How to Safely Taper Off Alcohol Safely Quit Drinking

Some symptoms of alcohol withdrawal, especially Delirium Tremens (DT) and seizures https://ecosoberhouse.com/ can be fatal, and hundreds of Americans die every year as a result. If your body is used to a certain amount of alcohol, you may feel certain effects when you stop. How you feel when you stop drinking is largely based on how often and how heavily you drink. People who only drink occasionally probably won’t notice any physical or psychological symptoms. People who have a severe reaction to quitting alcohol should seek emergency treatment. Dr. Streem says that if your goal is to stop drinking altogether, you’re more likely to have success quitting all at once, rather than weaning off alcohol.

• It does this by providing compassionate care and evidence-based content that addresses health, treatment, and recovery.
• These programs offer more flexibility than residential rehab, while still supporting a healthy lifestyle for people in recovery.
• We believe everyone deserves access to accurate, unbiased information about mental health and addiction.
• Switching up your behavior might make people question their own and result in them projecting onto you.
• Now, looking back on the past year, I see how much I have grown, not just by quitting alcohol, but by choosing to prioritise myself, my dreams, and my well-being.

Bedrock Recovery

This can equate to as much as a full bottle of beer or less than two tablespoons of whisky. It is important to measure your alcohol use in standard drinks while how do you wean off alcohol tapering to allow for an accurate comparison of how much you use from day to day. Substituting a prescription drug for alcohol should only happen with the help of a medical professional. No one should ever attempt a substitution taper with prescription medication unless their doctor specifically prescribed it for that purpose in a medical detox program. If the drink of choice is liquor, it is difficult to measure amounts and easy to binge drink.

Goals: Why do you want to reduce or quit alcohol?

After prolonged alcohol use, your body can come to rely on alcohol for normal functioning, and suddenly going without it can cause potentially dangerous withdrawal symptoms. This phenomenon is often described as “alcohol dependence.” The most common more mild withdrawal symptoms include headaches, anxiety, and sleep disturbances. Alcohol withdrawal is potentially fatal, especially for people with an alcohol addiction. For people who moderately consume alcohol, tapering off may be a good option. However, quitting cold turkey or tapering is not advisable for people with an AUD.

Recovery Programs

Depending on how much you drink, tapering off alcohol can take one to several weeks. It’s best to reduce your drinking by a small amount each day to avoid the shock to your system. So, if you normally have 6 beers a day, you could be done tapering within one week.

After 30 Days

If you’ve become dependent on alcohol, you may encounter alcohol withdrawal when you cut back or stop drinking. Withdrawal symptoms can be dangerous and even life-threatening, particularly when you quit cold turkey after a long period of alcohol abuse. If you experience withdrawal symptoms, speak to a doctor about tapering safely. drug addiction treatment If you’ve been drinking regularly for a long time, you may need to speak to a doctor before you stop drinking. Making a schedule to slowly reduce your alcohol intake is a safe way to taper off the substance. This will ensure that you are not quitting cold turkey which could result in severe and debilitating  withdrawal symptoms or even death.

There are lots of great reasons to decide to go “dry” in January and give up alcohol. Perhaps you imbibed a bit too much over the holidays or want to start a healthy routine and can’t afford the calories or the zap in energy and motivation that drinking can bring. One of the most powerful lessons I learned this year is to celebrate the small wins. Every time I made it through a tough day without drinking or navigated a social event sober, I acknowledged my progress. Those moments added up and became the foundation of my confidence in staying alcohol-free. That’s when I shifted my strategies and started to focus on uncovering the hidden beliefs I had about alcohol.

• It’s always best to consult a physician on the best strategy, especially if you drink heavily.
• If you are doing a self detox be sure to drink lots and lots of fluids and to take vitamin pills.