues while the alcohol is still exiting your system. This process is known as detoxification, also known as detox or alcohol withdrawal. The symptoms involved can range from frightening to downright hazardous. Intense stress, shaking, sweating, and vomiting are common symptoms. Severe symptoms can include physical trembling, hallucinations, and mental confusion. Detox is safer when you go through it with medical supervision, and healthcare practitioners might prescribe medications to help you through the process. At this point, you might wonder if Seroquel helps with alcohol withdrawal.

Seroquel does not manage the dangerous parts of alcohol withdrawal on its own. A supervised alcohol detox provides proper withdrawal medication and round-the-clock medical monitoring. Call admissions now. We verify your insurance on the call and tell you what is covered, what is open this week and which program you qualify for.

Can Seroquel Help You Through Detoxification?

Seroquel is a brand name for the medication generically known as quetiapine. Many healthcare practitioners use this atypical antipsychotic medication to address certain mental health issues, including depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. Seroquel isn’t typically used as a primary medication to support individuals during their alcohol withdrawal, but it can be useful in conjunction with other medications. Its primary benefit is addressing any mental health issues that might be co-occurring with alcoholism. This medication has numerous side effects that you should beware of, including constipation, gaining weight, drowsiness, and a higher risk of developing diabetes. Going through alcohol withdrawal can involve many different symptoms, such as nausea, tremors, anxiety, and insomnia. Some healthcare practitioners prescribe Seroquel to clients going through detoxification, so their symptoms are reduced and the process of withdrawal is less uncomfortable for them. However, this prescription medication should be taken only under your doctor’s or medical professional’s supervision or guidance. While it can help with sleep quality, agitation, and anxiety, it’s not a substitute for professional medical care during detox.

What Is Quetiapine?

Quetiapine is used in the treatment of schizophrenia for anyone who is 13 years of age or older. This medication is also used either by itself or in conjunction with lithium or divalproex in treating episodes of mania, which are described as a mood that is frenzied or abnormally irritated or excited. It can also be prescribed for major depression for clients diagnosed with bipolar disorder, which is a manic-depressive disease featuring abnormal moods that include mania and depression. Extended-release forms of Seroquel are used for the treatment of manic episodes in kids 10 and older who are diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and they are also used alongside antidepressants for adults diagnosed with major depressive disorder. Quetiapine is in a group of medications known as atypical antipsychotics that alter the activities of some of the natural chemicals found within the human brain.

Side Effects

Seroquel’s side effects can include allergic reactions that require emergency medical attention, and warning signs you need to know include difficulty breathing, hives and swelling of your throat, tongue, lips and face. Long-term use, high dosages, or a combination of both might create a serious movement disorder that isn’t reversible; the chances of this condition rise with prolonged use, particularly for older adults and women. Consult your healthcare practitioner immediately if you experience sudden or new changes to your behavior and mood, including difficulty sleeping, panic attacks, deeper depression, increased anxiety, or thoughts about self-harm. Seroquel makes some clients increasingly talkative, restless, impulsive, irritable, and hostile.

Taking Seroquel

Your doctor should tell you how to take Seroquel when they prescribe it. Follow their directions, but consult the prescription label or medication guide you are given. You can take this medication either with food or not, but you should be consistent about which one you choose. Swallow the whole tablet without breaking, crushing, or chewing it. Your healthcare practitioner might check your bloodwork regularly to measure the impact of the medication. Don’t suddenly cease using Seroquel without talking to your doctor first. Suddenly quitting the medication can result in uncomfortable symptoms, such as vomiting, nausea, and difficulty sleeping. Store the medication at room temperature in a cool, dry place. This medication can create false positives in urine tests for drug screening, so inform the lab technician that you are taking this medication. If you miss a dose, don’t take two simultaneously, trying to catch up. Taking Seroquel while drinking alcohol can be dangerous, so remain completely sober while you’re on this medication. Avoid dangerous activities, including driving, until you get familiar with having Seroquel in your system. Don’t get up too quickly, if you are sitting or lying down, to avoid sudden dizziness. Drowsiness and dizziness are common side effects of Seroquel that might result in accidents, falls, and physical injury. Avoid dehydration or overheating due to exercise and weather by drinking plenty of fluids.

How Quickly Does Seroquel Work?

Once you take a dose of this medication, it should start impacting your body in around 90 minutes. Many users wind up feeling sleepy when the medication takes effect, so they choose to use it at the end of the day. Some effects happen faster than others, so you might not notice Seroquel improving your overall condition until after several days have passed. Sometimes, the medication doesn’t apply fully until after a few weeks. Data from the clinical trials suggest that depressive symptoms of individuals suffering from bipolar disorder should notice improved symptoms in the first two months of treatment with this medication. Individuals studied in clinical trials for mania symptoms typically saw improvement within three weeks. Seroquel might help with the immediate symptoms of alcohol withdrawal, but its true power might be in helping you manage any mental health disorders in your long-term recovery.

