Alcohol Use Disorder: What It Is, Symptoms & Treatment

Furthermore, the physical toll of alcoholism can be seen through the skin. Excessive consumption of alcohol can cause the blood vessels in the face to dilate, resulting in a flushed appearance. This redness is often accompanied by puffiness, giving the face a swollen and bloated appearance.

What causes alcohol use disorder?

These hidden symptoms can manifest across cardiovascular, metabolic, and https://ecosoberhouse.com/ neurological functions, creating complex recovery challenges. The detox timeline typically unfolds in distinct withdrawal phases. You’ll likely experience headaches, nausea, and tremors within the first 6-12 hours.

Shifts in Mood and Personality

• Facial puffiness, bloodshot eyes, and broken capillaries around the nose and cheeks are also common.
• The physical signs of alcoholism begin to surface, such as weight loss, poor hygiene, or flushed skin.
• Support groups are a form of therapy where several people come together and talk about what they’re going through.

While liver damage does not become immediately noticeable, its effects can be felt on the skin. Too much alcohol affects your speech, muscle coordination and vital centers of your brain. A heavy drinking binge may even cause a life-threatening coma or death.

Understanding the Five Stages of Alcoholism

Even small increases in BAC can decrease motor coordination, make a person feel sick, and cloud judgment. This can increase an individual’s risk of being injured from falls or car crashes, experiencing acts of violence, and engaging in unprotected or unintended sex. When BAC reaches high levels, blackouts (gaps in memory), loss of consciousness (passing out), and death can occur.

She leads Avery Lane’s clinical programming with a focus on evidence-based and holistic care for women. Women are more likely to drink in private and may experience faster physical consequences. They’re also more likely to use alcohol to cope with emotional pain or trauma. Look for hidden alcohol, emotional withdrawal, changes in behavior, and defensiveness when asked about drinking. Guilt, shame, increased anxiety or depression, and drinking to cope with stress or trauma are all common emotional signs.

They are gradually replaced with scar tissue in a process known as fibrosis. The chronic overconsumption of alcohol linked with alcoholism can gradually undermine your physical wellbeing in almost every way imaginable. At first, you may not even realize that you now need six instead of your previous three to feel tipsy. As your tolerance to alcohol increases, you could end up needing eight, ten, or even more drinks to get the buzz you crave.

What Are the Symptoms of Alcohol Use Disorder?

Having a few innocent drinks without cravings or compulsion is very different from feeling like you need alcohol daily. It’s important to recognize out-of-control cravings and preoccupations with alcohol in time and to take steps towards recovery. Heavy alcohol use causes heart issues such as cardiomyopathy, arrhythmia, stroke, and high blood pressure. Alcohol weakens the heart muscle and disrupts electrical signaling. Over time, this elevates the risk of heart failure and cardiac arrest. Across an extensive network of hospital sites and wellbeing centres, Priory Halfway house offers effective, evidence-based treatment for addiction that starts your recovery.

It can also relax the muscles leading towards your stomach, increasing the likelihood of leaking stomach acid. The main management for severe symptoms is long-acting benzodiazepines — typically IV diazepam or IV lorazepam. Each of these symptoms can increase in intensity depending on the severity of the withdrawal. Not all birth defects can be prevented, but healthy habits before pregnancy can help reduce risks. We do not know for sure why Down syndrome occurs or how many different factors play a role.

But when you look closely, within yourself physical signs of alcoholism or a loved one, these visible effects can tell a deeper story, allowing you or a loved one to seek the care you need and deserve. You don’t have to wait until symptoms become dangerous to get help. If you’re noticing even mild withdrawal or regular physical discomfort related to alcohol, it’s time to talk to a professional.

Legal Consequences and Risky Behavior

11.5 million adult women, or 8.7%, suffered from some form of alcoholism in the past year. This problem is far more common than you may think and shows itself in several unique ways. That’s why alcoholism treatment that takes a woman’s full experience into account can make such a meaningful difference, and knowing the signs is the first step in treating it. Dr. Adriana Popescu is a licensed clinical psychologist, addiction specialist, and empowerment coach with over 20 years of experience in the mental health field.