Paulos

I'm brutally suffering from cravings, even with L Glutamine the herb which is claimed to stop cravings, it made me mess up again as usual... what do you do about cravings and the mental cravings as well?

BlueSea7

Hi Paulos,

I'm not familiar with L Glutamine or other herbs, so I cannot give any input on that stuff. However, there are many other methods of coping with cravings. Some people find simple exercise to be good start. There are also mental techniques like meditation. Also, take a look at the site alcoholaddictionx.com for a free article called "My Alcohol Rehab". It's free to access and might give you some good ideas.

Regards

P.S. By the way, I think that your quote (which I love) is from Black Sabbath's album Paranoid

justanothrdrunk

If you have the Twenty-Four Hours a Day book, read January 6.

When it comes to the mental obsession, I immediately think of step 1 and what I can do at that moment to work more on step 1.

Mercedes1

What helped me is goint to a meetng and 1) Talking about it (getting it out)..trust me, this is not like talking to yourself or someone not an alchoholic. You can "feel" the release unlike telling anyone else. 2) Listening to the suggestions, 3) Applying them

A few: usually a craving to me means action is req'd on my part.
First things firs: Pray, ask for help. Then do the next right thing whatever that may be that is good. ie. call a friend, go for a walk, fold clothes, GET OUT and AWAY from areas of trigger. Think it through..feelings are not facts. Remember this too shall pass, what you are going through now seems endless but it is not. The truth is it will pass and you will be stronger for it.

Miss Pink

Alcoholics Anonymous Treats All Symptoms Of Alcoholism.

problemchild

Paulos, see if you can take Campral , i have been through this s^%$ more than i care to count , but that med seems to help me. Just talk to your Dr..

Take care,
John

GlassPrisoner

The physical cravings should go away in a week or two.

The hard ones for me to beat were always the mental ones, the obsession.

Mrs Pink said it, I'll echo it. 12 steps, AA......

reed

Cigarettes & Ride a bike or run for about 30 minutes straight.
(those two don't look right together)

Now seriously, hit some meetings man. Get some inspiration from the good folks at AA who have done did it and are do doing it. Get a Big Book and start reading it. Howabout, page 419, that one helps everyone out sometimes. Actually, I think page 419 of the Big Book would be pretty good for you.

laurie6781

Ok Paulos, early in detox, well actually for the first couple of months or so, what we think are 'cravings' in many cases can be our bodies NEEDING SUGAR.

Yes, I said sugar. All the years we drank our bodies turned that alcohol into SUGAR.

Back when I go sober, folks weren't so into 'healthy' right out of the gate, more important to calm the sugar craving. Well how do we do that.

Carbs for one, pasta, our bodies turn it into sugar. Keep hard candies, you know the kind, either peppermint or butterscotch, individually wrapped available at all times.

Many times in the alano clubs (where AA meetings were held all day and most of the night long) on the coffee/tea table was always a big bottle of honey and a big bottle of Karo Syrup. When they were really shaking we gave them only a half a cup of coffee or tea with lots of Karo Syrup or Honey in it. Orange juice and lots of honey (yeah that's what they gave me, to this day I cannot oj without remembering, lol).

There always used to be LOTS of cookies to go with the coffee at meetings.

I know, I know, everybody is into healthy today, however, until the toxins and the booze were out of my body, the carbs and the sugar sure kept those cravings in check.

At 2 or 3 months was when I started eating healthier, by then the 'cravings' were almost all gone.

Try getting yourself some BIG bags of hard candies and keeping them handy all the time. As soon as a craving starts unwrap one and start sucking on the candy, heck chew the candy and grab another one. You will be surprised how quick the craving settles down. I was going to say ask your mom, heck, do it yourself, keep cooked boiled pasta handy in the refrig, put some in a bowl and nuke it quick with whatever sauce on it you prefer, that also will help tremendously to ease those sugar cravings.

J M H O but the above has worked for many in those first weeks and months of sobriety.

Love and hugs,

CarolD

Well....in early sobriety....

I timed my cravings. They were 5-7 minutes in duration.
Not too long too endure discomfort.

Soooo....I took action.
Walk around ... brush teeth...drink cold water...a Lifesaver

Within 2 weeks...the lessened in both time and intensity.
By 2 or so months .... they vanished.

Now...were they mental or physical?
Darn if I know. Nor do I care.

Try ti relax Paul...it takes time to heal.

CarolD

BlueSea....
Welcome to our SR Alcoholism Forum

longhair61

this is only to encourage ,we need to get to the Root of the issue ,and it goes like this ,If you are thinking about Burger King ,and you #1 -Entertain the thoughts of Bk long enough, #2 guess where your gonna end up- at BURGER KING ,#3 So the battle with anything ,starts in thee MIND !!!! DO NOT ENTERTAIN THE THOUGHTS, find phrase? a short prayer to say to combat the thought, and as you start to practise this ,you will have victory over them ,hey the ENEMY wants you back ,find your power greater to do the battels for/with you and ,I can say i practiced this day-in day-out and
the tempter has left me ,I have been clean now 22yrs ,


So ask yourself ,have I truely thrown in the towel on using again???
Let there be no reservation,an be honest.or the step dont work,and the battle in our mind takes over ,untill we truely Surrender. thanks for alowing me to share ,an pass-it-on , I Love You'll bless you yr local longhair terry

longhair61

thoughts an thoughts = = = cravings ,STOP THE THOUGHTS DEAD IN THEIR TRACKS!!!,IT DOES WORK ,UNTILL YOU TRY IT YOU WONT BELEIVE

c8spencer

doc opinion big book: phenomenon of craving develops only after you have taken a drink: therefore what you are suffering from is the obsession, which is talked about in the chapter more about alcoholism! if you be the real alcoholic only GOD can remove the obssesion! not meetings, not talking, not other drugs. faith without works is dead. do the work.

msh58

don't fear cravings, really. You have control of your two arms and hands and control over what you put in them.

They don't and never will unless you decide to hand that over to them and grab a bottle or a can.

c8spencer

if i had the willpower to just not pick up, i wouldn't be an alcoholic/addict. willpower isn't sufficient. the answer is and always will be in doing the work! (12 steps)

Kasey

i get a big pizza!!! Melatonin helps me also.

Cathy31

Couldn't have said it better.
This is what I do and it works.

Cathy31
x

Texasblind

The sugar theory is a very interesting one. You might be on to something here. I stayed away from all processed sugar before I became alcoholic and I'm programmed to stay away from it. Aside from natural (fruit and carbs) I haven't knowingly consumed raw sugar like candy or sodas in over 7 years. Alcohol is the obvious exception. I can't remember the last time I bought a bag of sugar. I hate sweets, I never have dessert. I can't remember the last time I ate a candy bar or ice cream. I have a severe pasta addiction though. The whole "no carb" nonsense lasts about 2 days in my house. I need my spaghetti!!

Maybe I'm addicted to aspartame? All I know is that I hate raw sugar, and I crave constantly. BUT...I'm still new at this. I'll try the peppermint thing next time, but I could never go the constant candy route.

I'd like to hear more thoughts about this.

CarolD

Welcome to our SR Alcoholism Forum longhair61
...Well done on your long sober time!