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That’s why it’s vital to have support while tapering off alcohol. About 10 percent of people experience more severe symptoms, such as fever, fast breathing, and heavy sweating. You don’t have to mention anything about your drinking if you don’t want to, but make sure you’re in good shape. Remember, doctors are (usually) intelligent people who spent over a decade studying medicine to help people. Everything you say is confidential and you’re paying them to HELP you.
The best way to taper off alcohol is to find healthcare professionals who can assess one’s current intake. This will be the basis of the protocol to taper off the substance to increase the chances of success. If you repeatedly cannot cut back on your drinking or otherwise cannot get lower than a certain point in the taper, this might not be the right method for you. If you think you’re tapering too quickly, it’s okay to slow down. Just because you had 8 drinks instead of 6 one day doesn’t mean you’ve failed, especially if you still drank the same or less than the previous day.
Consider professional support
Whether you’re sober curious, know for sure you’re ready to quit, or fall somewhere in between, Dr. Streem shares advice for how to stop drinking. If you’re living with alcohol use disorder (also known as alcoholism), you’ll likely benefit from additional medical interventions. This is why it’s always best to find some form of long-term support in sobriety.
- When the brain doesn’t have alcohol present, withdrawal symptoms can occur.
- If someone close to you is willing to help you, actively involve them in your planning and preparation to stop drinking.
- Many other factors go into play with these difficult and trying scenarios.
A direct taper means drinking the regular substance of choice but lowering the amount that’s consumed every day. Someone should only direct taper if their drink of choice is beer with a low alcohol percentage. Deciding to quit drinking and following through isn’t just about willpower. Many other factors go into play with these difficult and trying scenarios.
Self-assessing your withdrawal symptoms
Don’t quit other lighter substances while you’re detoxing from alcohol. I’m specifically talking about things like https://ecosoberhouse.com/article/how-to-taper-off-alcohol/ weed, cigarettes, and vaping. The idea is to religiously take this like medicine for the next week or two.
So if you feel the urge to drink more than your plan permits, give yourself a 20-minute breathing space. You could have a glass of water, stretch your body, or find some gentle distraction. Its only benefit is delivering the daily amount of alcohol you need to ward off withdrawal symptoms. So before you begin https://ecosoberhouse.com/ planning to reduce your drinking, try and stabilise your drinking as much as possible. You could steadily reduce your weekend binge drinking to match your weekday drinking before you make further changes. There are also some environmental factors which make it harder to taper off alcohol successfully.
Alcohol Withdrawal Symptoms: What to Expect
For some drinkers, cutting down on the amount of alcohol they drink simply does not work. They may cut back for a short period of time, but they soon find themselves back to drinking at their usual level. This is especially true of heavy drinkers who are surrounded by the triggers that encourage drinking and lack the support needed to encourage change. If you or someone you love is abusing alcohol, LSD or other substances, turn to professionals you can trust. At The Recovery Village, our dedicated staff of nurses, counselors, doctors and psychologists have helped countless people overcome addiction and substance misuse.
- We can leverage our resources and team to help you reduce and eventually end your alcohol use.
- Antianxiety medications such as benzodiazepines are considered the gold standard.
- Alcohol abuse affects how you feel and how you make decisions.
- More serious alcohol withdrawal symptoms may require medical attention.
Alcohol is a depressant, so the body responds by producing more stimulating chemicals, including the neurotransmitters dopamine and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). This article will discuss the symptoms of alcohol withdrawal as well as the timeline and process of detox. If the drink of choice is liquor, it is difficult to measure amounts and easy to binge drink. If the drink is a mixed drink, it can contain sugar or other additives that should not be included in the taper and may worsen the effects of withdrawal symptoms. While cirrhosis scars from excessive drinking are irreversible, quitting alcohol and leading a healthier lifestyle can help your liver heal from alcohol-related liver disease.
Looking after yourself as you taper off alcohol
It’s okay to have a little drink, set it down, leave it for fifteen minutes, and come back to it later. Just don’t convince yourself that you can be a normal drinker after stressfully forcing yourself to do this a few times. You can also take break days, where you drink the same amount as the previous day to sort of level yourself off. For example, if you notice your tremors are getting pretty bad three days in, drink the same amount you drank on the third day for the following day.
Your physical health, medical history, body composition, age and drinking history will all affect what happens. But there are some commonly observed symptoms of alcohol withdrawal that you might experience if you abruptly stop drinking. Tapering off alcohol only deals with the immediate effect of physical dependence by managing the risk of withdrawal symptoms. Safely stopping drinking is an important task, but it is only the first step of a much longer journey of change to deal with psychological dependence. Unless you tackle the reasons your drinking got out of hand, it’ll be harder to stay stopped in the long term. What can be most helpful for someone with alcohol use disorder is to seek medical help to detox.
Drug and Alcohol Addiction
So, realistically, telling your doctor about your drinking can have real-world consequences. But any worries about increased insurance premiums, difficult conversations at work or the loss of a driving licence are nothing compared to the ongoing impact of drinking dangerously. But despite everything that alcohol throws at it, your body is remarkably resilient.