Help from anyone who used beer to taper

[leann1967]

female age 47 weight 119 smoker

About a year ago I started binge drinking on weekends. By about 3-4 months ago I was doing it every night and to the point of regularly passing out. Would guzzle about 300ml of either vodka or jagermeister every night. Decided it was out of control and I was done with it. So I stopped. Had no idea I was actually addicted to the alcohol till I stopped. this was about 1 week or so ago. Decided to taper off and started doing small sips during the day to keep the withdrawal at bay. Next thing I know I was feeling like total crap and either in withdrawal or drunk mid day. Saw this sight and as much as I hate beer started tapering with beer.

About 3 days ago I started the beer. One every hour on the hour. Every website on earth says withdrawals set in within like 5-6 or so hours but I swear within an hour I was shaking much worse and bp sky rocketed. did that for 2 days. Today I'm doing one every 2 hours. I can definately tell when it wears off because I start shaking worse. That part is tollerable with the beer, the problem or question I have is the heart rate. My face will get beat red and I can tell my bp is high. (I take lisinopril for my blood pressure and also Diltiazem ER for my heart rate and have for about 2years) The good thing is that I'm definitately not "craving" alcohol. And I hate beer! In fact I'm kind of pissed off about the whole situation and don't want anything to drink but either way, this is where I am here and now.


Is this normal when tapering off alcohol? (I've never had an alcohol issue before so am new to this) I thought alcohol raised your bp and heart rate but after about 2 hours I have to sit down my face is so red until I drink the next scheduled beer. My "plan" has been to increase the time between beer by another hour every other day.

Any advice/comments?

thanks!

[j-vo]

Help from anyone who used beer to taper

Posted on your thread in General.

[leann1967]

Help from anyone who used beer to taper

thanks j-vo. Not gonna run to the doc just yet. If it gets worse or if I can't nip coming off the alcohol by myself within a week or so then I will. It's been an hr now since last beer and i'm currently at 143/80 and pulse is 109. for me that's not too bad. Shakes are mild enough where I can hold my water bottle without it spilling lol.

I take a vitamin every day and am alternating water then gatorade and am eating good. Doing about all I can from what I've read. I guess I'm just confused on reading that alcohol raises your bp but then so does not drinking it/withdrawals. I've read too many stories about people not nipping this on their own.... hope I'm strong enought to do it. At the moment I am. This website (MWO) is the one that I read the beer tapering from so figured I'd have good support if needed. If not, like I said, off to the doc I'll go.

[red67]

Help from anyone who used beer to taper

Hi Leann67, I am also a 47 year old female (well next Tuesday I will be). I was drinking anywhere from 375ml to sometimes 750ml of Rumplemintz everynight for almost 10 years before I quit. I did a taper (I never drank during the day). My taper was 7 days with the last night being just 1 shot as a goodbye. I never had the shakes or wd's (just tired all the time). I did take lots of vitamins and drank lots of water with lemon.

I am over 3 years sober now. Once you do get completely sober make sure with every fiber of who you are, to never ever drink again. If your withdrawals are this bad now they will only get worse with the next quit.

I would definitely get your doc on board, I did and I felt much more at ease with her knowing.

[leann1967]

Help from anyone who used beer to taper

@Red67 I wasn't drinking during the day either. What's funny that I didn't realize till I tried to quit, that every day I felt bad and had shakes it was withdrawals not hangovers as I thought. Where I think I messed up was starting the vodka sips during the day for withdrawals. I think my body got adjusted to having it throughout the day.

Even with the beer, I'm still shaking and definately not myself. I'm a pretty hard headed stubborn person so hopefully that part of myself will come in handy with this journey.

And withdrawals will get worse if I go through this again???....oh MY, that's terrifying!!!!! One day recently I SWEAR I saw these little stick men dancing around in my hallway. Funny, cause i knew it wasn't real but had never experienced anything like that before and I just kept looking at them waiting for them to go away. I'm assuming that's the hallicinations that's mentioned. I'm doing pretty good right now though. It's 3pm and I've had a total of 3 bud lights today.

[red67]

Help from anyone who used beer to taper

I think, and this is just my opinion,, that drinking during the day conditions your body very quickly to need it more often. I really think you need to get your doctor involved and get temporary meds to get thru the wd's. Is there a reason you don't want to?

Believe me, I understand how much you want to quit. And trust me, just read the stories here over and over again. Make sure you never ever go back to drinking once you finally stop. Life is so much better, even the bad days are not so bad.

I hope you are doing better tonight.

