Alcoholism is a disease characterised by continuous heavy drinking. Until people with alcohol use disorder admit to problems with alcohol and stop drinking, the risk of alcohol use disorder continues which affects both physical and mental health.
Alcohol starts to injure the brain once it reaches the bloodstream.
Excessive consumption can lead to Alcohol-Related Brain Damage, or ARBD, which is a type of brain disorder caused by alcohol consumption. Brain shrinkage caused by alcohol abuse is permanent, as alcohol kills brain cells and grey matter.
For more information and effects click ‘Learn More’.
Family Recovery Compass is a newsletter for friends and family members who feel trapped between supporting a loved one in addiction, and protecting their own wellbeing.
Every week, we tackle one specific situation in addiction family dynamics, and deliver practical decision-making frameworks and exact dialogue scripts – that help you respond with confidence instead of reaction.
Every month, we bring you an unfiltered recovery conversation with someone who’s either experienced addiction firsthand, or works closely with those in recovery.
No sanitised success stories – just practical insights on what actually works in recovery, that you can apply, in your life too.
Recovery capital is the internal and external resource used to begin the recovery process and maintain sobriety. This combines personal, social, and community support to provide a joined-up approach that supports the addict through recovery.
Do you or a loved one need addiction treatment for alcohol or drugs? Thousands blindly walk into addiction treatment in expensive rehab centres and find that the reality doesn’t meet expectations.
If you’re considering rehab treatment, first check our ultimate guide for complete instructions on how to find the right rehab centre for you.
Take-home Naloxone kits help families and loved ones respond quickly in an opioid overdose emergency, until emergency services arrive. Kits contain nasal or injectable forms of Naloxone.
Changes in legislation mean Naloxone kits are now more widely available from pharmacies and drug services, including Abbeycare.
For additional information, click ‘Learn More’ below.
Overcoming alcohol addiction means first ceasing alcohol intake, and taking care of physical and chemical withdrawal symptoms.
Detoxing from alcohol means undergoing withdrawal from alcohol, but with the assistance of prescribed medication and detox phase, to substitute in place of the alcohol itself.
Alcohol rehab focuses on tackling the problems underneath alcoholism, such as grief, trauma, depression, and emotional difficulties, in order to reduce continuing drinking after treatment.
Inpatient services at an alcohol rehab programme provides 24 hour access to specialist care.
Alcohol home detox provides a means of semi-supervised addiction treatment in the comfort of your home. It’s often suitable for those with inescapable practical commitments, or where a reduced budget for treatment is available.
An at-home detox is the most basic detox option available from Abbeycare, and assumes you have support available, post-detox, for the other important elements of long-term addiction recovery.
The term alcoholism refers to the consumption of alcohol to the extent that the person is unable to manage their own drinking habits or patterns, resulting in side-effects that are detrimental to the quality of life and health of the alcoholic, or those around them.
An alcoholic is someone who continues to compulsively abuse alcohol in this way, despite the negative consequences to their lives and health.
Immediately following treatment, the early stages of recovery and abstinence are most vulnerable to lapses.
At Abbeycare, a structured and peer-reviewed aftercare plan is usually prepared whilst still in treatment. This comprises social, peer, and therapeutic resources individuals draw upon, following a residential treatment programme for drug or alcohol misuse.
Clinically managed residential detoxification is:
– A structured detox that uses medication-assisted treatment and regular physical health observations
– Takes place in an inpatient rehabilitation unit or hospital
– Typically lasts from 7-10 days, but in Abbeycare, it is incorporated into a 28-day rehab programme
Family Therapy at Abbeycare Scotland or Gloucester is realistic, compassionate, and appropriate for families and loved ones of addicts.
Family therapeutic interventions in residential rehabilitation have been designed to support those living with or caring for participants entering the Abbeycare Programme.
Support for families in a group setting allows for a safe, constructive, and confidential place to listen and share common experiences.
Inpatient rehab is drug and/ or alcohol treatment in a rehab centre, where patients remain on-site for the duration of inpatient rehabilitation.
It includes detoxification from drugs, therapy (group work and 1-2-1 sessions), and aftercare planning. Inpatient rehabs typically last 28 days, but this varies on an individual basis.
