Evan4816

I am 24 years old and have severe anxiety since the age of 10, and I've been drinking every day since I turned 21. At first, it started off with just a couple glasses of wine a night and then turned out recently to be multiple bottles all day long. I can go 16-18 hours without a drink and then start feeling kinda "weird" I don't know how else to describe it. I know how dangerous withdrawals can be and with my anxiety as soon as I feel any symptom of withdrawal, I start having a panic attack. I am about to graduate with my bachelors degree and I don't want this to get in the way of my success. I have read a lot about tapering and I am.l curious if anybody has had any positive experiences. I know I can stop no problem if it wasn't for the withdrawal symptoms. I don't crave alcohol at all. In fact, I just drink it to feel better.

Thankyou for your time,

E

Dee74

Hi Evan

if you're worried about withdrawal, why not see a Dr? They can help you through and make sure its as risk free as possible?

That's preferable to tapering IMO, which never worked for me.

If I could control my intake, I'd have no need of tapering.

D

Andagain

Man, do you sound exactly like me.

I could have almost written this entire post.

I'm a couple of years older than you but turning 21 was also when my alcohol abuse got bad. I can still remember my birthday, I was not in a good state.

I've had anxiety issues a little less than that, but I've had mental health issues since around the same time. But two years ago I suffered from panic attacks and drinking made them go away, I got rid of the panic attacks but the alcohol never left.

All I can say to you is you sound like you're in a similar place to me, and a couple of years flies by fast. You've no idea what I would do today to have given up two years ago.

Don't waste anymore of your life like I've done. You don't get the time back.

Andagain

Oh yeah, I've tapered before and my thoughts on it..

Ok, so I was fine tapering. However, through some sheer force of dumb luck I've never had bad withdrawal symptoms, even when my drinking was far worse than it is now. So I am a bad example.

So, I tapered before and all it did was prolong my drinking because I'd of been fine without it.

I know different countries have different ways of coming off alcohol so go to the doctors and see what they recommend, but I think that if you can avoid drinking in any way then that sounds like a solid idea to me.

Andagain

Saying "if you can avoid drinking" by the way means you should go to a doctor and see if they can help you get sober, I'm in no way suggesting you go cold turkey . My dumb luck on this particular subject does not mean it is a wise thing to do.

Evan4816

My biggest fear is being hospitalized, so if there is anyway I can detox from home that would be my preference.

Jules714

Hi.
Get a doctor's appointment and they should help you to get some meds to safely detox. Detoxing at home, alone, cold turkey can be deadly.
GL
Jules

Delilah1

Call your doctor and make an appointment. Let them k ow how much you are drinking, and that you want to stop. You can talk to your doctor about options to help you.