Every person knows what binge drinking is. Sometimes based on the example of your friends or relatives, sometimes based on television stories, and sometimes, unfortunately, from your own experience. Millions of scientific and pseudoscientific articles have been written about this. The habit of pouring alcohol over any problems, and sometimes, on the contrary, joyful events in a person’s life, has long become the norm, and not only in our country. Drinking alcohol is a socially approved reaction in absolutely any situation. If everything is bad, I drink it and it becomes better, and if everything is good, I drink it and it becomes even better. And no one will judge, everyone will understand, and they will also drink together.
But often not everyone can stop after such “relaxation”. And after some time it is already physically very difficult to do. The body becomes intoxicated, it requires more and more doses of intoxicating drugs, reacting harshly to any attempt to stop with anxiety, insomnia, poor health, etc.
After some time, either the hero of the occasion himself or his relatives begin to sound the alarm and try to stop this bacchanalia. But they do it in a very strange way - they try to provide help on their own. Armed with the advice of friends and the Internet, which helpfully offers any information without regard to its reliability and competence.
And, further, the person who has abused alcohol, or those around him, begin treatment at home, sometimes using monstrous methods that not only do not help the person, but also often have disastrous consequences. Even if you know for sure that a certain drug helped one person, for another the same drug can be life-threatening. This statement also applies to droppers to remove their binge drinking (infusion therapy), which should only be administered by an experienced narcologist licensed for this type of activity.
Procedure Objectives
Binge drinking leads to the accumulation of the toxic substance acetaldehyde in the blood and tissues of a person.
Altered metabolism causes clinical symptoms of severe poisoning and withdrawal syndrome. An overloaded liver cannot cope with the neutralization of toxins; poisons and waste primarily affect the neurons of the brain. When drugs are administered intravenously, the concentration of toxins is diluted to a safe level, and the renal blood flow helps remove accumulated toxins with urine. What to take for a specific person during a binge is determined by the doctor.
With the help of standard solutions, the balance of electrolytes (potassium, sodium and magnesium), which are responsible for myocardial contractility and heart rhythm, is restored in the body.
Medical indications are considered:
- Working age of the patient
- The true form of long-term binge drinking
- Concomitant chronic diseases
- Complications such as heart pain, arrhythmias, prolonged vomiting and diarrhea with fluid loss
- Manifestation of mental disorders in the form of hallucinations, insomnia, increased anxiety
Narcologists say that a person who drinks 0.5 liters of vodka for 4 days in a row or longer cannot get out of the binge without medical help.
How to place an IV for intoxication at home
The consequences of excessive drinking include alcohol intoxication. The main symptoms of the external manifestation of this condition:
- headache;
- high blood pressure;
- vomit;
- dizziness;
- nausea;
- increased heart rate;
- weakness.
If at first a person is helped to cope with the consequences of alcohol abuse by methods used at home, then if symptoms such as constriction of the pupils of the eyes, clammy skin, slurred speech, loss of coordination of movements, convulsions appear, the help of qualified specialists will be required. If you do not see a doctor promptly, the victim may fall into a coma or die from cardiac arrest.
To prevent severe alcohol intoxication from causing irreparable harm to the human body, doctors treat with a drip. During infusion (intravenous infusion), the drug enters the blood in microdoses at short intervals. During the infusion treatment of alcohol intoxication, a dropper gradually introduces the medicine, ensuring a quick and effective supply of substances necessary for the body.
The main advantages of therapy using intravenous infusion:
- High degree of bioavailability of drugs entering the blood. This parameter shows the speed at which the drug enters the body and its concentration, expressed as a percentage.
- A dosed complex effect on the human blood allows you to remove alcohol from the body more comfortably.
- Possibility of promptly changing the composition of drugs.
- Cleansing the body of alcohol intoxication occurs faster than when taking medications.
- Using a dropper, various combinations of drugs are instilled into the patient, adjusting their ratio and quantity.
- Blood thinning during drug administration reduces additional stress on the cardiovascular system.
To smoothly relieve withdrawal symptoms, you can call a doctor at home or be treated in specialized clinics and hospitals. Taking a break from alcohol at home or in the hospital is a personal choice of the patient and his relatives.
