Can my Husband Detox from Alcohol at Home?

My 45-year-old husband drinks so much he gets the shakes when he doesn’t. He has agreed to stop but doesn’t want to go to public treatment because he says he’s afraid of other people. His plan is to stop this Friday and have me watch him until he feels better. What should I do to make him more comfortable? Will he be okay in a couple of days?

– Scared in Regina

Dear Scared in Regina,

Your husband may not make it through the weekend with this plan. There are a couple of dangerous signs in your letter.

First, your husband’s shaking is a sign of severe alcohol dependency. Shake, or in medical speak, delirium tremens, can lead to coma and death. Second, if your husband’s shaking has worsened since the last time he went “cold turkey” from alcohol, he may be experiencing the so-called “kindling effect” where each withdrawal appears to be worse than the previous. Therefore, your husband may have a false sense of security since he can’t predict how his body is going to respond to another withdrawal.

Drinkers with a history of severe withdrawals, multiple withdrawals, delirium tremens, or seizures are not good candidates for withdrawals at home or even in a social detox program (e.g. detox without medical supervision). For this reason, it is important to get your husband admitted to a medically supervised detox facility. If you cannot get him into detox right away, then provide him with small amounts of alcohol to prevent withdrawals while he awaits detox.

Your husband may be afraid of some of the people in detox, but he should be more afraid of what will likely happen to him if he doesn’t get medical help immediately.

P.S. Don’t leave this problem until the weekend. Many facilities don’t answer the phones from Friday afternoon to Monday morning.