Alcohol Withdrawal: How to Get Through It

Detoxing liquor storage at home usually takes longer because you should be cautious to avoid serious complications. You should start by determining how much alcohol you drink per day in terms of standard drinks. Tapering can help you overcome alcohol dependence, which is a side effect of chronic alcohol use that causes cravings and withdrawal.

1. Rehab or professional treatment can get you started on the road to recovery, but to stay alcohol-free for the long term, you’ll need to build a new, meaningful life where drinking no longer has a place.
2. Check off perhaps two or three to try in the next week or two, then add others as needed.
3. It can help you reach goals and can minimize some of the unpleasant and severe symptoms of alcohol withdrawal.
4. If you want to change your relationship with alcohol, it’s important to have an honest conversation with a doctor about your drinking habits before you start tapering off.
5. Quitting early not only improves your chances of success—it can also reduce the need for higher levels of care.

Some people avoid medically supervised rehab because they prefer natural remedies for alcohol withdrawal. Slowly tapering off alcohol is the safest way to naturally overcome alcohol withdrawal, and many at-home remedies can help you cope with mild withdrawal symptoms. However, medical treatment is necessary to treat major symptoms of withdrawal. You should plan to taper for suboxone mixed with alcohol between three and seven days depending on how much you’re used to drinking.

It’s possible to develop a better relationship with alcohol and make more mindful, informed choices about drinking without total sobriety. What’s most important is looking at your drinking habits and finding a way to cut back that works for you. But maybe you’re unsure about quitting completely and don’t want to hold yourself to that goal. Consider staging a family meeting or an intervention, but don’t put yourself in a dangerous situation. Offer your support along each step of the recovery journey. Relapses happen during rehabilitation, but what’s important is how you move forward from it.

Learn how to say, “No.”

Ask your doctor whether any medications may help in the process. Identify a family member or friend who you can call on to provide emotional support. 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.

Be aware of your triggers

Exploring, in writing, what you find difficult and when you most want to drink can help you notice patterns that offer more insight into your alcohol use. Comparing the emotions that come up when you have a drink with the feelings you experience when abstaining also helps you recognize when drinking doesn’t fix the problems you’re trying to manage. Becoming more aware of your alcohol triggers and reasons for drinking can help you plan ways to help manage the urge to drink. Say you don’t have any cravings when you go without drinking. All the same, “a quick drink” often turns into three or four drinks.

Staying Social When You Quit Drinking

Try to commit to at least two days each week when you won’t drink at all. If your body is used to a certain amount of alcohol, you may feel certain effects when you stop. How you feel when you stop drinking is largely based liberty caps identification on how often and how heavily you drink.

For 3 to 4 weeks, write down every time you have a drink and how much you drink. Reviewing the results, you may be surprised at your weekly drinking habits. SELF does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Any information published on this website or by this brand is not intended as a substitute for medical advice, and you should not take any action before consulting with a healthcare professional. The experience of withdrawing from alcohol can be uncomfortable and difficult. Some people may relapse, or drink alcohol again, to relieve the symptoms.

Just remember that there is no single approach that works for everyone. If you try one method and it doesn’t work, don’t lose hope. There are effective treatment approaches that can help you quit, so talk to your doctor or a mental health professional if you need more help finding options that will work for you. It can help you reach goals and can minimize some of the unpleasant and severe symptoms of alcohol withdrawal.

Follow-up research suggested that most tended to drink in healthier amounts afterward. Instead of aiming for complete abstinence, for instance, aim to drink fewer than seven days a week. “Try sober Mondays or sober Mondays through Wednesdays,” he says. “Once you have a sense of how much you’re drinking, it’s helpful to track how many drinks you’re having per day,” says Witkiewitz. “You could use a calendar, journal or any number of tracking apps.” Drink Control Alcohol Tracker or Less are two examples of free tracking apps available on iOS devices. But Dr. Streem knows that it can be hard to recognize signs of alcohol abuse in ourselves.