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Feel Pressure In Head, Sweating, Dizziness After Quitting Alcohol. Any Medication To Take?

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Posted on Tue, 29 Jan 2013
Question: I was drinking 2 bottle of wine plus 5 beers a day. I was also using Ativan 6mg per day for 5 years, I quitted drinking alcohol 21 days ago, I tried to quit Ativan for 10 days. I feel pressure in my head, sweating, dizziness, My legs hurts, bad blood circulation i guess. Is there anything medication that can reduce the withdrawal effects of Ativan and Alcohol ?
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Answered by Dr. Robert Galamaga (4 hours later)
Hello and thank you for sending your question.

Your question is a very good one and I will work on providing you with some information and recommendations.

I would like to congratulate you on deciding to turn your life around and eliminate alcohol consumption. The fact that you made this decision is going to change her life forever.

Discontinuation of the alcohol is appropriate. However if you have been drinking this amount of alcohol for an extended period of time generally we consider medications to help minimize withdrawal. The medications that will use to treat this include medications that are very similar to Ativan. If you were also taking Ativan at 6 mg daily this also complicates the matter.

I would suggest that you touch base with your doctor who provided you with the prescription for Ativan and discuss your current situation. The best way to approach this would be with a gradual lowering of the dosage of Ativan. This translated into simpler terms would mean that you would take a certain dose this week and then taper down by 1 mg per week over a period of time.

The specifics of exactly how to do this should be discussed with your doctor.

Thanks again for sending your question. Again congratulations on improving your quality of health and quality-of-life. If you have any additional concerns I would be happy to discuss them with you.

Sincerely,

Dr. Robert
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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Answered by
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Dr. Robert Galamaga

Oncologist

Practicing since :2002

Answered : 2635 Questions

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Feel Pressure In Head, Sweating, Dizziness After Quitting Alcohol. Any Medication To Take?

Hello and thank you for sending your question.

Your question is a very good one and I will work on providing you with some information and recommendations.

I would like to congratulate you on deciding to turn your life around and eliminate alcohol consumption. The fact that you made this decision is going to change her life forever.

Discontinuation of the alcohol is appropriate. However if you have been drinking this amount of alcohol for an extended period of time generally we consider medications to help minimize withdrawal. The medications that will use to treat this include medications that are very similar to Ativan. If you were also taking Ativan at 6 mg daily this also complicates the matter.

I would suggest that you touch base with your doctor who provided you with the prescription for Ativan and discuss your current situation. The best way to approach this would be with a gradual lowering of the dosage of Ativan. This translated into simpler terms would mean that you would take a certain dose this week and then taper down by 1 mg per week over a period of time.

The specifics of exactly how to do this should be discussed with your doctor.

Thanks again for sending your question. Again congratulations on improving your quality of health and quality-of-life. If you have any additional concerns I would be happy to discuss them with you.

Sincerely,

Dr. Robert