AdmimalBlueEyes

I know the risks of quiting cold turkey , but at the moment id rather be dead then drunk , anyways I saw a doctor pre quiting its only been a week and my blood pressure is stable again

So my question pertains to " gradually " quiting , is such a thing possible ? I can't imagine my self going from drinking one bottle a night to half , then a quarter over the course of time , it would just stay 1 bottle , I'm just curious if anyone ever heard of this aproach working

biminiblue

Why did you see a doctor? Did you ask about quitting? He/she could have prescribed something for that first 72 hours.

doggonecarl

I can't imagine it working for an alcoholic. Maybe if it was being doled out under strict supervision.

biminiblue

Wait. Your other thread says you are clean six days.

You don't need to quit? I'm confused.

ru12

It tapered off successfully, but that doesn't mean it will work for everyone. Some have serious complications doing it. Others can't limit their intake once they have one and never really taper, they just keep drinking.

AdmimalBlueEyes

Yes I've been sober now for a week, I saw a doc because my bp was through the roof and I wanted to clear with him that I could go cold turkey , he didn't prescribe me anything , just monitored my blood pressure , I don't get the shakes or anything just my blood pressure goes high when I quit ,

I only asked about gradual quiting because I was curious if it worked for anyone , for me I'm sure it wouldn't , but thats just me , adiction is difrent for everyone

biminiblue

Okay. Well, I tapered. I got down to two ounces of hard liquor a day...but I couldn't have kept that going, it was just to get me to a jumping off point. I had been drinking a half-fifth or more a day for months...tapered to five ounces for a week, then two ounces for a couple days.

JT0626

Today is exactly day 21 for me. I quit cold turkey & am feeling great. Lucky for me I didn't get physical withdrawal symptoms, all of them were in my head. After being on this site I realized alcohol will never be an option for me, I don't know when to stop after the first drink. Since that option is off the table, I am relieved.

Good for you on 6 days sober!

anattaboy

I tapered and it was risky but I had almost zero WD's-2 nights sketchy sleep. Worth it if you can do it. I had a lot of negative reinforcement with a plethora of physical symptoms. Monitoring BP is important as you said. Eating a lot of vitamins and minerals depleted by alcohol helped I think. I was very sick (literally) of drinking.

Dee74

Never worked for me.

I'm glad you're sober a week - stay sober and you'll never need to worry about tapering/weaning off now Admiral

D

SnowDawg

I tried tapering and ended up in the ER. That's just me, and I'm sure everyone is different!

Taking5

If you are 6 days clean, there is no need to pick up again, nor any need to wean yourself off of it. Don't drink again. That is, unless you are PLANNING to get drunk again.

So what are your plans?

jezza

Different for everybody.. I considered myself a hardcore drinker but managed to taper to lessen the withdrawals plus I'm in the UK so didn't have a lot of choice as Quacks only prescribe B Vits for drinkers coming off..

ubntubnt

tried to taper loads of times over many years. Seriously, I must have tried 40 or 50 different ways and it always ended badly. As my drinking escalated it would have been utterly impossible to consider tapering these past couple of years. Its not just the physical side. More that I need the complete, no way back, decision made forever, finality of total sobriety to stand any chance of making it.

Kevin78

I managed to taper off. It wasn't easy, but worked. I never want to put myself through that again.

5 weeks sober