Cut down or cut out?

[Georgina69]

I have been told to reduce the amount I drink slowly because to stop abruptly could be dangerous. I find this is impossible. I decided to switch from 1 litre of gin over 2 days to 1 bottle of wine per day to reduce the alcohol volume, but find 1 bottle is not enough, sometimes even having 2 bottle's in a day. So now I would like to stop altogether with the help of alcohol free drinks. I.e. 0.0 gin and 0% beer and wine.

Does anyone know what side effects I can expect if I do stop altogether today? Thank you.

[Hidden]

hi, was it a medical professional who gave you that advice? I would try your best to follow that and ask for further help from them if you find that too hard. Depending on how addicted you are, can be dangerous to stop abruptly. I am sure people on here will give you more sound advice, I am just commenting as go through this journey myself.

I’m also in process of changing drinks until I can stop completely. For me it’s not the amount it’s the different types of drunkness I get from each type of drink. And calories of the different types.

So so far, I’m trying to drink pop along side alcohol, drinking corona none alcohol beers when I get that crave or end of night…know when to stop and switch to something else.

[Georgina69 in reply to Hidden]

Yes it was medical advice, but as I said I am finding it hard to reduce as once I have 1 drink I don't stop till half a bottle of gin or 1 or 2 bottles of wine have gone. This is why I think I might be better off not having any at all.

[Hidden in reply to Georgina69]

hi could you just have say one bottle of lower syrength wine in i was advised when drinking regular to stop gradual or could have a siezure i wasnt drinking that much well a bottle of 11 per cent wine a night and the odd night off, i can just have a couple buy im more likely to have the bottle i live with my mam now and so im more supervised i also find i drink less if its not my favourite type, i wish you luck in stopping 🤗🌟

[Georgina69 in reply to Hidden]

That is my aim, and I need to only buy 1 bottle at a time now. I do feel better for not drinking gin , none since NYE so it's still early days.

[Hidden in reply to Georgina69]

i stopped twice for 3 months then recently twice for couple weeks was doing fine but boredom and my head pain re trigiminal nuralgia 2 winters i weakend, i wasnt even that bored this winter was enjoying other things warm ribena and pink grapefruit juice, i tried vodka in it but yak i cant handle spirits, my mam has brandy and scherry in i never touch that and when shes offered me scherry i feel sick, her brandy is for medicinal your mood will improve once ypur systems clear, i foccus on that when i fancy a binge it was also a very stressful few years but ive moved on from that phase now and its my 3 rd night this year no alcohol ill probably get a weak one for weekend incase, and im finding big mug cocoa soothing before bed

[Georgina69 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you Twinklystar for your comments and support. I do feel a lower volume alcohol is my way forward and I need to get on top of the amount, starting with 1 bottle of low volume wine a day and reducing the amount each day after. I'd like to open a bottle of wine one day and actually have some left for the next. That is my initial goal now that I realise that I can't just give up without possible further health problems.

[Hidden in reply to Georgina69]

the thing is thats been my goal for many years as said i can sometimes have some left but only if its the wine im not so keen on, it sadens me as when ive done so well gone like 2 weeks or 5 days ill have a full bottle thinking im in control and sometimes wishing i had more, i dont think anyone can control there drinking alone i did try AA but it was a bad time during covid and i had to go out of my town id have gone again, there lovely like minded people and most of them wanted to be able to just have a few but it always ended in binge, i never used to be so out of control, i do love the weaker wine leibframulich 1o per cent but it goes down too easy theres lessee strengths too, apparently binge drinking is a form.of alcoholism.and very dangerous i do feel ill end up back at AA one day and tryner stop completely, i learned the urge to drink when im.anxious passes a altenative a distraction, and i did turn to none alcohol stuff too when i quit for 3 months, i even mixed half n half, infact i got none alco mulled wine at xmas and mixed it with red, i was told that if you drink regular then stop for like a week or so when you drink it will be a binge i have fpund thats usually the case if i have it in, i say i wish i was normal but i dont think binge drinkers can be well not all the time and theres such a big risk that a bad binge can seriously damage us i had a bad fall ine night badly bruised ribs a friend fell downstairs and died she was 42, another friend had diabetis and he fell asleep and never injected in time and died, i have my mam and cat to think of i hope you have special people or pets that helps you 🤗🌟😺🐆

[SoberDrunk1]

I was a beer drinker so I was able to stop abrubtly. But I was drinking those high gravity steel reserve beers. Dagerours though. Please do consult your GP. I have see really bad DTs for other people. If you do have problem staying stopped, you can let us know, few of us here have experience here sobering up using 12 steps of AA. We can surely help you get there.

[Georgina69 in reply to SoberDrunk1]

Thank you, I'm going to continue trying to reduce for now because I am on holiday in a couple of weeks with 3 others and they are not big drinkers . As I domost of my drinking alone, I'm hoping it's going to help me.

[Isinatra]

I tried the weaning (controlling) to stop drinking many times. It didn’t work for me because an alcoholic is fighting an addiction. Physical as well as mental. I needed an environment where I couldn’t access alcohol at all. Luckily, we had a detox center. They screen and assess your physical state and determine if you can stay or you might need to be hospitalized. Detox centers can treat physical withdrawals to an extent. They have meds and techs that monitor blood pressure, etc.. The areas that don’t have detox centers, sadly, only have hospitals that can and do help a person stabilize. If you go to zero alcohol as you planned , you could go into physical withdrawals. If you do go to zero alcohol, monitor your blood pressure and if it increases, go to the hospital so they can treat you. And have a plan to help keep you from starting to drink again. AA. 🍀

[Georgina69 in reply to Isinatra]

I really hope that I can manage it alone and with the help of you lovely people on here. I don't think I'm ready for a detox centre, but who knows? Keeping everything crossed.

[CP2710]

I have definitely been drinking too heavy lately, but I find it a benefit to have drink free days. I don’t have any side effects that I’m aware of. And I do feel fresh next morning. Can u give that a try? Then try to have more days off in a row? I’m trying to abstain on week nights. It really is mind over matter tho I appreciate its not easy. Better trying that than stopping g completely. You will just feel deprived and likely worse as a result. Just my opinion though….

[fauxartist]

I was told half measures avail us nothing, however... if you have a long term heavy intake, you need to be monitored professionally to gently taper off, because yes... it's dangerous to go cold turkey. But trying to do it yourself usually doesn't work.