Bard

My intense cravings anyway are back in full swing. It's usually about this time in any attempt I've made to quit in the past that my cravings come back on strong. The first few days I'm all gung ho to quit and so disgusted by alcohol that any thoughts about drinking make me feel nauseous. But give it a few days some times a few weeks and they wake up and start jumping all over me again.

I'm getting ready to go work out in a bit then there's a meeting tonight and hopefully that will help. I'm also reading through here, posts I made and even a note I wrote to myself I made when I was hungover last and hoping all that takes the edge off. I know deep inside I don't want to do it and know the consequences of if I do. But man if these cravings just cant be a persistent little **** at times!

Ananda

If you don't have health issues with it - candy for the physical.

for the mental....It helped me a lot to think through the drink (sounds like you are), remember a craving unfed doesn't last too long at a time, and what can I do to add to life right in this instant.

Hope you can slow the craving train down. Keep on posting.

stone

I couldnt get passed 2 weeks for a long time. Ananda gave some good advice, cravings dont last long usually.... so if you KNOW you can just hold on.... they pass.
If I allowed myself to think there was a possibility of caving to it then I would do, it's when you get your mind set to KNOW you can/will not drink, it becomes easier.

Bard

Well luckily my mind has been put back at ease for the moment. That was my first real strong craving attack during this week, and I know there will be more down the road. But hey, for today I walk away the winner!

least

Way to go!! Stay on the winning team, one day at a time!

sobergirl77

Thanks for the replies...

A quick note: everyone is telling me to eat fruits and veggies. The only problem is that my stomach is really messed up. Most fruits and especially veggies will make the problem worse if you know what I mean... having trouble keeping food in my stomach for long at the moment. Not throwing up but the other thing.

I'm putting myself on the BRAT diet - bananas, rice, apples and toast until my stomach straightens itself out!

CarolD

In early sobriety....
I timed my cravings.

They were 5-7 minutes in duration.
Not too long too endure discomfort
.
Soooo....I took action.
Walked...rushed my teeth... Drank cold water...Hard candy

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.

Going to work out was amart.

sobergirl77

Oops, I meant that last post (about the BRAT diet) to be in another thread (the one I started earlier). Sorry for any confusion!

About cravings - I understand where you are coming from, Bard. I had those on Friday, my 7th sober day, and I spent 6.5 hours in the AA meeting room. Attended 4 meetings - 5:30, 7:30, 9pm and the 11pm candlelight one. Needless to say by the time I got out of there, I no longer had cravings!

Bard

Well I was gonna say my desire to drink was strangely replaced with the desire to eat beans, rice, apples, and toast for some strange reason??

But yeah I made it through the day.Shortly after posting that my cravings went way down to a dull roar. I didnt bother timing it but the most insane part of it didn't last all that long. But it was a slow build up through out the day. I could hear the thought brewing in the back of my head shortly after waking up this morning and then by the afternoon it was fully unleashed.

Which brings me to a question. I always notice my cravings have the same time pattern. Like the idea of it can start brewing in my head in the late morning hours. And then through the afternoon and early evening hours is when my mind will start obsessing and craving it. But if I can make it past that I swear I could have a drink sitting right here in front of me and just dump it down the sink and have no desire to drink it. Though during the earlier hours, well, let's just say I wouldn't want to see it in front of me. Temptation would be to strong. But is that a normal occurrence for most people to have like a clock inside them that craves booze the most during a certain time of the day?

sobergirl77

Hmm, that is a good question... Personally, mine don't seemed to be timed. So far, my cravings have been striking at any old time of day. For instance, I woke up on Friday with a craving for bourbon. But the timing makes no sense because I rarely drank when I woke up (except a sip or two to get rid of shakes near the end). The fact that I was craving bourbon made no sense either since I rarely used to drink it!

I've seen some people on this forum say that cravings only last a few minutes at a time... but that was/is not true for me, unfortunately.

Tazman53

I did the same thing and it worked for me too!!!

Mine were like that, I would have little ones in the morning, then about noon it would really start to build, at 1 PM they were full bore (I normally always had my first beer at 1PM), they would be really bad for several hours and then go away entirely at 7PM which just heppened to be the time my first meeting of the day would start!!! LOL

The cravings get less as the days go by, the mental obsession was what I really fought the hardest, the steps wiped those out. I was all set mentally to cave to the obsession at about 2 months even though I was going to meetings every day. The old timers kept telling me the steps would take care of them, well I listend, started working the steps and one day the obsession was lifted and a drink has only been a rare fleeting thought that just pops up and leaves just as quick.