for home-detoxers: How to Taper off Alcohol

[tango72]

for home-detoxers: How to Taper off Alcohol

Back to 0

Hi all, I'm new here so I need some help. Iv'e been tapering off for over a week now and was feeling good about it at 2 beers a day (25 year drinker at 12 pack at least a night). Yesterday I felt great, not a withdrawl at all till noon, so I drank another, waited..another withdrawl at 7 pm ok, drank another. Then another withdrawl at 9pm drank another?? Ok? I thought, whats going on? Then a bad withdrawl at 11pm drank another, told my wife to watch me..went to sleep woke up in a pool of sweat. I'm feeling like nothing happened this morning, no shakes, nothing.
Did I baseline and go back to 0? If I did do I start tapering again with my original amount (12 pack), or the amount I was drinking when I baselined at (2 beers) or 4 if you add the extra two when I was in panic mode? Hate to start all over again.
Thanks to anyone with any help

[Cinders]

for home-detoxers: How to Taper off Alcohol

Tango,

Hmm. When you say you felt withdrawals, would you be more specific?

If you were down to two beers in one day, I would think you could go cold turkey after that. Not sure, though, as I am also not a doctor.

Cindi

[tango72]

for home-detoxers: How to Taper off Alcohol

Withdrawl i felt where shaky hands and faster heartbeat

[tango72]

for home-detoxers: How to Taper off Alcohol

What does going cold turkey feel like? I spent all last night sweating bullets and I havent had any withdrawl symptoms (shaky hands or fast heart all day). Maybe I already hit cold turkey last night?

[Cinders]

for home-detoxers: How to Taper off Alcohol

Tango,

I experienced sweating for several days after my last drink. This is your body's way of getting rid of the toxins caused by the alcohol.

If your blood pressure does not rise too precipitously and you are not feeling any tremors, you might be out of the woods and ready to go cold turkey.

Unfortunately, I have detoxed several times over the last few years of attempting sobriety. Each time got progressively worse and more dangerous. However, my husband did not allow any alcohol consumption so my detoxes were all cold turkey with the exception of the first two or three days.

He does not understand the dangers of AWS.

I would ask my son for a beer a couple of times a day until my hallucinations and tremors disappeared. He would give them to me on the sly.

The internet says the danger of seizures is over by day 4 or day 5 after the last drink. I have found by the end of day 3, I was much better and able to go without any alcohol at all.

Understand, I am talking about a maximum of three beers during the first three days.

My doctor kept warning me that I would have worse and worse detoxes and she was worried about seizures, strokes or heart attacks.

Unbeknownst to her, I have had two seizures, both in hotels while out of town. One ended me up in the hospital and with the other, I came to and managed to get home the next day.

I helped my son detox a couple of weeks ago. He would come and get a beer from me when his shakes got unmanageable or the hallucinations would restart. It only took him about 4 days to get past that stage and go AF.

Unfortunately, he has decided he can drink a "couple" of beers a night as long as he never drinks hard liquor again.

My experience is that this only leads to falling into the abyss again. But, he and his wife need to learn their own lessons, so I have kept my mouth shut.

Good luck. If at any time you feel very ill from detoxing, please call a doctor or go to the ER. This applies to anyone reading this.

Cindi

[tango72]

for home-detoxers: How to Taper off Alcohol

Sober

Thanks Cinders

Yeah that was my last beer last night...in four hours...twenty four since last beer!
I thought I was having another withdrawl, but it was my body going cold turkey.
Great to know this tapering works..
Thanks all

[b729]

for home-detoxers: How to Taper off Alcohol

So glad I found this thread!!! In the process of doing this myself and its great to have a place to get support

[some-dumbass]

for home-detoxers: How to Taper off Alcohol

woody - good work fella, knew you could do it

[wino7]

for home-detoxers: How to Taper off Alcohol

First time posting on this site but I've read the whole thread. I needed to figure out what was happening to my body. I went through loosing my job, then my girlfriend, then my condo in Hawaii. Before I lost my place I started drinking heavy. I drank a lot in past but had a sober year. This time I was drinking in morning early, lot of times on empty stomach. It only took a month for me of heavy drinking atleast two bottles of wine, beers all day but no hard liquor to elevate my blood pressure to the point I had to go to emergency room thought I was having a heart attack.

