Drinking alcohol moderately may be good for health. But there are thousands of men and women who do not know where to draw the limits. Over a period of time, they become addicted to alcoholic drinks and then getting out of the habit becomes a serious issue. However, if you are committed and firm in your resolve to give up alcohol once for all, you should be aware about a few things. To begin with, you must understand that alcohol gets into your bloodstream and leaving it suddenly could lead to many reactions and they are often referred to as withdrawal symptoms.
In this article, we will try and look at a few things that could answer the question WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU QUIT DRINKING. Understanding will help you and your family to manage the withdrawal symptoms better.
This article won’t get into the Timeline of symptoms and their treatment. Please download the FREE 37-page PDF from our home page for that information. It is comprehensive and a great guide re: Quit Drinking Timeline. That guide walks through what you can expect in the early hours, days and weeks, up to one year after you quit drinking alcohol.
Once the patients and the family members are able to get over the 12 month market, in most cases, they should be over the most difficult phase of their life as far as alcohol addiction is concerned. They can start enjoying the normal benefits associated with persons who are not into drinking or alcohol use.
WILL HEAVY DRINKING LEAVE PERMANENT HEALTH IMPACTS?
There have been some research studies to suggest that people who are into heavy alcohol use are at a higher risk when it comes to developing different types of cancers. Once they give up drinking, the risks of these types of cancers will come down quite significantly. Many research papers also talk about increased risk of cancer of the breast, esophagus, mouth and upper throat areas. Further, those who are into drinking of two or three pegs a day could also see an increased risk of colorectal cancer. People who drink three or more than three drinks every day may also have a higher risk of liver and stomach cancer.
GENDER-BASED RISK STATISTICS
It also would be interesting to have a look at the gender-based health risk stats of those who are into alcohol use on a regular basis. Women who are into the habit of drinking 14 to 35 units of alcohol each week may run a 15% higher risk of developing breast cancer. This compares to 11% for those women who are not into drinking. Men who consume around 14 units of alcohol a week have 1% lesser chance of being affected with colorectal cancer. However, the risk increases by 11% if they consume 35 units per week.
Heavy drinking can also impact male fertility quite a bit. However, the impact can be reversed soon once the drinking is stopped. Men who are into heavy drinking report many types of sexual problems such as erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation. Women may experience vaginal dryness. But as mentioned above, in most cases, the problems are self-correcting both for men and women, as and when they give up drinking.
AFTER HOW MANY DAYS WILL A PERSON START FEELING BETTER?
As mentioned above, physical withdrawal symptoms could be quite difficult to handle during the first two or three days. However, if the patients are able to overcome these crucial first few days, they should start feeling much better in a couple of weeks. However, there could be some emotional issues that may hang on with these people. We need to bear in mind that the recovery stages post-alcohol abstinence will vary. As mentioned above, while the above are general timelines, it may not be possible to straight jacket each and every case based on the above general guidelines and time periods. The age of the patients, their current health conditions and the period for which they have been into drinking could impact the overall recovery period.
FINAL WORDS
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