For almost the whole year I have been drinking 2 to 3 bottles of wine a week.?

Question

I want to stop and definitely am not planning to go to AA or anything like that. I'm just concerned about getting through withdrawal. Does anyone have experience with this or know how severe withdrawal symptoms should be??

Answer 1

That sounds like an awesome year to me.

You would have to drink 2-3 bottles a day to worry about withdrawal symptoms. Use your willpower, drink more water, exercise more, etc. and you will be fine.

Answer 2

2 to 3 bottles is about 10-15 glasses of wine over the course of a week. Are you drinking it in one night or is this spread out 2 glasses a night over a week? Because 1-2 glasses a night is the recommended amount by doctors. It helps with blood pressure and other heart related problems. I wouldn't be to worried about withdrawal because that isn't that much. Just man up and stop if it is bothering you. If you can't stop on your own then you really do need to seek help from AA or some form of counselor. If you are a religious person the priest at your church will help you.

Answer 3

If you're really drinking two to three bottles a week, that's less than half a bottle a night - and half a bottle is only a couple of medium-sized glasses anyway. If you're not happy drinking that much, or feel that it's becoming a problem, then you're right to stop, but you're not drinking so excessively that you're going to have huge problems (or indeed any problems at all, necessarily) with withdrawal. Maybe try limiting yourself to one glass a night, or buying one bottle a week and telling yourself that's the only one you're getting for the next seven days, so you'll drink less each night.

It depends what the circumstances around your drinking are, too - I mean, if you're meeting up with friends every evening and grabbing a glass or two of wine while you're out, you might find that switching to something non-alcoholic takes some willpower if everyone else is drinking. If you've just got into the habit of having a couple of glasses with dinner... well, that's hardly the end of the wrold, but it should (hopefully) be easier to wean yourself off of it. Maybe drinking water with all your meals would be the way to go, or maybe telling yourself that you'll have a glass or two on just one night a week, as a treat, might help.

I'd say that the amount you're drinking isn't a huge problem, so long as it's not 'underestimated' greatly, and isn't all consumed over the course of a day or two! But not drinking every day is a good thing, and if you'd be happier that way, then go for it!

Answer 4

If you are only drinking 2-3 bottles a week you should not have any physical problems with withdrawal but yu will probably miss your relaxing drink. In fact one glass a day is good for you - could you not just cut down to one bottle a week?
If you are drinking more - say 2 bottles per evening then you may have more of a problem. You should still be able to stop without severe physical symptoms, but will probably fins you crave alcohol. Your doctor can give you tablets to reduce the craving.

Answer 5

I was doing the same thing for awhile. You know what got me? You know those over-sized bottles of cheap white zin you can buy for like $5 @ Vons? They look like they can be 2 bottles of wine in one almost? One Friday night, I actually drank an entire one of those by myself - I didn't MEAN to, I just kept my glass full and drank it a little too fast.

Long story short, I ralphed, and ever since then, I just don't crave that wine during the week at all. I will occasionally have a couple of glasses on the weekend, but thats a big maybe.

I also work out 5 days a week - every day after I get off of work. It prevents me from having any wine after work like I used to (to relax myself), and after I was done working out, I just wanted to relax on the couch with a tall glass of water. Try that!

Answer 6

I don't think you'll have any withdrawals at all (now if that was 2-3 bottles a day it would be different).
It's just a habit you're going to have to get used to not doing. Buy Paul Newman's grape juice - it's so awesome tasting you'd swear you're drinking wine! Have it on ice instead. Good luck!

Answer 7

Let's do the math for the worse case, 3 bottles:
3 bottles * (.75 L/bottle) * 1.056688 quart/L * 32 oz./quart = 76.08154 oz./week. Dividing by 7 days/week yields 10.86879 oz./day.
The consensus in the health community is that, barring other health issues, 5-10 ounces a day is good for you. Since you in fact said you were drinking 2-3 bottles a week, I think you are well within the beneficial zone of alcohol consumption.
Cheers!

Answer 8

If you can't stop drinking you should try AA. If you have withdrawal, you should try AA.

I got into AA about 6 months ago because I couldn't stop drinking. My first drink would lead to 6-12 more. I had shaky days after I first quit and they were hard. You may not be done drinking just yet and need to find your bottom. God Bless you.

Answer 9

Why don't you not go to AA but instead slowly cut down to 1 bottle a week, then 1 every 2 weeks, etc... What do you think? No withdrawl symptoms there.

Answer 10

I have no idea how bad the withdrawal is but trust me, from what I have seen, joining AA is the way to go. You need the support of others & you'll know what to expect. Convince yourself that you can do it & you will. All the best to you!!!