Is this your symptom?
- You think, or have been told, that you drink too much alcohol
- You find it hard to stop drinking
- You binge drink (drink large amounts of alcohol at a time)
- You are pregnant and drinking alcohol
Short-term Health Effects of too much alcohol use may increase risk of:
- Injuries and violence
- Sexually transmitted infections (STIs)
- Miscarriage, early birth, stillbirth, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) if you drink alcohol while pregnant.
Long-term Health Effects include:
- Changes in heart rate
- High blood pressure
- Heart disease
- Stroke (serious)
- Liver Disease (serious).
As the liver gets damaged, you will start to feel tired, sick to your stomach and weak. You will not feel hungry and lose weight. You may also notice:
- Skin and whites of the eyes turning yellow
- Vomiting blood
- Itching
- Dark urine and black tarry stools
- More bleeding and bruising than normal
- Swollen legs or stomach
- Low sex drive
- Cancer (serious). Too much alcohol can lead to cancer of the mouth and throat, voice box, esophagus, colon, rectum, liver and breast.
- Delirium tremens (DTs) (serious) are very bad withdrawal symptoms that happen 2-3 days after stopping alcohol. DTs may cause you to tremble and feel confused or upset. You might also see and hear things that are not there. DTs can be deadly.
- Lack of Vitamin B1-thiamine (serious). Many heavy drinkers do not eat healthy foods, which causes a lack of Vitamin B1. Symptoms include stumbling, confusion, loss of muscle control and body shakes.
- Pancreatitis (serious) is an inflammation of the pancreas that can be short term, long term and sometimes deadly. Early symptoms are severe stomach pain and vomiting. These can lead to blood poisoning and death.
- Detoxification (detox). If you drink heavily and often, you may have withdrawal symptoms around three hours after your last drink. Withdrawal can cause upset stomach, shaking, sweating and cravings for alcohol. If you do not have any more alcohol, the symptoms will go away in about 5-7 days. The craving for alcohol will last longer. You should not try to stop alcohol all at once without help. Detox is often done at a center where you can get medical care to help with withdrawal symptoms.
When to Call for Alcohol Use Problems / Questions
Call 911 Now
Go to ER Now
Call Doctor or Seek Care Now
|
Contact Doctor Within 24 Hours
Contact Doctor During Office Hours
|
Self Care at Home
|
Call 911 Now
- Seizure
- Unconscious or hard to wake up
- Loss of movement of part of your body or face
- Can't speak, slurred speech or acting confused
- You think you have a life-threatening emergency
Go to ER Now
- Severe stomach pain
- Severe headache (different than a hang-over)
- You have a new head injury
- Vomiting blood; may look like black coffee-grounds
- Nosebleed that won't stop
- Shaking uncontrollably
- Seeing, hearing or feeling things that are not there
- Black tarry stools or blood in your stools
- Feeling lightheaded, dizzy or faint
Call Doctor or Seek Care Now
- Repeated vomiting or stomach pain
- Drinking has led to violent behavior (feeling or acting like you will hurt someone)
- You feel suicidal while drinking
- Fever or heavy sweating
- Your skin or whites of the eyes look yellow
- You feel weak or very sick
- You think you need to be seen, and the problem is urgent
Contact Doctor Within 24 Hours
- Your legs or stomach are swollen
- Pregnant or could be pregnant
- You bruise or bleed easily for no clear reason
- You think you need to be seen, but the problem is not urgent
Contact Doctor During Office Hours
- You want help to quit drinking
- Drinking has kept you from going to work or doing other activities
- You have other questions or concerns
Self Care at Home
- Questions about drinking within safe limits
- Questions about social drinking
Care Advice for Stomach Pain
What You Should Know About Stomach Pain:
- Mild stomach pain can be caused by something simple. It could be from gas pains or eating too much.
- Sometimes, stomach pain signals the start of a viral infection. This will lead to vomiting or loose stools.
- Watching your child for 2 hours will help tell you the cause.
- Here is some care advice that should help.
Lie Down:
- Have your child lie down and rest until feeling better.
Clear Fluids:
- Offer clear fluids only (such as water, flat soft drinks or half-strength Gatorade).
- For mild pain, offer a regular diet.
Prepare for Vomiting:
- Keep a vomiting pan handy.
- Younger children often talk about stomach pain when they have nausea. Nausea is the sick stomach feeling that comes before they throw up.
Pass a Stool:
- Have your child sit on the toilet and try to pass a stool.
- This may help if the pain is from constipation or diarrhea.
- Note: for constipation, moving a warm wet cotton ball on the anus may help.
Do Not Give Medicines:
- Any drug (like ibuprofen) could upset the stomach and make the pain worse.
- Do not give any pain medicines or laxatives for stomach cramps.
- For fever higher than 102° F (39° C), acetaminophen (such as Tylenol) can be given.
What to Expect:
- With harmless causes, the pain is most often better or gone in 2 hours.
- With stomach flu, belly cramps may happen before each bout of vomiting or diarrhea. These cramps may come and go for a few days.
- With serious causes (such as appendicitis), the pain worsens and becomes constant.
Call Your Doctor If:
- Pain becomes severe
- Constant pain lasts more than 2 hours
- Mild pain that comes and goes lasts more than 24 hours
- You think your child needs to be seen
- Your child becomes worse
Extra Help - Worried Stomach:
- Help your child talk about events that trigger the stomach pain. Talk to your child about how to cope with these the next time around.
- Help your child worry less about things she can't control.
- To treat the pain, help your child get very relaxed. Lying down in a quiet place and taking slow deep breaths may help. Make the belly go up and down with each breath. Then try to relax all the muscles in the body. Think about something pleasant. Listening to audios that teach how to relax might also help.
- Make sure your child gets enough sleep.
- Make sure that your child doesn't miss any school because of stomach pains. Stressed children tend to want to stay home when the going gets rough.
- Caution: your child should see her doctor for an exam. Do this before concluding frequent stomach pains are from worrying too much.
