Tapering Trouble tapering alcohol

Seems like I can get down to 3 beers a day but anything under that and I feel like I'm withdrawaling. Any advice? Checking in somewhere isn't really an option for me. I'd rather die honestly.

Hi Nuttynutskin, I am a recovering alcoholic and I've been through alcohol withdrawals more times than I can count. Every time I went through withdrawals it was after binging 24/7 for 3 days up to 2 weeks. I never tried to taper. Sounded way too hard. The withdrawals are no fun and depending on how much you've been drinking and for how long they are potentially life threatening. However if you are maintaining at 3 beers a day I suspect that it won't be terribly dangerous. What I would do if I was in your position is just cold turkey and be aware of the danger signs. Sometimes people can have Delerium Tremems and seizures which can lead to death. I wouldn't think that's a risk at just 3 beers a day but I'm not a doctor. If at anytime you begin to have hallucinations or seizures you need to call 911. I've been through it probably 25 times and never had that happen. The withdrawals will last from 3 to 7 days. Probably on the lower side at 3 beers a day. They do suck but you can get through them. I would plan on not leaving the house except to maybe force yourself to go on short walks when it's bareable. Walks help immensely. It's difficult to eat solid food so have a supply of protein shakes, yogurt, and other easy to put down food. Sleeping is very difficult too. Having some doxylamine on hand can be helpful. Other than that I'd just watch a lot of tv. You can get through it. I did it many times. Try not to smoke cigarettes as they will make it worse. At 3 beers a day I think it would be fairly short and not as terrible as when I was drinking 20+ drinks a day. Best of luck. I feel for you.

I'll also add that life on the other side is well worth the couple shitty days of withdrawals. Just be sure to get into AA or some program. It's all worth it. Life is great when you don't have that monkey on your back.

Scrillion gave you good advice. As a 57 yr old alkie who has been through dt's more times than I care to count, I can assure you that 3 beers is not much to come off of. You will feel shitty and shaky for a couple days, but I can't imagine that it will be any worse than that. Just in case, have someone you trust check in on you frequently. If you do start seizing, you'll be in no condition to call 911.

Peace&Love,
jasper

You really don't have to taper any further and can stop, and go through the withdrawal.

By 3 beers, I hope you mean 12 oz. each of something like 4-5%.

Unfortunately, you really will have to go through the withdrawal at one point or another.

It was 3 pints of Milwaukee's Best which is now 6.9% abv. Fucked up yesterday tho and drank about the equivalent of 2 40's of high gravity and am paying for it today. All I had today was 3 normal sized Milwaukee's Bests and that seems to be about as low as I can get without feeling like I'm on the verge of withdrawals, although today might not be a good day to judge since I'm still recovering from my blunder.

Why don't you switch to a lower % beer? Maybe 6%? Then after a week or 2 drop to 5.5, then 5?
Never had a problem with alcohol so I'm not sure if this is realistic?
Had drug problems before that's the what I'm basing that on

Yeah 6.9% might not have be the best to taper with. I'm going down to 2 pints the next 2 days, 1 Sunday and then hopefully nothing. It's gonna suck but cirrhosis probably sucks more.

I would go to the Dr.. Tell them your dependent on alcohols and request a ten day supply clorazepate. Taper the benzos at the end. Should be through in five to seven days so you can do a little taper at the end.

Should be a cake walk. But then the hard part starts.

nuttynutskin said:

Yeah 6.9% might not have be the best to taper with. I'm going down to 2 pints the next 2 days, 1 Sunday and then hopefully nothing. It's gonna suck but cirrhosis probably sucks more.

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I mean why not drink the same amount of beers but with less alcohol content?

In line with NSA, going to a doctor on an outpatient basis and getting (ideally) something like chlordiazepoxide to use as NSA suggested, or even something like baclofen, will make this infinitely easier on you.

Hope you're doing okay today nutty!

I'm going to find out about one on one intensive outpatient tomorrow. I can't get off this shit on my own.

That is great to hear nutty! Hopefully you found yourself a chilled out program that supports you doing you? Or how did you find out about this program you're checking out?

From my therapist. It's with the same clinic just a different location. I was fortunate to find something that's one on one right now which is good because I got kinda bad social anxiety and couldn't really see me in a group setting right now. Maybe eventually.

That sounds pretty good. I take it your therapist is licensed as an MFT or PsyD and all that jazz?

How are you feeling about this whole process? Sounds like you're ready to get off the sauce because of all the bullshit it can cause, although I may be wrong.

I don't remember what my therapist's qualifications are without trying to find her card. As far as the process I don't know what to expect but I gotta quit drinking because it's wrecking my health. I just need help getting through the withdrawals because totally sober I can hardly function.

Ask you therapist about getting a referral to a psychologist, because you'd be an ideal candidate for baclofen. It is a medication used to treat alcohol use disorder, but it doesn't work at all like Antabuse dose. Baclofen won't make you sick like Antabuse dose (if you drink booze on Antabuse I mean).

Baclofen is a gabaergic substance similar to phenibut, and helps a lot to remove cravings for alcohol, ideally providing the kind of stability that one needs in order to really benefit from therapy and lifestyle changes.

Just some food for thought. The more you know, and all that jazz...

If you are lucky enough to have access to any long acting benzodiazepines such as Librium (chlordiazipoxide) or Valium (diazepam) can be particularly useful and are used in medical detox to alleviate withdrawals as well as reducing shakes, DTs, anxiety and preventing seizures.

elvis_wears_nikes said:

If you are lucky enough to have access to any long acting benzodiazepines such as Librium (chlordiazipoxide) or Valium (diazepam) can be particularly useful and are used in medical detox to alleviate withdrawals as well as reducing shakes, DTs, anxiety and preventing seizures.

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Correct! Definitely do not want to CT something like booze, but I have a feeling nutty knows this. From what I remember, this is not his first rodeo.

BTW, welcome to BL's Sober Living forum elvis! Great handle btw

Why thanks. Long-time lurker here finally made the plung!