# Amy Winehouse death due alcohol withdrawal syndrome? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 28, 2011, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-winehouse-death-due-alcohol-withdrawal-syndrome/590658 "2011-07-28T19:34:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-winehouse-death-due-alcohol-withdrawal-syndrome/590658/21 "2011-07-29T01:09:04Z")
During nursing school, I had a patient with DT’s. He was my most nervewracking patient ever - worse than the patients on ventilators or even the one who died on my shift. I had to sit with him and do neurological and vital sign checks almost constantly (never mind that I had two other patients at the same time, all the way down the other end of the hall) to make sure we weren’t going to lose him. He was on the telemetry unit - continuous cardiac monitoring - even though he didn’t have any pre-existing cardiac condition, because alcohol withdrawal can mess up your heart, sometimes causing fatal arrhythmias. It was a real eye-opener, and I absolutely echo \*\*Shagnasty \*\*- do \*not \*try this at home. ---
**Author:** ![kaltkalt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bb73d2/32.png) [@kaltkalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaltkalt)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-winehouse-death-due-alcohol-withdrawal-syndrome/590658/22 "2011-07-29T01:22:59Z")
Withdrawal from alcohol and other depressants (like barbiturates and sedative/hypnotics) is much more dangerous than withdrawal from heroin and other opiates. It absolutely can kill you, and it probably is what killed her. Either that or combining alcohol with other depressants. So alcohol didn’t kill her, “rehab” did. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-winehouse-death-due-alcohol-withdrawal-syndrome/590658/23 "2011-07-29T01:45:47Z")
It’s depressing to think that you’re almost as likely to die from stopping drinking alcohol as you are from drinking too much of it. Hear that, kids? Stick with weed. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-winehouse-death-due-alcohol-withdrawal-syndrome/590658/24 "2011-07-29T02:10:17Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > It’s depressing to think that you’re almost as likely to die from stopping drinking alcohol as you are from drinking too much of it. > > Hear that, kids? Stick with weed. While I’m sure that this is hyperbole, I feel compelled to point out that it’s not remotely true. You’re far more likely to die from alcohol related illness or accident than you are to develop DT’s from quitting - remember, only 5% of severe alcoholics (and zero occasional drinkers-and-drivers) will develop DT’s when they quit, and with medical attention, most of them won’t die. 75,000 people in the US died of alcohol related illness or accident in 2001, according to the CDC. Quitting alcohol \*is \*a good idea, and likely to save your life and the lives of others. It’s just best to do with trained medical professionals and modern monitoring equipment, not sweating it out cold turkey in your basement. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-winehouse-death-due-alcohol-withdrawal-syndrome/590658/25 "2011-07-29T14:50:31Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > Kids, if you’re listening, drugs are bad, mmm-kay? Shouldn’t the lesson from this be: QUITTING drugs is bad? At least by yourself, and especially if you’re physically addicted to them? If this is truly what happened, she’d still be alive if she didn’t try to cold-turkey. Nobody ever got DT from quitting their weed habit, either. Just sayin’. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-winehouse-death-due-alcohol-withdrawal-syndrome/590658/26 "2011-07-29T14:59:09Z")
> [@MandaJo](#): > > but the actual chemical potency of alcohol is really underestimated. Really? I don’t believe that people look upon an alcoholic as something more benign than a casual drug user. At least I don’t. There are plenty of meme’s in our culture that place negative attributes on people that abuse alcohol. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-winehouse-death-due-alcohol-withdrawal-syndrome/590658/27 "2011-07-29T15:04:43Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > Really? I don’t believe that people look upon an alcoholic as something more benign than a casual drug user. At least I don’t. There are plenty of meme’s in our culture that place negative attributes on people that abuse alcohol. The criminal aspect of drug use absolutely makes it different in my mind. Alcoholism is something that can creep up on you as a result of perfectly legal behavior.\* Abuse of illegal drugs requires a conscious decision to start a behvior which society has clearly defined as dangerous and “wrong.” - Of course there always several opportunities to recognize and address the slide before it becomes a serious physical addiction, but the beginning is legal and “normal” behavior. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-winehouse-death-due-alcohol-withdrawal-syndrome/590658/28 "2011-07-29T15:07:24Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > The criminal aspect of drug use absolutely makes it different in my mind. Alcoholism is something that can creep up on you as a result of perfectly legal behavior.\* Abuse of illegal drugs requires a conscious decision to start a behvior which society has clearly defined as dangerous and “wrong.” > > - Of course there always several opportunities to recognize and address the slide before it becomes a serious physical addiction, but the beginning is legal and “normal” behavior. Yeah sure, but I don’t look at an alcoholic and look at a cocaine addict and rank the alcoholic at slightly higher status because he didn’t break the law. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-winehouse-death-due-alcohol-withdrawal-syndrome/590658/29 "2011-07-29T15:14:03Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > Yeah sure, but I don’t look at an alcoholic and look at a cocaine addict and rank the alcoholic at slightly higher status because he didn’t break the law. I would consider the cocaine addict to be more dangerous, and sort of “lower” on the scale of societal desireability. His addiction requires more money to sustain, therefore is more likely to end in criminal behavior, it also requires that he has developed relationships with organized criminal elements in order to obtain his drug. I’m not saying alcoholism is OK, by any stretch, nor that alcoholics are some sort of elite among addicts, just that there are definite differences in the societal effects each is liekly to produce. On the other hand, the availability of alcohol makes it by far responsible for more overall societal damage than any other drug. And I agree with Manda Jo’s statement that > [@](#): > > the actual chemical potency of alcohol is really underestimated. Most people have very little understanding of the horrors they are capable of committing while truly drunk, especially over long periods. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-winehouse-death-due-alcohol-withdrawal-syndrome/590658/30 "2011-07-29T15:24:31Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > \*\*Most people \*\*have very little understanding of the horrors they are capable of committing while truly drunk, especially over long periods. I agree that some people, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say that the majority of people don’t understand what happens when they get drunk. