DayWalker

Just question for those still "new". I'm about 2 months sober now, had the "normal" urges early and got through them. Now that I'm close to 8 weeks sober I havent had urges till tonight. Tonight staring around 11pm and for the past few hrs for some reason I've been having some really bad urges.

I called my sponsor tonight and talked to him about it and we're getting together in the morning for coffee and will discuss it, but I'm still havin' issues tonight with these thoughts.

I thought after 2 months I wouldnt have these thoughts, is this normal to have such stromg thoughts all the sudden after 2 months? I cant think of anything that "triggered" me...but tonight is the worst thoughts I've had in months.

Steve

Lenina

DayWalker,

The thing about urges is, we don't have to act on them. Play the tape to the end. All the way to end, the one where you feel hungover, depressed, anxious and ashamed.

CarolD has some great ideas for dealing with urges, like brushing your teeth, sucking on a hard candy and timing the urge.

Are you Hungry, Angry, Lonely or Tired? Do you have any Daily reading, like "Just for Today"? Try reading something related to joys of sobriety.

I rarely have urges these days and I have just a few months over two years of sobriety.

I hope this helps.

Love,

Lenina

I hope this helps.

intention

Hi Steve,

This is perfectly normal for an alcoholic. The physical craving for alcohol goes fairly quickly after alcohol has left the body. It will only come back it you take the first drink.......and then it will be overwhelming.

The mental obsession to drink is different. It can just appear suddenly but once the thought takes hold it drives many alcoholics back to drink. The only way to get rid of the mental obsession is to have a spirtual awakening. The removal of this obsession is in the promises at Step 10, p84/85.


You did the right thing in phoning your sponsor. Good luck with your Step work.

DayWalker

Thanks to both of you."intention" I've been really good for the past 7 weeks or so, but for some reason tonight all the sudden it just hit me like a ton of bricks.Been re-working the steps but not back up to step 10 yet. Like you said though that thought which I thought was somewhat gone just appeared suddenly tonight out of the blue for some reason. That's what got me a bit messed up thinking tonight for some reason. Don't know why it's back now tonight.

Steve

yeahgr8

Hi Steve as Intention said it's totally normal and not very nice at all! It is the mental obsession and will be removed from you at the point mentioned before as it says in the Big Book:-)

Look at it this way i've been dry before for 6 months with no urges and no triggers, then one night a staff party and i'm straight back into it, this time for both of us we want continued sobriety one day at a time for the rest of our lives, that might mean some discomfort along the way but it does get better and absolutely is worth anything!

Oh, one thing try not to over analyse things like this, it is what it is and not a massive consipracy or holding some deep spiritual meaning, i made that mistake for a while...you know the WHY am i thinking about booze tonight, whats wrong with me, maybe i'm not being spiritual enough etc...use your sponsor and trust the process and accept....keep going man!!!!!!!

loveon2legs

Hi Daywalker,

I'm 57 days sober, and like yourself, those old thoughts like to pop in once and awhile..with me it's the weather getting warmer........it stirs up the stinkin' thinkin'....I just calm myself down by a few deep breaths, say some prayers and then realize the old way of my life is gone, replaced by something more real, and solid... and thats great you called your sponser!! we all need someone to lean on!!

Keep on, Keepin' on!!!

shantra32

Hi,

I am 36 days sober and I have had a few urges.......and they do hit you by surprise. I do what Lenina says in her post above...."Play the tape to the end. All the way to end, the one where you feel hungover, depressed, anxious and ashamed."

It works for me every time........I'm sick of that life. I hit my bottom 36 days ago and thats where i go when a craving hits. I do alot of walking as well.......I walk away the urge......thats works too. I took a photo of myself when I hit my bottom..hungover, swollen from crying after five panic attacks...I keep it in my cell phone and it is a great reminder of a life I want no part of anymore.....urges will always be there.....a hot summer day, a certain song, a stressful moment but it's how you choose to deal with the urges is what matters. My urges have alot to do with boredom......so I keep busy .......... whatever works!!
"

keithj

Daywalker,

I urge (no pun intended) you to look at your own experience when reading statements like this. Has the recollection of where you have been and what you have done kept you from picking up that first drink in the past? Or have you picked back up for no good reason, thinking it will be different this time, or just not thinking at all? Like a jaywalker.

And I don't mean any disrespect to Shantra or others who espouse similar things. I would just suggest that everyone use their own past experience to evaluate the merits of such advice. It's neither good nor bad, but Shantra has strung together 36 days out of the last 4.5 years. Maybe that advice works, and maybe it doesn't. I do know that there are a lot of people, myself included, that learned the hard way that those kinds of psychological tricks failed time and time again, for them personally. The whole program of AA is based on the inevitable failure of those suggestions for the kind of alcoholic described in the Big Book.

Not my experience at all. The problem is removed when one recovers. I haven't experienced an 'urge' in many years. But, then again, I don't think 'urges' have anything to do with the weather or how bored I am. They are the fundamental nature of the mental obsession of alcoholism. And there is a solution for them.

CarolD

Hi Steve.....

I did time my cravings in early recovery
Mine were 5 to 7 minutes in duration.

I took quick action....Yes....I brushed my teeth
drank cold water....ate a Lifesaver...walked and prayed

By the end of 2 months of AA recovery
they vanished. Never returned.....

However....this is what has kept me moving forward
anytime I get off balance.....

CAPTAINZING2000

where abouts do you live? Do you reside in town, city or country? Get out a good pair of tennis shoes and head the other direction jogging. While you're doing that, be saying the serenity prayer over in your head.

WakeUp

Like I said in another forum, I was really tired for awhile and actually had thoughts of drinking. Of course I'm not going to really do it. But this is what I did.
I sipped my tea, kept playing "Super Monkey Ball" on my iPhone, and the thought passed in not even five minutes, more like two minutes.

I didn't need to fight it, freak out, run to a meeting, call my sponsor, (yes I still have a sponsor, can you believe that?). I just let the thought in, paid no attention to it, and the thought left. My attention is much needed for Super Monkey Ball!

intention

You know we say alcohol is "cunning, baffling, powerful", I would also add to that it is very, very patient.

intention

Hi Shantra,

If this was true about me being sober then I would rather be drinking. I spent a lot of my drinking time sober because I had 'quit' drinking and the urges to drink drove me just as insane as the alcohol did. Fighting those urges to this hopeless alcoholic was an impossible task, however busy I was.

Working the 12 steps has removed the urge to drink alcohol. The day I quit all I was interested in was having the insane mental obsession to drink alcohol removed. This promise alone in the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous sold working the program to me...


If anyone has had enough of urges to drink whether they are drinking or sober, then go to AA, find someone who no longer has an urge to drink and ask them to show you how they did it. It really works

Boleo

It is not unusual to have urges after 2 months if you have the ISM part of alcoholISM.

If you don't take some action to treat your alcoholism you may still have urges at 2 years and even at 2 decades. Time alone does not treat alcoholISM.

Tell your sponsor that you want to work the steps ASAP so as to find the peace of mind that goes with recovery.