How Does Tapering Off Alcohol Work?

However, this depends on the amount of support a person receives while they are quitting. Although there may be risks to quitting cold turkey, there could also be some benefits in using this method, which depend on the substance or practice. Tapering off alcohol is a method of reducing your alcohol intake gradually. This process can help your body break its dependency on alcohol with minimal side effects. For example, healthcare providers usually don’t take patients off antidepressants suddenly; rather, they gradually reduce the dosages. As the Medical Director, Mark works with the staff to coordinate the appropriate level of care for each individual client.

alcohol tapering vs cold turkey

Some inpatient detox programs rely on peer support along with some medical care. Others may include complete medical monitoring with doctors and nurses available at all hours. Drug addiction, also called substance use disorder, is a mental health problem. For https://trading-market.org/essential-tremor-alcohol-treatment/ that reason, detoxing on your own, without any guidance or supervision, is generally not wise. The safety of quitting cold turkey depends on the substance you’re trying to quit. “Cold turkey” is a quick-fix method to quitting tobacco, alcohol, or drugs.

Tips for quitting

In this case, having a strong support system, attending AA meetings, and talking with an addiction counselor is key to a successful detox process. Ria Health offers access to many of these tools, including prescription medications, recovery coaching, and online support groups—all through a HIPAA-compliant smartphone app. We support both moderation and abstinence as goals https://g-markets.net/sober-living/man-serving-sentence-for-attacking-parents-fails/ and, although we cannot provide medical detox remotely, we can help you design an effective tapering schedule to reduce your drinking. Some people are facing problems with their health or personal lives which require them to quit immediately. However, for many people with alcohol use disorder, tapering off alcohol is a far better experience than quitting abruptly.

While withdrawal symptoms are often uncomfortable, they can sometimes be life-threatening. The kindling effect is an aspect of alcohol withdrawal that makes repeated attempts at withdrawal less safe. If you go through alcohol withdrawal When Does Alcohol Withdrawal Brain Fog Go Away? multiple times, a kindling effect can occur. With kindling, the brain becomes increasingly sensitized to stopping alcohol. In turn, you can suffer from increasingly severe withdrawal symptoms every time you try to stop drinking.