Alcohol detox can present several safety challenges. If you aren’t careful, it could be fatal.
When you stop drinking abruptly, it can cause a medical emergency within hours. A person can experience seizures, dangerously elevated heart rate and delirium tremens.
To detox from alcohol safely, you should always consult a medical professional. The staff at Texas Recovery Centers can help people in the Dallas and Fort Worth area safely withdraw from alcohol to help you or a loved one reach the first step in sobriety.
Why Alcohol Detox Carries Serious Medical Risk
Alcohol is a central nervous system depressant. Over time, your brain increases its own stimulatory activity to compensate. When alcohol is suddenly removed, this uncompensated activity leads to the hyperexcitability known as alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS). The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism reports that approximately half of people with alcohol use disorder will experience noticeable withdrawal symptoms upon cessation.
Symptoms and Timeline:
- Mild Symptoms (typically 6-24 hours after last drink): Tremors, sweating, anxiety, nausea, and insomnia.
- Severe Symptoms/Medical Emergency:
- Seizures (usually 12-48 hours after cessation).
- Delirium Tremens (DTs): A severe syndrome involving profound confusion, hallucinations, and cardiovascular instability. DTs can be fatal without treatment.
Risk factors for severe withdrawal include: a long history of heavy daily drinking, prior withdrawal seizures, older age, and co-occurring health conditions.
If any of these risk factors apply, you should not attempt to detox alone at home. Medical supervision is essential for a safe alcohol detox.
Signs You Need A Supervised Alcohol Detox
Not every person who drinks heavily will experience severe withdrawal, but predicting who will is genuinely difficult without clinical assessment. The American Society of Addiction Medicine recommends inpatient or residential medical detox for anyone with a history of withdrawal seizures or delirium tremens, current severe symptoms, significant co-occurring medical or psychiatric conditions, lack of a safe and sober home environment, or prior unsuccessful outpatient detox attempts.
For people in the Dallas and Fort Worth area, the question is rarely whether you want to detox at home. The question is whether doing so is safe. An honest conversation with an admissions specialist at a licensed treatment center takes only a few minutes and can answer that question before any commitment is made.
What to Expect During Medically Supervised Alcohol Detox
Intake and Assessment
Admission to a medical detox program begins with a thorough evaluation. Clinicians review your drinking history, how much you’ve been drinking and for how long, any prior withdrawal events, current medications, and overall physical health. Labs are drawn, vitals are established as a baseline, and a personalized withdrawal management plan is written. This intake process is what separates medical detox from simply stopping on your own; the plan is tailored to you, not to an average patient.
Medically Managed Withdrawal
Once established in the program, you receive round-the-clock monitoring. Nurses check vitals regularly, often using a standardized tool called the Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment for Alcohol (CIWA-Ar) to score symptom severity and guide medication decisions.
The most commonly used medications are benzodiazepines such as lorazepam or diazepam, which work on the same brain receptors as alcohol and prevent the neurological rebound that causes seizures. Some programs also use adjunctive medications for blood pressure, nausea, or sleep.
Hydration and nutrition support are included; thiamine supplementation is standard because alcohol dependence frequently depletes vitamin B1, and deficiency can cause permanent neurological damage (Wernicke’s encephalopathy).
Alcohol Detox Symptom Monitoring and Check-Ins
Most acute alcohol withdrawal resolves within five to seven days. Throughout that time, the clinical team adjusts the care plan based on how you respond. Therapeutic support, peer interaction, and psychoeducation about what is happening in your body are typically available starting around day two or three, once the most acute phase is past. This overlap is intentional: treatment that starts while you’re still in detox produces better outcomes than waiting until a separate admission.
Transition Planning
Detox clears the substance from your system and stabilizes you medically. It does not by itself produce lasting recovery. A dedicated case manager coordinates the next level of care before you leave the detox unit. That might be residential inpatient treatment, a partial hospitalization program (PHP), or an intensive outpatient program (IOP), depending on your clinical needs, support system at home, and insurance coverage. Planning this transition during detox rather than after discharge makes a significant difference in whether people follow through.