[leann1967]

Help from anyone who used beer to taper

I think you're right on day drinking conditions your body to need it more often. Before I decided to quit drinking I was like you and only drank at night. Now, I get bad shakes if I don't keep the beer going during the day. I wake up in the mornings with shakes so bad I can't make coffee till I drink a half a beer. What's really sad is if I know we're going to be gone for more than about 2 hours I'm stashing a beer in my purse so that if needed I can hit a bathroom and drink it to keep the shakes at bay. Just sickening!

As far as the doctor: Will have to think about that. I suppose I'm telling myself If I can't nip this on my own within a week THEN seek medical help. Hope I'm not being stupid

Here's the scarry part: Last night my husband had a beer. (He's full blooded german, speaks german, from austria, and they are really big on drinking over there). Him having a beer gave me an "excuse" to have another that I really didn't need. THAT'S not a good sign. It's screaming addiction in my opinion. Was so upset at myself later. Don't know how I'll stay away from it later. We have 2 full liquor cabinets in our home. We have 3 refridgerators and one is nothing but a drink fridge full of beer and etc. It just was never a problem for me till recently. I use to be able to have drinks with frinds and it not be an issue. I just don't know how I went wrong. Being stupid I suppose

[red67]

Help from anyone who used beer to taper

Yes this addiction does sneak up on us. I was a non drinker until my early thirties. I did drink in my early 20's but only when I went out. Then I just stopped altogether for almost 9 years. Didn't even think about drinking. When I started to drink at about age 33 it was normal til about age 35 then something just switched and I had no idea what the heck happened. I became a nightly heavy drinker for almost 10 years. I was in a fog, I new this wasn't normal but I had no idea what was going on with me. When I finally admitted I had a problem, it took me another 3 years of trying everything to quit to finally give it up for good. Looking back I am still amazed that I became an alcoholic. That's not supposed to happen to a normal adult, right? But I have learned to accept that it is was it is and I can't fix it. All I know is I never want to go back to that depressing hell hole of dependence I was in.

Does your husband know the extent of your problem? Maybe he can help by getting the alcohol out of the house so you are not tempted by it all the time. Ultimately it is up to us not to drink but support is always helpful.

[leann1967]

Help from anyone who used beer to taper

No, he doesn't know. Sad too because we just married last year and he is my best friend. He would be 2000% supportive of me in any way needed. I suppose it's just the embarrasement of what has happend preventing me from telling him. Like you said, not suppose to happen to people like us. We're not trash. I'm not some druggie trashy person. My husband owns a business, we live in a nice home, we have a great life with great friends and I went and let this happen to me. I use to verbally bash people who were alcoholics and here I am trying to wean off the crap. It's so dissapointing.

I'm lucky enough to not have to work. But being at home alone all day dealing with this isn't any fun. The house is full of liquor and i'm totally fine with that. At any moment I could have vodka, jagermeister or any other liquor I wanted but I don't. The temptation isn't there at all. It's not like I WANT to drink. I just want the withdrawals to go away. That's why I'm sticking with beer. I HATE the taste and I won't get drunk off it. Today I'm doing 1/2 a beer every 2 hours instead of a whole beer.

Thank you SO Much for staying with me and chatting. Although your a stranger on the computer it's nice to talk to someone/anyone about it. I'm just feeling disguested right now. So so ticked about it.

[red67]

Help from anyone who used beer to taper

I understand, in fact I think we all do, about the shame. I certainly could have never imagined ending up a nightly drunk with a professional day job. I thought I was the only one until I found this place. It is scary to open up to people but, for me, once I did all I received was tremendous support. I work in a construction office where there is always beer in the fridge and everyone here drinks. They totally understand and support why I don't, I would have never imagined they could. My family is the same way. For the most part, everyone I have told either doesn't ask any questions or just wants to know how I am able to do it and I actually enjoy talking to people about it now that I have been sober for over 3 years. Everyone is different, for me, I find it very freeing to tell my story. It also keeps me accountable to my sobriety. If I ever even think about taking a drink, I automatically think about how many people that would affect.

The first steps though are getting the alcohol out of our lives and getting comfortable with new ways of living. Take small steps and don't worry about tomorrow. If you work at it just a day at a time you will be amazed when you look back a month from now what you have accomplished.

My first 6 months to a year I spent reading here multiple times a day. I really think that is helpful in reprogramming our thinking about alcohol and why we are quitting. This is not an overnight process and I can tell you I still work at this everyday, one day at a time. That is not to say I struggle anymore, I don't. Yes, I do still get thoughts of drinking and sometimes they are stronger than others. What I have learned over the years is how to deal with those thoughts, think them though and let them go. Everyday I practice being grateful and humble, I really believe you can never get cocky about sobriety. It is always lurking and waiting to take you down again. We are not perfect and we change in little ways everyday - I just try to guide that change consciously.

Since you don't have to work, could you do volunteer work? That can really be helpful to break up your day and you get to help people (or animals) which is a bonus!

Hope you are doing well today!