Macphisto

Just wondering if anyone else has done this with good success??

I'm actually starting the process again as I fell of the wagon on the 4th of july but prior to that my Detox seemed to go really well.

My drinking wasn't extremely heavy but it could get a bit out of hand on weekends. During the weekday I would drink about a six pack of light beer but sometimes it would turn into about 8 beers. On weekends if I ad nothing to do for the day I could polish off an 18 pack.

Anway, what I did was to tapper my drinking over the period of 5 to 6 days untill it became 0..

On day one and two I drank 4 beeers slowly and had a bite to eat and had no trouble sleeping and didn't crave anymore beer. My whole thing is that after I eat I just do not crave a drink at all.

On days 3,4,5 I allowed myself a total of three beers and would again eat and go to sleep without a problen.

On days 6 and seven I only had 2 beers but I did start to take a bit longer to fall asleep.

This seemed to work for me pretty good becaus I had very little disconfort while detoxing. On the other hand maybe it made it that much easier to relapse since I didn't go through the hell some of you have gone through. The week that I spent completely sober I felt a bit of anxiety but overall it was great because I would get good sleep and feel rested in the morning.

I don't know if this is a good idea for people to do because during one of those "allowable" drink periods you may not want to stop. But, maybe it is a good alternative for people afraid of the whole detox nightmare??

I'll be trying it again starting tonight but I have company comming from out of town and I'm afraid I'll have no choice but to drink a few during our BBQ.. I will however try to limit myself and maybe just include my allowable 4 beers for the first few days.. then monday I'll tapper to 3, then 2, etc..

GlassPrisoner

Ummm....there's your answer right there. If it worked, you'd still be sober.

Stopping drinking is relatively easy, even with the nasty de-tox(es) I experienced. The hard part is saying stopped. The only thing I found that worked for me was AA.

Anna

It sounds like me when I was trying to control my drinking and, all I did was obsess. I obsessed about when, where and what would be the next drink. I hated it! When I finally stopped for good, it was freedom to be able to think again.

newtosobriety

I'm glad that you can tapper off. I did it for twelve years while working. I would not drink for a week or more. I believe the longest time I went without a drink while working was about 17 days. Remembering now I was getting a little bit ansy by the start of the third week and was starting to have a little difficulty sleeping. However, the simple thought that after finishing work and going home I was going to get blasted held me over for that long.

When work didn't require me to stay at a company premisis, I tried tappering off several times like you did, maybe reducing the number of beers by 2 or 3 every day to zero. Then I would have a binge day as a reward for accomplishing that and start reducing all over again. Nope tappering off was not successfull for me.

Anyways everybody is different! Some people might be able to do it and simply stay at a social drinker status. Hope you can achieve it!

Astro

Yep, I tried tapering off about 1,000 times over 27 years. Even went for a week or two without a drink, only to come back with a vengeance. Then I found something that worked. Abstinance and AA. I still haven't found a case where anyone has died from NOT taking another drink.

Debaucher

I think the answer to your question is difficult... I think folks who have drank so much they have become physically dependent... where you would need to taper so you wouldn't die... should do so under docs supervision...

I was a 5-10 drinker... 3-4 days a week... and the 12-24 guy the others... and I found that when I stopped I was squirly... BUT it was easier for me to have none... than try to have 2 or 3 and then stop...

I wouldn't want to taper... it would be like torture...

Now if you like that kind of thing... perhaps... but what do you hope to accomplish by tapering?

Be honest... is it really your way of holding on to drinking a few more days... or is it HONESTLY just trying to minimize withdrawl?

Change4life

Tapering has never works for me at all. In fact for me it makes stopping harder because once I have one I or 2 I cant stop and like Anna I would start obsessing by always havingt o keep track of how many I had or could have.

Everyone is different so Im not saying it isnt possible.

I think you should give what debaucher said some consideration. Is it possible that your wanting to taper stems from the fact that you just arent quite ready to stop yet.

You said your friends are coming in from out of town so you will probably drink.
when people stop drinkingthey need support. Instead of using your friends as drinking buddies maybe you could try not drinking while they are their so you have some extra support. WE always think that doing something would be harder than not doing something, but not when it comes to cutting out the drink.
With drinking not doing it is much harder than doing it.
I think you should consider total abstinence, but I wish you luck no matter what approach you take, and as glassprisoner said stopping isnt the hardest part staying stopped is so you might want to give AA a try.

Macphisto

I was actually just using the whole tappering thing as a way to cope with any withdrawls I may have. I don't find myself obsessing over it too much but maybe I'm in denial as to why I'm choosing to do it this way. Maybe I do want to hand on to that last hope that I have "control" over alchohol.

I really do want to quit once and for all but I don't have much support because I want to do it in secret.. My wife knows how much I drink and recently she seems to be fine with it as long as I don't drive or drink when I'm taking care of the kids. I'm not a fall down, pass out type of drinker but I guess you don't have to be one to have a problem.