Medications Used in Alcohol Detox and Beyond
Benzodiazepines are the first-line pharmacotherapy for withdrawal management, supported by decades of evidence. Once you are medically stable, a physician may discuss longer-term medications to support sobriety. The FDA has approved three medications for alcohol use disorder: naltrexone (available in oral and monthly injectable forms), acamprosate, and disulfiram. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, medications for addiction treatment are most effective when combined with behavioral therapies rather than used alone.
If you have a co-occurring mental health condition such as anxiety, depression, or PTSD, additional medications or psychiatric follow-up may be part of your plan. Programs that screen for and treat co-occurring disorders during or immediately after detox consistently show better long-term outcomes than those that defer mental health care to a later stage.
The Continuum of Care After Detox
SMART Recovery, a secular alternative, holds meetings in the area and online, with a meeting finder at smartrecovery.org.
Detox is the first step, not the final one. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) outlines a full continuum of care that matches the intensity of treatment to a person’s clinical needs:
- Medically Managed Intensive Inpatient (Detox): Initial medical stabilization.
- Residential Treatment: Typically 28 to 90 days of structured, live-in programming, including individual and group therapy.
- Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP): Intensive day treatment (5-6 hours daily) while living in sober housing or at home.
- Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP): A step-down program that bridges intensive care and independent living.
- Outpatient and Peer Support: Long-term recovery often involves peer support groups like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), searchable via Dallas Area Intergroup, or the secular alternative, SMART Recovery, with its meeting finder at smartrecovery.org.
Insurance, Costs, and Texas Medicaid
Most commercial insurance plans cover medically necessary alcohol detox because of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, which requires plans that cover mental health and substance use treatment to do so at parity with medical and surgical benefits. Verification of specific benefits, deductibles, and any preauthorization requirements should happen before or at admission. Coverage varies widely by plan, and a good admissions team will walk you through exactly what your insurance will and won’t cover so there are no surprises.
For Texans without commercial insurance, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission administers the state’s Medicaid programs. Substance use treatment services, including medically supervised detox for eligible individuals, may be covered. The Texas HHS Medicaid page is the starting point for eligibility information. For uninsured individuals, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission also maintains a behavioral health treatment locator and can connect callers with state-funded treatment programs.
What Distinguishes a Quality Detox Program
Not all detox facilities are equal. When evaluating programs in or near Dallas and Fort Worth, look for state licensure from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, national accreditation from CARF (Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities) or The Joint Commission, and clinical staff that includes licensed physicians and nurses, not just technicians. Accreditation means the facility has undergone external review of its clinical practices, safety protocols, and administrative standards.
Evidence-based withdrawal management protocols, including the CIWA-Ar scale and FDA-approved medications when indicated, are non-negotiable elements of quality care. A facility that does not use structured symptom assessment is operating outside current clinical standards. You should also ask whether detox flows directly into a treatment program at the same facility or through a coordinated referral. Gaps between detox and the next level of care are a significant risk factor for relapse and overdose.
Local and State Resources for People Near Dallas and Fort Worth
The SAMHSA National Helpline (1-800-662-4357) is free, confidential, and available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It provides referrals to local treatment programs and state-funded options for people with or without insurance. The Texas Poison Center Network, reached through 1-800-222-1222, can also advise on medical questions related to alcohol withdrawal symptoms in an emergency.
The Texas Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, which now operates under Texas HHS, oversees substance use disorder services statewide and can help connect North Texas residents to state-supported treatment. For anyone navigating the public system, county behavioral health authorities in Dallas and Tarrant County both maintain local service directories and intake lines.
Our Location: Serving Dallas and Fort Worth from Scurry, Texas
Texas Recovery Centers is located at 6950 Shady Lane in Scurry, Texas, a rural setting roughly 30 miles southeast of downtown Dallas. The distance from the city is part of the design. Residential detox and treatment benefit from a calm, removed environment where the triggers and stressors of daily life don’t follow you into the program. For people in Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, Irving, Plano, and surrounding North Texas communities, Texas Recovery Centers is accessible by car in well under an hour and accepts patients from throughout Texas and beyond.
