Alcohol Poisoning

Every day, an average of six people die from alcohol poisoning in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of those, 76% are adults between the ages of 34 and 64, and 76% are men. More than 380 people die each day in the United States due to excessive alcohol use, including deaths as a result of alcohol poisoning.

Consuming excessive alcohol rapidly can lead to severe alcohol poisoning, impacting vital functions like breathing, heart rate and body temperature. Accidentally ingesting household products that contain alcohol poses a similar risk. Alcohol poisoning is a serious, sometimes fatal, condition that can occur when a person consumes a large amount of alcohol in a short period of time. It can limit respiration, increase heart rate and raise body temperature to a dangerous level.

Signs of Alcohol Poisoning

Knowing the indicators of alcohol poisoning is paramount for a swift and effective response. Recognizing these symptoms can be a critical step in preventing severe consequences. These alcohol poisoning symptoms may necessitate urgent medical attention:

• Confusion: An unfocused or abnormal state of mind may signal alcohol poisoning.
• Vomiting: Excessive drinking can lead to violent vomiting.
• Seizures: Alcohol poisoning may induce seizures whether or not the individual has a prior history.
• Slow breathing (fewer than eight breaths a minute): Monitor respiratory patterns closely, as slowed breathing is a concerning symptom.
• Irregular breathing (gap of more than 10 seconds): Recognize irregular breathing patterns, a sign that necessitates urgent medical evaluation.
• Blue, gray or pale skin: Changes in skin color can be an early sign of critical danger.
• Low body temperature (hypothermia): Alcohol poisoning may lead to dangerously low body temperature.
• Trouble staying conscious or awake: Someone with alcohol poisoning can experience persistent drowsiness or difficulty staying awake.

Alcohol Poisoning: When to Seek Urgent Medical Help

Not every symptom listed above must be present to warrant medical assistance. If someone with alcohol poisoning is unconscious or unresponsive, they may be in serious and imminent danger. Truly severe cases of alcohol poisoning may not manifest in the full spectrum of symptoms. Act promptly if someone has lost consciousness or if you have other reason to suspect alcohol poisoning.

Are they drunk or overdosing on alcohol?

Many people participate in heavy drinking at social gatherings, on holidays and at events. In these instances, it can be challenging to distinguish the difference between someone who’s drunk and someone who’s overdosing on alcohol.

Being intoxicated and overdosing on alcohol are essentially very similar. In both instances, the person has had too much to drink and the alcohol is starting to slow their mind and body. However, the primary difference is that an alcohol overdose means the person has had more to drink than is safe for their body, and they could be putting their safety at risk. All you can do to distinguish between an alcohol overdose and intoxication is watch the person. Look for key signs of alcohol poisoning, such as confusion, difficulty breathing and a low body temperature. If you notice these warning signs, it’s time to intervene and help the person. Remember, it’s better to be overly cautious than to fail to act and endanger someone’s life.

How Does Alcohol Poisoning Happen? Understanding the Mechanisms of Alcohol Poisoning

How do you get alcohol poisoning? It can happen to people who drink alcohol consistently or heavily. It can happen to someone on their first drink. The term often refers to ethyl alcohol poisoning. This form of ethanol is found in many alcoholic beverages, as well as some cooking extracts and mouthwash, and it’s most often the cause of alcohol poisoning.

However, there are other forms of alcohol, including isopropyl, found in rubbing alcohol and cleaning products, and ethylene glycol, found in antifreeze, solvents and paints. These can also cause toxic poisoning.

Consuming large amounts of alcohol, such as during binge drinking or even some social drinking experiences, can cause a toxic overdose. It’s far worse than being intoxicated.

When alcohol is consumed, the liver must metabolize it. A healthy liver can do this at a rate of about 8 grams of pure ethanol each hour, which is about 0.34 fluid ounces. When a person consumes more than this, the liver can’t remove the toxins fast enough, allowing more to enter the bloodstream and impacting the functions of the central nervous system.

