tammy711

I have a question for some experienced, recovering alcoholics.

I am on month 2 of my sobriety journey. I don't think I have cravings for wine (my drug of choice), but rather I have thoughts about wanting to drink.

For instance, at the end of a stressful day, I will think, "it would be nice to grab a couple bottles and drink them in front of the TV tonight." I don't do it and don't even allow the thought to linger. I shut it down with AVRT.

But, I don't crave the taste of the wine. Not like, I occasionally crave something salty or sweet.

Is there a difference between craving alcohol and just thinking it would be nice to check-out with it?


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MrsKing

I don't think I've craved the taste of wine (also my DOC) since I've been sober, either, now that I think about it. I don't crave the taste of alcohol at all - which just makes me realise how totally deluded I was when I used to say "I drink because I enjoy the taste, not to get drunk" - ha ha ha!

I used to crave the feeling alcohol gave me in the first few months of sobriety, though. That's long gone now. Keep going with AVRT and it will go away for you, too

bbthumper

As a believer in the disease concept of alcoholism, I know that a craving for alcohol is only a manifestation of an allergy. When I drink I have an abnormal reaction. A craving for more. So, the way I see it, if I don't drink I don't crave. If I'm thinking about a drink that's all it is. Thinking. However, that's the part of the disease that really screwed me over time after time. The mental obsession.

onlythetruth

I do think there is a difference between a craving and a desire to drink.

The craving is the physical feeling of NEEDING to drink. The desire to drink is just that, the "boy, a drink would be great right about now" without the physical pull.

I don't know about anyone else, but for me the cravings went away a whole lot faster than the desire to drink. Probably a few months, vs. a year or more.

Sally1009

Hmm, I don't know if there is a difference. You simply have the occasional desire for wine, and the feeling it gives you, and the taste are interconnected. The desire to "check-out" is dangerous in my view, and I can identify with it. Good that you are using AVRT to stamp out those thoughts.

Misguided

The dictionary definition of craving is: "an intense, urgent, or abnormal desire or longing"

I am almost 2 years in and I have thoughts (or cravings) for alcohol. You may not be craving the taste, but you are craving the satisfaction of sitting in front of the tv with a glass of wine in your hand.

I never drank alcohol for the taste but I still consider what I get a craving for it -- for me, the it isn't the taste but the situation. Alcohol was my "helper" through stressful times, so when I get stressed I crave it. There are things that I still won't do like cruise vacations or river tubing because those activities were so alcohol induced in the past, I can't picture doing those without it. I feel like the "craving" would come on strong in those situations.

It's all part of being an alcoholic. Labels on your thinking won't really change the fact that you are an alcoholic. Alcoholics tend to use whatever makes them feel comfortable with their issue and that includes which words they choose to describe what they are going through.

Boleo

I relapsed and detoxed dozens of times so I had a good chance to learn the pattern of how I am typically affected each time.

My body craved alcohol for about 2 - 4 days every time. Even though my mind was afraid of alcohol, I would have grabbed any alcohol coming close to me like a frog zaps bugs with it's tong.

Then, about the 5th day, I would start to have day-dreams about drinking. Not intense dreams but rather subtle fantasy's of how nice it would be to have a drink in my hand and the pleasant taste of a good cold alcoholic beverage. I would describe the difference as;

Craving = I must have it now!

Stinkin Thinkin = I deserve to have it later.

freshstart57

Tammy, I know that you understand that any thought of drinking now or at anytime in the future is only your addiction speaking to you. For me, it can be the memory of a fancy bottle of wine when I find myself in a nice restaurant, or it can be the thought of cracking open the 60 oz bottle of rum at the beginning of a fishing camping trip, like the one I went on just last week. So, one was thinking of the taste of the wine, the other was thinking about catching a solid buzz.

In some ways the thoughts are different, but I understand that they come from the same source- my lizard brain looking for the pleasure, numbness, and euphoria that come with alcohol. The other type of thoughts, about drinking at some upcoming occasion or somehow changing my mind about alcohol, just never arise any longer for me now.

I throw all of these thoughts into the same pile and they all get the same treatment. All it takes now is raising one eyebrow and saying, 'You have got to be kidding me' as I look at myself while having the urge or experiencing the craving. Becoming mindful, I guess, is another way to look at it.

hypochondriac

This is a really interesting point Tammy. I never craved the actual taste of beer or wine or gin... but I did feel a need for the physical sensation of drinking. Drinking lots of fluids is very comforting to me, and something I do a lot when I feel anxious. I still drink a lot of carbonated water and that is a definite beer replacement.

But yeah, that's a whole different thing to wanting to check out with drink. For me, because I took that option off the table completely I think thoughts of wanting to zone out with alcohol are less common than the need to drink lots of water...

Username1

The other day I wanted a beer so bad, I could practically taste it and started imagining/remembering what it felt like to drink and hold in my hand. sh*t was a mindfu*k