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As mentioned above, we strongly recommend speaking with a doctor to ensure your plan is a safe one, and won’t cause dangerous withdrawal symptoms. The main downside of cold turkey is how unpleasant and risky it can be. If you drink heavily, alcohol withdrawal symptoms can be harsh, dangerous, and even fatal. For this reason, it’s generally best to avoid quitting abruptly, or at bare minimum speak with a doctor first and have someone looking out for you. Because alcohol is a central nervous system depressant, quitting drinking can cause your body to have too much of an excitatory substance called glutamate as it tries to rebalance.
- Further, mental health disorders like anxiety and depression are extremely common in those who struggle with drinking, and these disorders can make it even harder to stay sober.
- This means that there is little data about the best way to taper your drinking.
- Quitting alcohol cold turkey poses significant risks to your health.
Receive 24/7 text support right away.There is no obligation and you can opt out at any time. Vanessa is a Montgomery County native who spends her free time traveling with her daughter and volunteering in the community. Ethos Structured Sober Living is an all male community in recovery located in the heart of West Los Angeles. Our primary purpose is to foster long-term sobriety through the cultivation of accountability, camaraderie, & character development. In Psychology from UCLA and has served as a community advocate/mentor for men and women in recovery since 2010. But, perhaps most importantly, understand that setbacks happen and that progress takes time or may look different than imagined.
What Happens If You Quit Drinking Cold Turkey?
This is a benefit that isn’t available to all who attempt to taper at home. Medicines can be used to reduce nausea, severe anxiety, other flu-like symptoms, and treat seizures. Another important factor affecting the tapering duration is the presence of alcohol withdrawal symptoms. The main goal of tapering is to prevent or minimize withdrawal symptoms.
For this reason, experts advise that alcohol cessation be monitored safely with steady effort between oneself and a physician. Obviously quitting cold turkey from a 12-beer-a-day habit is going to be more stressful than tapering off slowly. But that does not mean home detox is effective, appropriate, or safe. Another big factor in how long a taper lasts is alcohol withdrawal symptoms. If you begin to have withdrawal symptoms during your taper, this is a sign that your taper may be going too fast and that you need to slow it down.
How Does Alcohol Use Disorder Develop?
In medical detox, you receive around-the-clock care from doctors and nurses to help prevent and treat alcohol withdrawal symptoms and their complications. This can set you up for a safe and effective detox and put you in a good position to continue your recovery in rehab. When you decide to get sober, there are two ways to approach withdrawal.
- It does this by providing compassionate care and evidence-based content that addresses health, treatment, and recovery.
- This experience allowed him to learn the inner workings of almost any aspect of a company.
- Some people may also find it easier to just taper off their alcohol use rather than jumping immediately into an abstinence day even if they do not have significant withdrawal symptoms.
Here’s how to wean off alcohol—including useful strategies, how to create a tapering schedule, and how to stay safe throughout the process. Alcohol detox medications can make the process safer and more comfortable. They can also ensure your alcohol detox is successful by making it nigh impossible to relapse if symptoms get difficult.
Drug and Alcohol Addiction
We are, as they say, «people who need people.» When we share our intentions with friends and family, we’re more likely to stick to our plans. Furthermore, connecting with people who have embarked on a similar journey can be incredibly empowering. Support groups, both through sober house our app’s Forum and offline, can offer solace, advice, and encouragement. The journey to sobriety is challenging, but with the right help and support, it’s an attainable goal. Landmark Recovery is here to provide the comprehensive, compassionate care you need to break free.
- 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.
- After several days of 5 glasses of wine, you can reduce that down to 4.
- Internal triggers are thoughts, emotions, or physical sensations that cause a person to drink.
- Rather than quitting drinking abruptly (or “cold turkey”), many professionals recommend gradually reducing your drinking (or tapering) over time.
After prolonged alcohol use, your body can come to rely on alcohol for normal functioning, and suddenly going without it can cause potentially dangerous withdrawal symptoms. This phenomenon is often described as “alcohol dependence.” The most common more mild withdrawal symptoms include headaches, anxiety, and sleep disturbances. Only people who are tapering down from very large quantities of alcohol such as a liter of vodka per day will need to start drinking in the morning in order to taper. If you are tapering from smaller quantities and feel no withdrawal symptoms until afternoon or evening then you can wait until then to consume your taper beers. Remember that you are not drinking for pleasure–you are drinking medicine–so only drink what is needed.
The imbalance in GABA that occurs when you suddenly stop drinking is what causes withdrawal symptoms. By slowly reducing your drinking over time instead of stopping suddenly, you allow your brain to change its GABA production. In the face of mounting evidence on alcohol’s https://www.healthworkscollective.com/how-choose-sober-house-tips-to-focus-on/ deleterious health impacts, many people are choosing to moderate their consumption or quit drinking altogether. And while the journey to alcohol-free living may seem daunting, with the right support and strategies, we can successfully navigate this path.
To calculate your baseline, you need to know how many standard drinks you drink in a day. At Landmark Recovery, we understand the complex journey you’re undertaking when deciding to free yourself from alcohol. The decision to quit is the first significant step toward recovery, and it’s not easy. However, the process of weaning off alcohol alone, known as alcohol detoxification, can be hazardous and often counterproductive.
It’s also important to avoid getting stuck at a particular step, as it would defeat the purpose of the taper. Individuals can adjust the taper speed according to their preference, such as reducing the drink count by three instead of two if desired. Ark Behavioral Health offers 100% confidential substance abuse assessment and treatment placement tailored to your individual needs.
You can quit cold turkey under the guidance of a trained medical detox team, or you can slowly reduce intake. This option is only appropriate for someone who has an emerging drinking problem. If you have an alcohol problem of a long duration, you should undergo a monitored medical detox.
Is it Better to Taper Off Alcohol or Quit “Cold Turkey?”
Support groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) or sober living houses can help you get connected with peers who are going through the same journey as you are. They may have suffered the loss of a loved one and are struggling to overcome the grief. In fact, according to the NIAAA, someone with AUD is 3.6 times more likely to also suffer from a mood disorder. As the Medical Director, Mark works with the staff to coordinate the appropriate level of care for each individual client.
As you navigate this question, it can be helpful to think about how you typically prefer to approach change. Metaphorically speaking, do you like to dip your toe in first, or cannonball right in? 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.
