By creating a schedule to monitor your alcohol use you can see just how much of the substance you are drinking. Alcohol tapering is a method used to gradually decrease alcohol consumption to mitigate withdrawal symptoms and reduce the risk of severe health consequences. However, individuals may encounter several challenges during this process. One of the primary challenges is managing the withdrawal symptoms that can occur even with a gradual reduction in alcohol intake. These symptoms can range from mild discomfort to severe health issues, making the tapering process difficult without proper guidance and support. If you’re living with alcohol use disorder, quitting drinking is important for your health.

Figure out how much you actually drink

People who have a severe reaction to quitting alcohol should seek emergency treatment. You should plan to taper for between three and seven days depending on how much you’re used to drinking. Slowly reduce the amount of alcohol you consume each day until you reach sobriety. If you begin to experience serious withdrawal symptoms, drink enough to make the symptoms subside. If you’ve been drinking for a long time, you may experience withdrawal symptoms when you quit drinking. This is why it’s always best to find some form of long-term support in sobriety.

Managing Drug or Alcohol Use when Accessing Mental Health Support

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. If you suddenly quit drinking, your brain can start to make more of an excitatory substance called glutamate. This excessive glutamate level can lead to alcohol withdrawal symptoms, which can be dangerous.

Reduce Your Number of Drinks Per Day

Medical detox programs for alcohol dependency commonly offer medications to ease the discomfort or pain of withdrawal. This is a benefit that isn’t available to all who attempt to taper at home. Medicines can be used to reduce nausea, severe anxiety, other flu-like symptoms, and treat seizures. Early symptoms of alcohol withdrawal usually start about six hours after the last drink. Early symptoms include headache, sweating, tremors, vomiting and difficulty concentrating. If you’re used to drinking less than 20 beers per day, HAMS recommends reducing your alcohol consumption by two beers per day until you achieve sobriety.

• In fact, less than eight percent of those addicted to alcohol get help each year.
• Just as what is a useful method for one person may not be for another, what is a safe method for someone may not be for someone else.
• The time it takes to taper will depend on how long you’ve been drinking, how much you’ve been drinking and a variety of personal factors.
• There are now telemedicine programs, including Ria Health, that can make these forms of support easier to access.
• Little data is available about the safety and effectiveness of alcohol tapers.
• All of these withdrawal symptoms are common during acute alcohol withdrawal syndrome.

Can Tapering Down Alcohol Use Reduce Withdrawal Symptoms?

In turn, it can be challenging to learn what helps with alcohol withdrawal. If you have an alcohol dependency, then you’ve likely been using alcohol for some time. Long-term alcohol abuse is commonly caused by an underlying condition or physical pain in which alcohol was used to self-medicate those issues. Often, people are tempted to turn back to alcohol to ease the discomfort of withdrawal symptoms.

• If it’s safe for you to quit cold turkey, you may find that cutting alcohol out entirely from the start helps you clearly uphold your boundaries.
• Taking a break for a month can give you some perspective on how much you drink, and what it feels like when you don’t.
• A doctor may prescribe a benzodiazepine as part of the tapering process.
• Support groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) or sober living houses can help you get connected with peers who are going through the same journey as you are.
• The answer is complicated, and depends on that person’s individual relationship to alcohol.

Naltrexone in particular is prescribed to help people achieve moderation, or control their consumption on social occasions. It works by reducing the pleasurable effects of alcohol, blocking the reward cycle in your brain that can lead to runaway Top 5 Advantages of Staying in a Sober Living House consumption. Before going any further, we should also stress that if you expect significant alcohol withdrawal symptoms, you should talk to a doctor before quitting. This is especially true if you think you have a serious drinking problem.

• As a Certified Professional Recovery Coach, I often speak with people who want to wean off alcohol.
• Working with a medical professional to taper your alcohol consumption can help the likelihood and severity of alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
• For others, simply cutting back the number of drinks can bring on alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
• These are offered to patients with moderate to severe Alcohol Use Disorder, having the goal of reducing alcohol comsumption and achieving abstinence.
• How to use the naloxone nasal spray (Nyxoid), which reverses the effects of opioid drugs like heroin, morphine, methadone and fentanyl.

Check in with your body for signs of detox

This form of tapering would likely involve medications to eliminate withdrawal symptoms. Slowly, to reduce the discomfort of withdrawal symptoms, you will come off the medication with the goal being complete abstinence from alcohol. This schedule is a guideline and should be adjusted based on individual needs and responses to tapering. It’s important to consult with a healthcare https://financeinquirer.com/top-5-advantages-of-staying-in-a-sober-living-house/ professional before beginning a taper, as they can provide personalized advice and monitor for any complications. Additionally, creating a supportive environment and having strategies to manage triggers are crucial to a successful taper. Consistency is key; a successful taper involves a clear, structured plan with set goals and intervals for reducing alcohol consumption.