Alcohol Drinking schedule to avoid bad withdrawl.

[ThatGuyWhoIsADude]

Hey guys, I wanna know from any active or recovering alcoholics. How often do I need to take a break frim drinking to avoid potentially fatal withdrawal symptoms?

Currently I can make it to the 36 hour mark with just some discomfort. I just don't want to get to a place where if I do decide to stop I can go into DTs. I'm really scared of that because a family member died from it.

So if I drink for three nights in a row, take a day off? Like what's the combination of days off and on to still drink as much as I want, but avoid becoming so addicted that it's risky to quit if I want to?

 

[RxVeritas]

I'm fairly certain that in order for most people to have life threatening alcohol withdrawals, you need to be more or less constantly having alcohol in your system, and I'm not talking like a 12 pack of beer a day; think way more than that. It depends on so many factors like how much you drink, genetics, general health, etc,

I used to drink a liter of brandy every couple of days, and even then as long as i took a day or two off I never felt any significant withdrawals.

My GABA system is severely fucked though, so it's probably best not to base your usage off of that; If at the 36 hour mark you're not
experiencing tremors then your dependence doesn't seem severe.

Regardless, alcohol is terrible for you even compared to most other drugs; it's highly advisable not to keep pushing it, because alcohol has a very tricky way of getting a hold on people. Maybe it's because it's cheap, maybe it's because it's available everywhere, but a friend warned me of that years ago and in my youth and arrogance I brushed it off. Then I had to learn that lesson the hard way.

 

[brokedownpalace10]

Just keeping a job (and not drinking on it) can go a long way toward not developing severe dependency.
However, you can be addicted to the point of withdrawal symptoms when quitting but not DT's. I worked in a bowling alley till I was about 21, essentially a bar. I saw many of the bartenders come in with the shakes and maybe vomiting.
My girlfriend's brother just passed away in his mid 50's from drinking. There but for the grace of God.

 

[Keif' Richards]

Hey guys, I wanna know from any active or recovering alcoholics. How often do I need to take a break frim drinking to avoid potentially fatal withdrawal symptoms?

Currently I can make it to the 36 hour mark with just some discomfort. I just don't want to get to a place where if I do decide to stop I can go into DTs. I'm really scared of that because a family member died from it.

So if I drink for three nights in a row, take a day off? Like what's the combination of days off and on to still drink as much as I want, but avoid becoming so addicted that it's risky to quit if I want to?

I know it's not what you want to hear. Someone who cares enough about their Alcohol to figure out how it can be fit into their life in this way is almost always an indication that you will eventually become Alcoholic or stop drinking. It is very rare for someone who loves to drink to be able to stick to any kind of schedule with surety. What you're describing is one of the "stages of addiction" we'll call it. This stage is gonna be called the "bargaining" stage, as we all love our drug so much we begin to bargain everything we love to protect it until we have nothing left to bargain with. This is just how it works. You will likely either progress through the stages of Alcoholism or stop drinking. We can discuss withdrawal and Delirium Tremens an all of that in the short-term, but you need to know that this problem will not go away.

It's very difficult to say what schedule is most effective as DT's are actually a notoriously unpredictable thing. If you're able to go 36 hours without any Alcohol with only mild discomfort, I'm fairly certain that you're not the type of drinker in danger of experiencing DT's. You're probably aware, but DT's are not synonymous with Alcohol Withdrawal. Alcohol withdrawal can be quite painful, yes, but Delirium Tremens is taking that to the next level with extreme, nightmarish hallucinations and your entire body going completely off the rails. I believe something like 30% of people who actually go into DT will die even with treatment.

The only good advice here is to really be honest with yourself and consider what Alcohol means for you and your life. There are other ways of feeling good. It can seem like really distant, alien idea, but it's possible. It's difficult to see when you're still in the midst of your habit. Good luck and let us know if there's anything else we can do.

 

[Snafu in the Void]

As stated above, unless you start drinking as soon as you wake up, you won't develop a severe dependence. Alcohol has a half life of only about 45 minutes, you really need to drinking 24/7 only stopping to sleep.

If you can go 36 hours with only mild discomfort and/or you can sleep on the first night, these are very minor withdrawals or none at all. The discomfort may just be the damage alcohol is doing to your body and not withdrawal.

