for home-detoxers: How to Taper off Alcohol

[betterdays]

for home-detoxers: How to Taper off Alcohol

Update : I'm in my fourth week of taper and I have stopped drinking during the day. I had to fix my garden wall and I've been at it for two days now. The brain fog has returned, but overall I feel much better. I'll be increasing my walks as my body seems to want more. I've noticed some other changes as well. I'm breathing deeply now without any effort, and my hair is getting thicker. I suppose it's because of the detox happening.

Overall I'm happy with my taper so far. Just a month back I was drinking a huge amount, and I'm glad I was able to cut it down in just three weeks. I'm hanging on to this taper level until the brain fog lifts. Not rushing things and taking things easy this week.

[jodyblue]

for home-detoxers: How to Taper off Alcohol

Betterdays, you are doing better than I. Glad to hear your taper is working well for you.

I blew it the past week, and drank 8 beer in a day, for three consecutive days. Yesterday I went to 7, and I will taper to 6 today and stay at 6 for a week, then again, taper to 5 for the following week. I can't believe how hard this really is. I have quit smoking cigarettes 4 years ago, quit other things 20 years ago, but this damn alcohol has a grip on me, and I need to fight harder. My main fears are seizures and panic attacks. I don't want to have severe anxiety again. Wish me luck...I need it.

[betterdays]

for home-detoxers: How to Taper off Alcohol

Hi Jodyblue - Hope your taper is working out all right. I'm on to 4 X 325 ml beer + 180 ml Scotch for about 10 days now, and the body is still getting used to it. On the positive side - I feel better physically and even mentally, and I'm getting a ton of work done through the day.

On the negative side - come the evening and I rush to take my medicine, as I call it now. I kick myself sometimes, but it's been years since I was sober through the day for so long. It's been 3 weeks since I stopped the daytime drinking.

I think I should be thankful for achieving as much as I have in the past month and a half. I'm sticking at these levels until I don't have to run to the watering hole

Here's wishing you good luck.

[betterdays]

for home-detoxers: How to Taper off Alcohol

Update : I ran into some problems this week, quitting daytime drinks for three weeks in a row led to fatigue, bodyache and insomnia. A long time back when I was not a daily drinker, I did have a weekend of party, so I decided to take a couple of drinks at weekend.

I'm doing fine as I take only a couple of drinks during the day on weekend, and my evening intake is still very low. I guess this taper is going to take me some time.

The brain is still clearing, I had short term memory issues when I first started to taper, and they are going away now. Sleep is still disturbed, and I'm increasing my walks as perhaps I need more exercise now.

I'm also thinking of getting a bike, cycling is one of the best exercises, and it's been a long time since I rode one.

[betterdays]

for home-detoxers: How to Taper off Alcohol

Update : Today marks a whole month since I stopped drinking during the day, except for last weekend when I had a couple of drinks. Night time intake is steady, and I'll be reducing that next week.

Positives : I have a lot more energy, I'm getting a lot done, and my attitude has changed, I have become more confident, and I feel great in general. My skin and hair are better.

Negatives : I crash out sometimes with fatigue, though these periods are decreasing. I also need to take my drinks early in the evenings after the whole dry day.

All in all, I'm satisfied with my progress so far. It was the 27th of March when I started the taper, and while I reduced fast in April, so far I'm holding the ground in May. My next target is 2 X 325 ml beer + 180 ml Scotch, and I think I'll reach it in June.

Goodluck all

[Cinders]

for home-detoxers: How to Taper off Alcohol

Betterdays,

Thanks for checking in and letting us know how it is going.

It sounds like you are doing very well.

Cindi

[betterdays]

for home-detoxers: How to Taper off Alcohol

Hi Cindi - Thanks, yes, I'm doing pretty well now, though initially it was a rough ride. The mood swings set in the first month, and are just going away now. I was like depressed in the morning and euphoric by noon.

My experience is that tapering is the only way to quit if one has been a long time drinker. The body takes time to get used to low alcohol levels and one goes through physical transformation like weight loss or gain (I went through both), short term memory issues and a demand from the body for more exercise.

I found that eating sugar helps. I did some reading and alcohol is broken down by our bodies into sugar, so when one reduces intake the sugar level in the blood goes down, causing a whole lot of effects, from lack of energy to foul mood.

I found this article from a guy who quit cold turkey. I had these symptoms but milder -

5 Things Nobody Tells You About Quitting Drinking | Cracked.com

Though the article's funny, I won't advise anyone to go cold turkey without medical supervision.

[ihatebeer]

for home-detoxers: How to Taper off Alcohol

Newbie - Need advice on tapering

Hello all,

I am new to this forum and it seems like this is the best place to try and get some help. My story goes like this:
I drank probably around 12-16 beers a night for about a year or so. I little less than that in previous years. I have always drank alcohol but over the last several years it had gotten worse. In July 2012 I went into a medical detox facility and stayed sober after that for many months.

Well, needless to say, I have gotten sucked back into to drinking again and I hate it. I loved my sober life and I want it back to badly.

So, for the last 3 months I have been drinking again. I started drinking again slowly and could go a few days without drinking anything at a time. However now, I have been drinking for 32 days straight averaging 7 beers a night.

