CujoGato

Hi, all. A couple of weeks ago I finally realized how much my drinking has gotten out of hand. I have gone from a 'heavy social drinker' (my term) to full blown alcoholic now. Having done a bit of research, including finding this site last week, the statistics on quitting cold turkey were alarming to me. Calulating how much I was drinking - nearly a quart of Whiskey and several beers a day - I was told my chances of having a seizure is nearly 30% and death in the 1 in 6 range. This was told to me by a counselor at a detox facility, so I take it with a grain of salt but also quite seriously.

I have begun 'Tapering', with the goal to quit completely by this Sunday. I estimated I had 30+ drinks Super Bowl sunday (about normal daily intake) and was down to 5 drinks (beer only) last Sunday. I felt so good Moday morning, despite the lack of sleep, I ended up having 9 beers that night. Woke up with a pounding head Tuesday morning. Yesterday I had a meeting with my ex-boss (I lost my job over my drinking) at noon. I was so nervous I chugged a beer before I went. Meeting went very well, but as soon as I got home I had another, and another, and... I'm not quite back to square one, but have taken a major step backward.

I want to get down to 2 beers a day for 2-3 days before I completely stop for good. My reasoning is the final detox will be less severe, with less possiblity of seizure. I'm very concerned about that because my grandmother was an alcoholic. She had a seizure during a weekend visit, because my mom said she couldn't drink during her stay. That was 30+ years ago, but I remember it clearly (she bit me when I was trying to hold down her tongue so she didn't choke to death).

Any thoughts/ideas about Tapering?

Sorry about the long post, just trying to get my s**t together after drinking for 30+ years.

Thanks for listening.

Coldfusion

We don't give medical advice, so here is my experience. I went to the ER because of alcohol withdrawal, and was checked over then discharged to a detox program. My hospital discharge included the instruction, "Of course do not drink anymore alcohol."

hope22

Hi CujoGato, welcome to SR. You'll find a lot of great support here. Can you go to your doctor first? Withdrawls can be dangerous, especially the first 72 hours without alcohol.

markinsf

I'm trying the same thing - good luck.

Dee74

Hi CujoGato - welcome

I could never taper...and I had a very bad experience my last detox... so I always recommend people seeing a Dr.

It's simply the safest choice

D

doggonecarl

I would say that unless strict controls are in place, which would prevent you from going over your "limit," you are probably doomed to failure. Why? If alcoholics could control their drinking, we wouldn't be alcoholics.

I suggest a supervised detox. See your doctor and be honest about your drinking.

Anna

My tapering went like yours - staying on track for awhile, and then back up, and so on. It never worked and stopping completely felt freeing. I was no longer obsessed by thoughts about alcohol. And, do talk to your dr first.

Wastinglife

hi Cujo,
The first time I experienced withdrawal, I had no idea about what was happening to me. I spent 2 days alone thinking it was food poisoning or something. I was hearing things and seeing things that weren't there and really thought I was going crazy. Looking back I was probably close to a seizure and should have been supervised by medical professionals. Don't make the same mistake as me!

ScottFromWI

Hi Cujo:

Welcome to SR, i'm a realative newcomer myself but it's a great place to be. As you probably noticed by most responses and the terms and conditions, we can't give medical advice here. Honestly you should see your DR about this. Tapering assumes you can control your drinking, and frankly most of us cannot - you have freely admitted to the fact that it has already failed for you in your first attempt. Your doctor might recommend drugs so you can detox at home, or they may recommend inpatient detox. Either way, it's better to have someone that can treat the potential risks involved whatever the recommendation might be.

Hope you stick around and congrats for wanting to take the next step to be sober.

topspin

Welcome to SR Cujo,

Keep us updated.

You've made progress

If Saturday's no good, Sunday sure will be.

My attempts to taper were all over the map, so I managed to convince myself I could quit for one day,

.....same hard-headed thought the next day.

Do you have any plans for face to face support ?

Coming here helped me , as I was drinking after I got off work at 2 am.

Three handles a week
..... robbing myself of ever having any life, before, during , or after work.

Things started falling into place after several months, <<< finally>>>

More and more time to ease into a few things I remembered enjoying as a young guy , ....like cycling (for me)

As rough as things can feel early on, I learned ( from AA, and SR ) that adopting a grateful attitude every morning , afternoon , and night seemed to work wonders.

That, and not picking up that first drink; .......no matter what

CujoGato

Thanks for the thoughts. I understand the concerns about medical supervision, but right now I don't have the money for a detox. I'm also very concerned about replacing one substance (alcohol) for another (Benzos/Xanax) during a detox. I was writing my drinks down on a whiteboard, but it got full and I stopped using it (dumbass me). I erased it and am monitering my intake again. Only had 4 beers today. Not nearly enough to get the slightest buzz, just enough to get rid of the shakes. Even though I'm still drinking, I haven't felt this clear headed in years, although I had a rough patch today when I really wanted a drink (liquor) BAD. Looking forward to complete sobriety.

This probably sounds like a cop out/denial thing, but I'm just trying to get my bac down enough to where I don't flip out when I completely quit. I have no job or insurance, so I'm trying my best. My goal is still Sunday being my first day sober.

Dee74

I can give you a list of free or lost cost clinics if you decide you want to get checked out - if you don't want meds then you have the right to declare that upfront.

D

JCat

Come and join the February class on Sunday, that will help!!
I'm 3 days sober now..
Good luck

topspin

Doesn't sound like a cop out to me,

Good job staying away from the booze earlier

Glad you're starting to feel better; ......today



Can you get out for some fresh air during the day ?

Breaking my old daily routine any way I could seemed to help.


Stay the course,
I can tell you are doing your best !?!

least

Welcome to the family! You'll find a lot of support here. I wish you luck with your tapering. I could never manage to keep it up and was always back to heavy drinking soon. I hope you manage to quit completely.

Hanna

Do you have a plan for staying sober once you get tapered down?

I don't know anything about it, but hoping you've done some good research. It makes me nervous that you are doing it without medical supervision. Heck, it scares me to read about people doing it with medical supervision.

Peace,
Hanna

sugarbear1

You may be reducing your intake, but a true taper takes more than a week and is usually done for pills, not alcohol. As stated, if we could taper alcohol, we wouldn't be alcoholics. I couldn't live without drinking or doing something to get out of my mind. The 12 steps of AA saved my life.

Stopping alcohol after years of consuming it can be lethal.

Please see a doctor for proper detox.

LadyinBC

Weaning didn't work for me, infact, I probably drank even more. I had to just quit cold turkey. I have to agree that you should talk to a doctor. I didn't realize until I got to daytox how deadly detoxing could be for some people. And there was no way I could quit on my own. I needed support thru it.

Good luck and keep us updated!