How to Safely Taper Off Alcohol Safely Quit Drinking

Join Club Soda for 10% off your first order of drinks for UK delivery. Plus get our latest news and special offers for members to choose better drinks, change your drinking and connect with others. Whether you take a cautious or more aggressive approach, you will continue drinking for some time. It might take two to three weeks or more to reach zero alcohol. However, your drinking habits might have strained your relationships. Your attempts to stop may be complicated if the people around you continue to drink in ways that cause you problems.

Alcohol Tapering Strategies

• However, relief drinking might mean you deviate from your plan, temporarily consuming more alcohol than your plan allows.
• However, the initial stages of tapering can also bring emotional challenges, as your body and mind adjust to lower levels of alcohol.
• If you notice any severe withdrawal, you may need to slow your taper, drink alcohol immediately, or seek medical attention.
• As a result, you can end up in a cycle of regular alcohol withdrawal and increased cravings for alcohol each week.

You could post about your experiences anonymously https://ecosoberhouse.com/ online in r/dryalcoholics, they’re a fairly open and supportive group of people. When I was down and super depressed, talking about my experiences on there helped get me through and made me feel less alone. If you’re cross-addicted to harder drugs like stimulants or opiates, you need to stop using those.

How to Taper or Wean off Alcohol

A detox programme will monitor your symptoms and may include medication and other treatments. Detox programmes are generally short, typically between 7 and 10 days. Because detox is a medical intervention, you should always check the qualifications, experience and registration status of anyone who provides this service. The information in this article has been developed with guidance from a consultant clinical psychologist specialising in addiction recovery. And it draws on the best available evidence and practice in managing alcohol withdrawal symptoms. However, nothing in this article is a substitute for individual medical assessment and treatment.

How to Wean Off Alcohol FAQs

• Make sure to share your successes with your loved ones and especially your sober support network.
• And your normal patterns of eating and sleeping may be disturbed.
• More time to meet new people, catch up with old friends and try new things.
• If you haven’t been tracking your drinks, now is the time to start.
• The key is to find a method that aligns with your goals and ensures safety during the transition.
• By finding healthy ways to cope with stress, you can reduce your risk of relapse and improve your overall well-being.

However, it should not cause someone to become stuck on a step, which would defeat the purpose of a taper. A person is free to increase the taper speed (e.g., lower by three drinks instead of two) as they see fit. Withdrawal symptoms are a sign that the taper is going too fast. To learn about how our substance abuse treatment programs address alcohol dependence and withdrawal management, please contact us today. There’s no set time frame for tapering off alcohol that works for everyone. Even if your situation seems like someone else’s, your body may respond differently to the tapering process.

• Your doctor can also be a valuable gateway to local treatment services and can be a partner in your treatment and care.
• It might help to set goals and reward yourself when you reach them.
• The HAMS tapering guide suggests dropping your consumption to 16 drinks the first day if you were drinking more than that, and then reducing your consumption by two drinks per day.
• Along with withdrawal symptoms, it may be even more difficult to cut back or taper your alcohol use if you struggle with an alcohol use disorder (AUD).

Reduce Your Number of Drinks Per Day

Check out this medical article which provides further detail on withdrawal from Drug rehabilitation alcohol. It’s important to understand what to look out for and what to expect. Some withdrawal is normal, and some symptoms can be potentially life-threatening. If you decide to taper with benzos, don’t mix them with alcohol. Mixing alcohol with benzos is very dangerous and will land you in the hospital really fast.

Is it Better to Taper Off Alcohol or Quit “Cold Turkey?”

The kindling effect is an aspect of alcohol withdrawal that makes repeated attempts at withdrawal less safe. If you go through alcohol withdrawal multiple times, a kindling effect can occur. With kindling, the brain weaning off alcohol becomes increasingly sensitized to stopping alcohol.

Common Withdrawal Symptoms

• Excessive drinking can weaken the immune system, increasing the body’s likelihood of developing an infection.
• It’s always best to speak with a healthcare provider when changing your relationship with alcohol.
• It requires a lot of willpower and you will be uncomfortable, but it can be done.
• You need to make your own schedule and determine what’s best for you.
• Relapse is a very normal part of the recovery process, and a majority of those in recovery will relapse at some point.

I’ve also heard of people successfully stopping by reducing their moderate drinking (8-10 a day) to 5-6 a day for a couple days, and then quitting entirely. Although I didn’t experience any seizures, I certainly wouldn’t recommend it. The chances of seizures and DTs are low if you’re tapering, but they happen even in controlled rehab environments.