A term to describe going through
withdrawal symptoms when attempting to break an addiction; most commonly used for people attempting to break a
heroin habit but I've also heard it used to describe someone trying to break out of their
alcoholism.
Depending on the physical and psychological dependencies of the particular drug involved, symptoms can include cold sweats, vomiting, hallucination, diarrhoea and spells of unconsciousness. The term cold turkey derives from the fact that a sufferer's skin often becomes clammy and pale, much like that of a slice of dead poultry.
From Trainspotting:
Relinquishing junk, stage one: Preparation.
For this you will need: one room which you will not leave, one mattress,
tomato soup, ten tins of, mushroom soup, eight tins of, for consumption cold,
ice cream, vanilla, one large tub of, Magnesia, milk of, one bottle, paracetamol,
mouthwash, vitamins, mineral water, Lucozade, pornography, one bucket for urine,
one for faeces, and one for vomitus, one television, and one bottle of Valium,
which I have already procured, from my mother, who is, in her own domestic and
socially acceptable way, also a drug addict.