Why Choose Texas Recovery Centers
Texas Recovery Centers offers a medical detox program that provides 24/7 nursing and physician oversight, individualized withdrawal management plans, FDA-approved medications when clinically indicated, and direct case management to plan the transition into residential treatment or a partial hospitalization program. The medical detox page answers the most common questions about what to bring, how quickly admissions can happen (same-day or next-day in many cases), and what insurance typically covers.
Texas Recovery Centers also treats co-occurring mental health conditions, including anxiety and depression, within the same program rather than asking patients to navigate a separate referral. Medication-assisted treatment options are available for appropriate candidates, and specialized tracks exist for veterans, first responders, and other specific populations.
Alcohol Detox: Frequently Asked Questions
Is it safe to detox from alcohol at home?
In many cases, no. For individuals with a history of heavy, long-term drinking, stopping “cold turkey” can lead to life-threatening complications like seizures and Delirium Tremens (DTs). A clinical assessment is the only way to determine if a home strategy is safe or if medical supervision is required.
How long does medically supervised alcohol detox take?
Most acute alcohol withdrawal symptoms resolve within 5 to 7 days. However, the timeline varies based on the individual’s drinking history, physical health, and the presence of co-occurring disorders. At Texas Recovery Centers, we provide a personalized plan that monitors you until you are medically stable.
What medications are used during alcohol detox?
Clinicians typically use Benzodiazepines (such as lorazepam or diazepam) to manage neurological excitability and prevent seizures. Other medications may be used to manage blood pressure, nausea, or insomnia. Long-term recovery may also involve FDA-approved medications like Naltrexone or Acamprosate to help reduce cravings.
What are the signs of Delirium Tremens (DTs)?
Delirium Tremens is a severe form of alcohol withdrawal that usually occurs 48 to 72 hours after the last drink. Symptoms include:
- Profound confusion and disorientation
- Visual or auditory hallucinations
- Extreme cardiovascular instability (high heart rate/blood pressure)
- Grand mal seizures
If you suspect someone is experiencing DTs, call 911 immediately.
Does insurance cover alcohol detox in Texas?
Yes. Due to the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, most commercial insurance plans cover medically necessary detox. Texas Recovery Centers also works with various providers and can help you verify your benefits before admission. For those without private insurance, Texas Medicaid may also offer coverage for eligible services.
What happens after the detox phase is over?
Detox is only the first step. To ensure long-term sobriety, patients typically transition into a Continuum of Care, which may include:
- Residential Treatment: 24/7 support and therapy.
- Partial Hospitalization (PHP): Intensive day programming.
- Intensive Outpatient (IOP): A bridge between clinical care and independent living.
- Peer Support: Groups like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) or SMART Recovery.
How to Start Detox From Alcohol
If you or someone you care about is in the Dallas or Fort Worth area and struggling with alcohol, the first step is a phone call. Texas Recovery Centers can be reached at 214-295-6503. The admissions team is available seven days a week, can assess your situation confidentially, verify your insurance benefits, and in many cases arrange same-day or next-day admission. There is no obligation attached to the call.
You can also verify your insurance online before calling if you prefer to know your coverage details in advance. The form is fast and confidential.
If you are experiencing a medical emergency related to alcohol withdrawal, severe tremors, confusion, hallucinations, or seizures, call 911 immediately. Do not drive yourself to care. Alcohol withdrawal at its most severe is a life-threatening condition and warrants emergency medical response.
For emotional crisis support, the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is available by call or text at 988, 24 hours a day. If you’re struggling and not sure where to turn, 988 can help connect you to the right resources.
Learn More
- National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism: Alcohol Facts and Statistics
- American Society of Addiction Medicine: Clinical Practice Guideline on Alcohol Withdrawal Management
- National Institute on Drug Abuse: Treatment and Recovery
- SAMHSA National Helpline
- Texas Health and Human Services: Medicaid and CHIP
- 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline
