Reaching Out
 

I've been sober since Feb 6, 2014, but this past week I have been having really bad urges to drink. I've been using the SMART program and it has helped me stay sober, but for some reason these urges are hitting me so hard. Sometimes I even feel bitter that I can't drink. Well, I CAN drink but the consequences aren't worth it. I just want to relax! I want an escape. It's a constant battle in my head lately, but I really just want to get through it. Aside from the potential consequences, I'm afraid that if I drink it'll just prolong these urges. The longest I have been sober is 5 months and during that whole time I had urges like this until I thought (stupidly) that if I drank it'd stop. Someone please just tell me this is normal and I'll get through it... this is me reaching out.

It is normal to feel this way, even weeks or months into sobriety. Keeping yourself busy, exercise, eating well and getting rest can take care of a lot of the "cravings" many times - make sure to take care of yourself. Support is key to - coming here was a great idea to catch that sucker ( the cravings ) before things got out of hand. Try the chat room if you want some immediate feedback as well . You can do this!

That's why going/joining an aa group near you is vital! It's nearly impossible to stay sober esp 1st few days or mths being sober coz the mind only knows 1 solution to every prob in life: A drink
But it doesn't have to be that way anymore!

Go for a run on the treadmill if you can , the runners high might help, I find it helps me get a free healthy high when I need to get out of my head.

Congrats to you on coming to the realization and understanding that you don't want to drink again!

I chopped your statement up to help key in on something important (urges and need to relax).

You need to ask yourself what are you doing when you feel the urges to drink. You say here its constant but realistically, nothing is constant. Find out the specific times and/or locations you feel need to drink and the relaxation part will come much easier to you.

You can separate yourself from whatever gives you the urges to drink. Next comes the relaxation part... What can you do to relax? Some others on here have already made some great suggestions. Many people on these forms don't want to believe it but the people and the program of AA will help and is essentially free counseling to a person in need find out questions about themselves that they didn't even know they needed answered.

In my opinion, without knowing you, if you have urge to drink because you need to relax then you may find you are living a "stressful" lifestyle. But you need to find out the how and why before you can make the change and help yourself to relax.

In short, you need to do 2 things: 1) find out where and why you have urges to drink 2) decide yourself or get help deciding what you can do to relax that doesn't involve drinking.

Keep at it one day at a time.