for home-detoxers: How to Taper off Alcohol

[Pie]

Hi chipsmum,

Are you able to get a doctor involved to support you through detox?

Pie

[Ps501]

Hey chipsmum,

For me, and I'm tapering again... Doh. For the first 3-4 days insomnia, bad sweats, no appetite, racing heart. My personal metric is if your going to heavy aws, (like hearing voices seeing things) you are tapering too fast. Drink.

Pretty sure I've experienced micro seizures (clonic tonic) in the past.

Many people have reported tapering extended the symptom time frame, and I would not disagree. Alcohol detox sucks.

Establish a timeline of when you drink and how much and MEASURE it. Then each day decrease by one unit. If you get bad shakes etc maintain for a day.

The thing most people don't think about is alcohol is a drug, and the brain get very used to it. With any mentally addictive substance and medical protocol would be to taper off. Before benzos people,used alcohol to stop drinking alcohol.

Could you die if you go to fast... Yes. Can you do it. Yes

[nezzaboy92]

Sorry if this is bringing back an old thread or whatever but I found it a while ago on Google and it's really helped me get myself together (almost)

Basically I've got myself down to 4.2 units over the course of about a week, and was wondering how safe it would be just to stop now, or whether to keep it running for a while, just from people's experiences.

Thanks for the help you've all given me, even if it was unknowingly!

[Grabit]

nezzaboy92, I'm new here myself, and the threads have been very helpful to me. I don't think anyone can quantify the right answer for you if you're tapering on your own. Only you and your body, heart and mind know, taking into account what you've been drinking and for how long. In general though, whatever plan you have should be somewhat flexible, kind of like managing a baseball game. It depends on the score and the inning. If you haven't checked out the HAMS website, it has very useful info, but I think their tapering schedule may be too rigid and ambitious for many. Either way, I'm trying the tapering approach myself, and all I can do is see how it goes for me. I know that I personally will need more time with tapering, and maybe professional help if it isn't working for me. Either way, best of luck to you, and it appears that there are lots of folks here to help who have probably had more challenges than you and I combined.

[betterdays]

Hi everyone ! I'm posting after a whole year, had to search for this thread. I found an article on alcohol and malnutrition and thought I'd share it. It says that alcohol depletes nutrients from the body, and it will be helpful if we start taking supplements before we start our taper. Here's the article -

http://www.doctoryourself.com/alcohol_protocol.html

When I was tapering, I remember I used to take a multivitamin tablet along with long walks. The article above says it helps with the cravings as well.

[Eternal]

Hi everyone! I am desperate for help. I am a 56-year-old woman who has been a social drinker for years -- 2 or 3 glasses of wine a week, if that, and it was never a problem. Over the last six months, though, it's become much worse. I have been drinking a bottle a day (except for a day or tow of abstinence here and there) due to a lot of stress at home, deaths in the family, etc. I really want to stop but am afraid of bad withdrawal symptoms. Should I go cold turkey or taper gradually? Also, my husband does not know about this and is unlikely to be helpful, so I have to do it alone. Thanks for any advice and help!

[Golden Eagle]

Wow, is anyone still around in this thread or can we keep it going? This is woody13 from a couple of years ago as I could no longer login. Of course a lot has changed for me since then and I am glad I found this forum again as tonight I already have my plan and am going to attempt another taper.

It should not be that bad from a physical health standpoint, it is just the mental part that can be really tricky I remember. I believe I have only been 3 out of 6 on successful self taper attempts, and the fails are all from the same reason. It is when you hit that point on the second day when you know your daily limit is running out and you forget the alcohol is for medicine purposes only....... ouch, makes you want to slip in an extra drink or two with your beer!

I am as stubborn as though come though, so if I have done it in the past anyone can. If anyone is still around I will probably post the results. and give some details how it is going. I have been on 12 to 16 standard drinks a day for a while and my goal today is go directly to 8 with some slow sipping. I did just start but it is already an hour later than I normally do and feel quite confident. Additionally, I have been loading up on vitamins and hydrating as much as possible the last week or two, with some minor exercise thrown in.

We shall see!