redstuff

I'm 10 days sober today, almost into the 11th day! I'm not sure if anyone can relate to this or not. Most would think it would be pretty simple to know when you are supposed to eat...right? Well, I'm not sure if I am really hungary for food or if I'm craving a drink. This seems to happen to me later in my periods of sobriety. I usually eat, and most of the time it goes away at least for a little while. The thing is, I seem to be hungary most of the time. I don't see how anyone could be so hungary, but who knows. I guess I have taken a lot of calories out of my diet by not drinking. Anyway, afterwards, I obsess about the fact that it might be an alcohol craving and get worried. Do I just need to eat more or??? Anyone know what's going on? Is this normal? Does it go away after a certain period of time? If so, about how long could I expect this to continue?

barb dwyer

hi redstuff -

I had to smile at your post.

CONGRATULATIONS on ten days - got almost two weeks under your belt!

When I first got sober, the first months - I did the same. Was hungry like I had the munchies or something.

I don't know if it's 'normal' but it's certainly 'common'. To switch over, I mean.

Just because were not drinking, doesn't mean the addiction isn't still running us headlong into something else.
It's a personality long before it's a substance.

With ten days - I wouldn't be too concerned with much of it right now.
You've got bigger fish frying right now.

For at least the next 80 days - sober is more important.
I MEAN - if you've 'got' to make a choice of something to stick in yer mouth - make it food over another drink.
That's what I'm saying.

Your body hasn't had time to heal - in fact - it's only just beginning to realize it's being allowed to run it's normal systems without sedation for the first time in a while. So it's all out of whack right now. It could be running too much of something into your system in order to clean , or just because it hasn't been able to run that organ's .. business' without alcohol's command for a while... it's all over the place trying to get back on line
So we're going to feel anxiety, compulsions, impulsions ...
the 'urge' for alcohol often becomes the 'urge' for smoking, for eating, for sex ...
woo.
Okay. Sorry. Sidetracked...
That's exactly what the disease does, too.
Sidetracks.

There's a gap, a 'void' where alcohol used to be. Our first impulse is to try and replace it with something else. I recommend AA. It saved my life - I made a TON of friends, and can truthfully say ... the program works when you work it.

In time - you'll be able to recognize a true feeling of hunger, and a 'disease' urge.
A compulsion.
You'll know for yourself.

One other thing - just an aside - I was near-fatally anemic when I sobered up.
I almost died all over again because of it going undiagnosed. Because of that - I was 'hungry' all tie time ... not a compulsive hunger, just a 'no, that's not it' feeling.
I can't recommend enough that you get tested and checked out with the doc - I don't know if you're detoxing under a doc's care - but who'd think that someone 30lbs over weight ... could be fatally anemic?
*I* thought ... only 'skinny' people got anemic.

Which is why I'm not a doctor.
But it's also why I'm always ragging on people to see a doc.

So, in the beginning, for me - the urge to eat something ... was anemia talking - and NOT the disease, as I'd thought.

1963comet

I had a cookie thing going on for a while. Every night about the time I would usually drink. I broke out the bags of cookies and a glass of milk. It was better than drinking.

barb dwyer

Yeah, that's exactly it -
if you catch yourself halfway through a half gallon of ice cream -
wondering what you've got left you can eat nest ....
that's the disease.

If you wake up hungry for breakfast -
after a good night's sleep -
that's probably just the need for fuel.

At least for me.

best

Sugars in the beer and carbs in the beer...when we stop the intake, we still have cravings for them both at times (has been my experience)

Many years of being alcohol free and I still find I crave certain foods from time to time. If I go a while without certain foods and then one day have just a snack of that food... I can end up craving it for a week.
Alcohol also depletes vitamins in our system. Part of the craving towards foods could be our body looking for what is missing... Vitamin C, B, and D.

hmmm Maybe I should go back to taking my vitamins daily or better yet... eat a better balanced meal?