I was also having severe anxiety and insomnia. The anxiety was really bad but the insomnia was worse. I would lay in bed for 3-5 nites at a time tossing and turning. Never falling a sleep. I would wait for store to open 7am to buy more alcohol to feel better. After that many notes not sleeping and drinking, not eating right I was starting to feel manic. That was when I went to emergency room after 5 days. Felt like body was shutting down and was going to die. My heart rate was so fast that I felt I would never sleep again. It was scary.

Main reason I'm writing here is a Dr put me on anti anxiety medicine, I was truthful about how much I drank because I heard they wouldn't give it to you. That was a mistake. I took three different ones. Paxil, hydroxine and went back to Dr and he gave me buspar. After a week of this I was still drinking and meds didn't seem to help. I did some research online and found this site and few others.

I realized I was suffering from major withdrawal. Even while drinking. Since about days ago I switched to only beer. I have been doing a taper and it seems to be helpful. I have no medical so detox wasnt option. Only Dr I could afford I wasn't totally honest with. Since im and not drinking bottles of wine my withdrawal seems alot better I'm not shaking like a tree and having panic anxiety.

I drinking a beer or three early in day and 4-5 at night so not out of woods by any means. I want to help other people on this site and i see a light at of the road. I've been only taper for four days. I think I can get to zero at some point. Support advice needed.

[Cinders]

for home-detoxers: How to Taper off Alcohol

Wino,

:welcome: I have an appt so not much time but I did want to say hello.

My son used beer as medicine. He would drink one when his tremors and anxiety got more than he could handle. I kept them at my house and he would walk over and get one.

It took him 4 or 5 days, as I recall to quit cold turkey.

He was drinking 1/2 gallen of whiskey and a 12 pack of beer daily, all day long, whenever awake, etc.

hth, I'll check in later and see how you are doing and if others have responded.

Cindi

[wino7]

for home-detoxers: How to Taper off Alcohol

AA today try it out

Cindi,
Thanks for the support, don't know if it will be that fast for me but I'm going in right direction. I started AA today at my own will. I figure anything I can do to help myself out. Now I've been to just two meetings and still not sure if it is for me but will continue to go anyways. I'm the youngest person there except one girl and I'm 34. Seems like everyone quit long ago and now a hangout for them. My sponsor is 85 and 43 years sober. Relating to him is a bit hard but he is supportive and thinks my taper plan is good if I think it is working, glad he is supportive. I'm pretty sure I'm only one there who had to drink a beer before the meeting. Having me standup and talk to 30 strangers and tell them I'm an alcoholic was new and a bit intimidating.

I appreciated the support I got and even though most could be my grandparent I felt better telling them what was going on. I didnt say I was sober yet or my plan to taper. I'm just happy I'm know now I wasnt having anxiety panic attacks, or heart attack. I had severe withdrawal and didn't know more i drank worse I got. I thought I needed meds. I will not be needing those and.since just drinking beer Ive felt much better. Hard part is not to try and drink more than I need. I know I'm not going through the shakes and atttacks so that is one step. I want to quit, keep the money for something important like go back to Hawaii. I don't wanna go to detox either nor could afford it. I ve already got a large er bill to pay now with no insurance. This website gave me hope and information I wouldn't get elsewhere. Not that it is for everyone and not Dr.so if you feel like you need Dr. see one.

Most important for me was I had gotten really high blood pressure from drinking. At the ER I got meds for that. Even got the one to slow my heart so I could sleep. My heart rate awas at about 170 for something. I'm now 110-120 over 100 and feel much better. When I get healthy Im going to try and go off Medicine. For now few beers have helped. Almost day 5....

Wino

[taperworm]

for home-detoxers: How to Taper off Alcohol

Hey everybody... I started following this thread just over a week ago when I began my taper. After checking out HAMS, then seeing this thread (where some people were tapering for months at a time), I didn't know what to expect.

