Cascabel

During my first stint of sobriety of over thirty years, the itch never completely went away; it was easy to ignore but it was there in the background. For my current stretch of sobriety, about seven months, it is still there but it is getting easier to ignore as the days pass. In my experience, the intense cravings go away in a few months but the little voice that says "maybe" is always there, muted though it may be.

Boleo

Abstinence got alcohol out of my body.

Fellowship got alcohol out of my life.

A Spiritual Awakening got thoughts of alcohol out of my mind.

PurpleKnight

For me they faded with time, I still have them, but definitely not as strong with the passing of time!!

Hang in there!!

sugarbear1

mine have faded, but at 30 days it was still difficult. A thought isn't a desire, it's just a thought that can be thought through to the bad stuff.

know deep in your heart drinking is not for you....work those steps, that is where my obsession and desire left me.

yesterday my friend and I helped someone move and I was the person who stayed with the stuff outside....hanging with some locals as they drank and smoked some weed (the 2 things I gave up) and I didn't have more than a fleeting (come and gone) thought.....(they got stupid, though)

Yes, those thoughts go away!

FT

For me, it took about 3 years before I realized the daily self-talk about how-much-better-off-I-am-not-to-be-drinking had disappeared. The relentless mind-chatter of my addictive voice disappeared somewhere in there, too.

It's been over 23 years now for me, and I can't remember when the last real "pull" (that's my word for that itch) happened.

Even now, here and again, I will have some damn life event that makes me "wish" I could have a drink or SOMETHING to make it go away. Of course, as a non-drinker, I would never act upon that. Now, they are just passing thoughts that I view with some interest, if not some degree of consternation.

NEVER, in all these 23+ years, have I EVER woken up in the morning, wishing I had drunk the night before. Contrasting to the MANY mornings I used to wake up wishing the opposite.

LadyBlue0527

Wow, I always called those my "ngggggg" moments for lack of a better word. Thinking of it as an itch that you can't scratch really nails it!

Yes, that does get far less frequent. In the beginning it's a mosquito bite that's just grating at you to itch. Further out it's more like a minor annoyance that happens every once in a great while but you see it for what it is and it's manageable. It's not the itch anymore.

Gottalife

Perhaps part of the secret lies in the second part of the first step instruction. "The delusion that we are like other people, or presently may be, has to be smashed"

In those few bolded words lay the dormant seeds of relapse. Until that delusion is smashed, there lingers enough doubt, in the back of the mind, to sabotage our effortss to be fearless and thorough from the very start. We don't really believe we have to do everything that is suggested we still think we have a choice in this, we have not yet fully understood the nature of our alcoholism and what it means to be powerless (over alcohol).

My last bender absolutely smashed this delusion so I was able to tackle the program without reservation of any sort. To quote Bill's Story (I think) "I placed myself unreservedly in His care".

HeyStoopid

Yeah, it's not that my AV is demanding a drink right this minute. It's that my AV is now insidiously attempting to bargain with me. "Well, after you've spent a year dry, maybe you could have the occasional beer - you know, on vacations and stuff. You just won't keep it in the house or drink alone anymore."

It's more of an obnoxious mosquito than a roaring lion, with the analogy extending to mosquitoes being fully capable of silently passing on a virus that can kill you.

NYCDoglvr

Absolutely! We learn to feel comfortable in our own (sober) skin, stay away from people, places and things that could trigger a drink urge, and it becomes a thing of the past. After 22 years of sobriety I never think about alcohol. After quitting smoking 20 years ago I still get nicotine urges.

Sanantoniosober

For me, they never really go away, but the thought is no longer "I must have a drink to feel normal again," and more like an annoying gnat to brush away every once in a while.

soberbythesea

I'm approaching two years and for me the urges have become pretty rare. Drinking just feels like something I don't do anymore. But I'm very aware of my trigger situations and vigilant about avoiding them.

Groucho

I read this suggestion the other day and just wanted to say thanks. It's been more than four years since my last drink, but I was grateful for another tool in the toolbox yesterday when the old voices come whispering.

grtgrandpa

I quit alcohol and drugs 28 years ago which is too long to remember when the urge/itch left.

The ism to do more of the substitutes(sugar,fat,salt,et al) comes and goes along with the character defects.

I remain in recovery from the illness of alcoholism which knocks off the peaks and valleys of the disease.

Congrats on your progress and thanks for the thread.