Tazman53

Alcohol is a kind of sugar, so cravings for sweets are common, one reason you see a lot of hard candies at some AA meetings. An alcoholic with time our intestines quit functioning properly so even eating right at first does not help a lot, but they do get better. Some alcoholics can actually be malnourished because thier bady no longer processes food the right way, this gets better with time also.

The cravings could be alcohol cravings, food craving or a mix of the 2. Go with the food!!! LOL The last thing you need is more booze. Depending upon how long and how much you drank will determine how long your body takes to recover. Make sure you are taking a multi-vitamin, expecially a B complex, alcohol causes us to get a bad defencincy of that.

Craving of all kinds are not uncommon in sober alcoholics, do not worry your self about them, just do not drink! As Barb said, with some more time you will learn the difference between your disease talking to you and other cravings.

redstuff

Thanks for your input. The most important thing for me to focus on at this early stage of sobriety is just that, being sober? Also, I drank every night for the past 4 years till I would go to sleep. Started with about a 1/4 of a 1/5th a night, but toward the end I would go through 1/4 of a 1/2 gallon a night. Ended up going through about a gallon of 80 proof rum a week. I know it's a lot to any normal person, maybe a lot even to the average alcoholic. I don't know, is it? Would that amount give any indication of how long I am in for?

Tazman53

No not really, every one is different.

best

At my high point (or low as I see it now), I was putting away 2 pints of rum a week plus a six pack per night over 6 of the 7 nights in a week.
For some people that could be enough to have them in the DTs. For me it wasn't a problem to detox from, but it also took me a couple of months before I fully stopped.
Each person is different.

What I did find out happened very fast... iron poor blood while drinking... 30 days out and my iron count was normal. Some things change fast and some take time. For each person that time can be different.

sugErspun

My thoughts on the craving - If you have the craving for alcohol, such as that described in AA - you are going to drink. It is inevitable.

As far as feeling really really hungry. Yeah - my appetite came back with a vengance. Had to control my food intake (something I do actually have some control over)

lovingseren

Sorry I can't agree with this statement at all, we do not have to act on cravings, the longer we stay sober, the less cravings we have. I no longer crave booze, but it took some months of sobriety to be free from them.

Doom and Gloom are not useful in early sobriety.


Redstuff,
good for you on almost 11 days !!:bounce

you are in early sobriety, be kind to yourself, eat rather than drink, drinking is no longer an option, you have made that choice.
Eat protein and complex carbs......peanut butter on whole wheat crackers, whole wheat chicken or turkey sandwiches.....they keep our blood sugar levels at an even keel, whilst also being great craving busters.
Drink lots of water, be gentle with yourself, rest as much as you can, but do go for walks or to the gym too.

Seren

sugErspun

In AA we use a very specific definition for craving. That is what I was referring to. It's in the Doctors Opinion.

It is a physical phenomena - not mental at all. A physical phenomena that is limited to alcoholics alone - does not occur in non-alcoholics.

I know craving means different things outside of AA - but from the angle I offered it, I am consistent with Alcoholics Anonymous as far as the defintion is concerned.

I don't crave alcohol once it is out of my body and I have been 'dried out'.

lovingseren

hmmm, I am not sure I understand, unless what you are saying is that after a month or so of ceasing to drink, we are not physically addicted to booze, psycholigical craving.

sugErspun

Yes - there is a physical phenomena of craving in the bodies of those who are alcoholic. It is described as an allergy. Similair to an allergy to peanuts - when I eat peanuts and am allergic to them, I have a physical reaction to them (swelling, shock, hives, etc). With the alcoholic - they have a little alcohol, they have this allergy - they develop a craving (physical) for more alcohol. I have heard, it can take up to a couple months to get this craving off the body through detox. For me, it lasted about 6 days in a hospital on medication to dry me out without having a stroke.

This information - provided to Bill Wilson by Dr Silkworth is a key to the foundation of AA - Dr Bob had been trying for years to get sober through spirtual means and could not understand why he couldn't stay away. Bill told him of the Doctor's theory of an allergy and a light turned on in Bob's world. He got sober.