Severe alcohol withdrawals are far worse than heroin and benzos.

Yet, DO NOT take this as advice to keep drinking without fear. After drinking for 10 years I have brain, heart and liver damage. I'm only 34 and it's literally killing me.

Also, DTs are very uncommon. Only about 5% of alcoholics will ever experience it. Hallucinations are common, but not the delirium.

As an alcoholic myself, please do yourself a favor and don't start. Worst thing I've ever been addicted to. It puts a heroin habit to shame in terms of overall damage and life destructiveness.

 

[ThatGuyWhoIsADude]

As stated above, unless you start drinking as soon as you wake up, you won't develop a severe dependence. Alcohol has a half life of only about 45 minutes, you really need to drinking 24/7 only stopping to sleep.

If you can go 36 hours with only mild discomfort and/or you can sleep on the first night, these are very minor withdrawals or none at all. The discomfort may just be the damage alcohol is doing to your body and not withdrawal.

Severe alcohol withdrawals are far worse than heroin and benzos.

Yet, DO NOT take this as advice to keep drinking without fear. After drinking for 10 years I have brain, heart and liver damage. I'm only 34 and it's literally killing me.

Also, DTs are very uncommon. Only about 5% of alcoholics will ever experience it. Hallucinations are common, but not the delirium.

As an alcoholic myself, please do yourself a favor and don't start. Worst thing I've ever been addicted to. It puts a heroin habit to shame in terms of overall damage and life destructiveness.

All these replies have made me feel a lot better about it. Maybe a year ago, I started drinking every night, about 6-9 shots of vodka, and after doing it about six months, the first night off I found it impossible to sleep, so I tapered down over a week and then was sober for two months straight.

The plan was never to quit forever so I eventually starting drinking again, but I switched to beer, because it takes me longer to get wasted (Some nights I don't even succeed in getting wasted.)

Really it was just the fact of me drinking every night that had me worried about developing severe withdrawal symptoms, and with a family member who passed from DTs, that made me extra worried. I almost never day drink. I keep it to nights only.

 

[Snafu in the Void]

Yes, stick to beer. Easier to manage and a little easier on the body. Also more satisfying. I've never liked liqour anyways. Just buy higher abv beer if you want to get drunk quicker.

Also just a tip from my experience, if you drink nightly then suddenly switch to day drinking as well, you will develop withdrawals VERY quickly. Like in a day or two. Once you start waking up in withdrawal (compared to just a hangover) you will spiral very quickly.

So do yourself a big favor and never day drink. NEVER drink to cure a hangover.

 

[somnilicious]

As stated above, unless you start drinking as soon as you wake up, you won't develop a severe dependence. Alcohol has a half life of only about 45 minutes, you really need to drinking 24/7 only stopping to sleep.

If you can go 36 hours with only mild discomfort and/or you can sleep on the first night, these are very minor withdrawals or none at all. The discomfort may just be the damage alcohol is doing to your body and not withdrawal.

Severe alcohol withdrawals are far worse than heroin and benzos.

Yet, DO NOT take this as advice to keep drinking without fear. After drinking for 10 years I have brain, heart and liver damage. I'm only 34 and it's literally killing me.

Also, DTs are very uncommon. Only about 5% of alcoholics will ever experience it. Hallucinations are common, but not the delirium.

As an alcoholic myself, please do yourself a favor and don't start. Worst thing I've ever been addicted to. It puts a heroin habit to shame in terms of overall damage and life destructiveness.

Imo benzo withdrawal is much worse. The intensity is very similar but it lasts like 10-15Xs longer. It's really hard to qualify such things as it really depends how long and how much you were taking but benzos withdrawal lasted 3-4mths of acute withdrawal and then other fairly severe symptoms lingered for another yr or two. It got so bad I would pound my head as hard as I could against a wall till I was bloody and battered just so I could be distracted by physical pain. I definitely had the worst withdrawal out of everyone in our detox and rehab group and everyone else even knew it. My hands shook so hard even 2mths in that I couldn't hold playing cards.

