The acute symptoms of alcohol withdrawal are anxiety, shakiness, sweating, vomiting, fast heart rate, and a mild fever that usually appears around six hours after the last drink; they reach their worst between 24 and 72 hours after. The more severe symptoms include confusion, severe anxiety, severe shaking, auditory and visual hallucinations, high fever, and seizures which can cause death (alcohol is one of the most dangerous drugs from which to withdraw); these symptoms are also called delirium tremens (DTs) and usually appear about 72 hours into withdrawal and last two or three days. The worst of the acute symptoms typically dissipate after about seven days. Still, there can be lingering symptoms that last for weeks or even months and include insomnia, depression, and mild to moderate anxiety. In modern times, the severe symptoms of alcohol withdrawal can be treated with long-acting benzodiazepines like chlordiazepoxide (Librium) and diazepam (Valium) since alcohol withdrawal is very similar in both biochemical effects and symptoms to benzodiazepine withdrawal. But even with benzodiazepines, alcohol withdrawal is dangerous which is why the preferred method is to slowly taper off the amount of alcohol used, though with addicts that isn't always feasible.