Understanding the amounts and effects of alcohol consumption reveals how too many drinks can lead to a significant risk to life. Here is a progressive look at the effects of alcohol on the body based on the blood alcohol level (BAC):

• With a BAC of 0.001 to 0.029, a person will appear normal, with subtle effects detectable.
• With a BAC of 0.030 to 0.059, a person experiences a drop in social inhibitions and tends to become very happy, with mild euphoria. Some people will talk significantly, while others enter deep relaxation. At this level, there’s a decrease in attentional control.
• With a BAC of 0.600 to 0.099, a person will have a flush or reddened face, display a reduced affect and experience euphoria. They can handle more pain and tend to be more willing to behave recklessly. They also have significant impairment, including depth perception, glare recovery, reasoning and peripheral vision. At this level, they are a risk to themselves or others, especially behind the wheel of a car.
• With a BAC of 0.100 to 0.199, a person will be boisterous and emotionally over-expressive and will vomit and feel like the world is spinning. They don’t feel pain as much and lose muscle coordination. Impairments include being unable to speak well, staggering, having poor reflexes and have erectile dysfunction.
• With a BAC of 0.200 to 0.299, a person will be either angry or very sad, with impaired sensations, mood swings and a loss of understanding. Many will vomit, have nausea or suffer severe physical disability. Amnesia can lead to blackouts for periods of time. Some will become unconscious.
• With a BAC of 0.300 to 0.399, the central nervous system is depressed, creating instances of loss of consciousness, loss of understanding language and stupor. This can lead to urinary incontinence, a low resting heart rate and limited breathing. At this level, there’s a moderate level of risk of death.
• With a BAC of 0.400 to 0.500, a person is likely in a coma, facing a severe risk of death due to the depression of the central nervous system. Respiratory failure is likely, and the heart slows to a very dangerous level, limiting oxygen flow. Anything higher than this increases the risk of death.

How long alcohol poisoning takes is also impacted by a person’s tolerance levels, gender, size and type of alcohol consumed.

Different Alcohol Poisoning Effects

It’s important to recognize that what you’re drinking plays a role in how fast these changes occur in the body. Different types of alcohol create different risk levels. The more ethanol that a drink has, the more the liver has to process and, thus, the higher the risk.

The standard measurement for alcohol content is alcohol by volume (ABV) — the amount of ethanol as a percent of the total amount of fluid. Most beer has about 4.5% ABV, and most wines have 11.6% ABV. Liquor, which ranges significantly in ABV, has about 37% on average. Some liquors, such as vodka, contain as much as 40%.

However, a person can drink so much of any alcoholic beverage, even those with low ABV, that they can suffer from alcohol poisoning.

What makes it “alcohol poisoning”?

In regulated doses, alcohol is safe to consume for most adults. However, alcohol isn’t healthy for the body, and when consumed in large quantities, it does act as a “poison” in the body. When a person drinks more alcohol than their body can handle, the body responds by shutting down. This is because the body has too much alcohol in its bloodstream, which causes the brain to shut down.

Usually, your liver’s role is to flush alcohol toxins out of your bloodstream. However, when you drink an abundance of alcohol quickly, your liver can’t keep up. As a result, the alcohol seeps into your bloodstream and alcohol poisoning can occur. Alcohol poisoning can lead to brain damage or even death.

Alcohol Poisoning: An Emergency

Addressing alcohol poisoning requires prompt and informed action. Here’s what you can do to help someone who may be experiencing alcohol poisoning:

• Seek immediate emergency response. Recognizing alcohol poisoning as a medical emergency is the first step. In such instances, it’s vital to call 911 or your local emergency number as soon as possible. Dismissing the severity of the situation and assuming it will resolve on its own can lead to dire consequences.
• Provide crucial information. When seeking medical assistance, be ready to provide information on the situation. Details such as the type and quantity of alcohol consumed, as well as the timing of ingestion, can significantly aid hospital or emergency staff in delivering effective care.
• Keep the unconscious person company. If someone has passed out due to alcohol poisoning, leaving can be risky. Alcohol can hinder the gag reflex and heighten the possibility of vomiting and subsequent choking. While waiting for professional help, resist the urge to induce vomiting, as it may exacerbate the risk of choking. Staying vigilant and providing companionship is critical at this time.
• If the person is vomiting, help them do so safely. Encourage a sitting position to minimize the risk of aspiration. If lying down becomes necessary, turning the head to the side is a precautionary measure to reduce the likelihood of choking.
• Help the person stay awake. Alcohol poisoning can induce a state of impaired consciousness. If you can, help the individual with alcohol poisoning stay awake while you wait for medical assistance.