I was on Xanax or Klonopin for 10yrs at doses of about 6mg a day but I also binged. I saw withdrawal much worse than mine which involved complete breaks from reality for 2 weeks and constant seizures. Saw a girl fallout seizing and she pounded her head all bloody against the floor and lost her 2 front teeth in the pharmacy waiting for her script. So no alcohol is definitely not a lot worse than benzos withdrawal, not at all imo.

When I had alcohol withdrawal I drank about 6-8 beers every night for 4-5yrs then I started drinking a gallon of rum in 2days and maybe another morning fix for 3mths.

 

[Keif' Richards]

Again, this is a highly unpredictable issue. I would say for someone to be a likely candidate for Delirium Tremens, they're gonna be drinking at least 15-20 drinks a day, maybe more. As @Snafu in the Void stated, it's a really rare phenomenon, especially in the modern, developed world.

Like snafu, I have experience with Alcohol dependence. When I was at my worst, I was drinking 20-25 drinks per day and I would wake up after 4 hours of sleep in a state of fear and confusion to take another drink and sleep another couple of hours. I never experienced DT's. I also was only drinking for about 6 months at this rate. Chronic drinking, especially with spells of abstinence intermittently are indicators of a more severe withdrawal syndrome. This is known as the Kindling Effect.

 

[brokedownpalace10]

Not a pissing match, but I liked my whiskey and drank at least a fifth a day for a while. That was the starting point. Plus a bud of mine and myself would get 100 blue Valiums a week each. hard to say how long that went on since I worked up to it. Maybe 6 months on the Vals and much longer on the whiskey? I started drinking at 16 and quit at 24, so a shorter time frame than many worked in my favor.

OP, you reach a certain point and suddenly your tolerance shoots up. It did it rather quickly with me. If that happens, run away from it fast.

I didn't have the withdrawal, went to work every day and didn't drink at work. Couldn't sleep without it for years, does that count? Day drank on weekends, like first thing.
I was getting the poisoning for sure. Stomach pain, so I just figured I had to start with beer to "coat my stomach". Vomiting in the morning. Hey, "Just a hangover, right?"
At the end I had months of having a few black outs a week every week. I'd wake up and look for my car out the window with dread in my heart, hoping it was there and I had not lost it somewhere again.
Doing stupid, crazy, weird, shit. Higher functions obliterated but still ambulatory.

My drinking buddy quit right after I did. That really worked in my favor.
Homegrown AA, never went to a meeting but... higher power, a day at a time, call a friend if you feel weak, and stop hanging with drinkers or going to bars.

I gotta admit to becoming a pot head about then as well. That helped. Not good, but not as bad.

A few years later, I was able to go to a jazz club (bar) and enjoy myself without drinking. That was fucking awesome.

 

[Snafu in the Void]

Imo benzo withdrawal is much worse. The intensity is very similar but it lasts like 10-15Xs longer. It's really hard to qualify such things as it really depends how long and how much you were taking but benzos withdrawal lasted 3-4mths of acute withdrawal and then other fairly severe symptoms lingered for another yr or two. It got so bad I would pound my head as hard as I could against a wall till I was bloody and battered just so I could be distracted by physical pain. I definitely had the worst withdrawal out of everyone in our detox and rehab group and everyone else even knew it. My hands shook so hard even 2mths in that I couldn't hold playing cards.

I was on Xanax or Klonopin for 10yrs at doses of about 6mg a day but I also binged. I saw withdrawal much worse than mine which involved complete breaks from reality for 2 weeks and constant seizures. Saw a girl fallout seizing and she pounded her head all bloody against the floor and lost her 2 front teeth in the pharmacy waiting for her script. So no alcohol is definitely not a lot worse than benzos withdrawal, not at all imo.

When I had alcohol withdrawal I drank about 6-8 beers every night for 4-5yrs then I started drinking a gallon of rum in 2days and maybe another morning fix for 3mths.

Oh yeah man, benzo lasts wayyy longer and is definitely worse in that aspect. I was talking about acutes.

It's all subjective experience though, and like discussing the worst method to die from

The acute 3-5 day withdrawals are just worse, but much quicker than benzos. You recover rather quickly actually, at least mentally.

After many years of alcohol it becomes worse in a few ways. Your organs become noticeably damaged, and you begin to feel that. You can actually feel it killing you. It's painful. Kindling is worse, too. It effects more parts of your brain than benzos.

