alphaomega

Please help a neophyte out with your experiences.

And this is absolutely NOT because I'm seeking permission to drink.

I'm trying to understand the disease, and from what I think I have read, you should NEVER go cold turkey. Regardless of whether you drink all day, or binge in significant amounts a few nights a week.

Should you ALWAYS taper regardless of which category you fall into ?

Thanks in advance fellow warriors.

neferkamichael

I believe one is just as bad as the other. Rootin for ya.

Boleo

Tapering sounds like a good way to avoid withdrawal risks but my experience was I could rarely stick to my plan while tapering because my brain was too foggy.

IMO cold turkey is more effective - if it does not kill you. The only safe form of withdrawal is while under medical supervision.

Ptcapote

Hi AO, love your posts...you always start good threads to think/talk about.

I was a daily drinker (2 bottles of wine a night in the end, more on weekends) for almost 10 years when I finally quit and I went cold turkey. I had a weird experience where I didn't have "classic" withdrawals (shakes, sweats, etc.) but about five days in felt like I had the worst flu of my life that lasted a weekend.

My XABF was a weekend warrior, however, and never drank during the week but could consume a case (in PA that's 24, not 12) of beers a night plus some shots. When he decided to quit he had a seizure and he had quit during the week after several days off of booze.

So, yeah, I think it just depends on the person. My doctor told me after I went to her about my"flu" after I quit that booze can stay in your tissues/system for days and days after you stop drinking so you never really know what's going to happen. And that tapering makes this even more dangerous and unpredictable. I don't know how true that is but that was her explanation.

The people who I have seen get medical assistance for stopping do best. I think there is the misconception that you have to be "really bad" to go to detox but I don't believe that is true. My sponsor only drank on weekends and only 5-6 beers a night at that and she went through detox and said it was the best decision she ever made.

Anyway, that's all I've got on this one!

Hope you are well!

karate

I was drinking a 12 pack a day ,and a doctor reccomended detox ,he actually insisted on it ,I did not go .

I had friends that stopped from 12-18 beers a day ,and they were fine ,so i took a few klonopins the first few days and went on .

I found out that was NOT smart ,the way i did it .


I drank every day to the point of being heavily buzzed ,then binged when i was off work .

Soberpotamus

I was mostly a binge drinker. I didn't taper. Just quit the day after a binge. Never looked back. I'm not sure which is worse, but I've read binge drinking can be more damaging, especially to females because we metabolize alcohol more slowly because of less of the enzyme required to do so.

Lifewillgetbet

My addiction is Binge. I dont play around with tapering anymore. I successfully did it a few times, failed once huge - seizure. Just to talk to your Dr and get a bunch of Bug Pills. My Dr is Benzo King. He gives me the Benzo Bug Pills and I bugout in my bedroom for a few days.

artsoul

I think the reason binge drinking can sometimes be worse is because of the repeated withdrawals. But there's no way to guarantee any withdrawal will be safe because there's so many variables: a person's underlying health, age, damage from past drinking, nutrition, and the list goes on....

karate

I was the king of binging ,that was my mranta ,,,,,,,,,,, torture it was

KristyCat

I'm not sure which is worse, but I don't think any medical professional or treatment center would ever recommend tapering for alcoholism. It just doesn't work.

I am pretty sure the best way is a medically supervised detox.

Dee74

Having been both a binger and an all day drinker I think it's like comparing bullet wounds to knife wounds.

Both are bad, both can kill you.

Actually, you should always see a Dr.

Detox can be deadly - both cold turkey and tapering can be dangerous.

D

karate

Bullet or knife ,wound -hell yes

TDInstall

I went cold turkey. It was brutal and traumatising.

In a way though, I needed to go through it - gave me a definite end to my addiction, and also gave me a solid reason never to drink again - no way do I want to have to do that again.

Lifewillgetbet

At one point I had an Addiction Doctor tell me to taper 10% less per day. It actually worked for me. He told me it was much safer then taking Valium. This is my personal experience. You would think an Addiction Dr would know what to do. Wrong. My advise, just go talk to your family Dr. They probably know you better then some random addiction Dr.