To remove alcohol from the body in a hospital, infusion therapy is used. It is carried out by qualified hospital staff to detoxify the breakdown products of alcohol. Infusion treatment is prescribed for severe patient conditions:
- in the presence of concomitant diseases;
- if complications arise;
- if it is impossible to take medications due to vomiting.
After complex procedures, the acid-base balance and rheological properties (viscosity) of blood improve in the body, and the water-electrolyte balance is corrected.
Calling a narcologist to your home to help a person stop drinking is an available service in many specialized clinics. The specialist assesses the complexity of the patient’s condition and applies a set of procedures for treatment aimed at preventing the consequences of long-term alcohol poisoning.
To detoxify at home, you need to call a qualified specialist. After conducting an initial examination and assessing the complexity of the situation, the narcologist prepares a drip solution that is suitable in a particular case.
If it is not possible to call a doctor, to install an IV, you must do the following:
- prepare the workplace (disinfect tools, wash hands);
- put on the table a solution, a tripod, medicine, scissors, alcohol with cotton wool, a plaster, sterile gloves, an intravenous system and a tourniquet;
- prepare tools for installing the system;
- place a stand to hang the bottle;
- put on gloves and open the container with the solution;
- collect the syringe;
- take the medicine with a syringe and put it into the bottle with the solution;
Then you need to assemble the infusion device:
- the regulator wheel must be moved to the opposite position;
- insert the end with the needle into the stopper of the bottle with the solution;
- press the cylindrical container several times until it is filled to the middle with the drug;
- put the free part of the device back into the packaging;
- set the wheel to the upper position, and the solution will fill the system;
- after the liquid begins to flow out, lower the regulator wheel down;
- when bubbles form, use the dosing wheel to drain the solution with air into the tray;
- insert the free end of the system into the second unoccupied needle, which is inserted into the stopper of the bottle;
- hang the container with the drug at a height of at least 1.5 m.
We suggest you read What to do if the mother constantly drinks
And finally, you need to perform the following steps to install an IV:
- pull the arm with a tourniquet 10 cm above the elbow;
- disinfect the injection site;
- with your right hand, use the free needle of the system to pierce the vein at an angle of 45°;
- secure the device with adhesive tape;
- select the drug supply speed by adjusting the regulator wheel;
- loosen the tourniquet.
The following medications may be included in a dropper for alcohol intoxication for use at home:
- helping to improve blood supply to the brain (Drotaverine, Spazmalgon);
- normalizing acid-base balance (sodium bicarbonate);
- stabilizing the salt balance in the body (10% glucose solution is mixed with potassium chloride, magnesium, insulin);
- suppressing vomiting (Atropine, Cerucal);
- anticonvulsants (Propazine);
- sedatives;
- restoring breathing (Naloxone);
- enriching the body with useful substances (vitamins B1, B6, C, E, PP);
- ensuring liver safety (Essentiale Forte);
- removing toxic substances (sodium thiosulfate, Unitol, Reamberin, Mefusol).
A drip for alcohol intoxication in the hospital and at home helps to comprehensively cleanse the body of harmful substances and normalize the functioning of various organs. This is the most effective tool for treating drunkenness and alcohol poisoning. With the correct selection of medicinal compositions, an experienced narcologist will stabilize the functioning of vital organs.
In narcology, there is far more than one detoxification scheme for alcohol poisoning, so the choice of how to give an alcoholic a drink so that he comes out of binge drinking is quite wide. And most often for this purpose the following drugs are used in different combinations:
- Saline solutions that bind toxins, dilate blood vessels and restore the balance of electrolytes (Disol, Acesol, Trisol, Reamberin, Reosorbilact, etc.)
- B vitamins that normalize cellular metabolism and have a general strengthening effect on the nervous system (thiamine, cobalamin and pyrodoxine)
- Ascorbic acid, which has a minimum of side effects and is a fairly strong antioxidant
- Cardio- and hepatoprotectors that restore and support the functioning of the heart and liver (“Riboxin”, “Tiatriazolin”, “Mexidol”, “Heptral”, etc.)
- Magnesium and potassium preparations that restore cellular metabolism and normalize blood pressure and the functioning of the heart muscle (combined drug "Panangin", magnesium sulfate, potassium chloride, etc.)
- Diuretics that accelerate the elimination of excess fluid and toxins naturally (“Furosemide” or others)
- A glucose solution that stimulates detoxification processes and nourishes all cells with energy.