I would try the whole AA thing but between my work schedule and the kids I have absolutely no time to be going to meeting. I also don't necessarily like how much people here push AA on everyone like it's the only way. The few metings that I have gone to did absolutely nothing for me.

I think I'll just try my way for a bit longer and get really serious about it and hopefully I can make it. I've tried in the past but i think it was half hearted with no real intention to stay sober for the long run..

I am tired of needing to have those beers at the end of the day and feel much better physically and mentally I don't drink at all

Thanks for listening, I hope to continue posting and get some good info so that I can stay on track..

GlassPrisoner

A bit longer laster 4 years for me. It was a living hell. I couldn't drink, I couldn't NOT drink. I hope you don't have to go through the same thing I did.

Astro

AA definitely isn't the only way, it's just the only way it worked for me. My first 150 meetings did nothing for me either, but sobriety came together for me in my 6th month of recovery.

I head to a meeting every day after work, I go to a few on weekends, and my kids attend them with me. I was willing to do whatever it took to achieve sobriety.

I have no doubt you'll find what works for you, Macphisto.

Macphisto

So then it's AA or you're bound to fail correct?? In that case why even try? I'm not going to AA because I simply don't like it and right now have absolutely no time to even try to go.

Does that mean i should just keep drinking until I'm able to find the time?

I think some of you will read a bit too much into this and say I'm just not ready to quit but hopefully you can take my word for it and accept that I am ready, just not under the AA thing. I'm glad AA has helped so many of you but I also feel that if a person is truely ready to quit they can. I don't feel any "torture" when I stop driking and mostly the only reason I relapse is because I want to be part of social events where everyone is drinking. I don't feel this overwhelming desire to drink, I just think it makes things more fun. Of couse then it's no longer fun when you're sitting at home drinking by yourself.

anyway, I'm all over the place on this, maybe I'm ready and maybe I'm not but I want to try really hard and see what happens.. What do I have to loose right??

Thanks all..
carlos

Astro

Maybe, maybe not. It's just that AA works very well for me, it's my choice to continue it.

You're right, maybe you're not ready, and maybe you have nothing to lose. That's exactly how I felt. I definitely didn't have any free time in my life for some stupid 12 Step program with a bunch of drunk losers and gutter bums. Then I lost my marriage, my home, and the right to be with my children 24/7. Actually, I didn't lose that, I gave it away every time I chose to drink again.

GlassPrisoner

Re: AA

It wasn't even a time issue for me. I just didn't want to go. Period. That changed, of course. At first I still didn't want to go, but I was so desperate to quit drinking I'd try anything.

shockozulu

AA didn't work for me, but SMART Recovery did. Hop over to the Secular Connections forum here at SR and you will see a lot of us that have found recovery in other programs from SMART to LifeRing.

Dee74

Yeah, lots of roads MacPhisto...all leading to the same place. No-one's forcing you to choose any path but the one you want.

Just so long as you're prepared to walk it to the end.

D

BaldHeadedJohn

There are many ways to stop, if you want to. But I think that the key is YOU have to decide if you really want to. I myself went to AA some years ago and got fed up with it. After drinking again for about 6 months or so, I decided to quit. I didn't want AA again, so I tried a lot of other ideas, bought a lot of recovery books, read a lot on the 'net. None of them worked. For me personally, I find it necessary to talk to (face-to-face) with others that share a common goal. That's all.

As D said, there are many ways. You may choose what works for you, and you need not defend it. A lot of us have shosen the AA route, and all we are doing is related our own personal experiences. Take a look at the Secular Connections forum if 12-step programs aren't for you. The most important thing is to find a way that works for YOU.

Blessed Be.

BHJ

Anna

Hi Carlos,

As others have said, there are other ways to stop and I think we should do whatever works for us. I am not an AA person and I find a lot of support here. I KNOW I could not taper. For me, it would not last, but you should do what works for you.

AAFreeportPA

I don't drink Just For Today, thus sparing myself the agony of sobering up from a hangover (a.k.a. "detox"). It's simpler for me and feels better than that now-worthless buzz of booze.

Some people can drink moderately, Some people get drunk and get into trouble because of their drunkeness. Some don't drink at all. If you're worried about getting into trouble about your vice then you may be addicted. And abstinence, in and of itself, carries no risks.

Yours in Recovery, Mark B.

AAFreeportPA

Well, we're all going to die. Human mortality is a fact of life. So, technically, I'm going to die but not from taking another drink.

Yours in Recovery, Mark B.

Zanthos

This thread reminds me of how in the Big Book, Bill W. refers to keeping alcohol in his home and administering it to drunks he was trying to help so they could get through the DTs. Also, many years ago, when my uncle went to rehab, they actually served alcohol to him so he could drink while being processed in.

So tapering off has a long and respectable history. But obviously, if it's going to lead to not drinking, it has to be combined with a program of recovery. Otherwise, "tapering off" is merely "temporarily cutting down".