Dependence and Ending Treatment

Drug dependence happens when an individual needs a specific substance to continue functioning normally, and alcohol addiction is certainly one example. Fortunately, Seroquel dependence is unlikely to occur, so you can safely stop using this medication at some point in the future. However, you should do that only when your healthcare practitioner instructs you. Then, they will guide you through gradual dosage reductions. Stopping treatment with this medication suddenly can result in a variety of side effects that constitute a form of withdrawal called discontinuation syndrome. The associated symptoms might include headache, nausea, and difficulty sleeping, but they often go away in the first week after discontinuing the medication. Because discontinuation syndrome is possible, you shouldn’t stop taking this medication suddenly when you have a drug screening involving urine testing.

What Is Alcohol Withdrawal?

The process of alcohol withdrawal is what you go through after you drastically reduce or stop your drinking after heavy consumption over a long period. The symptoms can be both physical and mental and mild or severe. Occasional drinkers are unlikely to suffer withdrawal symptoms. However, if you’re someone who has gone through detox before, you have a higher chance of experiencing it when you next quit alcohol consumption. Booze is classified as a depressant because it alters the ways your nervous system relays messages from point A to point B. The actual effect is slowing down your brain function. As you consume alcohol over time, your nervous system starts getting used to the presence of the substance. One particular response is working harder to maintain an awakened state in your brain so your nerves continue communicating with each other. When the available level of alcohol suddenly decreases, your brain winds up staying in its state of heightened awakening. That’s the primary cause of alcohol withdrawal.

The Timeline of Alcohol Withdrawal

While things vary for each person, alcohol withdrawal usually follows a relatively steady pattern. However, how much you are used to and how long you have been drinking will influence this. Mild symptoms may show up as soon as six hours after you stop drinking, and they can include sweating, insomnia, nausea, anxiety, and shaky hands. Between 12 hours and two days after your final drink, more serious symptoms might manifest, including hallucinations and seizures. Two to three days after you stop drinking, you’ll be at the highest risk of developing delirium tremens; however, these impact only 5% of all cases of detox. Symptoms of DTs include heavy sweating, fever, racing heart, confusion, and high blood pressure.

Other Medications for Treating Alcohol Withdrawal

Seroquel is rarely used by itself in treating alcohol withdrawal, but it is sometimes used in conjunction with other medications. Acamprosate is believed to restore balance in parts of the central nervous system, specifically certain inhibitory and excitatory neurotransmitters. This medication doesn’t specifically prevent withdrawal symptoms, but it can reduce drinking behavior in many clients. Since the human liver doesn’t metabolize it, it has no adverse interactions with alcohol. That makes it useful for clients who still drink or have hepatitis or liver disease. Disulfiram, when used regularly, can produce uncomfortable effects if someone drinks even a little bit of alcohol. This medication inhibits a particular enzyme the human body needs to metabolize alcohol. If used as directed, the unpleasant effects might happen as quickly as 10 minutes after the person consumes alcohol, and they include vomiting, nausea, blurred vision, sweating, headache, anxiety, and flushing. These effects are meant to discourage drinking and even help an individual associate alcohol consumption with feeling bad. The effects usually last for an hour or longer. The medication known as naltrexone was originally prescribed for people with opioid use disorders, but the FDA gave it approval for alcohol use disorder, too. The mechanisms by which this medication reduces drinking behavior aren’t completely known. Still, there’s a well-documented body of anecdotal evidence, which shows that users of this medication have a reduced craving for alcohol. Many people have successfully attained or maintained sobriety with naltrexone, but it’s not for everyone. High doses can result in liver damage, so anyone with liver disease or hepatitis should avoid this treatment.

Tips for Long-Term Success

Whether you use Seroquel or other medications for getting through alcohol withdrawal, your long-term success depends on how you handle recovery after detox. Recovery from alcoholism might involve detox, rehab, and then formulating a new lifestyle. You’ll have to learn how to say no to something that was previously a big part of your life, and role-play situations in support groups might help you practice drink-refusal skills. Avoiding high-risk circumstances where you know triggers will be present improves your odds of success over time, and you need to be ready to ask others for help when you need it. A support group, such as Alcoholics Anonymous, can prove beneficial in offering you techniques, comfort, and support in staying sober.

The Advantages of Giving Up Alcohol

If you can safely quit drinking, you’re opening the door to many potential advantages for your health. You’ll improve some of the negative effects alcohol has on your physical health, and some of them might even be reversed. Those include restoring cognitive damage and dropping your blood pressure. Some kinds of alcohol-associated liver injuries can heal themselves over time, and every year you spend sober reduces your likelihood of some cancers. As soon as you quit drinking, your immune system gets stronger, and you’ll avoid risky behaviors, accidents, and injuries known to happen due to intoxication.

Raising Awareness

If you want to talk to someone about your battle with alcohol addiction, then you should know that we’re recovering alcoholics ourselves. We understand what it’s like to live with this disease and know how much trouble it is to find free, useful help. Our website and toll-free hotline are here to help you access alcohol-related resources and find support groups. Whether you’re trying to heal yourself or find help for someone you care about, we’re standing by, ready to listen and help. Call us 24/7 at 855-955-0771 when you’re ready.

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