Although, I would probably want to go through alcohol withdrawal again over benzos. Takes months or years to feel normal again after benzos, which is particularly bad if you're a naturally anxious person like I am.

Alcohol withdrawal isn't that bad in a detox center, because you've got benzos. It's a fucking nightmare outside, though.

 

[AlsoTapered]

Try 2 bottles of vodka for over a year. I humbly respect that I was deeply physically dependant. The doctor was useless, no chance of in-patient treatment so I had to just do it myself. Took me a good 3 years to recover. I was 30 then. 20+ years on and I KNOW it would kill me.

You can still obtain clomethiazole on the internet and even at the total rip-off price, it works. I bought 80 capsules and stopped drinking for 24 hours. As the horrors began, I took 2. Slept. woke 6 hours later and repeated... after a week I cut it down over 2 more weeks and stopped.

High-dose Librium (chlorodiazepoxide) also works - but I mean you need fairly HUGE doses - like 50mg every 7 hours.

 

[AlsoTapered]

Sorry, not every 7 hours (how would THAT work?) but every 6 hours. Any more frequent and you won't get any sleep and any longer and you WILL go into REM sleep (which alcohol represses) and get the horrors in your dreams.

For a good 10 years I still got nightmares of being drunk and not wanting to be and hangovers when I hadn't touched a drop. Debz stopped drinking 35 years ago and confirmed that yes, yes that is par for the course.

Get out while you can.

 

[somnilicious]

Could one ever get to the point where they were drinking 1-2 drinks a day and not get wds. Let me explain. I started drinking heavy at the tail end of methadone then for a couple of weeks in the wds. Now I'm down to 1-2 standard drinks a day. With some days without and a couple of 6 or so drink nights that are getting further and further between. 70days after methadone and I still feel kinda shit and can't sleep at all. I don't know if I'm having alcohol wds or residual methadone BS. I don't know if I could be kindled


I was just curious, if I stayed at this level could I eventually walk off with no wds? I'm honestly starting to get where I have no desire to drink more than 2-3 drinks because after 2 it starts to feel gross.

 

[AlsoTapered]

If you can go 3 days without a drink - do so, to prove it to yourself.

That done, ask if you could have spent the money saved on something better and if you don't drink for a month, what can you then get which the $ spent on alcohol cost you.

A 4-pack of Black Heart (like Guinness but made by Brew Dog) costs £4.50. A 4-pack lasts me 4 hours, 4 hours later I'm more or less sober. 1.8 UK units i.e. 18mL of ethanol in each, body removes 1 unit an hour. So now I wait for the sun to come up while drinking water.

 

[Snafu in the Void]

Could one ever get to the point where they were drinking 1-2 drinks a day and not get wds. Let me explain. I started drinking heavy at the tail end of methadone then for a couple of weeks in the wds. Now I'm down to 1-2 standard drinks a day. With some days without and a couple of 6 or so drink nights that are getting further and further between. 70days after methadone and I still feel kinda shit and can't sleep at all. I don't know if I'm having alcohol wds or residual methadone BS. I don't know if I could be kindled


I was just curious, if I stayed at this level could I eventually walk off with no wds? I'm honestly starting to get where I have no desire to drink more than 2-3 drinks because after 2 it starts to feel gross.

I can guarantee you aren't having alcohol related wds from such few drinks. It doesn't stick with you like that like benzos do. It doesn't need to be tapered like benzos.

It's either protracted methadone withdrawals & PAWS (makes sense) or psychological.

Realistically 1 or 2 drinks is actually lowering your sleep quality not improving it, although it obviously helps to induce sleep. Sometimes the habit is more than the action.

By your first 90 minute sleep cycle 2 drinks is already metabolized and not sitting on your receptors.

Weed is probably way better for this purpose, inducing sleep but not getting fucked up.

 

[somnilicious]

I can guarantee you aren't having alcohol related wds from such few drinks. It doesn't stick with you like that like benzos do. It doesn't need to be tapered like benzos.

It's either protracted methadone withdrawals & PAWS (makes sense) or psychological.

Realistically 1 or 2 drinks is actually lowering your sleep quality not improving it, although it obviously helps to induce sleep. Sometimes the habit is more than the action.

