Alcohol alcohol withdrawal

[deos68]

what is the likely hood of feeling extreme alcohol withdrawal if you are drinking 2 to 3 beers daily over a period of 4 to 6 months then quit cold turkey?
usually after 24 hrs i feel some anxiety but nothing to extreme but i can def feel it then again ive been diagnosed with anxiety and panic disorder it might be that not alcohol related t all
no shakes no sweats or anything crazy out of the ordinary
i actually went down from 8+ 12oz beers daily down to 2 or 3 beers sometimes 2 and a half at night by tapering
i find 2 to 3 beers a nice calm and relaxed feeling which is why i drink not really to get hammered
read plenty of articles but all have info on 10 plus drinks daily or i should say heavy drinking not much is said of the quantity i consume
the alcoholic in me says 2 to 3 beers a night is not a lot guess my main goal is to drink and have breaks in between or just on weekends as i do enjoy kicking back and drinking a few

anyone have some info ?
ps i do have medication for anxiety if i am allowed to say what it is i will say ill post it
its a very common benzo they give you during detox at a center etc due to its long half life

 

[T. Calderone]

Homeless ------- > Other Drugs

 

[mike.vick]

Your anxiety/panic IS alcohol related. The fact that you calm down while drinking 2-3 beers is indicitive of that due to the rebound effect. Alcohol is toxic and non-medicinal in the modern era. To ease WD, any doc will prescribe you a 90 day supply of Baclofen, a non-scheduled drug for alcoholics suffering from DT, for the cost of $10 at pharmacy. This is a less toxic way to wean ureself off of GABA-mediated drugs for anxiety issues.

 

[deos68]

Your anxiety/panic IS alcohol related. The fact that you calm down while drinking 2-3 beers is indicitive of that due to the rebound effect. Alcohol is toxic and non-medicinal in the modern era. To ease WD, any doc will prescribe you a 90 day supply of Baclofen, a non-scheduled drug for alcoholics suffering from DT, for the cost of $10 at pharmacy. This is a less toxic way to wean ureself off of GABA-mediated drugs for anxiety issues.

as i successfully decreased my beer intake so tapering from 2 or 3 beers a night im sure i can take it down even more
i figured my beer habit was the culprit that is why i decreased my intake but my anxiety hasnt let up much well it has but i still do get it i have yet to exp any type of dt's or any thing else other than anxiety which lets up if i take xanax
hell i only continue at the steady intake because the thought of withdrawal scares me
i dont have access to a doc at the moment as where i usually my doc is on vacation for a month
given that i dont have medical insurance the doc i go to gives me a break financially

as i think its ok to post i have 10mg of roche valium at my disposable if that makes a difference

 

[smackydowners]

youll be fine. dont bother with the valium, save it for fun or sleep or whatever. a decent break and the rebound anxiety will subide

 

[deos68]

youll be fine. dont bother with the valium, save it for fun or sleep or whatever. a decent break and the rebound anxiety will subide

i am gonna taper down to atleast 1 to zero beers
after thinking about it i am exp the anxiety rebound but i also have xanax on hand seems to be helping
i know the severity of xanax so i do keep my usage very very minimal i have a strong will power
just really wondering if the risk was high to exp life threatening withdrawal ...highly doubt now

 

[mike.vick]

^^^^ my whole point was do not taper with beer, or use it medicinally, because it is toxic. Taper with baclofen instead for reduced toxicity.

 

[smackydowners]

1 beer a night for a couple of weeks isnt gonna kill him. this is really crazy out of proportion....taper if you want but it's not necessary really. or maybe you should go to a detox centre.

and taking xanax will only fuck you up more. if indeed you are even remotely in WD, you'll have to feel at least a tiny bit of anxiety when quitting, that;s the process.

and 0.5mg xanax>1 beer so you're much more likely to get rebound symptoms from the xanies.

 

[smackydowners]

and sorry if i sound like a dick. maybe i need a drink! im well tense

 

[deos68]

and sorry if i sound like a dick. maybe i need a drink! im well tense

drink up sir ha
i know what i got to do just gonna start cutting back a beer for the next week so i can get down to a beer a night so i can get used to it
then ill try cold turkey seriously doubt ill exp any WD from a beer a night habit maybe when i go down to only 2 beers
and ill only use xanax ass needed as i have been doing
i have virtually no tolerance as i can take .125mg of xanax and its enough to calm me down

and again i dont have access to my doc for the next 3 weeks to get anything

 

[Keif' Richards]

2-3 standard drinks per day is nothing to worry about. Barring the possibility of OP being an incredible light-weight in regards to alcohol, withdrawal symptoms should be barely noticeable if at all present. MD's will tell you straight up that 2-3 standard drinks is right on the cusp of what is considered acceptable and healthy.

Your biggest worry is going to reside in the sense of comfort and satisfaction you get from your few drinks, not in the volume of alcohol consumed. If you choose to stop drinking, it will be more like breaking a habit i.e. biting your nails, smoking cigarettes etc.

I see absolutely no need in discussing sedative/hypnotic substitution or alcohol tapers. OP needs to wrap his head around what's going on, which it sounds like he is beginning to do. He does not require a detox facility or benzodiazepines or anything like that. Let's not make the guy's head spin. Even if he doesn't feel that way, he is clearly in control and taking a healthy self-inventory. I say cheers to his decision to be alcohol free, if that is what he desires.

