jaybee1

Yes, well sort of. When I quit (too many times to count) I trade an alcohol obsession with a fitness obsession.

Taking5

I gained 2 lbs just reading that.

Threshold

This hit the nail on the head for me...willingness.

At first an addiction had to be hugely affecting my life, making my life unmanageable before I became willing to identify it as an addiction and do something about it.

As I moved forward in recovery, my awareness of patterns of behavior and other addictions I have become more acute.

I can now identify things as addictions before they totally overwhelm my life. And I have a choice as to whether or not to address them now, later or not at all. I have a choice as to what it will take for me to get willing to address them.

There was a time when I couldn't even see them. When there was NO willingness to address anything until I no longer had a choice about it.

It has been to my advantage to now be able to see things before they become acute situations, and I have found myself more willing to address some things earlier than I used to.

There are also things I still find myself unwilling to address even though I can see how beneficial it would be for me to do so. I baffle myself.

Gal220

This made me laugh! I am the exact same way. I always had a problem with food, but when I quit drinking I gained a lot of weight. I've been working on it, though. My husband was proud of how I was doing, so he bought me a donut and left it for me with a sweet little note congratulating me on my progress. So I ate it and then went on a four day food binge! Moderation - not in my vocabulary.

jaynie04

The problem is my cooking, I would have to register it as a lethal weapon…..

NoJimmy

Sex, sugar, tobacco, caffeine, working out/sparring, and going real f'ing fast (dirt bikes mainly, but I struggle not to be a maniac all the time).

I've tapered the sugar to rarely, intend to moderate caffeine, and tobacco needs to go soon.

GracieLou

I have found that I do many things to extremes. I think that relates to addiction or at least addictive behavior.

Once I get my mind set on something I have a hard time breaking away. Crocheting, cleaning, watching TV, reading etc. Once I am locked in the moment I want to do it all day long and every day!

Smoking and Coke Zero are my two addictions I have yet to break. The smoking was always there and I don't see it going away anytime soon. Coke Zero is my new one. I have to have it or I WILL DIE! LOL

Still much better than all the alcohol I was pouring in me.

Today I try to mix things up a bit so I can "control" a little of my addictive behaviors across a day or weekend. If I find myself crocheting for many hours then I set it down and clean for several hours or read for several hours. It may not be the best way to handle it but at least I get stuff done over the course of a weekend.

soberhawk

I smoked and drank coffee a lot when I stopped drinking.

I stopped smoking after a couple of months.I run (almost) every day and go for a swim – that was rather addicted in the beginning.

I do not have any problematic addictions I want to work on right now though … none I have noticed at least.

bigsombrero

Newcomers always hear about the wonders of being sober...but they don't tell you that at first, it feels like you are standing naked in a cold, fluorescent-lit room with a tiled floor. I think cross-addiction is so common because so many of us have never learned to live as sober adults, and we look to other drugs as a "warm blanket", especially in early sobriety.

When I quit drinking, I went to an inpatient center to dry out. I was there for 22 days, and almost everyone there smoked. I'd quit smoking 7 years prior to getting into rehab, but I immediately picked up cigarettes again. I could feel that my brain was literally scrambling for something and cigarettes fit the bill. I became a half-pack a day smoker immediately with no intentions of quitting.

Upon leaving treatment, I began to seek out marijuana. I hadn't smoked much weed since my college days, but again I could feel myself "scrambling" again for a life raft. At first I just puffed once in a while, but I noticed my cravings getting stronger. When my baggie was empty I became irritable...even became angry with my dealer because she was "unreliable" and didn't show up on time. (The irony of expecting your pot dealer to be punctual is not lost on me, BTW)

I've since quit both of these habits, and no longer smoke weed or cigarettes. But, as an alcoholic it certainly concerns me that I immediately sought out drugs and smokes after quitting alcohol. It speaks to a greater issue: the fact that I am uncomfortable living in "reality". I'm extremely sensitive and a drink or a joint always put soft edges on my feelings. Drugs and alcohol always provided a warm, safe, dreamy blanket that kept me safe. I think that is why I became cross-addicted at first, and perhaps why many others do as well.

Tiptree

Sugar, my iPad, and SR. The sugar cravings are easing a bit . I'm hoping to substitute some outdoor activities for my computer addiction if it ever stops snowing

Jeni26

Cross addiction is STILL something I struggle with to be honest. I stopped drinking and smoking, but just replaced one obsession with another (albeit less dangerous one).

It has caused me some angst and annoyance, even recently, because I just can't seem to do anything moderately. I think part of me has just got to learn some acceptance really..my brain is wired a bit wonky. I can recognise it and catch myself doing it...I then have to laugh at myself now. 'Really Jen? Do you actually need to be doing that??' I used to get so cross at my H's obsessions which seem to rule the household, but really I'm no better...just less obvious.

If they are hurting us (which some of mine definitely were/are), then we need to act, otherwise just maybe we can beat ourselves up about things unnecessarily?

freethinking

Yes, this!!

matt4x4

Switching addictions is quite common. Many quite the drink, but gamble their mortgages away, others will smoke up the herb, drink tons of coffee, smoke more cigarretes. I would say the most common switch is quitting the drink problem, but doing multiple meetings a day, everyday. I hid in the rooms of AA, keeping the chair warm for the next chronic relapser. Sometimes however the AA door does not swing both ways. Its all the same in the end, whether your shooting heroin with a needle, snorting cocaine, doing meth, popping pain pills, drinking, gambling, having too much sex, working out too much. The problem I realized centres in my brain, I have a thinking problem not a drinking problem. The way I think is messed up, and how do I change that? simple. An entire psychich change, change in the way I think. I have 2 choices in life, alcoholic death or life on a spiritual basis. Alcoholics are the only ones who will say "What are my choices again?"

Notimetoloose

The above and another poster posted this "Stark raving sober"...I got tell you, ....I have never heard it put so well...

Jade1224

Ill definitely be drinking more coffee. I am hoping I don't substitute the alcohol for food. Luckily I don't smoke or do any other drugs

optra

For me it was walking then running, I hated running all my life. About 8 months after putting the plug in the jug I started running and since then I have run 5 half marathons, 3 marathons, 5 15 k races and am currently on a 100 day running streak, over 17,000 km altogether.
People are constantly asking me how I stay motivated and I tell them that motivation has nothing to do with it, I am just feeding my new addiction!

hypochondriac

Having given up drinking and smoking at the same time I turned to sugar, then just food in general. I got that under control by turning vegan which gives me something new to be obsessed about, but in a healthier way. But my compulsive shopping is out of control. I spent £130 on amazon just 5 minutes ago and I can barely remember what I ordered and why I needed it so badly... And this is me sober! It is manageable debt though so I am not too worried, just a bit freaked out by the obsessiveness sometimes.

Lovenjoy

Great thread, really good posts! When I first got sober I began obsessively reading fiction. I'm a reader, always have been, but I was reading a book a day and would have the next book lined up and would freak out if I forgot my book someplace! Looking back it was more than a little weird.

When early sobriety leveled out I became aware of the behavior. I wasn't even aware I had traded addictions until later. Once I realized what I was experiencing I was careful not to let unhealthy substitutions creep in.

So wonderful the knowledge given here at SR! To know when you begin that your addictive personality will seek another addiction and prepare by choosing a good one!? That's awesome stuff!

Luckily for me my substitution wasn't painful…..