Tapering off?

[treehugger79]

I know I can do it, I just want to know if it is safe?

I had a bout of drinking over the holidays during the day and not just at night. My usual routine is to get off of work, somewhere between 5 and 6, get settled in and drink anywhere from 3 to 4 mixed drinks a night. The day thing has sort of spilled over the holidays and I do not like it. Can I taper off back to my 3 or 4 and then after a week, maybe 2 for a few weeks? And then down to one for a couple of weeks? Then to half? and then quit?

[phsycodog]

I also have anxiety issues, so much so that I see a psychiatrist for them, and have for many years; she thinks that my alcohol abuse is a way of self-medicating. Fortunately, there are a number of prescription drugs that help immensely; I would suggest talking to your doctor about medications such as Lexapro, Remron, and Busbar. None of them are opiates, therefor none are addicting. Busbar seems to work exceptionally well for me, it takes several weeks for it to noticeably produce any noticeable change, but when it does it is significant. I believe it has saved me from having a self-induced stroke or heart attack by now.
I can also relate to the situation with your mother. I am consumed with guilt anytime I think of it as a burden. Not guilt like “she created me” or “I am the seed of her womb” kind of crap, I don’t believe in that nonsense. But the “she provided for me”, “she raised me”, “fed me”, “clothed me”, “sacrificed so I could have”, “did the best she could kind of guilt. To this day, to the best she is able, she tries to help me however she can. I owe her, and I will do anything in my power to make her remaining years as good as they can be.
As for death…here’s where it gets a little tricky. Let me preface this by saying that my perspective on life is different than most of the population. A lot of people don’t know how to take me. I march to a different drummer, maybe a different band; I might not even be in the same parade!?!
Anyway, back to death….do you want to LIVE the rest of your life? THEN DO IT! The only one stopping you is you. I have never feared death; the way I figure it is, death is the only one, single, solitary, solely, inevitable, unstoppable thing that will in fact happen to all of us, someday, period. Everything else might, or might not, will, or won’t, could, or couldn’t, should or shouldn’t. The only thing after that is decomposition. I don’t believe in an afterlife, heaven or hell, god or the devil, or any of that (that’s one of the things I love about this great country we live in, everyone is allowed to have their own beliefs); I believe that when you die, that’s it, you’re dead. No more. Game over. You cease to exist. Thanks for playing. Bye bye. Zip, zilch, nada, no refunds, bueno, you’re history. Two and a half years ago I suffered a traumatic brain injury that required emergency brain surgery (frontal craniotomy). The doctors gave my chance of survival only slightly higher than 1%. Well, that became infected, so a couple days (literally a couple days) later I had a second frontal craniotomy. This time they gave my chance of survival only slightly higher than 0%, and then, if by some miracle I did survive, the best quality of life we could hope for would be a vegetative state. Well, obviously, the doctors had never met me; all this talk about “he can’t”, or “he won’t”, or “the best you can hope for” sh** only served to **** me off. I was in a coma for 3 weeks, ICU for 5, and off work for 3 months. I had to learn how to talk again, walk again, think again, wash myself again, go to the bathroom by myself again, shave again, feed myself, get dressed, read, write, the list goes on, and on, and on.
A few things I want to clear up, they may save a patient, or a loved one, or both. Call it a Public Service Announcement:
1. If you talk to someone in a coma can they hear you? Yes, and it’s very much appreciated. It gets pretty lonely inside your head with only yourself to keep you company.
2. 2. If you play music to someone in a coma can they hear it? Yes, but please play their kind of music. If they have an iPod, even better. Those of you  who have Ipods go fill them up with music you like; why the hell I had music I don’t even like on mine is beyond me.
3. When someone is in a coma is there anything going on in there and will they remember it? Yes and yes. But what’s going on is some crazy sh**, it makes an acid trip look tame by comparison. For example: The company I worked for was remodeling the vice-presidential mansion, or the company I worked for owned the Chicago Sky, a woman’s semiprofessional basketball team, so I wanted my sister-in-law to crochet me a sky blue stocking cap (to date, I’m still waiting on that cap), or I was at the Exxon Mobil refinery where we were working investigating a fatality when I had my accident, so I was there doing someone else’s job.
4. And finally, can a hospital hold you against your will? Well, I always thought no, it’s a violation of my civil rights. Guess what? I was wrong. Yes they can. I tried to make an escape attempt. All that managed to get me was an ankle bracelet and another week in the hospital, but that’s a story for another time.
So, I guess my point through this whole tirade is, if you want to live your life you can, that choice is yours, but, you can, no matter what. Or as the song says "Someday, I hope you get the chance, To live like you were dyin'." And as for me “I may not be as good as I once was, but I’m good once, as I ever was”.

[treehugger79]

What became one of my biggest fears at cutting back and cutting out was the fact that I thought "If I cut this out, is it going to kill me?" and with death being my biggest anxiety issue, I kept doing it. Here's hoping that I can LIVE the rest of my life.

[treehugger79]

Thank you for your reply. My biggest issue, which I think started my addiction was anxiety while trying to get to sleep. I never really cared for the daytime drinking thing until here lately. Job stress plus having to live with and take care of my elderly mother has just got me over the top. I keep thinking....new job, new residence, new life..... but when? I think about things like death and dying almost every minute of the day. Funny thing, they say men think of sex at least once every minute, what about dying? For about 4 years I was at a steady 3 drinks a night, no less, no more, and never before 7pm or even 8pm. I was very functional and very active, but here lately I have crossed that border and it frightens me.

[phsycodog]

Wow, I came off a little strong, sorry about that. What I meant was, that really isn't all that much alcohol, although drinking everyday can lead to a really bad habit. Tapering off the way you've planned should pose no health problems at all and I wouldn't expect DT's or seizures or any of that other nastiness. This comes from someone who was drinking a case of beer everyday, and then swiched to Captian and Coke. I would go through a 1.75 liter bottle in less than two days, and that was on a work night. Obviously, if you're a big guy, you can drink more, I'm, average size, 6'0", 210#. Now, I had to do detox in the hospital, because I've been drinking way too much for way too long. I think you have a solid plan and you should have no adverse effects. Believe me, you're doing yourself a huge favor by getting it under control. I still think it's okay to imbide on occasion, if you can control it, if you can't, like me, you need to acknowlege it and stay away.

Good luck,

Jim

[phsycodog]

That doesn't sound like a particularly large amount of alcohol to me. I think you would be just fine. But, do it, don't just talk about doing it. Trust me, you want to nip this in the bud before it get's out of control. I didn't. As a result, I pretty much wrecked my life. I am on Day 106 of sobriety and I wouldn't trade it for the world, I wish I had done this 25 years ago.

Check out " Sobriety is scary" and "Sobriety isn't so scary" to see some of my story. I don't think alcohol is inherintly evil, for those who can control themselves, then there's other's, like me, who can't, in which case alcohol is a really bad combination. Don't do what I did.

I wish you luck. You can ask me a question or send me a message anytime. There are plenty of wonderful people here that will help you and give you advice, all you need to do is ask.