What happens to your body when you stop drinking
When you stop drinking, your body starts changing within hours, and keeps changing for years. Here’s what research says typically happens, step by step. Timings are typical, not guaranteed: they depend on how much and how long you drank.
- 12 hours
Alcohol has cleared your bloodstream
Your liver breaks down roughly one unit an hour. After a typical evening, most of the alcohol has gone from your bloodstream by now; after a very heavy session it can take a day or more.
Sources: NHS: "The risks of drinking too much"; Drinkaware: "How long does alcohol stay in your system?".
- 24 hours
Your blood sugar has steadied
Alcohol stops the liver releasing glucose, which is why drinking can leave you shaky and craving sugar. With no new alcohol, your blood sugar regulation starts working normally again. If you drank heavily every day, this is also when withdrawal can begin, so read the safety note.
Sources: Diabetes UK: "Alcohol and diabetes"; Cleveland Clinic: "Alcohol withdrawal".
- 3 days
You’re past the peak of withdrawal
For people who have physical withdrawal symptoms, such as sweating, shaking, anxiety and poor sleep, they usually peak between 24 and 72 hours and then start to ease. Many people feel noticeably clearer from here.
Sources: Cleveland Clinic: "Alcohol withdrawal"; NICE CG100: Alcohol-use disorders, physical complications.
- 1 week
Your heart rate and sleep have settled
Alcohol raises your resting heart rate and disturbs the second half of the night. Within about a week, resting heart rate is usually back to your normal and sleep starts to become more restful. Heavier drinkers can find sleep takes several weeks to fully settle.
Sources: Pietilä et al., JMIR Mental Health 2018 (alcohol and heart rate variability); Brower, Alcohol Research & Health 2001 (alcohol and sleep).
- 2 weeks
Your stomach lining has calmed down
Alcohol irritates the stomach lining and relaxes the valve that keeps acid down. Without it, heartburn and reflux usually ease and the lining has time to heal. Many people notice better digestion and fewer upset mornings.
Sources: NHS: "Gastritis"; NHS: "Heartburn and acid reflux".
- 3 weeks
Your mood has begun to lift
Alcohol is a depressant. Low mood and anxiety caused by drinking often improve markedly within two to four weeks of stopping. If low mood carries on, or gets worse, talk to your GP, as it may need its own support.
Sources: Brown & Schuckit, J Stud Alcohol 1988 (changes in depression among abstinent alcoholics); Royal College of Psychiatrists: "Alcohol and depression".
- 1 month
Your blood pressure and blood sugar control have improved
In a study of moderate-to-heavy drinkers who stopped for a month, blood pressure fell by about 6%, insulin resistance by about a quarter, and weight by about 1.5%, on average. These are risk factors for heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes.
Sources: Mehta et al., BMJ Open 2018;8:e020673 (short-term abstinence from alcohol).
- 6 weeks
Your liver has bounced back
Fatty liver, the earliest stage of alcohol-related liver disease, is reversible. Liver fat starts to fall within weeks of stopping, and for most people the liver is in much better shape by now. More advanced damage takes longer, and cirrhosis is not reversible, but stopping prevents further harm.
Sources: NHS: "Alcohol-related liver disease"; British Liver Trust: "Alcohol and liver disease".
- 2 months
Your liver blood tests are back to normal
Drinking raises liver enzymes such as GGT, which is one of the things a GP looks at in a liver blood test. Without alcohol, GGT roughly halves every two to four weeks, so for most people it’s back in the normal range by about two months. If yours is still raised after six to eight weeks without drinking, it’s worth asking your GP to look into why.
Sources: Niemelä, Clinical Biochemistry 2007 (biomarkers in alcoholism); British Society of Gastroenterology guidance on abnormal liver blood tests.
- 3 months
Your blood has renewed
Red blood cells live for about four months. Heavy drinking makes them larger than normal (a raised MCV), and over two to four months of not drinking, new, normal-sized cells replace them. Iron and B-vitamin levels can recover too, which helps energy.
Sources: British Society of Gastroenterology guidance on abnormal liver blood tests; Patient.info: "Mean cell volume (MCV)".