It is clearly documented in the BB...

"they cannot start drinking without developing the phenomenon of craving. This phenomenon, as we have suggested, may be the manifestation of an allergy which differentiates these people, and sets them apart as a distinct entity. It has never been, by any treatment with which we are familiar, permanently eradicated. The only relief we have to suggest is entire abstinence."

Now - if we could just stay away from alcohol there wouldn't be much more of a problem than cleaning up the past. Setting things straight.

You see, you may call it doom and gloom - I call it facts. You need to understand the nature of your condition before you can effectively do anything about it.
Now - the obsession of the mind to get us to take that first drink and set the cycle (craving) in motion is the other part.....

(This is AA's approach. Other may disagree...I only speak from experience)

sugErspun

They were probably the two most useful things in getting me sober. Without doom and gloom, why would anyone want to change?


Pain, sadness, fear = all can be pretty good motivators to do something positive in your life.

I am not going to lie to anyone and say everything is going to be ok, because I don't know if it is going to be ok.

lovingseren

Yet you have no problem with telling someone it is inevitable that they are going to drink.






Thanks for sharing with me what Bill learned back in the thirties. I am glad it has helped others.

Seren

Mercedes1

..."It is a physical phenomena - not mental at all. A physical phenomena that is limited to alcoholics alone - does not occur in non-alcoholics..."

1) I disagree with this statement based on my personal experience. BTW, Dr. Bob's blog in the BB is theory, not fact. Cravings to me are a symptom of a desire. Sometimes these desires are misconstrued as "needs". You don't have to be an alchoholic to do this. We can satisfay that "yearning" through many outlets..some healthy and some not. I, "learned" how to drink to get my relief from negative feelings, experiences, conditions, circumstances, people, places and things. Over time became lazy to any other solution. Basically, what started as a good reason to drink, became "I didn't need a reason, still drank". Bottom line, for me, cravings are a result of what EVERYONE experiences from time to time..life on life's terms. You don't have to be an alchoholic to experinece this. It is WHAT YOU DO WITH IT.

I have craving for exercise..as I have taught my self to strive for this daily. Hense when I miss, I go through withdrawals. I crave the result when I can't go out. I hense get cranky and irritable.

I crave food sometimes for comfort. I crave relationships for attention. You can also use these in transference once sober to be as addictive in the negative as they can be positive if used in "balance".

2) I also agree with LovingSeren, to suggest one "is going to drink" over a craving then you are basically suggesting to be successful in overcomig alchohol we must deny the craving? It is through facing our "craving"s, ...aka...negative feelings, people, places, things, circumstances, FEELINGS..that we overcome. Not by giving "exuse" to not be accountable to it. BASICALLY WE HAVE A CHOICE. We always have had this.

When in the pit of alchoholic addiction we seem to lose our freedom of choice. But the tools of sobriety have been and are always there, we just need to learn to EXCERCISE the painful character changes necessary to make the positive choices without the result (getting high or numb). It is not a question to not have the cravings..but what to do with them. ONce we identify tools of healthy choice, slowly we lose the cravings not because of a physical/chemical reaction but due to dealing with them..transferring the obsession to HEALTHY SOLUTIONS.

Hope that helps.

nandm

The best way for me to describe the difference is alcohol was an obsession very similiar to that of cigarettes while I may crave chocolate I do not obsess about it. When the obsession for alcohol or cigarettes hits I had no choice but to continue to think about it as it would not leave my mind until I fed the obsession. I can crave something and still think about other things and the craving will go away after a while. An obsession just gets worse.

My few cents worth

mikel60

When I first was getting sober the oldtimers here in Boston would say if you feel like drining go to Friendly's Ice Cream and drink a large milkshake. If you still feel like drinking...have another. I followed their sage advice. I have not drank alcohol since...but I am now diabetic (and a wee bit larger in the midsection). Go figure.
Mike

barb dwyer

It boils down to the OBSESSION ...
at least that's the 'verbage' that works for me.

THe 'can't think of anything else' kind of 'urge'...