Hubby spoke to the Hepatology alcohol nurse. She has told him that she will now refer him to the local addiction group, who should call him in the next few days to discuss how he should cut down. The nurse told him not to go cold turkey. she suggested measuring his alcohol out and treating it as medication instead of a relaxing pint?
Hubby really wanted to get started today. The fridge was empty this morning, Hubby consumed 14.52 units yesterday. I have just gone and purchased him some weaker strength cider, compared to what he normally buys, as the nurse told him not to go cold turkey today.
How should hubby deal with today. He was going to have nothing today and then 2 cans tmrw and repeat that pattern for the rest of the week. However after talking to this nurse he is now thinking maybe he should reduce to 4 cans per day this week, then next week cut it to 2 cans per week?
What has worked for those of you have given up alcohol already? Like I say hubby really wanted to start today, rather than wait the the addiction team to call him in a few days?
Thanks, Lisa
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Been doing some research online regarding tapering method vs cold turkey method.
What is a sensible time frame to taper, if hubby cuts out a can a day? So if he has just 4 cans today, when should he drop it to 3 cans?
Its really important that you receive more detailed guidance from the alcohol nurse regarding this. Can hubby call them today?
Like Trust has said each patients drinking addiction is different and will have to be tapered of medically supervised of unit reduction. I can't say I did this or did that as each case is completely different so can only say the advice given is good . All the best.
Ok so Hubby decided to do his own thing today. So today, he has so far had an alcohol free day. He has been fine so far, but I am keeping a close eye on him. Tmrw he is planning on having 2 or 3 cans of cider. He is planning on repeating this for the next 5-7 days and then reduce it again. My head is all over the place today. Part of me is proud of him and the other part of me is scared he will have a seizure.
So last night hubby and I listened to the first Recovery Elevator podcast. I will see if hubby will listen to some more tonight as well. As today we are going to our support bubble to see our grandson and daughter. That always cheers up hubby.
Hubby has a telephone appt today at 15:15 with a Dr from Elderly Care to discuss his blackouts/falls.
Hubby has had tremor's 24/7 for over a year or so now. Yesterday he had no alcohol at all. This morning he has come to show me how steady his hands are. Normally in the mornings when he gets up his hands are shaking like crazy and he struggles to carry a cup of coffee. This morning they are really steady.
Hubby is up much earlier than normal today as well. For the first time in I don't know how long, hubby has made himself a cup of tea. Normally he goes straight to the fridge and gets a can of cider. Hubby is very upbeat this morning too. He just said that he feels so good that he might not have a drink today? I reminded him what the nurses and you guys have said, so he is going to have some cider today and then try and have nothing on Wednesday.
I know it is very early days, but its a good start.
Unfortunately if you are alcoholic, one cannot moderate or taper down alcohol. Because once the alcoholic puts alcohol in the body, they want more. Having said that its better to handle this under medical care. Its very dangerous to go cold turkey without medical supervision. Once perhaps after the person is alcohol free, you can talk to them about other solutions like the 12 steps of AA.
It’s absolutely possible to taper down even if you are an alcoholic. Is it difficult? Yes. For some people more than others. The key here is that for a heavy drinker or alcoholic going cold turkey can be very dangerous. Medical supervision and prescription meds are best and safest, followed by tapering. Since everyone is different there’s no set taper schedule but most of what I’ve seen as safe reduces by a drink or two per day until you get down to 2-3 drinks and then can stop. If you start having severe withdrawal symptoms hold your taper at that new amount or slow it some. The best person to talk to is your doctor or a professional though and to watch out for the truly life threatening symptoms such as seizures, DTs, etc which are a medical emergency.
Still waiting for the alcohol addiction people to call hubby.
Yesterday we went to our daughters. Normally hubby does the same as he does at home and just sits in front of the tv. However my daughter has asked him to cut up some logs for her. We got to our daughters about 11:30 and hubby spent most of the afternoon until about 18:00 in her garden.
Hubby had his cup of tea in the morning when he got up, he also had his meal replacement drink. Then he had a packet of crisps at my daughters at about 15:00.
At 15:15 the Elderly care specialist called hubby to discuss his blackouts. He spoke to hubby about all of the conditions that he has and said that although alcohol can cause blackouts, he would also like to get hubby's heart tested to rule out any issues with his heart.
After the dr's call my daughter and I realised that hubby had not had a drink? Ordinarily he would have been supping on cider all day. My daughter asked hubby what he would like and we had a conversation with him about what he had been told about going cold turkey. Hubby explained that when he gives up, he will give up forever, as he definitely would not be able to have a pint or two, as that would just start him drinking again. He was quite adamant that he will never have a drink again, once he has given up. Hubby had a pint of orange juice and lemonade and then went back out into the garden.
At 18:00 hubby got a can of cider. Prior to this his last cider was Sunday night. It took hubby and hour to drink this can. However something he said to me about half way through the can has worried me. He turned to me and said "I am quite enjoying this, but I do prefer Scrumpy Jack". We then had a brief conversation about him not supposed to be enjoying it. The whole point of having a cider that he is not as keen on is to help him give it up. I am now not sure if he will ever be able to give it up!!
Anyway he had his 2nd can at my daughters between 19:00 and 20:00. We got home about 20:45. At about 21:00 hubby got his 3 can of cider, which he was still drinking when I went to bed at 22:30. When I have checked the fridge this morning, I can see that he had a 4th can after I went to bed. This means he had 8.8 units yesterday. His plan is to have nothing again today.
So this is how hubby has reduced his units over the past week or so:
-S, M & Th he had wine as well, but he said that the bottle of wine Thursday was his last ever glass/bottle of wine
- the rest of the units are cider
I am finding this harder than I thought. I really want to believe him when he says this time he is giving up for good. However over the years he has cut down and down dry January a few times. Unfortunately when ever something goes wrong in his live, he has always turned to his cider as his crutch. About 18mths ago he was having counselling with a hypnotherapist and he was doing really well, but then he felt he could do it on his own and stopped going. There was a death in the family and that was it, he upped his drinking again. I feel so helpless.
I really appreciate the help, advice and support that you guys have been giving me since I recently found this forum, thanks Lisa
ps 11:26 hubby has just got up. Says he was awake every hour last night and is in a really grumpy mood. Whereas Monday night with no alcohol in his body he slept really well. He says he is very confused and does not what to do as everyone keeps telling him different. Says he will probably not drink anything today though !!
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