Everything that happens to your body when you stop drinking for Sober October

After three days, you will likely start to feel more like yourself. However, individuals who have been drinking heavily for long periods of time may still experience some symptoms of withdrawal and may even have hallucinations or delirium tremens (DTs) and seizures. These symptoms can happen even if you used to drink at relatively low levels, if you were drinking regularly. For most people they pass quite quickly, and are just a temporary blip before they start to feel the benefits of cutting out alcohol. But if you experience these symptoms for more than about five days after stopping or find them particularly troublesome, your GP will be able to offer some advice. If you’re looking for the best programs to quit drinking, the method you choose will depend largely on your personal circumstances and the health benefits you seek.

• Earlier this year, the “Water Under the Bridge” artist told a Las Vegas crowd that she was drinking heavily during the early days of COVID.
• Another benefit of giving up alcohol is that your mind may be clearer.
• So many other methods of quitting drinking put fear in your mind – warning of terrible “serious” physical alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
• By Sarah Bence

  Sarah Bence, OTR/L, is an occupational therapist and freelance writer.

• While giving up alcohol can be a challenge, it’s important to remember that the benefits are well worth it.
• This process temporarily restores homeostasis, or chemical balance, in an effort to counteract the impact of long-term alcohol use on the brain.

Yet they don’t recognise that cutting down is even harder than stopping. Willpower is the hard way to quit drinking and not the Easyway to quit drinking. Take our free, 5-minute alcohol misuse self-assessment below if you think you or someone you love might be struggling with alcohol misuse. The evaluation consists of 11 yes or no questions that are intended to be used as an informational tool to assess the severity and probability of an alcohol use disorder.

Physical Effects When You Stop Drinking

For other people, stopping drinking can be essential for medical reasons. Perhaps because of an alcohol-related medical condition like liver disease, or because they start taking medication that reacts badly with alcohol. Programming can range from hour-long sessions a few times a week to several How to Stop Drinking hours per day. Sometime between days 5 and 7, moderate to severe withdrawal symptoms typically lessen. While some people may be able to enjoy a glass of wine on occasion, others with moderate to severe alcohol-use disorder struggle to cut back or quit despite the consequences they experience.

In some cases, medical help may be required to get through alcohol withdrawal. There are medications that treat acute alcohol withdrawal syndrome. Antianxiety medications such as benzodiazepines are considered the gold standard. If you have severe alcohol use disorder, withdrawing from alcohol should always be done with medical supervision. Remember you are facing a difficult challenge during alcohol withdrawal, but you are not alone. There are many resources available to help, including peer support groups, counseling, therapy, and inpatient rehabilitation.

Best for Busy People

Emotionally, you may feel some anxiety or sadness about ending a chapter of your life and nervousness about the future. To the best of our knowledge, all content is accurate as of the date posted, though offers contained herein may no longer be available. The opinions expressed are the author’s alone and have not been provided, approved or otherwise endorsed by our advertisers. If you tend to drink too much whenever there is any alcohol in the house, get rid of it altogether,  the NIAAA recommends.

Her liver was also covered in scarring and doctors told her that if she kept drinking, she would be dead within months. The organisation began by explaining that when you give up alcohol, your body may go into withdrawal – although its severity depends on the amount and frequency of your drinking. No amount of alcohol consumption is established as safe for cancers and overall health, notes the World Health Organization. Like ultraviolet radiation, asbestos and tobacco, alcohol is classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as a Group 1 carcinogen—the highest-risk group.

Enjoy the benefits

Unless you agree for the need to change, want to change, and have some confidence that you can change. Laying it all out in black and white can take time and some serious self-examination. Understanding your habits and your motivations to quit drinking can help you understand the change you’re making in your life and reinforce why it’s important. Dr. Streem suggests https://ecosoberhouse.com/ starting with the World Health Organization’s Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). It can be a particularly helpful way to help you get a clearer understanding of your drinking habits and your relationship with alcohol. It’s a 10-question screening test that gives you research-backed, personalized advice for quitting or reducing your intake of alcohol.