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Who Can Benefit From Tapering Their Alcohol Intake

Your liver can start to heal, your risks of heart disease and cancer go down, and you may begin to sleep better. Say you don’t have any cravings when you go without drinking. All the same, “a quick drink” often turns into three or four drinks.

Are you coping with stress in a healthy way?

• They include naltrexone, which helps ward off cravings and reduce the pleasurable effects of drinking.
• Tapering helps people stop using alcohol and other substances in small and manageable steps.
• Start by estimating how much you drink on a daily basis—and be honest with yourself.
• It should not be used in place of the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare provider.
• Tapering will normally create less severe alcohol withdrawal symptoms but will spread them out over a prolonged period.
• Quitting alcohol can lead to improved physical health, better mental clarity, enhanced relationships, increased productivity, financial savings, and a reduced risk of accidents or health issues related to drinking.

Also, it will allow structural brain changes to partially correct and memory or cognitive functions such as problem-solving, attention span, and rational thinking will increase,” Weber explained. In lieu of an alcoholic beverage before sleep, try other alternatives like decaffeinated warm tea or warm milk. In general, better sleep also improves mood and quality of life. When you take a break from alcohol, “sleep patterns will often return to normal and REM sleep and quality of sleep will return to healthy patterns,” Weber said. Even a temporary break from alcohol can help the skin feel and look more rejuvenated and refreshed.

Gauge how you feel

The stress of the COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll on everyone, but especially on those who have battled the virus and now have lingering symptoms. She enjoys interviewing medical experts and researchers about their work and is passionate about communicating accurate and relevant health information to the public. Dairy products in general are good sources of calcium, vitamin D, and other vitamins and minerals that you’ll need to replenish to stay healthy and fight cravings. Omega-3-rich fish like salmon and mackerel may also help improve focus and overall brain health. Acamprosate is believed to work by restoring balance to certain neurotransmitters in the brain that are disrupted by long-term alcohol overuse. The question you need to ask yourself is not “ Shall I have a drink now” but “Do I want to become a drinker again and never be allowed to stop?

Knowing why you drink is essential, says Cyndi Turner, LCSW, LSATP, MAC, a Virginia therapist specializing in addiction treatment and alcohol moderation. Maybe you don’t think you depend on alcohol exactly, but you still wonder whether you might be drinking too much. No content on this site, regardless of date, should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician.

Satisfying hobbies can distract you from wanting to drink, but they also help you relax — something everyone needs to do. Feeling at your best physically can boost resilience and emotional strength, equipping you to weather challenges that trigger the desire to drink. If you know that some situations have high peer pressure around drinking, you shouldn’t feel bad if you choose to rely on a white lie like “I’m allergic.” or “It interacts with my medications.” to ease the refusal. Letting others know about your choice to stop drinking may help motivate you to stick with your decision.

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“Once you have a sense of how much you’re drinking, it’s helpful to track how many drinks you’re having per day,” says Witkiewitz. “You could use a calendar, journal or any number of tracking apps.” Drink Control Alcohol Tracker or Less are two examples of free tracking apps available on iOS devices. Disulfiram is a pill that causes unpleasant side effects when combined with alcohol. This causes you to feel hangover symptoms shortly after drinking. A number of medications can help people who are moderately to severely dependent on alcohol.

• You will have an imbalance of excitatory and inhibitory chemicals in your nervous system.
• This can help your body adjust, and it can be easier to manage than quitting cold turkey.
• So it’s sometimes easier to increase drink-free days, rather than reducing the quantity on drinking days, or to quit altogether for a period of time.
• For one thing, it creates tangible goals for the person tapering to reach, helping to build their confidence in themselves and the belief that they can eventually stop drinking completely.

It can take between two to four days for the symptoms of delirium tremens to fully manifest, and at least another three days for them to run their course. Finding yourself drinking more than you intend to every time? There is no shame in admitting this — the National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that 28.9 million Americans suffered from alcohol use disorder in 2023 alone. There are ways you can cut down on your drinking without quitting entirely. We’ve gathered some tips and tricks on the best ways to cut down on drinking alcohol that can help you practice mindful drinking.

We aim to change how you feel about your drinking so that getting free becomes easy, enjoyable and you do not miss anything. You may be worried that quitting comes with bad physical symptoms such as trembling hands, nausea, sweating and other effects. However, these are extremely uncommon and any site that mentions them will say that too in the small print. As long as you use a drug-free method that also ensures that you understand the psychological aspects of alcohol addiction – these tips will help you.

Tell family members and friends you want to get healthier.

You’re likely to be in situations where you’ll be offered a drink. And practice what you might say as a follow-up explanation if someone ask. There’s a reason you’ve reached the decision to quit or cut back.

The willpower and cold turkey method is likely to cause abject misery and failure because of the feeling of giving up something that you want and need. So please read our world-famous tips but you must remember that drinking is like being trapped in a maze. Sober House Rules: What You Should Know Before Moving In Enrich your soul by volunteering at that nonprofit you’ve been eyeing. Show your friends that a sober party can actually be a pretty good time. You may find that there things you enjoy a lot more than alcohol. While we’re on the subject, a plate of fries after drinking is not a magical hangover cure.