Ways To Quit Drinking?

Posted on Thu, 25 Jul 2013

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Thu, 25 Jul 2013 Answered on

Wed, 21 Aug 2013 Last reviewed on

Question : If I have drank for a long time but really want to quit....how do I? Just stop? Because then I shake and get really high blood pressure. I really want to quit though....please help me

Answered by Dr. Dr. Shruti Rijhwani (5 hours later)

Dear Madam ,

Thank you for posting your query on XXXXXXX

Well first thing i would suggest you to enroll yourself in drug deaddiction centre that will help you out in overcoming this problem in every aspect . Regarding medical therapy Acamprosate, disulfiram and topiramate are used to treat alcohol addiction.
Naltrexone decreases relapse to heavy drinking by attenuating the rewarding effects of alcohol.Cognitive-behavioral therapy, Multidimensional family therapy, Motivational interviewing etc are used in behavioral therapy to protect from relapse .

You will not be able to leave alcohol immediately as you are getting withdrawl symptoms in form of tremors and high BP . It is wiser to go slow and steady.

You should get your routine blood tests like CBC , urine r/m , RBS done to get base line evaluation . A complete liver function test including gamma GGT is required specially for alcohol evaluation as liver is the first organ to be damaged by alcohol . A USG abdomen to look for fatty liver changes is also required.This will give you an idea how much damage your body has incured because of alcohol .

Hope it suffices .

Wish you good health .

Take care.

Dr. Shruti

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar