Posted on 07/24/2026 2:34:13 PM PDT by BenLurkin
The death of Joanna Ruth Shields, the 37-year-old woman who was found along a remote Big Sur hiking trail in April, has cast a spotlight on a little-known but deadly affliction: alcohol withdrawal syndrome.
According to an investigation by the the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office, the Carlsbad native had died of “probable alcohol withdrawal seizures due to chronic alcohol use disorder.”
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While getting off the sauce is often considered a good thing, quitting cold turkey can prove problematic due to alcohol’s sedative effect on the brain.
When someone drinks for a prolonged period, their brain chemistry adjusts to compensate for booze’s depressant effects.
Stopping abruptly can result in overstimulation that experts have compared to “accelerating vehicle that has lost its brakes,” according to Harvard Medical School.
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While symptoms may resolve on their own in people with mild to moderate withdrawal, patients with severe or complicated condition can suffer from hours-long, life-threatening seizures, with the greatest risk occurring 24 to 48 hours after they quit drinking.
One of the most serious complications is delirium tremens, a potentially fatal condition marked by disruptions in respiration, circulation, and temperature regulation. Suffers can experience a racing heart, blood pressure fluctuations, and even a temporary reduction in blood flow to the brain.
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And while many peoples’ condition improves sans medical intervention, those with moderate cases may require medications such as Diazepam or Lorazepam to mitigate risk of seizures and the development of delirium tremens.
Failing that, beta-blockers or clonidine may be prescribed for constant high blood pressure and an accelerated heart rate.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
When I was a drinker, I was a heavy drinker.
When I first quit, I experienced this miserable condition.
Then, the second time I quit I tapered off over about 7 days.
It worked and it stuck.
I picked a helluva day to quit drinking…
Some on I knew drank just a little bit of booze all day long for decades. One day, the person fell and had to go to the hospital. They cut off the alcohol, and the person died a few days later.
As you get older you just don’t have the desire to drink as much as you did in the past. That is kind of nice.
That used to be known as having the D. T.s’, or Delerium Tremens. The confusion can start on the 3rd to 5th day after alcohol abstinence. Last for about 24 hours to 6 whole days.
In rare instances, this phase of withdrawal can last for several weeks. Someone in this state of severity is going to need either closely monitored isolation or admission into a hospital for the same reasons.
I can only thank God that I am not genetically wired to be this sensitive to alcohol intake. There is not much one can do about it, other than abstain, once you know that is your weakness. I only drink very lightly these days anyway.
Prayers for her friends, family, and loved ones.
Downrange, in combat zones years ago where there was pretty much no alcohol, our Docs could prescribe a shot or two daily for the severe alcoholics.
It was a medicinal. Takes the edge off the DTs and withdrawal. Walk them down and get rid of the shakes.
It takes an incredible amount of alcohol to re-wire the brain.
That’s what happened to me. I quit drinking a decade ago. Prior to that I was drinking a quart of vodka a day. But all of a sudden out of the blue without me even thinking about it I slowly just lost the desire to drink. Now I even hate the taste of alcohol and don’t like its effects. I’m thinking maybe my metabolism changed so I was no longer processing alcohol as I once did.
I know I’m over stimulated when I have dreams that about an “accelerating vehicle that has lost its brakes,”
Years ago, I suspected that such a condition existed. I knew a hard-core alcoholic who lived mostly on the streets. He had a girlfriend who encouraged him to quit drinking, so he quit cold-turkey. But he didn’t seem very healthy right away. Not long after he quit drinking, he had a seizure while using a shovel to dig in a community garden. Some locals dragged him into the shade and called 911. The victim regained consciousness long enough to sign a form declaring that he refused medical treatment from the ambulance crew. The next morning he was found dead in an exterior doorway of a nearby business complex. There was no evidence of a crime, and he seemed to have died of natural causes.
Back when I was one of DC’s finest vice cops, I noticed the similarities between heroin and alcohol addicts. When that Jones had them by the balls, their DTs were exactly the same.
I’m goin the opposite way
“As you get older you just don’t have the desire to drink as much as you did in the past. That is kind of nice.”
Hear, hear! Glad I’ve got that monkey off my back. However, I did enjoy it and smoking too.
I come from a family that tend toward alcoholism, primarily the men on my mom’s side. However, even though I was sometimes a heavy drinker in my youth, I was lucky to not get that gene. I drank socially because I wanted to, not because I had to. After I got married and found Jesus, I still would have an occasional drink, but never more than one. Now that I have cancer in my liver, I can’t drink alcohol at all. I wish sometimes I could have a nice cocktail or a beer, but since my tastebuds are so screwed up from chemo (hardly anything I like tastes as good as it used to), I might not even enjoy it now. It’s just as well, I suppose.
And here I always thought that seeing pink elephants was the first symptom!
Never saw a pink elephant but I did see a green and white checkered Sea Lion. Never had a drink since.
“Never had a drink since.”
Cold turkey, or taper?
I was a daily white wine drinker, having many starting at 4 PM. I quit cold turkey on July 29, 2009 and haven’t had a drop since. Lost 40 pounds! No side affects and now I feel great!
” There was no evidence of a crime, and he seemed to have died of natural causes.”
DTs aint “Natural Causes”.
So you can still drink American beer...
Sorry about your health struggle, Godspeed.
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