Long-term treatment at Abbeycare has been developed for those suffering from alcohol or drug addiction. Completing a long-term drug and alcohol inpatient programme may be the solution to problematic substance use.
Motivational Enhancement Therapy can be used by trained addiction recovery therapists to elicit internal changes within and promote long-term recovery from substance use disorder.
All the answers to addiction can be found within with this comprehensive and successful therapy concept leads to behavioural changes, reflective listening, self-motivational statements, and a comprehensive recovery process.
Outpatient drug or alcohol rehab is daytime treatment as opposed to living in a treatment facility.
Outpatient treatment is similar to inpatient in terms of the methods used to treat substance abuse. Where they differ is in their approach to recovery.
Abbeycare’s prison to rehab is a 12-week structured rehab programme which involves direct transfer from prison. The suitability of the candidate is decided by prison staff.
Short-term residential treatment programmes are the chance to press the reset button and access a therapeutic programme designed to create recovery from the use of alcohol and drugs.
Feeling stuck in a rut. Want to stop but can’t seem to achieve sobriety?
Click below.
The 12-step programme was created by alcoholics anonymous (AA), and is specifically designed to aid addicts in achieving and maintaining abstinence.
The central ethos behind the programme is that participants must admit and surrender to a divine power to live happy lives. Ideas and experiences are shared in meetings, and help is sought in an attempt to achieve abstinence.
Abbeycare’s policy to respect your privacy and comply with any applicable law and regulation regarding any personal information we may collect about you, including across our website and other sites we own and operate.
Alcohol and pregabalin (Lyrica) are mixed by users when prescribed, such as:
Those suffering from epilepsy, fibromyalgia, or chronic pain are prescribed pregabalin, but are also self-medicating with alcohol - leading to unintentional mixing
However, alcohol is also mixed with pregabalin by street users, for example:
Those self-medicating Lyrica for anxiety caused by alcohol abuse
Chronic drug and alcohol users who believe poly usage increases each drug's effects
Those using Lyrica to avoid the side effects of withdrawal from alcohol
Setting
Reasons For Use
Anxiety from alcohol use
Using pregabalin to manage anxiety from alcohol abuse while still drinking
Epilepsy, chronic pain, or fibromyalgia treatment
Pregabalin mixed with alcohol as self-medication for pain
Using pregabalin to avoid the side effects of alcohol withdrawal
Using pregabalin to avoid seizures caused by alcohol withdrawal
Chronic drug users
Believing the combination increases the effectiveness of each or both drugs
Unintentional mixing
Those prescribed pregabalin are not aware that combining with alcohol causes potential side effects
Risks Of Combining Pregabalin With Alcohol
CNS
Lyrica and alcohol combined depress the central nervous system, causing:
Lethargy
Sedation
Respiratory depression
Respiration
Mixing alcohol with Lyrica can lead to respiratory arrest and an increased risk of developing pneumonia or a collapsed lung [3].
In patients with pre-existing non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, 8 days of pregabalin usage combined with occasional alcohol usage resulted in jaundice and elevated liver transaminase levels [5].
Mental Health
Lyrica is typically prescribed for generalised anxiety disorder or convulsions.
As both alcohol and Lyrica depress neurotransmitter activity, the combination counteracts pregabalin's use for anxiety as alcohol increases anxiety after its initial depressive effect on neurotransmitters has worn off.
Those using Lyrica combined with alcohol develop a cycle of:
1
Using Lyrica to achieve relief from convulsions or generalised anxiety disorder
2
Drinking alcohol
3
Going into withdrawal after alcohol consumption ceases
Amitriptyline and Lyrica combined with alcohol lead to blackouts or a loss of consciousness [6].
Oxycodone
Combining oxycodone and Lyrica with alcohol depresses sympathetic activity, causing cardiac arrest or brain damage [7].
Lisinopril
Angioedema caused by lisinopril and Lyrica interaction is exacerbated by alcohol abuse and can lead to throat constriction and suffocation.
Poly-Drug Use
Opiate street drugs (i.e. marijuana, heroin, and oxycodone) combined with pregabalin and alcohol increase the depressive effects of each drug, potentially causing respiratory depression [8].