In addition to the listed drugs, the drip for ethyl alcohol poisoning may also include antipsychotics, tranquilizers and anticonvulsants. But these medications are administered intravenously only under the supervision of a narcologist or psychiatrist, and only if the alcoholic has developed alcoholic psychosis due to poisoning.
Where can you get rid of alcohol intoxication?
The drug composition for detoxification is determined by the severity of the patient’s physiological disorders, the duration and experience of alcoholism, concomitant diseases and complications. For detoxification, standard treatment regimens are used, based on taking into account the pathological changes caused by ethanol. The components of the system are conventionally divided into mandatory and symptomatic.
To combat the presence of high concentrations of acetaldehyde in the blood, solutions are used that provide “flooding” and dilution of hazardous substances. They are called basic because drugs are added to them as they enter the bloodstream. They have similar properties:
- Isotonic or physiological (0.9%) sodium chloride - no other electrolytes.
- Glucose 5% and 10% - dripped along with the subcutaneous administration of “Insulin”, provides the body with calories for cell function.
- 4% sodium bicarbonate (soda) - necessary to restore the acid-base balance.
- A 25% solution of magnesium sulfate is diluted with 5% glucose - a remedy is obtained to support cardiac contractility, relieve cerebral edema, convulsions, and hypertension.
- Special rehydration liquids (“Disol”, “Trisol”) restore the acid-base balance, retain water in the bloodstream, bind and remove toxins and waste.
Contraindications
If you have an individual intolerance to saline solution or other components in the detoxification solution, it is advisable to avoid using a drip. Otherwise, the patient will not only not recover from the binge, but may also end up in intensive care. Therefore, in order to exclude such complications, it is important to carefully read all existing contraindications:
- alcoholic retirement age;
- chronic diseases of the cardiovascular system;
- extensive damage to the liver, kidneys, lungs;
- immunodeficiency states;
- bronchial asthma;
- diabetes;
- long-term drinking bouts of more than 7 days;
- periods of pregnancy and lactation.
For final withdrawal from binge drinking, hospitalization of the alcoholic is required. There are several drug treatment centers in Moscow and the region that offer this type of service to their patients. The procedure is not free, but the end result is fast and reliable. The main thing is to entrust the health of the sick person to a professional narcologist and not skimp on emergency treatment. Here are approximate prices for the capital with the names of drug treatment clinics:
Does an IV help with hangovers and binge drinking?
An anti-binge drip significantly alleviates the symptoms of a hangover and promotes intoxication of the body. This infusion method is one of the most effective and popular means of eliminating a hangover or breaking a binge.
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This is explained by the following features of this type of therapy:
- Bioavailability. With a drip infusion, the drugs quickly enter the bloodstream and help restore the body after the toxic effects of alcohol.
- Efficiency. The procedure helps improve overall well-being due to its positive effect on fluid balance in the body.
The patient is instilled for the purpose of detoxification only 6–8 hours after consuming alcoholic beverages. It is not recommended to put an IV on a person who is intoxicated, since this procedure will be completely ineffective.
Features of a drip during binge drinking:
- is a repeated procedure;
- the composition of the solution is aimed at cleansing the body of toxic breakdown products of alcohol, such as acetic acid and ethanol;
- Additionally, drugs that provoke increased functioning of the liver and kidneys are added to the infusion solution;
- This composition allows you to prepare the patient for subsequent treatment for alcohol dependence.
Specifics of anti-hangover therapy:
- A hangover drip is a one-time procedure that is only necessary to alleviate the condition.
- A person suffering from a hangover does not need a large amount of vitamins and hepatoprotectors. If the body that has been intoxicated by alcohol is not weakened by prolonged exposure, it will remove the toxins on its own.
For a patient in a binge state, banal detoxification is not enough. Since the organs of such a person are damaged by many years of exposure to alcohol, deep restoration of all systems is required.
Indications for prescribing an IV:
- severe headaches;
- cardiopalmus;
- hangover symptoms increase over time;
- nausea and vomiting;
- loss of consciousness.
Droppers are contraindicated in the following cases:
- in case of disturbances in the functioning of the heart and vascular system;
- the person’s age exceeds 60 years;
- the duration of continuous alcohol exposure on the body exceeds 7 days;
- presence of bronchial asthma;
- alcoholic psychosis;
- state of acute intoxication;
- chronic diabetes mellitus;
- the patient has hepatitis C;
- The duration of the binge is more than a week.