It can be challenging to decide whether someone needs medical help due to intoxication. However, it’s better to act quickly than have regrets later. You may feel concerned about potential consequences, especially if the individual with alcohol poisoning is underage. But the ramifications of waiting for help can be even more severe.

Don’t let uncertainty hold you back. Someone with alcohol poisoning needs assistance, and getting it may be the difference between life and death.

Treatment for Alcohol Poisoning

Curing alcohol poisoning at home is not an option and can pose a life-threatening risk for some people. The longer this toxin is in the body, the more it may damage the heart and brain.

If you suspect alcohol poisoning, call 911 for immediate help. Remember, Good Samaritan laws are in place, which means that if you help someone who doesn’t want help, or they suffer worse injury because of the help you provide, you can’t be held responsible. Don’t wait to help someone. Minutes matter.

Treatment Options for Alcohol Poisoning

If help is obtained soon enough, it can prevent the fatalities that are so common from alcohol poisoning. Here are a few common questions about treatment.

What Can a Hospital Do for Alcohol Poisoning?

In a hospital setting, doctors monitor oxygen levels and heart function, providing medications to stabilize the patient and minimize brain damage. They also work to prevent choking. Using fluids given through an IV, they can prevent dehydration and help speed up the removal of toxins from the body. They monitor nutrient and glucose levels to prevent them from dropping drastically.

Does Activated Charcoal Help with Alcohol Poisoning?

Some people believe that using activated charcoal can help to reduce symptoms of a hangover. They believe it can bond with toxins and help minimize the body’s absorption of them. This may help to minimize risk prior to consuming alcohol, but it doesn’t help if taken during an alcohol poisoning instance. Activated charcoal is typically helpful to expel substances that are in the stomach. Due to alcohol’s quick uptake, activated charcoal is often not practical.

Dangerous Myths Alcohol Poisoning

There is no way to reverse the effects of alcohol poisoning. Sometimes, at-home remedies can make it worse. This includes sleeping it off, using coffee or taking a cold shower (alcohol poisoning is different than a hangover). It’s also not possible to speed up the detoxification process by walking it off. These situations put the user in more danger than they will help.

Will Alcohol Poisoning Cause Permanent Damage?

Alcohol poisoning can cause a number of long-term risks, including:

• Seizures that lead to brain damage
• Hypothermia that causes cardiac arrest and heart damage
• Irreversible brain damage

Alcohol Poisoning and Death

When so much alcohol is consumed that it causes alcohol poisoning, the body can’t get rid of it fast enough. As a result, the alcohol remains in the body and bloodstream and impacts brain functions. When the central nervous system can’t work properly, it can’t keep the heart rate high enough to sustain function. The heart stops working as it should, causing sudden cardiac arrest.

Addressing Alcohol Addiction

Alcohol poisoning can occur in even the most experienced drinkers and is sometimes a result of alcohol addiction. Addressing alcohol addiction is not only about overcoming current struggles but also proactively preventing potential life-threatening situations like alcohol poisoning. You can take the first step toward a safer, healthier lifestyle by seeking help for an alcohol dependency. By addressing the root causes of addiction, you can reduce the risk of excessive alcohol consumption that may lead to poisoning.

Professional addiction counselors and therapists at FHE Health play a vital role in this process, offering guidance on breaking destructive patterns and fostering healthier coping mechanisms. Through personalized strategies, you can develop resilience against the triggers that might lead to dangerous drinking behaviors. Reach out to FHE now if you or someone you love is struggling with alcohol addiction.

Getting Help for Alcohol Abuse Syndrome

A person with repeated instances of poisoning or those who use heavily can get help from FHE Health.