Overstimulation of the CNS and heart - causing heart attacks or strokes [9]
Overdose - users may take more Lyrica mixed with alcohol and stimulants due to not experiencing the expected high caused by the drug and alcohol combination [10]
A built-up tolerance to Lyrica stops the user from feeling pregabalin's pleasurable or pain-relieving effects.
This encourages further drinking as the user attempts to recapture the initial pleasurable euphoria and pain-relieving effects of Lyrica and alcohol use combined.
Signs Of Overdose
The body does not show outward signs of overdose (vomiting, seizures, and loss of consciousness) under increasing levels of Lyrica tolerance [11].
Seizures
If the user is prescribed pregabalin for epileptic attacks or convulsions, drinking can result in a status epilepticus (a seizure lasting 30 minutes or longer or a series of seizures where the patient does not regain consciousness between seizures) [12].
Epilepsy attacks, anxiety, or fibromyalgia and how this will affect timescale and outcomes - lengthens detox time to 10+ days [18]
Managing physical chronic pain alongside withdrawal - ensuring that chronic pain is effectively managed during detox to avoid future relapse due to pain
Detox medications (benzodiazepines, gabapentin, or quetiapine) interact with pregabalin - alternative medications such as acamprosate or topiramate can take up to 10 days to start working
Special considerations to be in place, once detoxification is complete, include:
Ensuring the user does not develop a cross-addiction to pregabalin
Ensuring the patient receives adequate secondary pain relief for chronic pain
Ensuring future medication prescribed does not interact adversely with pregabalin
Detox From Pregabalin In Alcohol Users
The protocol used by medical practitioners in those who consume, but are not addicted to, alcohol includes:
Tapering pregabalin detox over 21-30 days, rather than immediate cessation
Prescribing chlordiazepoxide to avoid withdrawal symptoms of pregabalin detox being exacerbated by alcohol use [19]
If doctors are concerned that alcohol usage will affect pregabalin prescription use, they may alternatively prescribe duloxetine or amitriptyline [20].
Pregabalin For Alcohol Withdrawal
Pregabalin can be used for alcohol detoxification, particularly if the patient has:
Previously withdrawn from alcohol and experienced convulsions - but the patient is unable to take diazepines
Is at a high risk of experiencing convulsions - determined by doctors
A co-occurring condition that causes convulsions, i.e. epilepsy or encephalitis
While pregabalin can be used to treat alcohol withdrawal symptoms, this is not generally advisable for:
Those who have had multiple previous relapses - liver injury may occur if pregabalin is used alongside alcohol [21]
Those who abuse alcohol alongside other substances - pregabalin has increased risks of respiratory depression or death when combined with pre-existing opioid use [22]
Detoxing Combined Pregabalin And Alcohol Addiction
The detoxification protocol for concurrent pregabalin and alcohol addiction differs from protocols of detoxification from alcohol alone in that:
Pregabalin has a legitimate medical use (chronic pain or injury)
Monitoring for co-occurring side effects (anxiety, depression, nausea, vomiting, etc.) that can be more severe when withdrawing from both substances. Here at Abbeycare, our monitoring times for co-occurring substance detox are up to every 15 minutes
Replacing pregabalin with another anticonvulsant - if the patient is addicted to pregabalin but still requires an anticonvulsant for epilepsy, chronic pain, etc
Using Pregabalin & Alcohol In A Controlled Setting
Sequential Detox
If the patient suffers from polydrug and alcohol abuse, a sequential detox treatment plan may be suggested.
A sequential detox prioritises the drugs with the highest doses or the most dangerous side effects, while maintaining use of other substances such as pregabalin and alcohol [23].
Waiting For Treatment
If a patient tells their GP about combined pregabalin and alcohol use, the GP will immediately refer the patient to an appropriate facility, typically a community addiction team or alcohol addiction clinic.
If there is no treatment availability after an assessment, a consultant may advise the patient to continue Lyrica and alcohol use until there is availability to detox.
About the author
Harriet Garfoot
Harriet Garfoot BA, MA has an Undergraduate degree in Education Studies and English, and a Master's degree in English Literature, from Bishop Grosseteste University. Harriet writes on stress & mental health, and is a member of the Burney Society. Content reviewed by Laura Morris (Clinical Lead).
