Brain Fog After Quitting Drinking: What Can You Expect?

Michelle English, LCSW, co-founder and executive clinical manager of Healthy Life Recovery, said there are many places where you can get support if you are trying to limit your alcohol consumption. According to Atkinson, previous studies have shown that high levels of alcohol consumption can interfere with this process. The authors note that the brain’s frontal regions play several important roles, including decision-making, emotional regulation, and working memory. Less volume in these regions could make people less able to perform these functions.

What Does Brain Fog Feel Like?

However, you don’t have to rely solely on nuts for your brain food. For example, blueberries may help prevent neurodegeneration, and avocados are rich in monounsaturated fats that protect brain cells. A consistent flow of nutrients will keep your brain sharp throughout the day. One of the best things about getting sober is that there’s a newfound clarity of thought. Irrational thoughts that lead to impulsive behavior are replaced by more reasonable ones. This initial phase of sobriety can be invigorating and is often referred to as the “pink cloud”—a period that feels a little like you’ve found a unicorn.

• Her priority is to ensure that her patients and their families get the care and support they need.
• We can also enhance our cognitive health by getting adequate sleep, regularly exercising, eating a healthy diet, staying hydrated, and practicing stress reduction techniques.
• It’s important to know that you will get through this, and these symptoms are nothing to be ashamed of.
• Before we look at alcohol’s role in brain fog, let’s take a moment to define brain fog.
• It’s typical for withdrawal symptoms to begin within hours to a day or two after you have your last drink.

What Happens To Your Brain When You Stop Drinking?

• In addition to his Doctor of Medicine (MD), Dr. Robinson holds a Master of Public Health (MPH) and previously served as a Clinical Assistant Professor and Assistant Program Director at UCLA.
• This alcohol and brain damage slows down communication between our neurons because it impedes the production of new proteins, which are key components for healthy neural communication.
• Research shows that regularly eating nuts can alleviate brain fog.
• You can share in Monument’s 24/7 anonymous forum or one of our 60+ moderated alcohol support groups each week.
• Through studying functional MRIs, Berman and her team also determined that women had an increased response to emotional stimuli compared to control subjects.

The initial manifestation of this bold decision is going to be the detox phase. It’s similar to a spring cleaning that your body conducts to get rid of alcohol remnants. Detox is the body’s reactionary mechanism to sudden alcohol deprivation, making it a challenging phase. Unbeknownst to many, it’s a common reaction that has a scientific explanation.

Phase 1: Curiosity—The Allure That Starts Before the First Taste

The first one involves how alcohol acts as a sedative, and what happens when you remove that sedative. Naltrexone is an FDA-approved medication that works to block the release of dopamine when consuming alcohol. As you continue taking it, the associations between alcohol and pleasure weaken in the brain. Another helpful step to take before you stop drinking is to prepare your environment and support system.

Quitting Alcohol: What Happens To Your Brain When You Stop Drinking?

Medical supervision is always recommended because detox can be such an unpleasant — and even life-threatening — experience. Limiting alcohol consumption or eliminating it entirely can help prevent brain fog. We can also enhance our cognitive health by getting adequate sleep, regularly exercising, eating a healthy diet, staying hydrated, and practicing stress reduction techniques. If you want to cut back on your alcohol consumption and boost your brain health, consider trying Reframe. We’re a neuroscience-backed app that has helped millions of people reduce their alcohol consumption and improve their cognitive functioning.

How to Talk to a Loved One About Addiction

And when you refrain from drinking alcohol, it takes a toll on this body organ. For instance, cessation can trigger an imbalance in your brain’s chemicals, leading to cognitive disturbances and instability. Gillian Tietz is the host of the Sober Powered podcast and recently left her career as a biochemist to create Sober Powered Media, brain fog after quitting alcohol LLC. When she quit drinking in 2019, she dedicated herself to learning about alcohol’s influence on the brain and how it can cause addiction. Today, she educates and empowers others to assess their relationship with alcohol. Gill is the owner of the Sober Powered Media Podcast Network, which is the first network of top sober podcasts.

This will cause your brain to automatically begin to wind down near bedtime. The fortunate takeaway for recovering addicts is that there are simple ways to feed and train your brain in order to regain mental clarity that is equal or close to where it was before addiction. Dr. Hernandez values quality time with his family and friends and considers himself to be quite the handyman, regularly working on projects around his home. Kendell has served as both a Teaching Attending and a Hospice Medical Director. Robert is an experienced managed care leader and was most recently the CEO of On Lok, the originator of the PACE model of care.

It’s recommended, however, that they have someone stay with them who can help during recovery. Berman’s research has also found that the effects of alcohol abuse (and subsequent abstinence) differ between men and women. In a recent cross-sectional study, she and other researchers studied the brains of 60 individuals who’d been diagnosed with alcohol use disorder and abstained from drinking for at least four weeks.

Feeling Exhausted After Quitting Alcohol? Here’s Why and What You Can Do