 

[deos68]

2-3 standard drinks per day is nothing to worry about. Barring the possibility of OP being an incredible light-weight in regards to alcohol, withdrawal symptoms should be barely noticeable if at all present. MD's will tell you straight up that 2-3 standard drinks is right on the cusp of what is considered acceptable and healthy.

Your biggest worry is going to reside in the sense of comfort and satisfaction you get from your few drinks, not in the volume of alcohol consumed. If you choose to stop drinking, it will be more like breaking a habit i.e. biting your nails, smoking cigarettes etc.

I see absolutely no need in discussing sedative/hypnotic substitution or alcohol tapers. OP needs to wrap his head around what's going on, which it sounds like he is beginning to do. He does not require a detox facility or benzodiazepines or anything like that. Let's not make the guy's head spin. Even if he doesn't feel that way, he is clearly in control and taking a healthy self-inventory. I say cheers to his decision to be alcohol free, if that is what he desires.

thank you for the encouragement i actually dont want to quit drinking all together as i do enjoy it but i have come to the point that i started drinking everyday
so having a few days in between drinking or just drinking a couple of beers on the weekend is what im looking for
i have come a long way tapering or controlling my alcohol intake that was the hardest thing i ever did
many alcoholics i can almost guarantee will say after having that first drink they wont be satisfied until they are hammered or until they pass out
which i dont feel that i need to do anymore
but with everything any type of withdrawals be it from alcohol, benzos, opiates and so on you do need to take some type of pre caution

guess i developed some type of health anxiety along the way but i do feel the alcohol is making my anxiety worse ive had anxiety for roughly 9 years already so i didnt develop anxiety because of beer as ive had anxiety during 7 yrs sober

 

[PriestTheyCalledHim]

You will be OK. Just very slowly cut back, and then stop. I was drinking a lot more than 2-3 beers daily for about six months, and was drinking alcohol in large amounts when I slowly cut back and was fine; but looking back I should not have done this. I did not have any sort of alcohol withdrawal or physical addiction to alcohol though. I did not take any sort of benzo or downer, and you do not need to either. Good luck and stay safe.

 

[deos68]

You will be OK. Just very slowly cut back, and then stop. I was drinking a lot more than 2-3 beers daily for about six months, and was drinking alcohol in large amounts when I slowly cut back and was fine; but looking back I should not have done this. I did not have any sort of alcohol withdrawal or physical addiction to alcohol though. I did not take any sort of benzo or downer, and you do not need to either. Good luck and stay safe.

can you elaborate on that part?

 

[when I dream]

2-3 standard drinks per day is nothing to worry about. Barring the possibility of OP being an incredible light-weight in regards to alcohol, withdrawal symptoms should be barely noticeable if at all present. MD's will tell you straight up that 2-3 standard drinks is right on the cusp of what is considered acceptable and healthy.

Your biggest worry is going to reside in the sense of comfort and satisfaction you get from your few drinks, not in the volume of alcohol consumed. If you choose to stop drinking, it will be more like breaking a habit i.e. biting your nails, smoking cigarettes etc.

I see absolutely no need in discussing sedative/hypnotic substitution or alcohol tapers. OP needs to wrap his head around what's going on, which it sounds like he is beginning to do. He does not require a detox facility or benzodiazepines or anything like that. Let's not make the guy's head spin. Even if he doesn't feel that way, he is clearly in control and taking a healthy self-inventory. I say cheers to his decision to be alcohol free, if that is what he desires.

Very good advice, couldn't have said it better myself.

Stay safe man

 

[PriestTheyCalledHim]

can you elaborate on that part?

When I was drinking heavily daily for about 5-6 months, and then decided to stop I did not tell anyone including my family, friends, or even a doctor or medical professional. I looked up info on DIY alcohol cessation from a link posted here in a thread on bluelight and did it myself.

I should have told someone close to me like a friend or family member I was doing this, or told a doctor or medical professional in case anything went wrong, or I needed help. Nothing did go wrong, and I had no withdrawal at all but I have never been physically addicted to alcohol or any drug.

Thankfully links like the one I saw years ago no longer get posted here.

 

[deficiT]

2-3 beers a day doesn't sound like it would cause much of a withdrawal, unless that is your routine for 10 plus years and you suddenly stop. I find alcohol withdrawal to be relatively negligible, unless it is after a long, drawn out bender, or you have been going far too hard for far too long. Alot of the negative feelings can be attributed to rebound anxiety, sudden soberness, and just the shitty physical effect alcohol has on the body. Sometimes a meeting or just someone to talk to is all you really need to get through the struggle, but it is a real struggle and should definitely not be minimized.

 

[deos68]

been having some crazy vivid dreams and nightmares
i was heavily drinking 6 pack + daily for about a good year then in the recent months i started cutting back my drinking i was able to not keep reaching for another beer along with that somehow little by little it took less and less for me to get buzzed which i find odd thought tolerance only builds up not down
yeah over the course of around 6 months my intake has been less and less
last night i had 2 beers and 1/4 of a new one and i felt super buzzed out my anxiety has been improving but i do feel
random bouts of anxiety