Drugs 

Sedatives for alcoholics

For persons addicted to alcoholic beverages, protracted holidays are associated with the constant use of alcohol in large quantities. Also, people suffering from addiction drink alcohol almost every day and in large quantities. A natural side effect for alcoholics is dysfunction of the nervous system, which leads to increased irritability and sleep disturbance. Even when a person really wants to relax, he cannot do it. In this article we will tell you which sedative for alcoholics can be used to normalize the nervous system.

Types of insomnia with alcoholism

With both regular alcohol abuse and prolonged holidays, the natural consequence is withdrawal symptoms, which manifests itself in the form of a hangover, dehydration, limb trimmer and dehydration. The result of a hangover is also insomnia, which can be roughly divided into three main types:

  • Long and difficult falling asleep. Difficulty falling asleep is often associated with headache, dizziness, or mild nausea. The joints of the limbs may begin to twist. Constantly growing nervous tension, unpleasant thoughts and fears that do not allow the nervous system to tune in to sleep.
  • Fall asleep quickly but light sleep. In this case, a person falls asleep well, but at the same time hears everything that is happening around him and any sound can wake him up. It feels like a person is asleep, but the brain does not go into deep sleep mode. In this case, complete silence is needed, but even after having been in this state for 5-6 hours, a person does not feel rested.
  • Complete insomnia. In this state, sleep is generally out of the question and the person just lies with his eyes closed trying to fall asleep.

Important. If, in a state of complete insomnia, the patient develops hallucinations in the form of extraneous sounds or with closed eyes a complete sensation of reality is created in the head, accompanied by realistic visual hallucinations, then these are the first signs of alcoholic delirium, which in other words is called delirium tremens. In these cases it is necessary to use sedatives to induce sleep.

Medical methods for eliminating insomnia

It should be noted right away that medicated sedatives are the most dangerous method of eliminating insomnia if they are used without the consent of doctors, although they are simultaneously the fastest and most effective. Usually, doctors for alcoholism prescribe drugs such as:

  • Diazepam, Phenazepam;
  • Persen;
  • Glycine;
  • Valerian root.

In fact, insomnia is one of the stages of psychosis, for the treatment of which psychotropic sedatives are used together with vascular drugs.

It is believed that sleeping pills soothe the nervous system and the person falls asleep peacefully. However, this is not the case. In fact, sleeping pills really speed up the process of falling asleep, but this happens due to the oppression and forced shutdown of the nervous system. A person really falls asleep quickly, but this effect makes the dream short and not deep. The result of this effect are symptoms such as:

  • Lack of dreams throughout sleep, which indicates an incomplete shutdown of the cerebral cortex;
  • Strong drugs induce deep sleep. After using such drugs, a person cannot be woken up. The effect of the drug so strongly inhibits the nervous system and reflexes that often the patient defecates under himself in a dream, it is impossible to wake him up, the protective reflexes of the body are completely disabled.
  • After sleep, the person feels even more tired and irritable.

For your information. Many drugs are used by doctors as sleeping pills in the treatment of alcohol addiction. They are taken exclusively according to the dosage prescribed by the doctors, and sleep is also supervised. In fact, such a state cannot even be called a dream; it is more like compulsory anesthesia.

It is important to remember that it is strictly forbidden to use sleeping pills on your own while under the influence of alcohol. Most drugs are barbiturates or benzodiazepines, which, when interacting with ethanol, significantly increase the effect of each other on the body. Even if their use does not give negative side effects, their use can lead to the so-called "positional squeeze" syndrome. In this state, a person falls asleep so deeply that the body does not respond to painful sensations that arise when the limbs are squeezed and swollen. In addition, alcohol itself weakens the respiratory functions of the body and can cause respiratory arrest.

It is this method that suicides often use, who mix potent sleeping pills and wash them down with a large amount of alcohol, after which they plunge into a coma, breathing stops and death occurs.

Folk methods

Traditional methods of dealing with insomnia based on natural ingredients are much safer when combined with alcohol than medicinal synthetic counterparts. They also have sedative functions, but do not react with ethanol in the blood.

To combat insomnia at home, you must first of all prepare a good sleeping place with all the sleeping accessories. It is necessary to turn off the TV, radio and eliminate other sound sources, as well as dim the lighting as much as possible, but do not remove it completely.

For your information. Aromatherapy helps very well. In our case, you need to collect a bouquet of herbs such as lemon balm, wormwood, thyme or hops. Place the bouquet next to the bed to smell these plants. If possible, you can go to the bathhouse before going to bed, but the length of stay there and the temperature regime can be significantly reduced. Suffice it to sweat profusely for 15-20 minutes, then take a contrast shower.

For additional effect, you can use herbal tinctures:

  • Intoxicating tincture. Brew 2-3 teaspoons of dry hops, infuse it for 15 minutes, then add a spoonful of honey and stir thoroughly. This infusion can be drunk 20 minutes before bedtime or food, and then go to bed.
  • Pumpkin broth. Put peeled and finely chopped pumpkin into one liter of water, then boil it for 40-50 minutes. The boiled pumpkin is passed through a grater to get a puree consistency, then honey is added to taste for sweetness. This broth can be drunk twice a day.
  • Honey drink. Honey and alcohol do not interact with each other in any way and they can be safely combined. Honey can be stirred with warmed milk or water until a sweet drink is obtained and drunk 20-30 minutes before bedtime.

It is highly undesirable to use pumpkin broth with hop tincture together, as this can cause indigestion and diarrhea. However, each of these remedies can be combined with a honey drink to enhance the effect without harm or consequences.

If a person clearly needs rest and at the same time alcohol is present in his blood, then it is recommended to avoid all kinds of medications. In extreme cases, it is better to drink more alcohol, which will inevitably lead to a shutdown of the nervous system and the body's protective functions will independently immerse the body in a state of sleep. Although this method of dealing with insomnia cannot be called proper sleep, it is still better than later getting side effects from the use of sleeping pills, which are sometimes fatal.

For your information. It is safe to take medication for sleep only after the alcohol has completely weathered and ethanol is removed from the body, which may take from 2 to 4 days, depending on the amount of alcohol consumed and the total body weight.