People with alcohol dependence who are facing withdrawal symptoms during the lockdown period should visit their nearest healthcare facility for prescription medicines if they have mild symptoms like headaches and difficulty in sleeping, according to a Social Justice and Empowerment (SJ&E) Ministry’s advisory issued on Thursday.
If the symptoms are severe, including seizures and hallucinations, the patients should be rushed to hospital, says the advisory, which comes just over a week into the 21-day lockdown imposed by the Centre to control the spread of COVID-19.
“During the lockdown period, the alcohol-dependent persons face mild to serious withdrawal symptoms. An advisory in this regard has been issued today,” Ministry secretary R. Subrahmanyam said in a tweet.
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“A lockdown situation, which entails non-availability of alcohol, may be a blessing in disguise for some people who may utilise this opportunity to quit drinking altogether. However, it is also a significant challenge for a certain proportion of people with alcohol dependence who are at risk of experiencing severe alcohol withdrawal and its consequences,” the advisory states.
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Mild or moderate symptoms of withdrawal were anxiety, irritability, restlessness, craving, difficulty in sleeping, tremors, increased sweating, palpitations, headache, upset stomach and poor appetite. For such cases, the Ministry said most people would feel better within a few days with “adequate fluids and nutritional supplementation”. Those experiencing mild or moderate symptoms were advised to visit the nearest health facility for prescription of medicines of the benzodiazepine group, like diazepam or lorazepam, and “high doses of Vitamin B”.
Those experiencing severe withdrawal symptoms, including seizures, confusion, disturbed level of consciousness and hallucinations, would require emergency medical care and hospitalisation, the advisory says.
According to the 2019 ‘Magnitude of Substance Abuse in India’ report by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, there are 16 crore users of alcohol in the country. Of those, 5.7 crore were considered “problem users” and 2.9 crore “dependent users”.
