Within 5 minutes, you’ll receive an email with these details – free of charge. Tapering off alcohol can be challenging, and withdrawal symptoms are common. However, various strategies can help you cope with these symptoms and make the journey toward sobriety more manageable. We believe everyone deserves access to accurate, unbiased information about mental health and addiction. That’s why we have a comprehensive set of treatment providers and don’t charge for inclusion.
Self Care
Tapering off alcohol is generally safer and more effective than quitting cold turkey. The withdrawal symptoms are less severe and dangerous, and the individual is more likely to achieve a lasting sobriety. Although tapering down has many advantages, it is critical that you consult with a medical or addiction treatment professional first.
Who Can Benefit From Tapering Their Alcohol Intake
According to MedLinePlus, delirium tremens is a severe form of alcohol withdrawal. If you or a loved one is suffering from an alcohol use disorder, it can feel like being trapped in a tunnel with no way out. Our admissions specialists will help you find the facility and treatment program best suited to the recovery needs of you or your loved one. Our knowledgeable and compassionate team is available 24/7 to help get you or someone you care about into treatment and answer any questions or concerns you might have. In addition to these strategies, it’s important to build a support system and consider seeking professional guidance to increase your chances of successfully tapering off alcohol. With the right strategies and support in place, you can take control of your relationship with alcohol and pave the way for a brighter, alcohol-free future.
Alcohol Tapering Schedule
This excessive glutamate level can lead to alcohol withdrawal symptoms, which can be dangerous. An alcoholic can only safely reduce their alcohol consumption https://appsychology.com/living-in-a-sober-house/ under medical supervision. Alcohol withdrawal can be deadly, especially for people with alcohol use disorder. If you or your loved one are suffering from alcoholism, seek out professional help from a detox facility or rehab to wean off alcohol. Depending on how much alcohol you drink to start with, the amount of time an alcohol weaning schedule takes may vary.
Alcohol depresses your nervous system2, so your body creates more receptors for neurotransmitters, or messengers, to stimulate the nervous system. We have taken the necessary precautions to minimize the risk of exposure and transmission of the Coronavirus to those in our treatment programs, allowing them to focus on their recovery. “The role of GABAA receptors in mediating the effects of alcohol in the central nervous system.” Journal of Psychiatry & Neuroscience, July 28, 2003. Relapse is a very normal part of the recovery process, and a majority of those in recovery will relapse at some point. It will take time and effort to grow these newfound friendships—but it will be worth it. All your goals should follow SMART rules; they should be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time bound.
- PLUS, the latest news on medical advances and breakthroughs from Harvard Medical School experts.
- Make sure to share your successes with your loved ones and especially your sober support network.
- Eventually, after a period of time, you will have tapered down to zero drinks.
- In order to fully recover, you can start your healing process by safely ridding yourself of alcohol.
- These can include improved liver function, better sleep quality, enhanced cognitive function, and a lower risk of developing alcohol-related diseases.
Here to Help You Safely Stop Drinking
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. However, medical treatment is necessary to treat major symptoms of withdrawal. The purpose Sober House Rules: A Comprehensive Overview of tapering off alcohol is to avoid major withdrawal symptoms so you can achieve sobriety safely.
Alcohol tapering is a way to quit drinking while reducing your risk of withdrawal and complications. Making a plan for tapering alcohol is a crucial part of the process to ensure a healthy outcome. The Recovery Village Atlanta offers comprehensive addiction treatment for drug and alcohol addictions and co-occurring mental health conditions. Educate yourself on potential withdrawal symptoms and have a support system in place. Evaluate the pros and cons of tapering and consider quitting with medical help instead of trying to do it yourself. The kindling effect refers to the increasing severity of withdrawal symptoms each time you go through alcohol detox.
Finally, finding a therapist or a recovery coach can help you develop new coping mechanisms and move forward in your life. Tapering is meant to reduce the withdrawal symptoms from quitting alcohol, but this isn’t a guarantee. As mentioned above, many people will still experience some level of withdrawal, just to a lesser degree. 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.
For Sheinbaum, doing a dry challenge started out as a competition with her friend, but it turned into something much more. “I’m a stubborn Aries, so I was very dedicated to this challenge,” she says. “I say that we both ended up winning because it changed my perspective entirely about how alcohol is affecting my brain, my body, my mood, my life, and my career,” she says.
- If you struggle with drinking, the safest way to quit is under a doctor’s care.
- Generally, alcohol withdrawal starts within eight hours of the last drink but can occur anytime within the first several days after you stop drinking.
- To avoid or reduce the impact of the withdrawal symptoms, people struggling with alcohol may choose to progressively taper off alcohol rather than quit abruptly.
- But if you still have control over your drinking and want to drink less, you may be able to self-taper.
- Knowing how to safely taper off alcohol can make all the difference in how successful you are in quitting drinking.
Alcohol Withdrawal
An example of a short-term goal would be to reduce alcohol consumption by half within the next month. An example of a long-term goal would be to achieve complete abstinence from alcohol within six months. You should develop this plan while you are in treatment, so you can use it to protect and maintain your sobriety once your stint in treatment ends.
“Using a medication such as naltrexone increases the overall chances that people can cut down or quit,” Lee said. Ark Behavioral Health offers 100% confidential substance abuse assessment and treatment placement tailored to your individual needs. An evidence-based rehab offering holistic and experiential therapies, tailoring treatment to each client on a comfortable campus near Austin. Your body has become used to, and dependent on, certain levels of alcohol.
This should, of course, still be done under the care and supervision of a medical professional at a treatment center specializing in medical detoxification. This is why many people dependent on alcohol will choose to taper down their usage rather than stop drinking altogether. Someone will slowly diminish the amount they drink with the intention of avoiding the symptoms of alcohol withdrawal completely and will hopefully be able to avoid a relapse as well. By gradually decreasing the number of drinks consumed per day or per week, you can taper off alcohol in a controlled manner.