In the video from the author of “Alco Stop Clinic” you can learn how to get a person out of binge drinking with the help of a dropper.
Why does drunkenness occur?
Constant consumption of alcoholic beverages creates dependence on them. Cells of the brain and other important organs are gradually destroyed. Changes and disruptions occur in the body. Alcohol, despite its destructive properties, becomes a necessary product for tissues and organs. It takes part in metabolic, enzymatic, hormonal, and neurotransmitter processes. Without the use of ethanol, an imbalance increases in all systems, and the person feels unwell. To improve his condition, he tries to drink alcohol. Mental and physical cravings are formed.
After some time, addiction reaches its climax. The addiction to alcohol becomes so strong that the patient can no longer cope with it. The body begins to require alcohol more often and more. This is how binge drinking occurs – uncontrolled, multi-day abuse of strong drinks containing alcohol.
A person is in constant drunkenness until the moment when decompensation occurs in the body. Then the binge stops, and the alcoholic experiences severe withdrawal symptoms. After its completion, remission is formed - a sober period during which health is restored.
Features of the selection of drugs for drips for an alcoholic
Most often, an alcohol drip at home consists of saline solutions to which medications are added that are compatible with the solution and with each other. Moreover, it is important that when using “Reamberin”, “Reosorbilact” and some other ready-made solutions, there is no need to additionally add magnesium and potassium preparations to the dropper, since their salts are included in the solution.
It will be difficult for a non-medical specialist to independently determine what to give to an alcoholic at home, since the drugs from the list above cannot simply be mixed in one bottle. Most of them react chemically with each other and lose their beneficial properties even before administration, so they must be administered separately. Also, when choosing drugs for drip administration, you need to take into account the presence of contraindications to each of them.
Medicinal solutions for removing alcohol toxins in the hospital can be different. The selection of a specific composition depends on the patient’s condition, age, degree of poisoning and concomitant diseases. Infusion therapy is prescribed to the patient based on tests and a comprehensive examination.
IV medications act as follows:
- remove toxic substances;
- restore acid-base and salt balance;
- improve metabolism;
- normalize the functioning of various human organs affected by alcohol, incl. respiratory and cardiovascular systems;
- thins the blood;
- increases glucose levels;
- enriches the body with essential vitamins and minerals.
List of solutions that are dripped for alcohol intoxication in a hospital:
- As a basis for solutions, 5% or 10% glucose solution and 0.9% aqueous solution of sodium chloride (NaCl) are used. To ensure that the solution is well absorbed, insulin is administered with glucose in a 4:1 ratio.
- Polyionic drugs (Ringer's solutions, Chlosol, Trisol, Disol) are used to restore the ionic balance.
- Gelatinol and Hemodez are used in acute poisoning by alcohol breakdown products to enhance blood microcirculation.
- To eliminate the manifestations of hangover syndrome and relieve seizures, drugs are used that have calming and hypnotic effects - anxiolytics (Seduxen, Diazepam, Relanium, Sibazon and others).
- Phenazepam from the group of benzodiazepines is used if you need to suppress fear, ease anxiety, relieve emotional stress and anxiety.
- Neuroleptics (for example, Propazine) are administered as an anticonvulsant and to relieve withdrawal symptoms.
- Vitamin B1 is used to prevent complications in alcoholic neuropathy during the phase of relieving binge drinking syndrome.
- To improve metabolic and metabolic processes, vitamins C and A are dripped.
- To lower the heart rate and lower blood pressure, Propranolol is used, which reduces tremors and alcoholic tremors.
When introducing a particular drug into an IV to relieve alcohol intoxication, the doctor must know exactly how the solution works in order to provide the patient with qualified assistance.
When is it appointed?
A drip after a binge is prescribed as an immediate response to the consequences of many days of drinking. To facilitate the general well-being of a chronic alcoholic, such procedures are carried out not only in a drug treatment hospital, but also at home with the participation of a medical professional. Indications for placing an IV are as follows:
- prolonged drinking of alcoholic beverages;
- acute intoxication of the body;
- the need to restore the chemical composition of the blood after heavy drinking.