I really don't want to go into a detox facility again, but I read the HAMS article on tapering. Like several on this board have said, the article may be suggesting too fast of a taper.

My question is what is your guys suggestion about a taper schedule? Cut it down 2 beers a night or a longer period. Or do I go cold turkey?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions. I really want to stop bad.

[woody13]

for home-detoxers: How to Taper off Alcohol

Good to see this thread still around and everyone's comments! Ihatebeer, I really don't have advice as to how long to make it last. What I can say is I did it a couple weeks ago going down by 2 beers a night. I did fine for a few days and had a party and ended up drinking heavily again. So I went right into cold turkey and let me tell you, WOW, at the 48 hour mark! That was yesterday and my vitals were out of control. I immediately ran to get beer when I felt good enough to get up. I had 10 over several hours. My plan was just 8 since I already had 48 hours of nothing, but my vitals would not go down. My plan today is to not have any unless my vitals get out of control. I am hoping 6 to 8 will do the trick today. I'm guessing there might be less withdrawal the longer you make the taper last, but I know myself and if I can just get it over with sooner it might be better. We are all different though and I will just see how today goes.

[ihatebeer]

for home-detoxers: How to Taper off Alcohol

Thanks Woody for your responses. I'm just not sure that if I've only been drinking for 3 months if I will have or how severe the withdrawals will be. I guess my plan will be to cut it down one beer each night and see how that goes. I'm really sick of drinking...

[woody13]

for home-detoxers: How to Taper off Alcohol

I think that sounds like a good plan, not advice of course, but the plan sounds good I can tell you that I recently got out of a full detox and inpatient program. I was completely free for about 80 days. I started again, seemed to start slow and not every day, but within 2 months I was worse, way worse. So I'm just saying in my experience I did have the withdrawals with 2 months of drinking.

As for today, my vitals were through the roof again at times. I felt like crap at times, but I did cut it down to 5 drinks and there is nothing else left here for me to have and I MUST go to work tomorrow as I cannot call off, so I'm not even going to check vitals and just go to bed. As of right now I feel "ok" and even just took my dog for a slow 15 minute walk. That might not sound like much, but the first time I have been out of the house in 3 days!

We shall see how this goes. I think I'm going too fast again, but I'm shooting for 2 or 3 tomorrow. I just did not want to be at work tomorrow being all freaked out and feeling like pooh. Just with the way I have been feeling it seems like if I have less tonight I might feel a lot better tomorrow.

Keep it going strong though!

[ihatebeer]

for home-detoxers: How to Taper off Alcohol

Woody, thanks for sharing your experience as it seem similar to mine. Sorry to hear about the withdrawals. I hope you continue on your plan and that those symptoms go away soon.

I'm thinking about trying the following, amending what my plan was before. I'm going to try going down 1 beer every two nights instead of one. Fear of the withdrawals you spoke of made me rethink my plan.

So last night 7 and tonight 7 (how I wanted to go get just one more, but I know how that works). Hopefully tomorrow will be 6.

Thanks again Woody.

[woody13]

for home-detoxers: How to Taper off Alcohol

If I could trust myself I would like to do it your way. Keep sticking with the plan and you will be fine

I went down to 2.5 beers tonight. Felt much better, but not all the way better of course, just no major heart poundings. There were times throughout the day my BP was perfect! That gave me confidence as it was normal most of the day. I only took an extra half of my BP meds instead of doubling the dose. Might need an extra half tomorrow but we shall see. My pulse was around 105 all day, but none of that crazy 145 stuff that made me start the taper.

Tomorrow I am shooting for one or zero drinks.

[ihatebeer]

for home-detoxers: How to Taper off Alcohol

Hi Woody!

Well, I'm not so sure I can trust myself at times!!! Tonight I managed to only drink 6 beers starting around 6 pm. I had a whole day of feeling pretty good. However, the temptation to go out and by an additional beer was almost impossible to overcome! I think I grabbed my keys at least twice. So I forced myself to take a shower and heat up some leftovers.

After shower and eating a good sized meal, the temptation to go get more beer subsided. Anyway, I kept telling myself that I was lying. "Sure, just go buy one more" - but I knew I would end up buying 3 or 5 more. Thank goodness I didn't do that. I really hate drinking and really miss my sober life even though it was only several months long. I wished I hadn't have drank that one beer back then. I hope tomorrow will be better. My plan is as before - 6 tomorrow (again) and then 5, 5, 4, 4, 3, 3, 2, 2, 1. I really hope I can hold on and do this!!!

Anyway, it sounds as you are making great progress! I hope that tomorrow will be a good day for you and that you don't have to deal with the pounding heart!!!

[betterdays]

for home-detoxers: How to Taper off Alcohol

I hope everyone's doing well with their tapers. Here's my update :

I'm past the two month mark now since I started tapering. I'm actually enjoying this new lifestyle of low alcohol intake. I do take a couple of drinks during the day on weekends, and life's very different since I started. I don't hate alcohol, and so long as I'm at the moderate level, I'm fine with it. I do plan to taper more in June, but for now am sitting back and taking a breather, so to speak.

I'm taking long walks now, and will try biking this month. I'll also be trying swimming after a long time, it's been ages since I did a few laps and I'll start with a single one.