Like other symptoms, the impact on mood depends on the amount and duration of your alcohol use. For light or moderate drinking, you might experience a more temporary, mild effect on mood. If you’ve been drinking heavily or for long periods, the impact will be more pronounced, and it will take longer for your neurotransmitter systems to restore their balance in your body.
Reduce the risk of cancer
Medical detox ensures you will be as safe as possible by providing 24/7 monitoring that helps recognize and treat complications effectively and as rapidly as possible. Alcohol can cause inflammation and damage to your liver when used heavily over prolonged periods. After stopping alcohol, inflammation in your liver caused by alcohol will subside. Most of this inflammation will be gone by your fourth week of abstinence. While any scarring caused by liver inflammation (called cirrhosis) will be permanent, the effects of inflammation itself will be almost completely resolved by week four. “Quitting alcohol isn’t just about physical health; it’s a profound transformation for mental well-being too,” says Dr. Kellogg.
How does my mental health improve when I stop drinking alcohol?
Naltrexone is one type of medication that can help reduce alcohol cravings, making it easier for some people to stop drinking. “After a few months, the brain will begin to return to health,” says Dr. Abramowitz. Your sleep cycle is continuing to improve, so you’re getting even more REM sleep and feeling more rested. Talk with a what happens when you stop drinking healthcare professional if you’re concerned you may experience detox symptoms when quitting drinking or cutting back. Alcohol causes you to produce excessive amounts of urine, leading to dehydration. If you’ve been drinking for a while, you will probably be surprised by how much being sufficiently hydrated improves your health.
Risk factors
A big part of alcohol recovery is taking steps to improve your lifestyle through changes like diet and exercise. If you’ve been trying to get to and maintain a weight that supports your health, quitting alcohol can help you meet that goal. Even if you know that there are benefits to quitting alcohol, it does not mean that it’s easy to stop drinking—especially if you’ve been misusing alcohol for a long time. For younger people, the risks due to accidents, injury, and violence far outweigh any possible benefits of alcohol use. For other people, the possible benefits gained from drinking alcohol could also be accomplished by getting more exercise, not smoking, and eating a healthier diet.
How you feel when you stop drinking is largely based on how often and how heavily you drink. People who only drink occasionally probably won’t notice any physical or psychological symptoms. People who have a severe reaction to quitting alcohol should seek emergency treatment. These symptoms peak within 72 hours, but people with serious alcohol withdrawal symptoms should work with a healthcare provider as the experience can be fatal.
- If alcohol is interfering with your health or your personal, financial, or professional life, consider quitting.
- Brittany Burke Robert, the author of this article, has written about health for Oprah Daily, Well+Good, Livestrong, Reebok and other publications and digital brands for over 15 years.
- Chronic and excessive alcohol consumption can destroy liver cells, which are necessary for filtering out harmful substances in our body (the liver is our built-in detoxifier).
- Your risk for cancer falls, though your heart disease risk may creep up.
- Alcohol consumption, even no more than one drink per day, is linked to various types of cancer, including head and neck cancer, esophageal cancer, colorectal cancer, liver cancer, and breast cancer.
- Drinking alcohol can contribute to a variety of cognitive issues, including poor memory, slow reaction time, impaired impulse control, and poor concentration.
- When you’re having a good time, you find it hard to stop, especially in the company of friends having the same amount.
Emotionally, you may feel some anxiety or sadness about ending a chapter of your life and nervousness about the future. Drinking—especially a fine wine or scotch habit—is an expensive undertaking. Take a moment to crunch the numbers, adding up what you spend for drinks both at home and out on the town (factoring in tax and tip). These effects will subside as your body adjusts to the absence of alcohol. If you’re having difficulty sticking to your goal or just want some extra guidance, consider reaching out for professional support. Feeling at your best physically can boost resilience and emotional strength, equipping you to weather challenges that trigger the desire to drink.
These first few weeks are critical because they are when the risk of relapse is highest. Over time, however, the body builds a tolerance to alcohol, and a person may have to drink more and more to get the same feeling. Meanwhile, the brain is producing more and more neurotransmitters, making a person further imbalanced.
- For one, drinking alcohol makes falling and staying asleep much harder.Alcohol also relaxes the muscles in your throat, so you’re more likely to have problems like snoring or disorders like sleep apnea.
- While you might not notice it, your hormones are starting to improve as well, with libido and sexual function revving back up.
- Sometimes called alcoholic hallucinosis, these can show up within 12 to 24 hours after you quit.