I was drinking roughly a 1/5th and a half of Makers Mark every day. I began my taper 8 days ago, and today I will be at 0 beers.

It wasn't fun. Sleep was almost non-existent. Lots of anxiety and sweat... but in 8 days I completed the taper.

I've been a heavy drinker for about 10 years.

Anyway, you have to really WANT to do this, and be willing to sacrifice feelings of comfort and happiness for a few days. But it can be done. I don't see why a taper should ever take more than 21 days at the very most IF you want to get it done quickly and safely, but with some withdrawal symptoms.

I dropped steadily from 8 to 6 to 4 drinks 3 days in a row, and felt completely healthy doing it (the first few days of the taper were another story...)

I'm just throwing this out there because reading this thread before I began my taper made me nervous that I'd be at it for several months. Not the case. HAMS might move a little too quick, but just spend an extra day or two at each step and you should be fine. Obviously I'm not a doctor, just speaking from personal experience.

Good luck to everyone!

[betterdays]

for home-detoxers: How to Taper off Alcohol

woody13;1531169 wrote: Wow betterdays, that's great to hear! And also about the fruits/veggies thing! That's actually what I increased a ton about two days before I started the taper and continued on. Not sure if I mentioned it in here or not, but when I was in rehab we had a dietician come in to talk to us and they explained the "x" amount better chance you have if you are eating a healthy diet. Either way, it's great to hear you are noticing a difference!

And Ihate, of course I'm not giving dr's. advice, but if you are not feeling any major withdrawal throughout the day at all then I am guessing you should be fine trying a completely AF day. I know for me I can tell I am in trouble when between noon and 2 p.m. I get the shakes and the heartbeat that is just pounding through your chest! That does not happen to me on 8, but several days or weeks or months or whatever of maximum amounts, yup, that's when I feel it and know it is not safe to just stop. When I am not feeling that I know it is safe with minimal side effects. Maybe take a day down to 6 like you did before and then try an AF day just for the heck of it. I am pretty sure you should not feel much other than it will be difficult to sleep at night.

Speaking of sleep I better get going there now! As I have done with alcohol in the past, I did a little too much of a workout with the guys today and know i'll be paying for it tomorrow!

Night Night everyone!

Woody thanks for the reply and sorry I'm late. It's been a heck of a month so far, I can't get a full night's sleep, I sweat bullets, and even when I do manage to sleep it's like I haven't had any. I talked to the dietician again and he said that 19 years of hard drinking is going to take some time to change. I do feel better enough to go online, I used to turn on the laptop and stare at the screen it was so bad just last week.

My advice to anyone who's tapering - eat lots of fruits and vegetables, raw if possible. That's the only thing that's helped me so far. If this withdrawal thingy lasts for a few more days, I'll have to go to a detox facility, I'm that desperate now.

[betterdays]

for home-detoxers: How to Taper off Alcohol

Update : I've tapered some more, and while physically I'm better, I have the fog again. I have decided not to taper further until I start getting a hangover again. I am sleeping better after almost a whole month, my short term as well as long term memory has improved, but I have bad brain fog. Doing better now and still sticking to the reduced quantity.

Good luck all

[wino7]

for home-detoxers: How to Taper off Alcohol

3 days AF

Hello,
I'm happy to say I think I got past the hardest part of my taper. I switched to beer and even though I drank drank a few more than I wanted at times I was able to go three days now without any of the same withdrawal symptoms. I'm not out of the woods since drinking will always be a problem for me. I drank lite beer because the good beer would still get me drunk.
I took lots of vitamins. B12, super greens, super fruit, green tea, fish oil and ate lots of food. At night I would take Valerian and melatonin. I also read about Gaba tablets which you should look up. I'm happy not to have the shakes and feel like I can go back to work and didn't have to go on any medicine or commit myself. I wish anyone else who reads this the best of luck. I'm hoping to get healthy so I can stop taking high blood pressure medicine.

Wino