The urge to drink will inevitably come—so make a plan for it. Remind yourself of why you want to cut back, talk to a friend about it and distract yourself with a hobby or exercise, the NIAAA suggests. Use the NIAAA’s drink size calculator to determine the amount of alcohol in various drinks. You’ll get a 100% custom plan, then use daily texts to track your progress and help you stay on target. If you’re having trouble doing the same things you used to do, try new hobbies to fill your time. Join a gym, learn a new skill, or find sober social groups you can enjoy.

What Does it Mean to Taper Off Alcohol?

In particular, she’s committed to helping decrease stigma around mental health issues. What’s most important is looking at your drinking habits and finding a way to cut back that works for you. But maybe you’re unsure about quitting completely and don’t want to hold yourself to that goal. Maybe you don’t think you depend on alcohol exactly, but you still wonder whether you might be drinking too much. “The regeneration of damaged tissue takes time, but it happens much quicker when you stop drinking.” A day of going dry sees your immune system return to normal, while three to five days in, even more benefits become noticeable.

Decreased Risk of AUD

• Try hobbies and self-care activities that make you feel relaxed, proud of yourself, included, and mentally and physically healthy.
• When you quit alcohol, you’ll notice immediately how much money you’re saving.
• Will quitting drinking solve all of your problems, in health and in life?
• Heavy alcohol use is expensive, potentially costing you $800 each month or even more.
• There may be many reasons why a person plans to stop drinking alcohol.

An easy way to keep track of how you’re doing and keep your motivation up is to give yourself short-term goals. Perhaps you could aim firstly for an alcohol-free week, then an alcohol-free month, how to stop drinking for example. Whatever your reason, the good news is that anyone can stop drinking.

How Is Recovery.com Different?

And practice what you might say as a follow-up explanation if someone ask. American Addiction Centers can improve treatment outcomes for those in recovery for alcohol use disorder. Although it can help some people fall asleep quickly, it can disrupt your sleep patterns and stop you sleeping deeply. So cutting down on alcohol should help you feel more rested when you wake up.

Sample Alcohol Tapering Schedules

Withdrawal usually begins 6 to 8 hours after the last drink and peaks within 72 hours. For people who moderately consume alcohol, tapering off may be a good option. However, quitting cold turkey or tapering is not advisable for people with an AUD. One advantage of in-patient detox is that you will be away from your usual drinking triggers and therefore be less likely to pick up a drink to stop symptoms when they begin.