As with anxiety and depression, fatigue is common and normal for people withdrawing from drugs and alcohol. Your body must recover from the damage that drugs and alcohol do, as well as from sleep deprivation, sleep disturbance, overstimulation, and other effects of addiction. As you can see, when we take away alcohol quite a few things change – and it is likely that you’ll experience a period of adjustment as you get used to your ‘new normal’. Everyone experiences this differently how to take a break from alcohol and it’s great to take some time to reflect on things at the end of each week and take note of the changes – both positive and negative – that you’ve noticed. You may find yourself being more social during the day, and relaxing and unwinding during the evenings when you’d normally be out and about. Drinking alcohol before bed, even one glass of wine – impacts our brain’s ability to go into REM sleep – the type of sleep that is restorative and helps us to really feel rested.
Stand back and ask: ‘How does drinking serve me?’
Consuming alcohol slows the metabolism and stops the reactions that burn fat in the body. Once you take a drink, the body makes metabolizing alcohol a priority above processing anything else, which allows excess calories from the foods you eat to sit around, leading to weight gain and increased total body fat. “Alcohol is high in calories and often contributes to weight gain, particularly in the abdominal area,” Dr. Church explained. Alcohol manufacturers don’t have to list the total calories on the label of an alcoholic beverage, so people can end up consuming far more calories than they realize. The duration of your withdrawal symptoms depends on the substance you used, along with the length and intensity of your addiction—typically, just a few days, but weeks or months in some cases. If you’re more of a moderate to occasional drinker, you may find the hardest part of stopping drinking to be the social pressures.
Alcohol Withdrawal: How to Get Through It
Given that alcohol is so ubiquitous in our culture, some people drink out of habit and haven’t taken the time to take note of its effects. According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, alcohol should be consumed in moderation — up to one drink per day for women and up to two drinks per day for men. Cutting out alcohol for 30 days can have benefits for those who drink more than the recommended limit of two drinks a day for men and one drink a day for women. If you need a break from alcohol, going alcohol-free for a month or more can bring about many physical and mental health benefits. The current Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend that alcohol should be consumed in moderation — up to one drink per day for women and up to two drinks per day for men. Researchers have yet to uncover the specific ways that drinking raises your risk of developing these health conditions.
- Having a drink at night might make you feel relaxed and sleepy – but once you nod off, alcohol actually interferes with your sleep cycle, resulting in poorer quality of sleep.
- Becoming more aware of your alcohol triggers and reasons for drinking can help you plan ways to help manage the urge to drink.
- Dr. Sarah Church is a clinical psychologist with more than 20 years of experience in research and treatment of patients with substance use.
- If you’re taking part in an event like FebFast, encourage your friends and family to sponsor you.
- At Medibank, we know that caring for yourself helps you to care for those around you.
- Painter recommended swapping your typical alcoholic beverage for a mocktail.
Find alternatives to drinking
“It’s important to seek professional help if your attempts to curb or eliminate your alcohol use are unsuccessful,” says Ellinwood. This article is part of a content partnership with our friends at Tempest, the first evidence-based digital recovery platform. You may also consider joining an online support group to help you feel less alone. For those with alcohol misuse and dependence, the conditions are connected to chronic sleep disturbance, lower slow-wave sleep, and more rapid eye movement. Data from 2013 published in the American Journal of Public Health estimated that about 3.5% of cancer deaths in the United States were alcohol-related.
Decrease the risk of heart disease
Will I lose weight if I stop drinking alcohol?
The current trend towards choosing low or no alcohol might bring benefits.
Dry January: How to take a break from alcohol so you’ll actually stick with it
