Texasblind

Alright everyone. For the past two months I've been playing the 14 days sober , 3 days binging game. I'm sick of going through withdrawals every two weeks.

I promised my family the best Christmas gift ever, me sober for 30 days; which will be the longest sober stretch in two years. After that I want to keep it going. I finally got a stable job with normal hours so AA might be an option for me now.

How do I beat those two week cravings??

Thanks everyone.

SaTiT

There you go..you're getting sick and tire of it.
Getting clean and sober is onething
Staying clean and sober is another.

Go to meetings , talk to other people if recovery.
Staying clean and sober takes changes.

Don't pick up no matter what.
pretend like you're doing another two weeks..with a head start this time,
without the detox or relapsed.

Everytime you have cravings..just pretend you're at a cross roads.
make a good decision..knowing it's will lead to a better part of you.
You deserve to be happy and to live a better life.
Somtimes 5 mins at a time or a an hour at a time...until it passes.

CarolD

Yes... AA helps me immensley.
Glad to see you planning to add it into your new sober life.

In my opinion and experience...
When you pick up ypu re-activate your disease
ergo..withdrawal and cravings come back.

By 3 months of continious sober my crabings had vanished.

Blessings....

chip

Welcome Texasblind

AA sounds like a good idea for you. I'm a member of AA and it really helps me stay sober. In AA they teach us to approach sobriety "one day at a time".

All you have to do is stay sober today, that's all. Do this everyday, and you'll be amazed when you start hitting milestones (one week, one month, 3 months etc....).

In early sobriety, cravings can be really difficult to deal with. Don't pick up a drink. Here's some suggestions to help with cravings:
- Eat something sweet.
- Hot chocholate
- Post here on SR
- Go to an AA meeting, or call someone in AA
- Go for a walk

The main thing we all learn is how to "change the channel" when the cravings or obbsession comes back. This takes practice. Having a strong plan to stay sober for a 24 hour period helps, but many of us find we can't do it alone. That's where this website and AA can help you.

You are not alone. You can do this. I hope you'll keep us posted.
chip

Paulos

I can never seem to get past the 14 day stretch because I always find an EXCUSE to drink/smoke.

swmnkdinthervr

As long as you leave the back door open there will always be an excuse handy to slip out...when YOU finally decide to do this you will surround yourself with a network of folks that you WILL call when the need arises and you'll fill your free time with meetings in order to stay centered in your resolve...ask yourself if you're willing to make that kind of commitment...JMHO

John

Rowan

I think that we trap ourselves by the past, sometimes. We psychoanalyze our past experience and figure that we are doomed to repeat this pattern.
Being aware of your past patterns is helpful, but learn from them rather than use them as justification or an excuse to start drinking again.
I have found that by sharing with others (as you have here) your fears, it takes away the power it has over you. Take it a day at a time, and treat day 15 just like you would the 14 days previous.
I wish you the best. Please let us know how you are doing, and let us help you get through the tough times.

barb dwyer

we stop. we cease fighting the cravings.
we become quiet in ourselves, and relax.
because we've already done this ... for two weeks (woHOO)
and we begin know ... we are doing the right thing.
we begin to understand that a craving ... passes.
we realize that when we're feeling a craving ...
it's already in progress, and will end.

we get busy.
we talk to another alcoholic.

who am I martha stewart?

that's all I got.
LOL

Tommyh

I used to do the same thing as you have done...I was told if I wasn`t ready to go to any lenght to take the steps,I was wasting good drinking time..they was right.
every time I tryed to quit for my family,it failed
when I finally wanted to quit for myself,and was ready to do anything to never drink again,I made it,one day at a time


I was finally ready to take the steps,no matter what,I was going to stay sober..

then,I looked for reasons to stay sober,not reasons to drink

one day at a time

findingout

Feed the desire to stay sober every day and the desire to drink shrinks every day. Come to believe that every sober day is a successful day no matter what else happens. Notice that you don't really regret not drinking yesterday.

Sobriety is not a theory, you have to live it. Recovery is not a theory, you have to live it.

I don't know if you are an alcoholic or not. I am. I don't need an excuse to drink, drinking is what alcoholics do. I need a desire to stay sober and I need to do things to strengthen that desire every day. I found the desire during outpatient treatment, I feed the desire with A.A. and N.A. and readings and praying and meditation and trying to help other alcoholics and addicts. Of course, that's just how I do it. Well, how I and the hundreds of people I've come to know and trust over the past five years do it. I am told there are other ways.

No matter what, I still have to do it one day at a time. There just isn't anyway to get 16 days sober without staying sober for 15 days first.

BP44

My experience of what you describe is the mental obsession to drink. After the first few days of withdrawl, there is no such thing as a craving. Craving is a physical thing. It is activated by putting alcohol in my body. What I have at however many days after I quit and I'm thinking about drinking, desiring drinking is MENTAL OBSESSION. What worked for me is getting into AA and finding another alcoholic who showed me how he got sober and has stayed sober.

mikel60

Don't drink no matter what. Don't drink even if your a** falls off. And if your a** falls off, pick it up, put it in a wheelbarrow, and take your a** to a meeting.

Just kidding. I heard that when I first went to AA and it kind of cracked me up. There is a kernel of truth in this tough guy approach, however. When I stopped, I spent every free minute in AA meetings. It worked. All those meetings, along with the knowledge gained there, exposure to the steps, and the exposure to people who had been there and done that, saved my life.
Good luck. I hope you have a good holiday season.

In the winter we will build a snowman....