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-winehouse-death-due-alcohol-withdrawal-syndrome/590658/31 "2011-07-29T15:41:12Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > I agree that some people, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say that the majority of people don’t understand what happens when they get drunk. When people stay drunk over long periods, different kinds of behavior show up - folks do things of which they could never have dreamed themselves capable. I think the familiarity which “most” people have is with a simple lowering of social inhibitions. True alcohlics generally experience a change in personality which can be quite shocking. _Most_ people expect that with “harder” drugs, but don’t recognize that alcohol has the same effect over prolonged use. I’ll go even further to say that “addiction” in any form is a far more evil word than most people realize. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-winehouse-death-due-alcohol-withdrawal-syndrome/590658/32 "2011-07-29T15:54:10Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > I’ll go even further to say that “addiction” in any form is a far more evil word than most people realize. You may be correct. Considering I am not addicted to any substance, I don’t have firsthand knowledge. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Man\_In\_Black](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@The\_Man\_In\_Black](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Man_In_Black)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-winehouse-death-due-alcohol-withdrawal-syndrome/590658/33 "2011-07-29T15:56:28Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > (Nothing like driving your sister to rehab and watching her drink the whole way…sort of disheartening). Maybe it’s just in my state, but isn;t it illegal to have opened containers of alcohol in a car? ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-winehouse-death-due-alcohol-withdrawal-syndrome/590658/34 "2011-07-29T16:08:09Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > Anybody ever heard of alcohol withdrawal syndrome killing anyone else before? Yes. Not anyone personally I know, but I’m aware of a half dozens instances - not FOAF but much more solid than that, including seeing the official cause of death in a medical file in two instances. ETA: Upon perusing the article linked, though, I have to say that the physical size of the person has little do with it - they make it sound like her petit size made her more vulnerable. I doubt it. Big, strapping, tall men have died of this, too. If she DID want to go cold turkey she should have checked herself into a hospital for it where she could be monitored by doctors and her condition treated if she started having trouble. The fatality rate for cold turkey alcohol withdrawal is MUCH lower in a medical facility. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-winehouse-death-due-alcohol-withdrawal-syndrome/590658/35 "2011-07-29T16:16:43Z")
> [@The\_Man\_In\_Black](#): > > Maybe it’s just in my state, but isn;t it illegal to have opened containers of alcohol in a car? Pretty sure those laws get broken about every 20 seconds. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-winehouse-death-due-alcohol-withdrawal-syndrome/590658/36 "2011-07-29T17:17:13Z")
> [@psychobunny](#): > > [DTs](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001771/) can actually start more than a week after stopping drinking and can last weeks. The way you paraphrase your cite is somewhat misleading. Yes, “they may _occur_ up to 7 - 10 days after the last drink”, but that isn’t the same as saying they can _start_ at such a late date. Beyond that, though, to say that the “DTs . . . can last weeks” has a very different implication than what the cite said. Specifically, your link stated only that the three _non-life-threatening_ symptoms of “emotional mood swings”, “feeling tired”, and “sleeplessness” may last a year or more. The potentially lethal manifestations of the DTs are not a threat after a week to ten days since the onset of the condition. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-winehouse-death-due-alcohol-withdrawal-syndrome/590658/37 "2011-07-29T19:45:13Z")
Just because a drunk says she’s not drinking doesn’t mean she’s not drinking. Drunks, like all addicts, are notorious liars. Her dad might _believe_ she had stopped drinking three weeks before her death, but she might well have been sneaking alcohol until three days (or whatever) before her death. Unless she’s under 24/7 observation there is just no way to know. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-winehouse-death-due-alcohol-withdrawal-syndrome/590658/38 "2011-07-29T20:28:24Z")
I had a alcoholic family member die after giving up alcohol for lent. ---
**Author:** ![Macrina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecae2f/32.png) [@Macrina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Macrina)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-winehouse-death-due-alcohol-withdrawal-syndrome/590658/39 "2011-07-29T20:32:27Z")
> [@PlainJain](#): > > I had a alcoholic family member die after giving up alcohol for lent. This is just so sad! I’m very sorry for your loss. May this person rest in peace… ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-winehouse-death-due-alcohol-withdrawal-syndrome/590658/40 "2011-07-29T21:07:46Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > I can’t think of the guys name (and I should know it) but he was lead singer for the Grateful Dead, and the same thing happened to him. He was in a pseudo-rehab facility, and was not properly supervised during de-tox. > > Of all the chemicals humans abuse recreationally, alchohol is the most likely to actually kill you if you detox without medical help. > [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > Jerry Garcia. He died of a heart attack a few days after checking into rehab. I think **TruCelt** is probably thinking of [Ron “Pigpen” McKernan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_%22Pigpen%22_McKernan), who was indeed a founder member and sometimes lead singer of the _Grateful Dead_ (most of the band sang lead on occasion, but Pigpen, unlike the others, was much more notable as a singer than as an instrumentalist). Unlike the rest of the band, Pigpen’s drug of choice was alcohol, and it almost certainly was a principal cause of his early death, which occurred in 1973, about two decades before Jerry Garcia died (having, himself, long indulged heavily in rather more illegal substances). I don’t think Pigpen died from alcohol withdrawal, _per se_, however, just run-of-the-mill cirrhosis and its complications. (I have never heard that Jerry’s Death was caused specifically by withdrawal, either.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-winehouse-death-due-alcohol-withdrawal-syndrome/590658.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-winehouse-death-due-alcohol-withdrawal-syndrome/590658.md?page=3)