Alcohol poisoning is the dangerous result of consuming too much alcohol over a short period of time. If you drink too much alcohol too quickly, it can be life-threatening. No matter a person’s alcohol tolerance, weight, age or gender, alcohol poisoning can affect anyone. Because alcohol is a drug in the depressant category, an alcohol overdose can look very similar to an opioid overdose. In EITHER case it is vitally important that the first thing you do is call 911 without hesitation.

When you consume alcohol, it is absorbed from the small intestine into veins that collect blood from the stomach and bowels. It is then carried to the liver where it is metabolized by enzymes. It is important to keep hydrated and avoid drinking any alcohol. If the alcohol poisoning is extreme, the patient can go into a coma and potentially die. You should remain with the unconscious person until emergency medical help arrives.

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Minor symptoms of alcohol withdrawal tend to appear within six to twelve hours of the person’s last drink, sometimes when a person still has a measurable blood alcohol level. Symptoms of alcohol https://ecosoberhouse.com/article/alcohol-overdose-symptoms-and-antidote/ withdrawal syndrome are broken down by the time they’re expected to appear. When BAC reaches high levels, blackouts (gaps in memory), loss of consciousness (passing out), and death can occur.

Puking won’t lower a person’s BAC, but it can make a person even more dehydrated. This might make a person choke on their own vomit or breathe it into their lungs. When somebody consumes an alcoholic drink, their liver has to filter out the alcohol, a toxin, from their blood. If the person – who may sometimes be a child – has unintentionally drunk methanol or isopropyl alcohol and has alcohol poisoning they may need dialysis to speed up the removal of toxins from their system. This article focuses on the medical aspects of alcohol poisoning, rather than other environmental dangers of alcohol abuse such as getting into fights, losing possessions, or having problems with the law. Alcoholic drinks contain a form of alcohol known as ethyl alcohol or ethanol.

What to Do if You Suspect Someone Has an Alcohol Overdose

As blood alcohol continues to rise, the depressant effect is more substantial. Alcohol poisoning can result from drinking any type of alcohol, including beer, wine or liquor. As your stomach digests and absorbs alcohol, the alcohol enters your bloodstream, and your alcohol blood level begins to rise. But when blood alcohol levels are high, your overwhelmed liver can’t remove the toxins quickly enough.

• Examples of these medications include sleep aids such as zolpidem and eszopiclone, and benzodiazepines such as diazepam and alprazolam.
• Have sober friends stay with the person, and try to keep them from consuming more alcohol or other substances.
• In more serious cases of alcohol overdose, the patient’s stomach may be pumped to remove alcohol that has not metabolized.
• Before being released from the hospital, it is important to ask about follow-up care with a health professional.
• As you drink more, your blood alcohol content (BAC) level continues to climb.
• In fact, it takes roughly one hour for the body to metabolize 0.25 ounces of alcohol.

Alcohol is dangerous, and detox must be taken into consideration before stopping. One way to prevent an alcohol overdose is by limiting your alcohol consumption, but the most effective method for avoiding an alcohol overdose is to abstain from drinking altogether. Alcohol’s depressant effects include slowing or blocking signals to the brain that control automatic responses, essentially causing your body to shut down if you have drunk enough alcohol. With high-risk drinking, the concentration of alcohol in the blood becomes high enough to depress the areas of the brain responsible for consciousness and respiration.

What should I do if I see someone who may have alcohol poisoning?

Alcohol poisoning is caused by drinking large quantities of alcohol in a short period of time. Very high levels of alcohol in the body can shutdown critical areas of the brain that control breathing, heart rate, and body temperature, resulting in death. Alcohol poisoning deaths affect people of all ages but are most common among middle-aged adults and men.

Even if the victim lives, alcohol overdose can lead to irreversible brain damage. The misperception that someone has ‘just passed out’ and ‘let him/her sleep it off’ is a belief that sometimes leads to death. Rapid binge drinking is especially dangerous, because of the possibility of drinking a fatal dose before becoming unconscious.

The effects of an alcohol overdose can’t be reversed, and there are “do it yourself” actions that could worsen your condition. Do not assume that just because someone else can drink a certain amount of alcohol safely that you can drink the same amount without the risk of an alcohol overdose. There is definitely an amount of alcohol that would cause anyone who drank it to experience an overdose, depending on someone’s age, gender, height, weight, health, and more. But, the amount of alcohol they can safely process is going to vary hugely in comparison to someone else.