If you have withdrawal symptoms it is not advisable to stop drinking on your own. It is important that you talk to your doctor about options for detoxing safely

*What is Detoxification, or "Detox"?
Detoxification is the process of allowing the body to rid itself of a drug while managing the symptoms of withdrawal. It is often the first step in a drug treatment program and should be followed by treatment with a behavioral-based therapy and/or a medication, if available. Detox alone with no follow-up is not treatment.

What is Withdrawal? How Long Does it Last?
Withdrawal is the variety of symptoms that occur after use of some drugs are reduced or stopped. Length of withdrawal and symptoms vary with the type of drug. For example, physical symptoms of heroin withdrawal may include: restlessness, muscle and bone pain, insomnia, diarrhea, vomiting, and cold flashes. These physical symptoms may last for several days, but the general depression, or dysphoria (opposite of euphoria) that often accompanies heroin withdrawal may last for weeks. In many cases withdrawal can be easily treated with medications to ease the symptoms, but treating withdrawal is not the same as treating addiction.

*http://teens.drugabuse.gov/drnida/drnida_general2.asp

Alexander DeLuca, M.D., FASAM.
Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2001. All rights reserved.
Revised: March 13, 2001.
Inpatient vs. outpatient detox? Criteria for deciding
(see also: "Outpatient Detox - Is This Really a Good Idea?

Patients who should not have outpatient detox procedures:
Not all patients are appropriate candidates for outpatient detoxification. The American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) have developed guidelines to help ensure that critical errors in referral are avoided. Please see the full text of these guidelines which are published by ASAM as the Patient Patient Criteria (PPC).
Here follows a brief discussion highlighting some of the criteria that suggest that the appropriate referral is to an inpatient hospital detoxification setting:

-Patient is at high risk for complicated withdrawal
-Current overdose-in-progress compromising vital signs, mental status or cardiac function, or life-threatening stupor.
-Head trauma, seizure, hallucinations, or symptoms of delirium tremens within the past 24 hours.
-History of seizures, hallucinations or delirium tremens when withdrawing from similar amounts of alcohol/sedatives; or history of recurrent or multiple seizures.
-Pregnant patient in need of detoxification.
-Daily use of sedative medications in doses above therapeutic levels for greater than one month, or in therapeutic doses but in combination with alcohol for greater than six weeks.
-CIWA >= 20, BAC >= 0.3, BAC >= 0.1 plus symptoms of alcohol withdrawal syndrome.
-CIWA = 10-19 plus pulse > 110 or BP > 160/110.
-Patient is at high risk for biomedical complications:
-Presence of biomedical problem(s) requiring inpatient diagnosis and treatment, such as, impending hepatic decompensation, acute pancreatitis or other condition requiring parenteral therapy, active gastrointestinal bleeding, cardiovascular disorder requiring monitoring, etc.
-Chemical use gravely complicating existing biomedical condition, or worsening of a condition making immediate abstinence critical to avoid severe morbidity or mortality.
-Patient is at high risk for psychiatric or behavioral complications:
-Uncontrolled behavior endangering self or others
-Impairment of cognitive function, mental confusion or fluctuating orientation, or extreme depression such that activities of daily living are impeded.
-Evidence of disorientation to self, alcoholic hallucinosis, or toxic psychosis within the past 24 hours or currently.
-Chemical use gravely complicating existing psychiatric condition, or worsening of a condition making immediate abstinence critical to avoid severe morbidity or mortality.

Patients who are good candidates for outpatient detoxification
To look at the issue from the opposite perspective, we can say that patients are appropriate for outpatient detoxification if they do not meet criteria for inpatient detoxification:
-Patient is at minimal risk of severe withdrawal:
-CIWA < 10 after 4-8 hours abstinence, or, BAC = 0.0 with minimal or no medication that might mask signs or symptoms of withdrawal.
-Reliable history that use of substances in combination does not pose a significant risk of complicated withdrawal.
-Patient is likely to complete detoxification and accept referral:
-History of completion of outpatient detoxification and entry into continued treatment.
-Presence of support services to ensure commitment to complete detoxification and enter treatment.
-Patient has, and responds positively to, emotional support combined with treatment, and evidences decreased emotional symptoms by closure of initial treatment session.
-Patient and caretaker clearly understand instructions for care.
-Home environment able to provide adequate reality, reassurance and respect.
For further discussion of inpatient and outpatient detox see: "Outpatient Detox - Is This Really a Good Idea?" www.doctordeluca.com

Alcohol Withdrawals Can Be Mild, Moderate or Severe

Alcohol withdrawal refers to a group of symptoms that may occur from suddenly stopping the use of alcohol after chronic or prolonged ingestion.

Not everyone who stops drinking experiences withdrawal symptoms, but most people who have been drinking for a long period of time, or drinking frequently, or drink heavily when they do drink, will experience some form of withdrawal symptoms if they stop drinking suddenly.

There is no way to predict how any individual will respond to quitting. If you plan to stop drinking and you have been drinking for years, or if you drink heavily when you do drink, or even if you drink moderately but frequently, you should consult a medical professional before going "cold turkey."

Withdrawal Symptoms:
Mild to moderate psychological symptoms:

Feeling of jumpiness or nervousness
Feeling of shakiness
Anxiety
Irritability or easily excited
Emotional volatility, rapid emotional changes
Depression
Fatigue
Difficulty with thinking clearly
Bad dreams

Mild to moderate physical symptoms:

Headache - general, pulsating
Sweating, especially the palms of the hands or the face
Nausea
Vomiting
Loss of appetite
Insomnia, sleeping difficulty
Paleness
Rapid heart rate (palpitations)
Eyes, pupils different size (enlarged, dilated pupils)
Skin, clammy
Abnormal movements
Tremor of the hands
Involuntary, abnormal movements of the eyelids

Severe symptoms:

A state of confusion and hallucinations (visual) -- known as delirium tremens
Agitation
Fever
Convulsions
"Black outs" -- when the person forgets what happened during the drinking episode

Source: National Institutes of Health

*What Is Rapid Detox?

Also known as 'ultra rapid opiate detox', rapid detox is exactly what it says,

rapid detoxification for opiate based substances and addictions.

Some of the narcotic opiate based drugs that are treatable with the rapid detoxification process are:

Heroin Detox
Codeine Detox
Vicodin Detox
Oxycontin Detox®
Methadone Detox
Morphine Detox
Fentanyl Detox
Percocet Detox
Lortab Detox
Darvocet Detox
Dilaudid Detox
Norco Detox

*http://www.rapid-detox.org/

Articles concerning opiate based detox from the American Journal of Psychiatry