zvang

when you can have your confidence that you will be sober , that you can pass craving without serious danger of relapse . i ve passed one month of soberity but still cant trust my self .

Dee74

I think it varies...it was a good few months for me.

D

LBrain

I was confident immediately I would never drink again. I was comfortable around six months that I would never drink again. 3 to 6 months was definitely a trying time.

Like2Hike

Sometime around 3 months I thought "I can really do this". Sometime around a year I knew I would remain sober. Sometime a few months later I quit thinking of not drinking and just went about living a better life without the influence or threat of alcohol use. I guess we all have different journeys but that has been mine.

Hang in there. It gets easier as the struggle changes to triumph.

Gottalife

Around step five about two months in I began to have a spiritual experience. I was convinced at this point that I was at last on the right track. Shortly after, the desire to drink was removed completely.

Mountainmanbob

7 years sober and I still keep a close eye on the guy that I see in the mirror.

Mountainman

Turtle82

For me its not a matter of trusting myself but trusting God (my HP.) That's where I put my drink problem and I've left it there. What IS up to me is monitoring my spiritual condition. Though I don't get cravings, if I'm not in the best spiritual condition, I don't take chances.

MIRecovery

At about 2 years I was sure I would do this forever. Then at 4.5 years my daughter was diagnosed with cancer and died on my 5 year sobriety date.

Her death rocked my world and sobriety. Today I don't take my sobriety as an absolute because before the diagnosis I was very solidly sober. The next year made me realize how fragile my sobriety actually was.

What is non negotiable is doing what I need to do on a daily basis to maintain my sobriety because you never know when and how it will be tested.

RobbyRobot

Its really such an individual experience. For me it took almost a month while in residential rehab for a three month stay. That first month was brutal. Even though I knew I wasn't ever going to drink again, I really did not feel all that good about my sobriety until passing that first month. Thereafter I moved forward feeling "my sobriety" as something I could believe in. Now decades later, I'm still going strong.

MsJax

I still remain very vigilant! (At over 4 years). But it was around 5 months or so that I felt pretty confident about it, that was when I could go to bbq's, parties, etc. I never take it for granted tho. Back in 2006 I relapsed and was drunk for 4.5 years. I agree with Turtle ~ take care of my spiritual condition!

JeffreyAK

It was a gradual thing for me, there was no magic finish line. I didn't feel fully stable and 100% confident until 18 months in, and the last bit to go was just the lingering fear that something would suddenly come up out of nowhere and drive me to drink again. In my experience, at least beyond the very earliest days of acute withdrawal, it just doesn't happen that way.

thomas11

That's a great question. I ask myself that often. I have no advice to offer but I can share with you that I will almost never drink in public. I don't trust myself. I've lived in this town for over 40 years and I don't need the stigma attached to me as a heavy drinker. I'm an adult now and try to act like one in public.

doggonecarl

I couldn't either at a month. That's early in the recovery journey. But if you've made a month, you can make another. Then you will feel more confident.

ScottFromWI

I will never trust my addiction to be 100% cured, but after my first year I was confident enough in my sobriery that I can make it work forever with the necessary respect and due dilgence. I don't really get "cravings" anymore and I am perfectly comfortable around others that are drinking at social/family events. Having said that I don't hang out in bars or participate in parties/events where drinking is the sole focus and never will.

strategery

I'm close to 5 months and while I generally trust myself, I make a point of not putting myself in harms way either (no going to microbreweries to listen to bands).

waynetheking

Great topic zvang and good question. For me I asked for gods help a d one morning he answered my prayers. I knew at that point I would never have to again. But it is one day at a time. The bad wolf will always knock on my door. Thats something I never want to forget. As far as the cravings it took about 6 to 9 months to really subside and new habits to take hold. I think that's the key. You cant dwell on this disease. You have to take action and move on. Surrender to sobriety. Its easier that way. Accept the fact that you're never going to drink again. Its destroys and kills you. So leave it alone. Give it time my friend.

FeelingGreat

My opinion is that it's a two (or three or four....) stage process for most people. I was sure from the moment I stopped that I would last the 12 months I gave myself as a goal. I was occasionally offered a sip of someone's drink, or had a wine glass put in front of me and my spontaneous reaction was horror.

After I'd made my 12 months goal, thanks mainly to SR I decided to continue, but it was less definite. Now at 3 years I'm aware that I have to keep remembering how destructive drinking was to me at the end. Time can dull those memories and make you kid yourself that you can handle moderate drinking.

A lot depends on how much you can accept never drinking again. If you feel resistance to that idea, then stay vigilant.

Soberwolf

I had my real last craving at month 5

pixy

I think I was never really that confident about my sobriety and after 5 years I picked up again. Now, nearly 2 years sober I am in a much better place, but still very much take it one day at a time. I think to say I would never drink again is impossible. I am in with a better chance if I try not to drink just today.

Boleo

Same with me (except it was 5 months). The obsession was lifted and I knew I could live the rest of my life without thinking about drinking or not-drinking.

Since then, I realized that it was the result of actions taken rather than calendar days spent not-drinking. Even today, I practice a way of life that that ensures liberation from all thoughts of drinking. I don't rely on calendar days between drinks to help me manage my sobriety.

A Spiritual Awakening is the most comfortable way to stay sober, the most natural way to stay sober and the most reliable way to stay sober.