If you’ve used alcohol, heroin, meth, or other substances for only a short time or have taken only small doses, you might not experience withdrawal. However, if you’ve been binge drinking, using alcohol and/or drugs for a long time, or taking increasingly higher doses over a short time, you might feel quite unwell physically for a while when you stop.
Common Symptoms of Withdrawal
Biological changes occur in your brain during withdrawal as your body seeks homeostasis, causing a mix of physical and emotional symptoms. You might experience some, all, or none of these, depending on the length and intensity of your addiction.
Depression
Although depressive symptoms feel worse than everyday sadness and can mimic clinical depression, they don’t usually last as long. You might experience:
Feelings of hopelessness, doom, and low self-worthA lack of energy and enthusiasmFeeling that life ahead is empty without the thrill of getting high or drunkFrequent cryingDifficulty concentratingErratic eating and sleeping patterns
You might even feel let down and disappointed that something that felt so good turned out to be harmful, and leaving such a big part of your life behind might feel like grieving.
Anxiety
You might feel anxiety that’s worse than everyday nervousness—a bit like an unpleasant but short-lived anxiety disorder. As with depression, some anxiety during withdrawal is to be expected. If you took a drug or drank alcohol to relax, you’re likely to feel tenser. Likewise, if you were essentially self-medicating, you might fear what will happen without your usual way of coping. Physical symptoms of anxiety can make you feel as if something scary is happening. Your breathing and heart rate might increase, sometimes to the point where you feel you can’t catch your breath, or that you’re having a heart attack, even though you’re not.
Mood Swings
Rapid fluctuations in mood are common during withdrawal. One minute, you might feel exhausted, as if life is no longer worth living; the next, you might feel the urge to run away because it feels like something awful is about to happen. This back-and-forth can be draining, for both you and those around you.
Fatigue
As with anxiety and depression, fatigue is common and normal for people withdrawing from drugs and alcohol. Your body must recover from the damage that drugs and alcohol do, as well as from sleep deprivation, sleep disturbance, overstimulation, and other effects of addiction. Fatigue is also a common symptom of depression and an after-effect of anxiety. You also might feel tired from the many thoughts and emotions that can overwhelm you when you don’t have alcohol or drugs to numb them.
How to Deal With Withdrawal Symptoms
Keep these tips in mind as you navigate the first days and weeks of your healthier lifestyle:
How Long Does Withdrawal Last?
The duration of your withdrawal symptoms depends on the substance you used, along with the length and intensity of your addiction—typically, just a few days, but weeks or months in some cases.
When to Get Help
After the first week or two of withdrawal, your needs change. This is typically a good time to get treatment, which will help you understand why you drank or used drugs in the first place, and help set you up for a life without alcohol or drugs. Some people can do this on their own, but many benefit from extra support during the first few months to avoid relapse. Occasionally, withdrawal symptoms go on for months, or they go away and then come back. This is known as post-acute withdrawal syndrome. If it happens to you, talk to your doctor about getting more help.
A Word From Verywell
Facing depression, anxiety, and other emotional symptoms during withdrawal can be very difficult. Know that you are not weak; this is challenging for almost everyone. However, you won’t regret your decision once you come through withdrawal. The payoff is a healthier, happier, more productive lifestyle at home, work, and play. For more mental health resources, see our National Helpline Database.
