Rekih
 

Hi everyone.

Will stepping down to fewer drinks per day before going dry lesson the withdrawls symptons. I drink 12 beers a night and am working with my wife (who thought I was only drinking 4) and have my first meetings with a psycholgist this week.

I can't take time off of work and am afraid of the withdrawl while I'm there. But I have to stop drinking.

I tried cutting back a hundred times and never made it work for me.

I do think you should talk to your dr before you stop drinking. It's good that you will be talking to a psychologist.

Please see your doctor for medical help in getting thru w/d. They can be mild, they can be dangerous. Get help from your doctor to be safe and comfortable.

Welcome to the best recovery site everywhere!:hug:

Hey Rekih,

Tapering down was a very old method before medical science really got involved in treating alcoholism and withdrawal. It was met with mixed results, as it was completely done by non-professionals who didn't know how to measure things like dosage. So basically there's no one here who really could or should tell you it's the best thing to do.

I was just telling someone a moment ago that if you can't get to a doctor right away and you're worried about stopping abruptly, then at least go as easy as you can until you can get to the quickest doctor appointment.

Welcome Rekih

I agree with all these folks - see your Dr :)

D

Thanks everyone. I'm already pleased I joined.
I've been approaching this for quite some time. 6 months ago my physician said she could help, but only if I made it down to 6 a day. If not she wouldn't help.
I thought at first that response was normal. I've seen many outpatient notes on the web since I began looking for solutions. Has anyone found a program that might outpatient with myself, my wife and my psychologist helping me?

Hi Reikh and welcome! I am not familiar with outpatient treatment programs so can't help you there. I'm surprised your Dr would only help you if you got down to 6...that doesn't sound like a normal experience from what I've read.

The best thing is to get professional advice. Withdrawal can be very dangerous. I have read an anecdote of someone who tapered down prior to quitting but even with that approach its best with a Dr. Maybe a second opinion might be in order?

The best thing to do would be to see another doctor, but I also wanted to share my experience:

I tapered right before I quit altogether and it may have helped with the withdrawals. I knew it couldn't hurt, but I wouldn't recommend doing it more than a few days, because the longer you draw it out, the better the chances are that you'll give in and drink more. When I had done it in the past, I seemed to "make up for lost time" after 3 or 4 days and was back in the same boat.

Thanks.

My wife and I came up with a chart. I showed her all of my hiding spots too (while admitting they exist.)

Tapering from 12 to 7 for this first "tapering" leg is a doozy. Have to admit, I'm sitting here at the office waiting for her to get home, so I know I can't stop on the way to grab a beer or two to drink on the way home (to then hide under my breath with my first "allowed" taper beer.)

Congrats to you on your success with your quitting decision!

My congrats party is coming. :-)

Good luck....looking forward to seeing you post your first sober day!