TorontoGuy28

It amazes how my alcoholic mind is trying to convince me that I do not have a drinking problem.. Usually either late Thurs or Fri, it tells me that it's ok to have a glass of wine or two after a busy week at work... It blocks out the fact that I never want to stop and end up having 3-4 bottles that night, doing my best to hide it from my wife... This results in me being hung over for the rest of the weekend, and having a foggy head on Monday at work...

One day at a time...

CarolD

I read somewhere that behavioral scientist say
it takes 3 months to replace a bad habit with a good one.

This is how the 90 meetings in 90 days came to be
a suggestion in AA..it's from the treatment centers.

Why not make a plan ahead of time
to divert those dangerous thoughts...
...follow your signature line?

Good to see you again TG....

justanothrdrunk

My brain lies to me too. Stupid brain... makes me want to kill it with alcohol.

TorontoGuy28

I do believe in the 90 day thing.

During my longest run of sobriety, 4 months in, after finishing my 6am cardio workout, having a healthy breakfast, walking to work I said to myself "if things ever go bad again, just remember how great you feel right this minute, and get back to feeling like this again"... That's where I want to be so badly..

tommyk

It amazes how my alcoholic mind is trying to convince me that I do not have a drinking problem..

I overcome that very easily now by realizing it is not my 'right' mind suggesting such a ******** idea, it's my 'disease' talking.

I laugh at it.

bodecia

For me, once the idea of drinking takes hold, there is no amount of logical arguments I can use to get rid of it, I have even written letters to myself when I'm hungover outlining every nuance of the physical and mental hell I am going through, for me to read when I feel like drinking, but when I'm in that craving, I will either not look at the letters, or if I do I just don't care. I know how bad I will feel and I don't care. That's how crazy this disease is. The only thing I've been able to do (sometimes) is to act 'despite' what the voice tells me, like "I am not going to drink despite the feeling that it's the best idea in the world right now." Cravings do subside. They will not get worse till you go insane (though it feels like it at the time) they are like waves, they build up then they back off, sometimes over and over, but they do back off. The thing is to hang on while they peak and then see them subside.

bodychek

I still have thoughts about drinking all the time, my choice now is not to act on them. What is different between now and before is that I now know that my brain is broken and is going to keep telling me things until I finally give in and give it what it wants, a good stiff drink.

I have also been able, through the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, to clear away a lot of the resentment, dark secrets, and wreckage that my brain would use as ammunition to convince me what a piece of sh*it I was.

How I deal with cravings now is that when I have a thought about drinking I acknowledge my cravings as valid thoughts of a sick mind. By understanding that my brain is broken I can live with the thoughts and through the tools of the 12 steps I can deal with the rest of life's difficulties. I am now to take the bad and the good with the same keel and not obsess as much.

I hope this helps.

Latte

I don't crave the alcohol I crave the escape. I keep asking myself what I am trying to escape from and address that. Usually it's myself. A workout and a nice cup of coffee usually clears my mind.

When I stopped running from myself..I found myself. It's getting better everyday.

Cathy31

Hey TG! You can do it!!! Start now. You can get there again. You know the drill. 90 in 90 works. So does AA. You can reclaim that life.

Cathy31
x

gantz

I remember feeling this way too before when I was drinking. Now I am back to running everyday and feeling how I once felt while on cross country team in highschool. It only takes a week and you are back to feeling pretty great and from there the feeling only gets better and better.

If you are like me its always all or nothing. drinking and eating bad food, or exercising daily and eating healthy food. I definitely want to stick with the later forever.

juliwuli

you sound so like me i have written things too, how i felt during a hangover, it really felt like hell at the time, but when craving a drink i dug out my writings and read them, and true to form i thought 'i dont care! i need a drink'
but your so right the cravings are like waves,
your not my long lost twin are you? lol

Tazman53

You know in early sobriety there were 3 primary ways I dealt with cravings, go to a meeting, if a meeting was not possible I called another alcoholic in recovery, even if the first 2 were available I said a prayer. Funny thing, but before I was even half way done with the steps the cravings/obsession was gone.

I have not struggled in over a year, I apply the principles of the steps in all of my affairs one day at a time and the idea that a drink would be a good thing never even pops into my head 99.9 percent of the time and when it does it is simply a fleeting thought that I chuckle at.

I fully understand what you are talking about though Torontoguy, for a lot of years I would "STAY BUSY" doing this or that and for some reason I always found a way of justifying a drink...... heck sometimes I would start drinking without even thinking about it. I kept relapsing for years and years because (I have learned) I was still me, I was busy, busy, busy, but I had not done a thing to change who I was inside, I was still me, and the person I was drank.