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Alcoholism is a chronic and progressive disease that can wreak havoc on your life and physical health. When you become addicted to alcohol, your body is accustomed to the presence of the substance. If you decide to suddenly stop drinking alcohol, you will experience symptoms of withdrawal. Jackie has been involved in the substance abuse and addiction treatment sector for over five years and this is something that she is truly eager about. We are dedicated to transforming the despair of addiction into a purposeful life of confidence, self-respect and happiness. We want to give recovering addicts the tools to return to the outside world completely substance-free and successful.
Will I feel better if I cut down on alcohol?
In the short-term cutting down on alcohol has all kinds of benefits like lower blood sugar, weight loss and fewer associated negative consequences like a headache or heartburn. One study has shown other benefits including lower blood pressure and reduced cholesterol.
Tapering involves slowly decreasing alcohol use over time, which helps to reduce withdrawal symptoms and improve safety when quitting alcohol. For people with moderate to severe alcohol addiction, utilizing an alcohol detox center is always the safest option. Alcohol detox centers have professionals trained to recognize and treat complications caused by alcohol withdrawal. Because alcohol withdrawal symptoms can sometimes be unpredictable and may escalate quickly, having an on-site medical team that can quickly intervene is the safest way to quit heavy drinking. An alcohol taper is the process of slowly reducing your alcohol intake.
How do I taper off with other meds?
In the small intestine, alcohol is easily absorbed into the bloodstream. The circulatory system, which is made up of the heart, blood, and blood vessels, spreads alcohol throughout the body. Alcohol comes into contact with every major organ, including the heart.
Is it better to stop drinking or cut down?
Quitting is strongly advised if you: Have tried cutting down but cannot stay within the limits you set. Have had alcohol use disorder (AUD) or now have any symptoms. Have a physical or mental health condition that is caused or being worsened by drinking.
When you drink a lot over a long period, your brain reduces the amount of GABA it makes. This means that if you quit drinking cold turkey, your brain will not have enough GABA. This can cause your brain to become hyper-excitable and leads to withdrawal symptoms. Attempting to detox at home could cause you to experience life-threatening symptoms of withdrawal (like seizures) without medical attention. Additionally, the stress of trying to quit alcohol on your own could cause you to relapse. Relapsing on alcohol after a period of abstinence can be extremely dangerous.
Treatment Programs
However, in order to safely taper off alcohol use, medical supervision is highly encouraged. It’s not advised to taper off alcohol, as an at-home detox can make relapse more likely. Instead, those who suffer from alcohol use disorders should seek professional treatment to help address both addiction as well as underlying mental health issues. For those at risk for severe withdrawal symptoms, medically-supervised detox is often the safest choice for beginning their sobriety or moderation journey. Others may discover after consulting with a doctor that it’s safe for them to quit alcohol cold turkey if they choose to.
In addition, social pressures can make it hard to quit drinking, especially if your friends or family also drink heavily. Quitting drinking can feel very isolating, making it even more difficult to do on your own at home without medical support. If you plan to taper your drinking in order to stop, make sure that you limit your intake consistently, avoid fluctuations, and adhere to a weekly reduction schedule with a set date to stop.
Alcohol and Metabolism
Risky withdrawal symptoms are not limited to the above.3 Learn more about alcohol withdrawal here and, once again, speak to a doctor first. If you’ve decided to taper off alcohol, you’ll need to be prepared with some strategies to make the process easier. You’ll likely face the urge to drink more than you’ve planned each day, but there are some good tricks to help you delay that next serving and keep yourself honest. Figuring out where to start your alcohol taper schedule can seem impossible. It may seem simple to count each drink you consume, but all drinks are not created equal. The alcohol content itself is important, and it depends on the percentage of alcohol, the proof of the alcohol and the actual amount of alcohol in the drink.
- If the drink of choice is liquor, it is difficult to measure amounts and easy to binge drink.
- If you regularly drink a lot of alcohol and then stop, you may experience uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms.
- However, chronic alcohol use will suppress GABA activity in such as way that progressively increased amounts of alcohol are needed to produce the desired effects – which is known as tolerance.
- This condition most often occurs when someone who has long-term alcohol dependence stops drinking cold turkey.
Or, you may find that quitting all at once is too drastic and decide to start by practicing harm reduction. As a Certified Professional Recovery Coach, I often speak with people https://ecosoberhouse.com/article/how-long-does-cocaine-stay-in-your-system/ 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 are a candidate for tapering, you can simply cut back a few drinks a week at will until you no longer drink at all. If you experience withdrawals, you should you taper off alcohol may have an AUD and should suspend the tapering and enroll in a detox program. Maybe the negative consequences of your drinking problem are piling up.
