Withdrawal symptoms Health Dictionary

Loss of blood from the UTERUS via the VAGINA occurring when the women’s level of oestrogen hormones (OESTROGENS), PROGESTERONE hormone or PROGESTOGEN drugs falls quickly. The withdrawal bleeding that happens at the end of each month’s cycle of combined oral contraceptive pills (see CONTRACEPTION) imitates the woman’s menstrual period (see MENSTRUATION) but is normally briefer and less in amount.... withdrawal bleeding

The process of retreating from society and from relationships with others; usually indicated by aloofness, lack of interest in social activities, preoccupation with one’s own concerns, and difficulty in communicating.

The term is also applied to the psychological and physical symptoms that develop on discontinuing use of a substance on which a person is dependent (see withdrawal syndrome).... withdrawal

The experiences of a patient as communicated to a doctor, for example, pain, weakness, cough. They may or may not be accompanied by con?rmatory CLINICAL SIGNS.... clinical symptoms

See coitus interruptus.... contraception, withdrawal method of

See coitus interruptus.... withdrawal method

Unpleasant mental and physical symptoms experienced when a person stops using a drug on which he or she is dependent (see drug dependence). Withdrawal syndrome most commonly occurs in those with alcohol dependence or dependence on opioids, in smokers, and in people addicted to tranquillizers, amfetamines, cocaine, marijuana, and caffeine.

Alcohol withdrawal symptoms start 6–8 hours after cessation of intake and may last up to 7 days. They include trembling of the hands, nausea, vomiting, sweating, cramps, anxiety, and, sometimes, seizures. (See also confusion, delirium tremens, and hallucinations.)

Opioid withdrawal symptoms start after 8–12 hours and may last for 7–10 days. Symptoms include restlessness, sweating, runny eyes and nose, yawning, diarrhoea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, dilated pupils, loss of appetite, irritability, weakness, tremor, and depression.

Withdrawal symptoms from barbiturate drugs and meprobamate start after 12–24 hours, beginning with tremor, anxiety, restlessness, and weakness, sometimes followed by delirium, hallucinations, and, occasionally, seizures. A period of prolonged sleep occurs 3–8 days after onset. Withdrawal from benzodiazepine drugs may begin much more slowly and can be life-threatening.

Withdrawal symptoms from nicotine develop gradually over 24–48 hours and include irritability, concentration problems, frustration, headaches, and anxiety. Discontinuation of cocaine or amfetamines results in extreme tiredness, lethargy, and dizziness. Cocaine withdrawal may also lead to tremor, severe depression, and sweating.

Withdrawal symptoms from marijuana include tremor, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, sweating, irritability, and sleep problems. Caffeine withdrawal may lead to tiredness, headaches, and irritability.

Severe withdrawal syndromes require medical treatment.

Symptoms may be suppressed by giving the patient small quantities of the drug he or she had been taking.

More commonly, a substitute drug is given, such as methadone for opioid drugs or diazepam for alcohol.

The dose of the drug is then gradually reduced.... withdrawal syndrome

(LUTS) symptoms occurring during urine storage, voiding, or immediately after. These include *frequency, *urgency, *nocturia, *incontinence, *hesitation, *intermittency, *terminal dribble, *dysuria, and *postmicturition dribble. These symptoms used to be known as prostatism. Sometimes they are due to benign prostatic hyperplasia (see prostate gland), but they may be due to *detrusor overactivity, excessive drinking, diuresis due to poorly controlled diabetes, or a urethral stricture.... lower urinary tract symptoms

(in psychiatry) symptoms of schizophrenia characterized by a deficiency in or absence of some aspect of functioning, such as social withdrawal, loss of initiative, and blunted affect. Compare positive symptoms.... negative symptoms

(in psychiatry) symptoms of schizophrenia characterized by a distortion of some aspect of functioning, such as delusions, hallucinations, or disordered speech. Compare negative symptoms.... positive symptoms

a symptom of psychosis in which patients believe that their own thoughts are being taken out of their head by an outside force. This is a *Schneiderian first-rank symptom, highly indicative of schizophrenia.... thought withdrawal

subjective sensations experienced by women around the time of the *menopause, often described as explosions of heat (hot flushes), mostly followed by profuse sweating and sometimes preceded by an undetermined sensation with waking at night. Objective signs are sudden reddening of the skin on the head, neck, and chest and profuse sweating. Physiological changes include peripheral vasodilatation, *tachycardia with normal blood pressure, and raised skin temperature with normal body temperature.... vasomotor symptoms

symptoms of *schizophrenia first classified by German psychiatrist Kurt Schneider (1887–1967) in 1938. First-rank symptoms were considered by Schneider to be particularly indicative of schizophrenia; they include all forms of *thought alienation, *delusional perception, *passivity, and third-person auditory *hallucinations in the form of either a running commentary or voices talking about the patient among themselves. Some schizophrenic patients never exhibit first-rank symptoms or only experience them in some psychotic episodes. They may also occur in *mania. Second-rank symptoms are common symptoms of schizophrenia but also often occur in other forms of mental illness. They include *delusions of reference, paranoid and persecutory *delusions, and second-person auditory hallucinations.... schneiderian first- and second-rank symptoms