Jfa

Hey guys, going into my 3rd week of sobriety in a couple of days. Just wondering if it's normal that I have not had any cravings for alcohol since I quit?
(not that I'm complaining). I had plenty of anxiety and insomnia though.

I had been a heavy nightly drinker for several years, I would have thought I'd be feeling some kind of craving by now. I know I do when I don't have a cigarette after 2 hours..

Anyways, thanks for reading

LaFemme

Hi jfa! Not sure what normal is:-)

I have never had a real craving either for the alcohol or the cigarettes. I'm grateful too but I still stay on guard and protect my sobriety.

Welcome to SR and stick around...more people will be around shortly.

Dee74

Hi jfa

So do, some don't...some get them later...there's a myriad of possibilities.
I'm glad it's been pretty clear sailing for you

D

ozgoddess

Hi JFA

I didn't really get cravings as such but I certainly had triggers. What I mean by that is, certain things happened that would make me think I wanted a drink but it passed. It certainly didn't last longer than a few minutes.

Good work on your sober time. Keep up the good work!!

Kmber2010

Good work JFA...and I totally agree with Oz.

My initial cravings passed in the first week when I got beyond withdrawal. Down the road when I felt good and comfortable was when triggers would come up. Basically situations where I would have drank in the past. So I had to also work through them but they do pass.

Good stuff and I think everyone has a bit of a different experience. Just stay focused...doing great

CarolD

I rarely use the word normal....but I do think it's unusual.
How fortunate for you....

Keep moving forward...recovery rocks!
Glad to know you are doing well....

Isaiah

I don't know about normal, but that's more or less how it went and goes for me. I don't deal a lot with cravings. I get drinking thoughts, but 95% of the time they're fleeting.

However, I need to always remind myself that doesn't mean I'm out of the water. I think because I was the "self-medicating" brand of alcoholic, what has always gotten me into deep water (deep vodka?) is a flare-up in my mental illnesses. So while day to day it's sunshine and rainbows, as some of my AA friends like to say, my disease is outside doing push-ups.

LexieCat

I haven't had any serious desire to drink since my first week sober--and it's been two years.

I don't take for granted that it will never return, though, which is why I am active in AA. I never want to go back to the miserable state I was in when I finally surrendered.

The dangerous part is when some people take the absence of cravings to mean that they aren't really alcoholics and can go back to drinking "normally". Some people don't make it back for years and years (if they do at all) and some find that when they do quit again, they DO have strong urges to drink.

So appreciate the fact that you aren't struggling with urges now, but don't take that for granted.

tomdecel

Hi J,

We are on the same boat. I am at day 23 today. So fas so good. No cravings beyond the first 4 days.

My heavy drinking days used to be Sundays and the past couple of Sundays, in the middle of the day, resting at home, watching a football game, the thought of drinking has crossed my mind, but I am very committed to staying on course. No drinking no matter what.

I have stopped many times, usually for 5, 6, maybe 8 months, and then when I think I got this thing licked, I go for "one" glass of wine, or just "one" scotch and all of a sudden, three weeks later I am drinking everything in my way until I get a hold of myself 4 or 5 weeks later and shut it off for a few more months.

I am done for good this time....

Itchy

I also feel no real cravings as in "I need or want" a drink, just a few habitual learned things like reaching for my drink, or smoke, and instead grabbing my iced tea, or something stronger, coffee. For the oral gratification, instead of smoking threde packs a day I am now a mint junkie. But I do the patch for smoking so still get the drug just not the cough and expense. These are fleeting and not something I need to fight. I usually just laugh at myself for such an irrational response to stessors both good and bad. Rather than anxiety and other normative witdrawal symptoms I had digestive upset and itchy skin and dandruff for some reason starting when I quit. The digestive stuff has settled back down and the dry skin is getting better very slowly. However I am a bit flaky on memory day to day and that too will pass as I unlearn some pretty heavy duty conditioning from the past 20 years of heavy drinking. It is a surprise when I have to remind myself that I can drive anywhere anytime of the day or night because I can't get a DUI! (Never got one) I chose to never drink and drive which effectively left me stranded at my property for days at a time and certainly every afternoon.

I have so many projects and things I let slide to catch up on that I could easily become overwhelmed and stress out over it, but I don't, I just do a bit every day and before I know it am making real progress on all fronts. My workshop and portable office are both next after redoing my SoHo network here which I am in the middle of with new systems almost ready to replace the old ones.

I just take it one day at a time. I have read here of folks having cravings later, as in several months to years after their initial month of sobriety, and I am only at 32 days today. If that is the case, then I hope to remain an atypical alcoholic,rather than typical. See I didn't use the word normal!

Kitey

Hi J

I never had ONE single Craving after I quit because I was so disgusted with my last Binge that I cringe when I think about it, it has put me off Drink for life!

least

I often craved the escape of drinking, the numbness, but once I realized it wasn't an escape but a trap, I stopped craving it so much. Now over ten months and rarely get the urge to drink, and those few times are easy to dismiss.

Toronto68

I don't know how normal it is, but that is how I remember it after I quit. I didn't have urges to go and get alcohol. I was more surprised that I was able to keep going without than any other reason to be thinking about alcohol. There was a period where I was a little afraid to bring back empties to the store, because I didn't know what would happen, and I made it (two trips' worth of empties!); but not a lot of debates with myself about whether I wanted to have any or not. Cigarettes, that is a different story, I only made it through most of 5 days there. There were triggers in my thoughts later on and I have had some recently, but nothing I am very worried about. I would say to keep going as you are and keep questioning when you think you should and give yourself credit as you go.

stanleyhouse

JFA
I guess I was lucky that alcohol was making me physically sick, so I have that to remember. I didn't have urges to drink because I knew going to the store meant ending up in the closet for a month or a year.
However, just because I don't have cravings doeasn't mean I don't work on recovery everyday. I don't do AA but my own recovery program helps me be the person I like. Not craving the drink doesn't mean the work is done.
Keep going, you'll love the results and I'm glad the journey so far has been pretty pleasant.
SH