Here you go. True withdrawal symptoms can kill you. This is delirium tremens, or alcohol withdrawal:
The main symptoms of delirium tremens are nightmares, agitation, global confusion, disorientation, visual and
[7] auditory hallucinations,
tactile hallucinations fever,
high blood pressure,
heavy sweating, and other signs of autonomic hyperactivity (
fast heart rate and high blood pressure). These symptoms may appear suddenly but can develop 2–3 days after stopping drinking heavily with its highest intensity on the fourth or fifth day.
[8] Also, these "symptoms are characteristically worse at night".
[9] In general, DT is considered the most severe manifestation of alcohol withdrawal and occurs 3–10 days following the last drink.
[7] Other common symptoms include intense perceptual disturbance such as visions of insects, snakes, or rats. These may be hallucinations, or illusions related to the environment, e.g., patterns on the wallpaper or in the peripheral vision that the patient falsely perceives as a resemblance to the morphology of an insect, and are also associated with tactile hallucinations such as sensations of something crawling on the subject — a phenomenon known as
formication. Delirium tremens usually includes extremely intense feelings of "impending doom". Severe anxiety and feelings of imminent death are common DT symptoms.
DT can sometimes be associated with severe, uncontrollable
tremors of the extremities and secondary symptoms such as anxiety, panic attacks and
paranoia. Confusion is often noticeable to onlookers as those with DT will have trouble forming simple sentences or making basic logical calculations. In many cases, people who rarely speak out of turn will have an increased tendency for
gaffes even though they are sober.
DT should be distinguished from
alcoholic hallucinosis, the latter of which occurs in approximately 20% of hospitalized alcoholics and does not carry a significant mortality. In contrast,
DT occurs in 5–10% of alcoholics and carries up to 15% mortality with treatment and up to 35% mortality without treatment.[2] DT is characterized by the presence of altered
sensorium; that is, a complete hallucination without any recognition of the real world. DT has extreme autonomic hyperactivity (high pulse, blood pressure, and rate of breathing), and 35-60% of patients have a fever. Some patients experience
seizures.