These factors can make one person’s taper last longer than another person’s taper. This is a highly personal decision, which can be made through self-reflection, and with the support of a medical professional and your peers. 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.
Medical Detox for Tapering off Alcohol
To avoid severe alcohol withdrawal symptoms, you should slowly reduce alcohol consumption. Cautious tapering may take longer than medically supervised detox, but it will help you avoid major health problems. When done under medical supervision, tapering off alcohol has few downsides. Top 5 Advantages of Staying in a Sober Living House However, tapering can sometimes be unsafe if you attempt to do so on your own without a doctor’s knowledge. For example, if you start to suffer from alcohol withdrawal symptoms despite an attempt to taper, your symptoms may worsen before you have the chance to seek medical attention.
How To Detox from Alcohol Safely
A person is free to increase the taper speed (e.g., lower by three drinks instead of two) as they see fit. A substitution taper can involve substituting a prescription https://thefloridadigest.com/top-5-advantages-of-staying-in-a-sober-living-house/ drug for alcohol. It can also involve substituting the drink of choice with another drink; for example, a person may taper off hard alcohol with beer.
- She worked with the patients and their families to refocus on behavioral changes to manage their obesity as they transitioned off of them.
- It teaches you healthy ways to cope with stress and techniques for overcoming the underlying causes of alcohol addiction.
- The main downside of cold turkey is how unpleasant and risky it can be.
How to Stay Free of Alcohol or Drugs
You don’t have to leave the house to get support from other people who understand and respect what you’re trying to do. If you identify with any of the scenarios above, try the expert tips below for reducing your alcohol consumption (or even eliminating it altogether). To determine whether—and where—you fall in the alcohol use disorder (AUD) spectrum, answer the following questions. Maybe you’ve never been interested in logging your innermost thoughts, but journaling can be a great tool to track your feelings as you work on quitting alcohol. It’s common to have a difficult time when making big changes, but good self-care practices can help you manage overwhelming feelings and take care of your mind and body. Research shows that most people believe that drinking can make them feel better.
As long as safety precautions are taken, there’s no wrong way to begin a sobriety or moderation journey. This journey is often non-linear, and your goals can change over time. Generally, light to moderate drinkers should plan to taper for a week or more. Start by estimating how much you drink on a daily basis—and be honest with yourself.
Why Do You Experience Withdrawal Symptoms?
If it’s too hard to control how much you drink each day, weaning might not be the right strategy. That said, there are now several medications that can help reduce your cravings and make weaning off alcohol easier. If you’ve been unable to quit on your own, you should consider attending an alcohol rehab center. It teaches you healthy ways to cope with stress and techniques for overcoming the underlying causes of alcohol addiction.
- How to break an alcohol or drug habit, including how to how to form new habits and handle cravings.
- Prolonged and excessive alcohol consumption can impact your brain, causing changes to the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptors.
- It’s often easier to turn down a drink when you don’t have to do it alone.
- With physical dependence, your body becomes used to the presence of alcohol in your system and begins to adapt accordingly.
- Slowly tapering off alcohol is the safest way to naturally overcome alcohol withdrawal, and many at-home remedies can help you cope with mild withdrawal symptoms.
This medical supervision allows for some patients to quit drinking cold-turkey without compromising safety. If you drink heavily on a regular basis, it can be dangerous to stop alcohol cold turkey. For this reason, you should not suddenly quit drinking without talking to your doctor. The consequences of quitting alcohol cold turkey can be serious and lead to alcohol withdrawal syndrome, which can be fatal in severe cases. Whether you’re a daily imbiber, heavy drinker, or frequent binge drinker, you’re likely to experience withdrawal symptoms when you quit.
