Urges!
 

Hey everyone,

So I am new to this forum but decided I need all the support possible if I want to become sober this time. I have tried and failed many times and I am only 4 days in this time but I am determined to stop for a number of reasons.

However, today I am experiencing the most intense urge to drink of my life! I can almost taste the warm sensation and keep trying to convince myself I can have just one but from the past, I know that never works.

Any tips?
Thanks,
J

Welcome to SR J! Congrats on day 4 and glad you decided to join us.

Regarding urges, it's important to remember that they are simply thoughts in your mind. You have 100% choice in how you react to them. For example, you came here today to talk about them first before running to buy alcohol...that is a choice you made, and a very good one i would add.

Also remember the (HALT) signs ( Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired ) - those are some basic needs/feelings we have that need action to correct and can bring on our default response to drink ( and avoid ). Get something to eat, take a walk, take a nap, read a book, watch a movie - there's a lot of things you can do besides drinking to help combat these feelings.

Distraction was my best friend in the early days. If you let a craving grow to the point that you feel like you're tasting it, you're letting yourself fixate on it. Can you change the channel when you find your brain going down that road? Deliberately fixate on something else for a little while? Could be anything, read something, wash dishes, listen closely to music, count the hairs on your arm or the whiskers on your cat, anything that takes your attention to it for long enough for the craving to go away, as it always will.

Welcome J! Great job on 4 days. Tips? The best advice I would give is that you view these early days as a big ole hill and you just need to get to the top. Luckily, at Day 4, you aren't too far from that top. As challenging as things are, you don't want to start over. Other advice: get some exercise, eat some sweets (trust me, you will probably love ice cream now), and avoid caffeine. Good luck! You are doing great!

Welcome to the family. :) The biggest thing I had to do, to stay sober for good, is to want to be sober more than I wanted to drink. :)

keep trying to convince myself I can have just one but from the past, I know that never works.

Any tips?

welcome, Jiih,

my tip is to take all that energy you're finding and using on convincing yourself you can have just one and put the energy on distraction, as others suggest, and on staying with clarity in the knowledge of your own experience to the contrary.

I went to a lot of meetings and listened to others. For me being around people shortened the day and started me on a sober path through the fellowship and program.

Soon after, I joined SR. I find both useful in different ways but ultimately the same - One problem drinking sharing with another.


There's a book I found helpful early on - Living Sober
https://sites.google.com/site/aspiri...s/living-sober

Welcome aboard , Im new on here too, you can do it ,lets do it together!
Check on here a couple times a day, read thru other people experience and listen, you might not want to hear somethings but that because everyone here is experience and they've gone thru the same struggles , their our mentors now, you can do it man, stay focus on a better life ahead......

Welcome to SR and congrats on Day 4.

The urges in the beginning are incredible. What worked for me was to get outside and out of my own head. The combination of fresh air and exercise always helped to flip the switch.

Hang in...the more times you move past the urge, the easier it will get.

Eat (everything), Exercise (even if it's only a long walk), Chores (you know the crap you been putting off), Sleep, then REPEAT as necessary.....

I now, 168 days sober, wander how in the h*ll did I ever find time to drink.