By your first 90 minute sleep cycle 2 drinks is already metabolized and not sitting on your receptors.

Weed is probably way better for this purpose, inducing sleep but not getting fucked up.

Even if I was kindled from previous heavy drinking? I honestly don't feel like I'm withdrawing. I just can't sleep at all. Not exaggerating what so ever, I have probably only slept 25hrs total in almost 70days -2weeks better sleep in Colombia when I wasn't snorting blow and got to smoke, drink and take Lyrica but that was a month ago now. My body is extremely sore and exhausted from lack of sleep and the back of my head is constantly pounding. Feels like my lower brain is encased in rock and my neck hurts so bad I can barely lay down. Also got kinda swollen glands and a sore throat. I know it sounds like a flu but I really just think it's my body breaking down. This is seriously fucked and definitely not psychological. I've experienced this lower brain pressure and terrible lack of sleep from benzos and methadone wds before.

It's just that downer wds can be so similar. I'd rather have a drink to help induce sleep or at least enjoy T.V if it's not alcohol wds.

 

[ChemicallyEnhanced]

Hey guys, I wanna know from any active or recovering alcoholics. How often do I need to take a break frim drinking to avoid potentially fatal withdrawal symptoms?

Currently I can make it to the 36 hour mark with just some discomfort. I just don't want to get to a place where if I do decide to stop I can go into DTs. I'm really scared of that because a family member died from it.

So if I drink for three nights in a row, take a day off? Like what's the combination of days off and on to still drink as much as I want, but avoid becoming so addicted that it's risky to quit if I want to?

Alcohol withdrawal is VERY dangerous and yes, fatal. My soulmate died of alcohol withdrawal, too. I have has many grand mal seizures from alcohol withdrawal and even a mini-stroke at age 24. Never, ever cold turkey. Btw, they SAY seizures usually start around the 36 hour mark, but I have had them in as little as 12 hours.

Decreasing by one unit per day - or 3 units once per week - are the two most common methods.

 

[Snafu in the Void]

Even if I was kindled from previous heavy drinking? I honestly don't feel like I'm withdrawing. I just can't sleep at all. Not exaggerating what so ever, I have probably only slept 25hrs total in almost 70days -2weeks better sleep in Colombia when I wasn't snorting blow and got to smoke, drink and take Lyrica but that was a month ago now. My body is extremely sore and exhausted from lack of sleep and the back of my head is constantly pounding. Feels like my lower brain is encased in rock and my neck hurts so bad I can barely lay down. Also got kinda swollen glands and a sore throat. I know it sounds like a flu but I really just think it's my body breaking down. This is seriously fucked and definitely not psychological. I've experienced this lower brain pressure and terrible lack of sleep from benzos and methadone wds before.

It's just that downer wds can be so similar. I'd rather have a drink to help induce sleep or at least enjoy T.V if it's not alcohol wds.

I didn't mean psychological in that way

I'm just saying it takes years to develop alcohol kindling and happens after your body (and brain) metabolically changes due to it's constant presence. It's not like benzo dependence at all, really. This is where the comparison of alcohol dependence to benzos breaks down and loses similarities.

Alcohol is going to make all of that worse, but not up front.

 

[somnilicious]

I didn't mean psychological in that way

I'm just saying it takes years to develop alcohol kindling and happens after your body (and brain) metabolically changes due to it's constant presence. It's not like benzo dependence at all, really. This is where the comparison of alcohol dependence to benzos breaks down and loses similarities.

Alcohol is going to make all of that worse, but not up front.

I've drank a lot on and off during different periods of my life. I've gotten withdrawal a couple of times. Twice for sure but not that bad. When I was on methadone I did drink almost 24-7 for a bit. After a binge I would throw up for a day or 2 and I even got slight audio hallucinations and night terrors for a couple of nights.

Though I never really considered myself a drinker because I'd go long periods without even the desire and it was honestly my bottom of the barrel drug though I do kinda enjoy beer in moderation somewhat better.

I honestly don't know what to think? I believe the pain in my head and neck while laying down to be somewhat caused by my blood pressure which doctors are always alarmed about it being so high. It's almost as if I can feel the pulsing and pain of the pinched blood flow