Pros and Cons of Tapering Off Alcohol Intake

Whether you're a daily imbiber, heavy drinker, or frequent binge drinker, you're likely to experience withdrawal symptoms when you quit. Unfortunately, there's little to no evidence that tapering off reduces the effects of alcohol withdrawal, some of which can be severe or even life-threatening. Quitting with proper medical supervision may be more important than whether you stop gradually or all at once.

Tapering Off Alcohol vs. Going Cold Turkey

Tapering off is a standard medical practice for many other drugs. For example, healthcare providers usually don't take patients off antidepressants suddenly; rather, they gradually lower the dosages to help reduce antidepressant discontinuation symptoms.

Typically, quitting cold turkey from a 12-beer-a-day habit is going to be more stressful than tapering off slowly. In addition, home detox may not be effective, appropriate, or safe.

Individuals who've consumed higher amounts of alcohol over time can develop life-threatening complications when trying to quit. These complications can develop within a few hours or days and appear in the form of seizures, delirium tremens (DTs), and hallucinations, sometimes even leading to death.

This is why it is important to stop regular, heavy drinking only under the supervision of medical staff. They can provide medications and additional support to make quitting alcohol safer, and more comfortable.

Generally speaking, alcohol home detox is neither the most effective nor the safest method of quitting alcohol. However, it may be suitable for someone with a lower risk of experiencing alcohol withdrawal, or a person who has access to medical professionals at home.

Strategies for Tapering Off Alcohol

If you'd like to slow your alcohol consumption slowly over time versus quitting all at once, these strategies can help:

• Gradually reduce the number of drinks you usually drink. For example, if you typically drink five glasses of wine every day, try cutting back your intake to four glasses for several days. Then, work to reduce your intake to three glasses, and so on.
• Space out your drinks. Limit yourself to one drink per hour, for example, or substitute a glass of water, juice, or other non-alcoholic beverage between each alcoholic drink.
• Dilute your drinks. Mix progressively weaker drinks with less alcohol.
• Change to an alcoholic beverage you don't like. For example, switch from wine (which you like) to beer (which you don't). The rationale is simply that you're less likely to drink much of a beverage if you don't enjoy its taste or flavor.
• Download an alcohol reduction app. Research has found that using digital interventions can help reduce alcohol consumption. Some apps work by increasing your awareness of how much alcohol you're consuming; others use neuroscience to help you quit.

Challenges of Tapering Off Alcohol

For some drinkers, cutting down on the amount of alcohol they drink simply does not work. They may cut back for a short period of time, but soon find themselves back to drinking at their usual level. This is especially true of heavy drinkers who are surrounded by the triggers that encourage drinking and lack the support needed to encourage change.

Those who find that they cannot taper off the number of drinks for any significant length of time have likely developed alcohol use disorder, a condition commonly known as alcoholism. For others, simply cutting back the number of drinks can bring on alcohol withdrawal symptoms, making it more difficult to stop.

Moreover, substituting one kind of beverage for another does not help you taper off alcohol if you consume the same number of standard drinks as you usually have. For example, one 12-ounce can of beer contains roughly the same amount of alcohol as a 5-ounce glass of wine or a mixed drink containing 1.5 ounces of alcohol.

With these things in mind, it's important to weigh the pros and cons of tapering your alcohol use to make a fully informed decision. If your health, wellness, and even life may be at risk, quitting alcohol should only be attempted with the help of a medical professional.

Final Thoughts

If you find that you are a person who cannot taper their alcohol consumption consistently, or if you find that you begin to experience withdrawal symptoms by merely cutting back, don't give up. You don't have to let the fear of alcohol withdrawal stop you from cutting back or quitting.

You may decide to seek medical treatment for your withdrawal symptoms or make the choice to enter a professional detox or rehab center. Whatever you do, it is better to act than not act. Even if you don't succeed the first time, there are still plenty of treatment options you can turn to. Don't give up.