Alcohol Taper and Moodiness

[quackquack]

I was wondering whether anyone had tapered alcohol usage before and experienced significant irritability, inability to enjoy activities, relatively mild anxiety, and restlessness.

I've been gradually tapering my alcohol usage for awhile and have been drinking less than 14 standard units/week on most weeks (roughly 70% of the time) in the past 3 or so months which I'm quite proud of. More recently I've been getting grumpy and cranky for no reason whatsoever. It's bothering me quite a bit because I enjoy hanging out with others but lately I feel as if I'm so preoccupied with my own grumpiness and crankiness that I'm having trouble maintaining amicable interactions with people I care about. This rattles me because it's such a selfish thing to do, imagine hanging out with your friend only for him or her to be grumpy and cranky the entire time. I'm generally a pretty even-keel and dare I say even a positive type of person and could use guidance if anyone else has experienced this particular mood while tapering.

My initial thought was to just accept this mood because I figured it'd be temporary (maybe a day or two here and there, but it's been rather persistent over the last few weeks), but I realize it's not appropriate to be like this around people without being an asshole for a prolonged period of time.

 

[herbavore]

I have not had the experience you are describing but I think that it's important to recognize that alcohol has been serving a purpose in your life and now you have to meet whatever needs it fulfilled in completely new ways. That can be scary, unsettling and mentally overwhelming. I think the extremity of it should lessen over time but you can't leave a void where the alcohol was--what will you do to fulfill those needs? It takes time to learn new ways of being. Just try to be patient with yourself and be encouraging in your thoughts.

 

[quackquack]

That's a good way of looking at things, and I'll try that out.

 

[aihfl]

These are classic symptoms of PAWS (post acute withdrawal syndrome). Unfortunately, they will persist for a while. Depending on how bad your use once was, perhaps even up to a year.

 

[tired of crap]

Congrats on tapering your use.

You mention ~14/ standard drinks per week? How spread out throughout the week are they? Or are they concentrated in 1 or 2 days?

I have to agree with herbavore.
Alcohol has played a role for you. For me it was for stress relief. It helped to alleviate my anxiety and calm my thoughts.
Meditation and yoga, as well as exercise and time spent outdoors have all played crucial roles in achieving the same results in a much healthier (and less expensive) manner.

But instilling these new habits takes time. As does breaking old, and in this case bad, habits.
I too get moody when I drink all the time.
And depending on how long Ive been drinking again, I too notice Im irritable for the first while well I adjust my lifestyle away from alcohol.
They say change is the only constant. But sometimes I wonder why I struggle against it so hard. Especially when its for the better.

 

[aihfl]

Forgot to mention there is medication that can help with the symptoms of PAWS, acamprosate (Campral), but for it to be most effective you shouldn't drink at all.