For example, if you normally drink 6 glasses of wine each night, you can try reducing that to 5 glasses of wine a night. After several days of 5 glasses of wine, you can reduce that down to 4. Eventually, after a period of time, you will have tapered down to zero drinks. If you’re interested in medication-assisted treatment, medication to curb cravings can be a helpful tool for reducing your consumption. As a Certified Professional Recovery Coach, I often speak with people who want to wean off alcohol. The thought of abstaining from alcohol completely can feel daunting, and in some cases, it can even be dangerous without medical supervision.
If you have a severe level of addiction or dependency, you may need a detox program. Talk to a https://yourhealthmagazine.net/article/addiction/sober-houses-rules-that-you-should-follow/ medical professional to find the best detox option for you. You can taper off alcohol if you worry that you are developing alcohol addiction.
Can Tapering Off Alcohol Improve Withdrawal Symptoms?
A healthcare professional can help design a timeline that’s safe and effective for your needs. However, when you quit drinking abruptly, your body’s chemical balance will be thrown off suddenly, leading to uncomfortable side effects. You will have an imbalance of excitatory and inhibitory chemicals in your nervous system. This is why many of the alcohol withdrawal symptoms seem to be related to overstimulation, like shaky hands, racing thoughts, and insomnia.
FAQs on How to Safely Taper Off Alcohol
Discover how inpatient rehab physical therapy helps patients regain independence through personalized care, expert support, and tailored treatments at top facilities. Alcohol rehabilitation programs provide a structured and supportive environment with daily routines, therapy sessions, and community interactions designed to help individuals achieve lasting recovery. Support groups, such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and other self-help groups, can also be invaluable resources. These groups provide a supportive community of individuals who have gone through similar experiences.
- Support is essential because it helps combat feelings of isolation and loneliness, which are common during the recovery process.
- Yet in others, it can intensify cravings, symptoms, and the urge to consume alcohol, restarting the addiction cycle.
- Orlando Recovery Center says that when you taper your alcohol intake over time, you reduce the likelihood of withdrawal symptoms7.
- Withdrawal symptoms are generally uncomfortable to deal with, but they can be fatal.
- Knowing how to taper off alcohol is key to preventing dangerous withdrawal symptoms such as seizures, tremors, and extreme anxiety.
- The withdrawal process can be very unpredictable, all depending on how an individual reacts to low alcohol exposure.
How do you reset your body from alcohol?
But, with a little prior knowledge on how to taper off alcohol, adequate planning and professional consultation from a healthcare provider, it can certainly be done. Tapering gradually lowers the amount of alcohol that you use over time. This lessens the severity of withdrawal symptoms, as there is not an abrupt or dramatic change. Tapering will normally create less severe alcohol withdrawal symptoms but will spread them out over a prolonged period. Essentially, tapering provides less intense withdrawal symptoms but over a longer amount of time. It is important to note that the reported mortality rate for patients who experience delirium tremens ranges from 1 to 5%.
Alternatives to AA and 12-Step Programs
- Engaging in activities such as walking, jogging, swimming, or participating in sports not only promotes overall health but also helps divert attention away from alcohol cravings.
- If you have 20 or more drinks per day, they suggest one drink per hour the first day, every hour and a half the next, then reducing by 2 drinks per day after that.
- When someone stops drinking, they must decide whether to quit “cold turkey” or taper their alcohol use.
- That said, tapering off alcohol doesn’t completely eliminate withdrawal symptoms.
Substituting alcohol in between consumption can help to slowly adapt habits and choices. But, perhaps most importantly, understand that setbacks happen and that progress takes time or may look different than imagined. Delamere describes the different stages that you go through while detoxing from alcohol6.
Paying for Treatment
Programs such as inpatient or outpatient rehab, medical detox, individual or family therapy and support groups are available. Through these programs, our caring and dedicated staff can help you on your road to recovery. Licensed medical professionals and highly qualified addiction specialists at The Recovery Village Cherry Hill at Cooper can help guide you toward a life without alcohol. We publish material that is researched, cited, edited and reviewed by licensed medical professionals.
Devising a tapering schedule will be key, providing direction and a proactive timeline. At the other end of the scale, some alcoholics will struggle with the ongoing exposure to alcohol, instead of benefitting from an immediate cutoff. Whilst withdrawal symptoms will be a consequence, an urgent approach will be best in the long-term whilst overcoming alcohol addiction.
How to Stop Drinking
However, if you don’t taper properly, you may experience withdrawal symptoms, especially if you have severe alcoholism. It is sometimes possible to taper your alcohol use at home if your AUD isn’t severe. Although, you’ll need support if you want to successfully and safely taper at home. Tapering off alcohol involves gradually reducing the amount of alcohol you drink. Besides its positive health benefits, it can help you quit drinking after weeks or months.
What is Dilaudid Addiction?
Below I share some key information so you can determine if weaning off alcohol is right for you. It can help you reach goals and can minimize some of the unpleasant and severe symptoms of alcohol withdrawal. If you want to change your relationship with alcohol, it’s important to have an honest conversation with a doctor about your drinking habits before you start tapering off. They’ll be able to help you create a tapering schedule that won’t only raise your chance of success but also avoid severe symptoms. Deciding to taper off alcohol is a slower process that requires planning, but it can decrease both the chase of experiencing severe withdrawal symptoms and relapse.
Talk to a medical professional if you have any concerns about Sober House Rules: What You Should Know Before Moving In tapering off alcohol. They can provide recommendations to help you avoid harmful side effects. Always remember that if the taper is not working for you or if you are having major withdrawal that it is safest to check into a medical detox because alcohol withdrawal can kill you. Some people choose to taper more quickly by cutting the amounts in half–for example 20, 10 5, 2, 0. But if you start having major withdrawal symptoms like bad shakes or pulse over 100 or high blood pressure you are tapering too fast and should slow it down. Monitoring you pulse and blood pressure can be a very good idea while you are tapering especially if you have high blood pressure.
These programs include medical guidance, therapy, and coping strategies to help you taper safely and build a lasting recovery plan. Whichever method you choose, what is most important is to commit to your alcohol tapering schedule, so you can be sure that you have avoided the symptoms of alcohol withdrawal as much as possible. You should also consider an alcohol withdrawal taper if you’ve ever gone through withdrawal from alcohol, or any other depressant, in the past. Alcohol withdrawal can cause something called kindling to occur in your brain. Kindling refers to lasting physical changes in the brain that cause each subsequent withdrawal period to be worse. Someone who has gone through alcohol withdrawal several times is more likely to experience severe withdrawal symptoms than someone going through it for the first time.