raku

I have not been thro' detox recently...but it never hurts !

awuh1

I can only tell you that I tried your method about 50 times. It worked for periods ranging from 1 hour to several months. Staying stopped is more than just getting through the initial withdrawals. If you find that you are considering making a 4th attempt via this method, consider seeing a physician. Whats a Dr. visit and medication going to cost you? Less than what you would spend on alcohol in 2 weeks I'll bet. Then look into AA or AVRT for some long term ideas for how to stay sober after the withdrawals are done.

1newcreation

Welcome to SR sir!
I tried "tapering off" in early '12 but its such a huge ruse that it pissed me off all the more. I mean if I want to drink, I want to drink hard!period
Ya I experienced withdrawls for bout 5 days then it was over with & I've never been happier. You sound a lot like me so just give it up coz it sucks, join the nearest AA group to you so you can work the steps & not be focused so much on the next drink
I believe you can do it. Question is do you?

raku

I PERSONALY do not care for AA....it is a whatever thing ! I care for not drinking if one (me) does not get along well with it...it has been way more than problematic for me ! I choose to say "NO"....


That ends it !

??????

Louise82

to SR, JC. Thanks for joining and posting. Some great advice from the others. I agree that you should add some kind of recovery program to the mix. I also agree that the money you'll save from not drinking will soon cover the cost of medical bills if you decide to get professional help with your detox.

JC812

I would like to just quit, but based on the volume I've been consuming, the major reason for the taper is to attempt avoid the more serious complications of withdrawal.

JC812

I'd never heard of AVRT until your above post. I took a quick look at it yesterday and it sounds very appealing to me. I'm going to look into it further.

ScottFromWI

Consider looking for local low/no cost detox resources as well. Many have outpatient detox now too. As you've probably read here, tapering very rarely works for true alcoholics. Think of a compulsive gambler left with a pile of money, but instructions to only gamble one half of the pile today, one quarter tomorrow, one forth the next....we all know the likely result.

escapist

Speaking as someone who LOVED drinking I wish tapering worked, but, no luck there.

JC812

I've been to 2 AA meetings, one that I was almost forced to attend , and well I enjoyed the comradeship and catharsis from sharing personal stories, several of the twelve step are just, let's say, not up my alley. Having said that, I think a non AA support group seems to be something I need, and this forum is going to serve to fill part of that for me. I'm also going to be looking for something locally.

JC812

My main concern is to attempt to negate the more serious possible symptoms of withdrawal by allowing my GABA receptors some time to adjust to smaller and smaller doses of alcohol. Tapering is a major part of the detox treatment in medical environments, along with anti-seizure, etc. The tapering is usually done with benzodiazepines with for all intents and purposes are acting on your body in the same manner as ethanol. I read a couple of medical journals where ICU's use ethanol IV's to taper critical patients who have a history of alcohol abuse.
So, based on everything I've read I decided it was much much more perilous to quit cold turkey then to attempt to slowly reduce the volume of alcohol while monitoring myself carefully.

bigsombrero

Same here. You think I wanted to go? Do you think any of us were all excited to get started in AA? Even those who swear by it now were in pretty hardcore denial up until we started going to AA and admitting our problems. I don't go much these days but it sure scared me straight.

Here's what I gather from your situation: You are actively using. You are posting about it on a recovery and sobriety board. You have admitted this hasn't worked before. You do not want to go to AA because it doesn't "fit you"....you see where I'm going with this? The writing's on the wall buddy. Doing this on your own in the privacy of your own home, in secret, rarely works for ANYONE who wants to quit totally. We can give you all of the support you want here, but in turn, at least for me, I'd like to see you give something back. It's a trade. Seems fair to me.

You don't have to do anything you don't want to, obviously as it's the interwebz. But it gets frustrating seeing people just like you come here, open up about an issue, only to drop off back into the cycle of alcohol abuse. It's your THINKING that's got to change, not just your DRINKING. Hope all is going well.

JC812

I can honestly say I've only read 3 posts that I remember where someone successfully tapered. If I remember they all relapsed afterwards, but I think one lasted months. I know many people who quit, no matter what method they choose, have a problem at least once or more with relapse, so I'm still willing to give it one more go with support from SR.

JC812

That's scary. Is there any chance you could give me more information about your taper, just for reference.

Thanks

ClearLight

You need to see a doctor rather than try to detox yourself. I see this as just another typical alcoholic dodge of the truth. You don't have what it takes to detox yourself - deep medical knowledge. Reading some medical journals online doesn't cut it.

You said you can't see a doctor because you don't have insurance. Yet - several people have pointed out that's not true. Dee74 even gave you links to sources.

So, considering you don't know enough about detoxing to do it yourself, you don't have any financial excuse and you keep failing at this "taper off" - why won't you go see a doctor and quit?

If that's what you REALLY want to do then DO IT.

JC812

You are totally right. I think practice will make perfect, or at least better, I my case.

JC812

I appreciate and understand the feedback. So far I'm doing better on this taper then any previous one, so I'd like to see where it goes, and I will definitely be more then open to other options if I fail this time.

ClearLight

Oooops-

Rereading my post it sounds kinds harsh!

You can quit any time you want - no need to taper.

If you can do it with tapering that's fine - I have yet to see anybody do that but you could be the first.

bigsombrero

I also had 3 grand mal seizures, just like the previous poster. It's very dangerous doing this alone man.

doggonecarl

Well, if you're successful, you'll be number 4.

As an aside, successfully tapering and relapsing after you quit are two different issues. I don't know if there is any correlation between relapse rates and whether one went cold turkey or tapered, though I'm sure opinions abound.