Taper Schedule...
 

I realized that I need to taper off this week instead of trying to hit rockbottom and just quit. My quit date for both drinking and smoking is March first. I tried to hit rockbottom this weekend. had 200oz of beer sunday from noon until midnight... missed work on Monday... felt ok today but as I approached the 48 hour mark began to sweat profusely and I couldn't deal with the symptoms. I'm not at the right place in my life to go into detox....so I figured that it's been about 40 hours since I drank.

So my taper schedule is this... 1.5 oz of beer every two mins till the BAC hits .06 and then dump the rest of the beer... going to try tomorrow to not have any and then repeat this on thursday at 1.5 oz of beer every 3 mins until bac hit's .04....then friday repeat until BAC hits.04 again, but have 1.5 oz of beer even slower (every 5 mins or so) I just want to begin on march comfortably... has anyone had success with a taper before? I've done it correctly before and it made withdrawals very easy, I fell into the psychological factors and drank again, but I've been through the physical symptoms many times, this has been the easiest way to get through them. My best success was using xanax to help the symptoms but I'm out and I can't get anymore until next week. I DONT want to wait that long to quit... so I figure this is my best option...


I WILL update daily with you all about the psychological symptoms once I get past the physical ones... I'm just worrying about today and today I have to drink due to the physical symptoms. By early next week we can talk just about the psychological ones and deal with that then...I do have anxiety...and thats one of the reasons the physical symptoms are so tough... Much Love...

-Serper

One of the hardest parts of tapering, is keeping a level head while doing so and not going on a bender... I'm just begining my taper now... I feel ok.. starting to kick in and the cold sweats are stopping...I need your help so that I can complete this taper properly without going on a bender and trying to "hit rock bottom" that has never worked...the easier the physical withdrawal symptoms are the easier it will be for me to get to a point where I can only post about psychological symptoms.

I never had any success with tapering. If I could control my intake I wouldn't need to taper.

If you want to taper, I recommend talking to a Dr first.

I'm not trying to alarm you but the fact is a do it yourself taper may be just as dangerous as cold turkey quitting.

D

There tends to be a lot of resistance to tapering in these forums; I'm of the view that it beats dying of DTs.

That said, benzos are a better path, as it seems you realize.

When I've tapered it's been when I've gotten sicker as the day goes on, instead of feeling better as you do with a simple hangover. The only cure is a bit of alcohol. Typically, when this happens, I've reached the stage where it's hard to hold liquor down so it's not hard to stop at a small amount. I've never followed a schedule of any kind.

If we were pouring the beer, maybe we could help. Tapering doesn't work for the very reason you are aware of...if we could control our drinking, we wouldn't have a problem. Tapering, when in the hands of the alcoholic, is just another attempt at controlled drinking.

I'd suggest a supervised detox. If this taper fails, I hope you'll consider it.

Good luck.

I know... I've been reading for awhile on here and I think there is a lot of resistance to tapering... HOWEVER... I find that the psychological strength that many users have shown by being weeks, months, and even years sober is greater than the psychological strength it would take to taper correctly. I need help in following this taper schedule correctly. I will be posting until I finish my taper... I've been drinking for two years...it's just one more week and I've done taper successfully in the past. For me, it's setting up the plan and then excuting said plan effectively.

What you guys characterise as 'resistance' is actually experience.

I suffered several mini strokes during my last do it yourself attempt at tapering.
I'm doing OK but I'll never be quite the same again.

Detox is not something to fool with - and that why we have the line in the rules

D

Thanks, I want this taper to work. It's a pretty short taper only 4 days to be exact...and I didn't drink yesterday, my BAC is .45 right now and I feel confident that I can stop (mostly because I bought just enough beer, poured some out to make sure I reach a .06)

Thankyou for your response... I feel that I'm at low risk for any major complications with home detox... in the last month I've only drank about one out of every 3 days... and even minor symptoms of withdrawal seem to psychologically bother me a lot...thats why I'm taking this route...

Please get some medical advice Serper.

Tapering can be dangerous,just because you have done it before successfully is no guarantee you can do it again.

All we can do is offer advice, Serper.
What you do is your call.

I'd detoxed without incident literally hundreds of times - until the last one.
I genuinely thought I was an expert too.

D

I agree, however, most people seem to praise a straight up cold turkey quit... which is what I tried on sunday... I tried to have a last bender and then quit...I went 40 hours without major symptoms...it only seems right that I get a bit of a BAC and then work daily to slowly get my brain used to not having beer... I mean think about it.. anyway...my bac is .06 now...and I feel fine... I may not even drink tomorrow... if anything serious happens during the taper I can always go to the ER.. but I just want to make this as comfortable as possible... anyway like I said... my BAC is .06 now and I'm done for the night... theres a good chance I wont even drink tomorrow night... if I have to then I have to... but right now I'm safe... will reevaluate tomorrow and let you all know

To be 100% honest. I'm done drinking for the night... BUT. I still want more... I'm not going to go to the store to get more though... that would ruin the whole point of this... physically I do not want more... the sweats and shakes are gone...psychologically I want more... because thats how my brain is wired...I will fight off these cravings as I continue to post.