Ilovepi

I'd like to add to biminiblue's post. As mentioned, a lot of people will discourage tapering. It's not that any of us feel that were mightier than you. It's just that tapering is so very hard. Part of the problem with addiction is, at least for me, it was all, like, "I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired! I'm ready to live a new life! I'm just gonna have a couple of glasses of wine to get rid of these horrible physical and mental feelings". Many times I try to taper and it only lasted a couple of days or even a couple of hours.

After several times at sobriety with rehab, 12 steps, therapy, etc... I did make the decision. I finally did taper, but it was very, very hard. Tapering does not take away any of the discomfort of not drinking. It's like having the flu and taking the Tylenol for your fever and muscle aches. Tylenol is not going to completely make the discomfort go away.

Before I begin I dumped out every other type of alcohol I had in the house… Even if it wasn't mine! I got rid of all the bottles and boxes. It sounds stupid, but seeing those huge big containers where indeed a trigger.

During the process, I was very anxious and my stomach was messed up. I had trouble sleeping and was very depressed. and very unmotivated to do anything else but snack on some light food and watch TV. The tapering process involved no more than one 10 ounce glass of wine to start with and worked down from there over three days. I did not pour freely. I measured it with a measuring cup.

We're talking less than 25 ounces total during that entire three days. It was not a bottle. It was not a big box of Franzia. It wasn't hard liquor. You absolutely must not use hard liquor to taper. It's just not gonna work. It's just too darn hard due to its potency. I had bought two of those little 500 ml boxes of wine…about a hair over 3 normal 5 ounce glass servings per box. When there was a bit left I immediately dumped it down the drain, through the box in thw trash, and took the trash out to the dumpster. That was hard.

I also let friends know what was up who checked up on me constantly via phone or text. If I didn't respond in over half an hour, even if I was asleep, they were knocking on my door. It's not something that you do completely discreetly.

It was something I independently, finally decided to do for real. I was at my rock-bottom living in filth, I am obese, unfit, and in finacial ruin and I was pretty fit and had some pretty fit credit before I started all this! Also, I was a step away from losing a lot of friends, my job, and everything that I've clawed my way to get. This was not a fear or a prediction… This was a reality.

Like the previous poster said, you will definitely feel very uncomfortable for a few days but it does get better. I promise. If you're puking or having diarrhea a lot combined with either shaking, sweating, or itchy and twitchy… At least look into a detox program. There is no shame in any of that.

We all just want you to be safe and happy… And sober, of course.