- 6 months
Your heart is steadier
Alcohol is a common trigger for atrial fibrillation, an irregular heartbeat. In a trial of regular drinkers with the condition, those who stopped for six months were less likely to have it come back (53% against 73%) and spent less than half as much time in an irregular rhythm. Lower blood pressure helps your heart too.
Sources: Voskoboinik et al., NEJM 2020;382:20–28 (alcohol abstinence in drinkers with atrial fibrillation).
- 9 months
Your mind is sharper
Brain scans of people who drank heavily show brain volume growing back after they stop: fastest in the first month, then carrying on through the months that follow. Memory, attention and problem-solving tend to improve with it. How much recovers depends on how much and how long someone drank, and not smoking helps.
Sources: Durazzo et al., Addiction Biology 2015 (brain volume recovery over 7.5 months of abstinence); Zahr & Pfefferbaum, Alcohol Research 2017 (alcohol’s effects on the brain and recovery).
- 1 year
You’ve had a year of lower risk
After a year, the benefits of the past months have had time to build: lower blood pressure, a healthier liver, better sleep and mood. Staying sober also gets easier with time, as the risk of returning to drinking falls the longer you go.
Sources: NHS: "Alcohol support"; Vaillant, Addiction 2003 (long-term course of alcohol use disorder).
- 2 years
Your heart rhythm risk has kept falling
The benefit to your heart keeps building. In a US study that followed more than 15,000 people for around 20 years, the longer former drinkers had gone without alcohol, the lower their risk of atrial fibrillation: about 20% lower for every ten years.
Sources: Dixit et al., PLOS ONE 2017 (alcohol abstinence and atrial fibrillation, ARIC study).
- 5 years
Your cancer risk has kept falling
Alcohol is linked to seven cancers, including mouth, throat, oesophagus, bowel, liver and breast. After stopping, the extra risk starts to fall within a few years, and it keeps falling the longer you go.
Sources: Cancer Research UK: "Does alcohol cause cancer?"; IARC Handbooks of Cancer Prevention Vol. 20A, 2023 (reduction or cessation of alcohol consumption).
- 10 years
Your mouth and throat cancer risk is well down
The cancers most closely tied to drinking are those of the mouth, throat and oesophagus. Studies that pooled thousands of people found that about half of the extra risk of oesophageal cancer has gone around five to six years after stopping, and that risk for mouth and throat cancers falls clearly from about ten years. Not smoking makes a big difference too.
Sources: Rehm et al., International Journal of Cancer 2007 (head and neck and oesophageal cancer risk after stopping drinking); Jarl & Gerdtham, Addiction 2012 (time pattern of oesophageal cancer risk after stopping drinking).
- 20 years
You’re close to never-drinker risk
After about two decades without alcohol, the risk of oesophageal cancer, and of mouth and throat cancers overall, is estimated to be close to that of people who never drank. For some throat cancers, such as cancer of the larynx, it may take longer. Every alcohol-free year before then counts.
Sources: Rehm et al., International Journal of Cancer 2007; Jarl & Gerdtham, Addiction 2012; Kiadaliri, Jarl, Gavriilidis & Gerdtham, PLOS ONE 2013 (laryngeal and pharyngeal cancer).
Hi Sobriety follows each of these milestones on its Health tab, filling a progress line for each one from your own start date.
Questions people ask
How long until I feel better after stopping drinking?
Many people notice better sleep and more energy within one to two weeks. Low mood caused by drinking often lifts within two to four weeks. Heavier drinkers can take longer.
Does your liver repair itself when you stop drinking?
Fatty liver, the earliest stage of alcohol-related liver disease, is usually reversible. Liver fat falls within weeks of stopping. Cirrhosis isn’t reversible, but stopping prevents further damage.
Is it dangerous to stop drinking suddenly?
For people who drink heavily every day, yes. Withdrawal can cause seizures and other serious problems. Speak to your GP or call NHS 111 before stopping.
What are the benefits of not drinking alcohol?
Better sleep, steadier mood and more energy within weeks; lower blood pressure, better blood sugar control and a healthier liver within a month or two; and lower risk of heart problems and several cancers over the years. You also save money and avoid hangovers.
What happens after one week without alcohol?
Resting heart rate is usually back to normal and sleep starts to become more restful. Many people notice clearer mornings and more energy.
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