Alcohol poisoning Description, Symptoms, & Treatment

Drug poisoning (or drug overdose) is the most common type of poisoning in adults. A healthcare provider may also suggest that individuals seek treatment for alcohol use or talk to a mental health professional. An individual may want to seek treatment for alcohol use or another mental health condition such as depression or anxiety. In other words, your friend who drank way too much may not just be sleeping it off.

Additionally, some drinks, such as mixed drinks, can have more than one serving of alcohol in them. This can make it harder to keep track of how much alcohol you’ve actually consumed. The time it takes alcohol to both have an impact and subsequently leave your system can depend on many factors, such as your weight and how many drinks you’ve had within a given time. They may also experience seizures or have blue-tinged or pale skin.

Critical Signs and Symptoms of an Alcohol Overdose

Alcohol use and taking opioids or sedative hypnotics, such as sleep and anti-anxiety medications, can increase your risk of an overdose. Examples of these medications include sleep aids, such as zolpidem and eszopiclone, and benzodiazepines, such as diazepam and alprazolam. Even drinking alcohol while taking over-the-counter antihistamines can be dangerous. Your liver usually does a good job of keeping alcohol’s toxins from getting into your bloodstream. But if you drink a lot in a short time, your liver may not be able to keep up.

Their motor responses and gag reflexes are nonfunctional, and their body temperature drops. An alcohol overdose can damage your pancreas, which digests food and monitors the levels of glucose in your blood. Your height and weight determine how quickly your body absorbs alcohol. Someone with a smaller body may experience the effects of alcohol more rapidly than someone with a larger body.

What is an alcohol overdose?

If a person has generally consumed two to three drinks as a man or one to two drinks as a woman in an hour, they’ll enter the euphoric stage of intoxication. At this stage of intoxication, the person’s behavior will be normal with no visible signs of intoxication, such as slurred speech or delayed reaction time. If a person has consumed one or less drinks per sfbt worksheets hour, they’re considered to be sober, or low-level intoxicated.

1. State Department said it was aware of „a number of cases of suspected methanol poisoning“ in Vang Vieng, a popular tourist destination in Laos, specifically for backpackers.
2. Although young people are most likely to engage in binge drinking, deaths from alcohol poisoning usually involve men between the ages of 35 and 64, according to the CDC.
3. It’s a myth that a person can recover from alcohol intoxication by sleeping, taking a cold shower, going for a walk, or drinking black coffee or caffeine.

What are the symptoms of an alcohol overdose?

Poisoning happens when you drink too much ethyl alcohol in a short space of time. Other kinds of alcohol that you might have around the house, such as isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol) and methanol (wood alcohol), are toxic in a different way. The WHO urged individuals to recognize symptoms of methanol poisoning and, when poisoning is suspected, to seek medical attention immediately.

One potential danger of alcohol overdose is choking on one’s own vomit. Alcohol at very high levels can hinder signals in the brain that control automatic responses, such as the gag reflex. With no gag reflex, a person who drinks to the point of passing out is in danger of choking on their vomit and dying from a lack of oxygen (i.e., asphyxiation). Even if the person survives, an alcohol overdose like this can lead to long-lasting brain damage.

Some people have a headache a few hours after drinking wine — especially red wine. But it’s different from a hangover, which may or may not include a headache. It’s possible that some chemicals in wine and how the body responds to them could result in a headache after drinking wine. More research is needed to find the exact cause of wine headache. If you suspect that someone has alcohol poisoning — even if you don’t see the classic symptoms — get medical help right away. While being drunk can sometimes feel unpleasant, alcohol poisoning is a medical emergency requiring immediate attention.