Talk to your doctor or a drug treatment specialist about what to expect as you experience alcohol withdrawal. Identify a family member or friend who you can call on to provide emotional support. Many people can recover by going to a specialized rehab center that uses proven treatments.
What is Drug Detox?
Since alcohol depresses central nervous system activity, quitting drinking can cause an imbalance of an excitatory neurotransmitter called glutamate. This excess glutamate triggers alcohol withdrawal symptoms, which can sometimes be dangerous. Making a schedule to slowly reduce your alcohol intake is a safe way to taper off the substance.
How To Detox from Alcohol Safely
People who try tapering off alcohol won’t have the guided support of medical professionals that they would at inpatient treatment. In contrast, in-patient care can be more beneficial and less expensive in the long-term. It can help you reach goals and can minimize some of the unpleasant and severe symptoms of alcohol withdrawal.
- Other medications might include anticonvulsants, anti-nausea drugs and sleep aids, depending on individual symptoms and medical history.
- If you begin to have withdrawal symptoms during your taper, this is a sign that your taper may be going too fast, and you need to slow it down.
- This can cause seizures and delirium tremens, a severe form of withdrawal marked by tremors and hallucinations.
- Each individual’s journey to reduce alcohol intake will be unique, and these solutions should be adapted to fit personal circumstances and needs.
- It can be a particularly helpful way to help you get a clearer understanding of your drinking habits and your relationship with alcohol.
Alcohol Taper Schedule
If you have a severe alcohol addiction, it might be best to seek professional addiction treatment. Slowly tapering your alcohol use can help you manage mild withdrawal symptoms and decrease the risk of AUD. However, you may experience withdrawal symptoms or relapse if you’re not tapering correctly and safely. If you’ve been drinking for a long time, you may experience withdrawal symptoms when you quit drinking.
When you quit through tapering, you drink a little less each day until you’re able to have no alcohol at all. It can lower the severity of symptoms, and it can make you more likely to meet your goals. Most people experience the most severe symptoms from about 36–72 hours after stopping drinking. Tapering off alcohol helps some people start their recovery journeys.
In outpatient settings, monitoring techniques and follow-up care are essential to ensure the safety and effectiveness of the tapering process. Comprehensive care includes education on withdrawal, maintaining a low-stimulation environment, and nutritional support. Medications such as benzodiazepines, gabapentin, or valproate may be used adjunctively to manage persistent symptoms and support the tapering process.
What vitamins and supplements help with alcohol withdrawal?
For over 20 years Dr. Umhau was a senior clinical investigator at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). how to taper off alcohol Many insurance companies will help pay for some or all of your treatment costs. Alcohol withdrawal can cause many symptoms, some of which can be fatal.
Drugs & Supplements
These symptoms can happen even if you used to drink at relatively low levels, if you were drinking regularly. For most people they pass quite quickly, and are just a temporary blip before they start to feel the benefits of cutting out alcohol. But if you experience these symptoms for more than about five days after stopping or find them particularly troublesome, your GP will be able to offer some advice. Addiction experts have not conducted many studies on alcohol tapering, as tapering is not considered the ideal way to quit alcohol. As a result, little information is available regarding the best way to taper.
- For others, simply cutting back the number of drinks can bring on alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
- For example, one 12-ounce can of beer contains the same amount of alcohol as a 5-ounce glass of wine or a mixed drink containing 1.5 ounces of alcohol.
- Depending on how much you drink, tapering off alcohol can take one to several weeks.
Potential alcohol withdrawal symptoms
- Every person has unique needs, and tapering off may not be an adequate solution to reduce or stop drinking.
- Obviously quitting cold turkey from a 12-beer-a-day habit is going to be more stressful than tapering off slowly.
- Chronic, heavy drinking can significantly increase your risk of serious illness and premature death.