SomehowIManage

I was always under the impression that alcohol cravings were a more physical reaction to wanting alcohol similar to initial withdrawal symptoms. This I don't notice at all. But psychologically; thinking about, missing and wanting alcohol to the point where I can almost taste it via memory; these I experience daily. I just find the confusing as I'm taking medication that is supposed to help with cravings and I don't understand how that is supposed to work of it's a psychological reaction.

SnazzyDresser

This is a good Suzanne Vega song about craving, it's called Caramel. Evidently she craves caramel and also this guy she's sweet on. She recognizes that she can't have either and is resigned to the reality of that.

biminiblue

Cravings in that context (your pill is supposed to help with...) isn't how I would look at it either.

To me, with that definition the pill would be to stop the urge to take a drink. I don't know what pill there is out there that would do that. What pill is it?

Craving (to me) is what happens once I have a drink...I am not able to stop at one, because the cravings/compulsion kick in. In that case, there are drugs that claim to stop that by removing or diminishing that intense pleasure we get from alcohol.

tomls

In one of my many failed attempts at sobriety in a treatment facility a counselor referred to addiction as an allergy and the cravings were like an itch inside and I can see that being the case.

MaximusD

A craving to me is any thinking that is trying to get me to take a drink of alcohol. I agree though with Bimini, if there was a pill that would make it that much easier we would all be taking it and out of this mess.

silentrun

I only had cravings between 7pm and 5 minutes before the liquor closed. I couldn't stop cravings in the early days to instead I fought them by associating them with that despair I felt over drinking. A craving started and then I accessed the depression file until eventually, it was automatic. I could however refuse to allow my mind to remember the taste or feeling of alcohol. As soon as that thought crops up it's a hard NO!STOP! one time it hit me before I could react. I pulled up that thread and it was in 2015.

Sohard

Campral and also Chantix (off label) are both prescribed to stop cravings. Both were prescribed to me at different points. I am not on them now, But I don’t think I would be sober without them. They were an enormous help to me. I truly thank God for them. When I would take one, particularly the chantix, I would feel the difference within minutes. They helped me so much in the early days so I could focus on the psychological addiction and not the physical addiction so much. I wish more struggling people knew about them and would give them a shot.

Sohard

Unfortunately, while there are definitely pills that help (as I mentioned to Bimini), they don’t get you “out of this mess”. They are not magic pills , just temporary little Band-Aids. But any little help I could get at the start, I was willing to take!

Dee74

https://www.thetemper.com/science-be...ohol-cravings/

D

Notch8

My cravings have always been the devil telling me that "this time will be different" or "I'm more mature now." Typically after being sober for a few weeks or so.

LumenandNyx

Have you ever experienced thirst and not have any water? Ever experience the thoughts that go along with thirst?

"Damn!! If I don't get some water in about two seconds, I'm gonna loose my freakin' mind!!" "Gimme some damn water!!"

You're tempted to go snatch a bottle right out of a baby's hands. Now that's thirsty - right?

THAT'S How I'd describe cravings for alcohol. That's what mine remind me of.

Grungehead

In AA they describe "both" kinds of craving. They call it a physical allergy and a mental obsession. The mental obsession is the constant thinking (or obsessing) about alcohol before you take a drink. The "physical allergy" is the body actually craving more alcohol once you actually take that first drink. I smoked for many years and I experienced the same thing. The literal physical cravings went away after a few days when all of the nicotine/alcohol was out of my system, but the mental battle not to pick up a cigarette/drink lasted for several months. That's why people who adopt some type of recovery/support plan tend to be more successful than those who don't.

Kaily

Good article. Thanks Dee.

SomehowIManage

I guess the term "craving" encompasses a much broader idea. The medication I'm on is supposed to help with cravings by diminishing the effects of alcohol which I found sort of redundant; as the only way I can know if it's working is if I drink. Although I guess it has kept me sober thus far.

The idea of dealing with the mental cravings for years to come without any easy fix is very daunting.

biminiblue

But they don't stay difficult.

Like anything else, the more you do it the better you get.

The, "I can't live without a drink," physical discomfort went away in weeks (like two weeks) for me.

It got a whole lot easier to dismiss the thoughts after I did it a few times.

Then it's just living life with an occasional thought of a drink, easily dismissed. Like for instance, every once in a while I think about this old boyfriend who was not good for me. I still think about him. He had his good points. Doesn't mean I'm going to go on facebook and look him up.

Jack465

It is very unlikely that the mental cravings will last for years.

It might be weeks or worst case scenario months. The beginning will be the hardest and they will get weaker and weaker the further away you get from your last drink.

silentrun

The cravings were only bad for the first part of recovery. They got less and less and finally, at the six-month mark, I accepted that my drinking days were behind me and I haven't had a craving since. After that, it was about retraining my mind about everything including how I looked at drinking. I would catch myself trying to slip back or sneak in some self-talk that could lead to relapse but not actual cravings. I don't think I could have lasted if the cravings didn't go away.

BullDog777

The physical part was just pain. I was so heavily addicted the last few years, I'd start having chest pains, seizures, stomach problems...i couldn't eat. The doctors had concluded that my body was so heavily addicted that I was in an almost constant state of withdrawal when I wasn't plastered. There was no more moderation...ever. It was wake up and get as drunk as I could to stop the physical stuff. That would sometimes take almost a whole liter.

The mental part was how I romanticized it. An I'm not gonna illustrate that for anyone because I don't want to trigger anybody. It was like an abusive relationship that I craved. When times were good they were great, but when they were bad they were awful and I always went back for more. That's pure F'ing insanity.

The first year was me trying to figure out how to live again without that sick relationship...the longer I stayed away, the stronger I got. 4 years later, I almost never think about it. When I do, it's like this and I'm remembering it so I can warn people how bad it can get. I never wanna go back there. Even remembering those last few days before I was in the hospital makes me start to get sick to my stomach. Everything was so desperate and hopeless and sharp and scary. I don't know how I ever lived that way.

SomehowIManage

Dee made the same comparison with me a while ago and I think I have to keep reminding myself of that. I too still miss someone destructive from my past who I thought I'd never ever be able to live without; yet I do with little to no issue. I've moved on to bigger, better and healthier things. Last night I had the worst craving thus far and at that time it literally felt like every moment for the rest of my life I'd be going through said agony. Yet today I feel ok.

I'm changing a lot about my life and routine in the upcoming months to hopefully remove the triggers and to hopefully further distance myself from the memories where drinking seemed like a more positive solution to life's problems.

PeaceManic

Campral seems to be working for me. Doesn't really matter if it's a placebo, I guess, as long as it works. It's supposed to work only with concelling, and works with one in three people. That seems too successful, but what do I know. I'm not the most craving of addicts though, the problem I have is once I start, I just can't stop.