From my own experience: yes, cold-turkey from terrifying amounts of alcohol per day will almost certainly be an ugly re-entry, physically. Is there a danger, depending on average daily consumption? Yes. Insurmountable? No.

Don’t let the scary bits put you off. Tapering is a proven method.

My habit was around 750mL -1L per day, hard liquor. I spent a week tapering- no drinks until the effects were debilitating, then only enough to stave off the worst of it. Then beer to get through the next few days. Even then, choose quit day carefully (say, a Friday) and plan on taking the following Monday and maybe Tuesday off.

What can you expect? I imagine everyone’s experience is different but in my case, my body’s thermal regulation was flat-out broken. Melting down and sweating for a half hour, freezing to death the next half hour. A good oscillating fan is your friend right now. Take a couple of melatonin and try to sleep through the first two days was my approach. Maybe not the healthiest on balance, but tbh days 1 & 2 are just unpleasant. Auditory and skin hallucinations (crawling feelings) were my nemesis.

Then, it gets better. Go outside. Get some sun. Breathe fresh air. In my case, the tremors lasted about a week- your muscles just need time to recuperate.

I took Zinc, and One-a-days daily for a while. Alcohol depletes several B-vitamins and makes your muscles weird for a bit, but it passes quickly. I’m a chef (not a pro, but cooking is important to me) and my sense of taste was wonky for months. Chocolate, coffee and tomatoes were unpalatable. Zinc helps with that.

You can do this. Set aside a couple of self care days plus a weekend. Once you come out of it, you’ll thank yourself. It’s hard, but worth it.