When do the cravings lessen?
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: augusta ga
Posts: 36
When do the cravings lessen?
i know cravings dont ever go away, but it's been so long since i've tryed getting sober that i've forgotten when the cravings for a drink go down. I've been sober for 14 days now. I think about drinking alot. When will it be less?>
Member
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Indiana
Posts: 1,486
I don't have cravings anymore. I have lost the desire to use drugs/alcohol. I had cravings for about 6 months then they dropped of to only a couple times in the next 6 months. I don't think I had any the 2nd year in.
Don't get me wrong, the idea or thoughts of the option to use occasionally comes mind. However, with no desire to use those thoughts do not manifest cravings.
I was willing to make the effort to take certain steps to get the recovery I have today.
We do recover,
Missy
Don't get me wrong, the idea or thoughts of the option to use occasionally comes mind. However, with no desire to use those thoughts do not manifest cravings.
I was willing to make the effort to take certain steps to get the recovery I have today.
We do recover,
Missy
Forward we go...side by side-Rest In Peace
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Serene In Dixie
Posts: 36,740
My cravings did go away ..rather quickly too...
considering the fact I had been an active alcoholic for 5 years.
By the end of 2 months of AA recovery...I was back in balance
physically and mentally. No meds required....no cravings.
Well done on your 2 weeks....please give yourself time to recover.
considering the fact I had been an active alcoholic for 5 years.
By the end of 2 months of AA recovery...I was back in balance
physically and mentally. No meds required....no cravings.
Well done on your 2 weeks....please give yourself time to recover.
Member
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 567
I know it's a matter or terminology, took me a while to sort out the confusion when I heard cravings and obsessions, about the 3rd month without a drink when most of the "fog" lifted.
The alcoholic craving occurs after the first drink, it's physical craving.
"The phenomenon of craving".
What you are probably going through is the mental obsession, the thought of a drink, and the obsession over it, "shall I, won't I" etc.
I do not know how much you drank, drink lots of water till the cells in the body "forget" alcohol.
So, let's look at it this way.
We think alcohol, our mind.
We obsesses over the thought, mental obsession, ( our alcoholism)
We Sucumbed to the thought and took a drink.
Once having taken the drink, the physical craving starts, and we drink more.
The more we drink, it weakens us, the mind goes out of control, the obsession gets greater, we drink more because the craving increases.
Dr Silkworth wrote;
"After they have succumbed to the desire again, as so many do, and the phenomenon of craving develops, they pass through the well-known stages of a spree, emerging remorseful, with a firm resolution not to drink again. This is repeated over and over, and unless this person can experience an entire psychic change there is very little hope of his recovery."
The "psychic change", is the mind thought process. Meaning the thought of a drink may always be there, it's how we react to that thought.
We ask our HP to help us to think His will, not my will because I know it will lead to drinking.
So instead of taking a drink just because my mind thought it, I now re-coil.
If I re-coil, then I have no alcohol in my body so the physical craving will not kick in. That's the nature of alcohol. If I have no alcohol in my body, then my mind is not affected, I am not drunk. If I am not drunk, then I can ask my HP and get a clearer understanding.
Other substances work the opposite way once developing an addiction.
The craving occurs before, when the substance is taken, the craving goes away till the substance wears off, then a craving develps again for that same substance.
Working with others helps me not think of a drink, eventually as I have grown in AA, there is no obsession over alcohol at all, the obsession is simply not there. I may think of a drink, or how it used to be, but I don't dwell on it, I know it's my mind and I know what it is, I'm alcoholic.
Simply don't pick up a drink.
However, I need AA in my life a home group, serice work in AA and to practice the 12 steps by attending workshops, book studies and working with others who ask for help.
So I have changed the way I react to the thought of a drink, I do AA.
That's been my experience..., hope it helps.
The alcoholic craving occurs after the first drink, it's physical craving.
"The phenomenon of craving".
What you are probably going through is the mental obsession, the thought of a drink, and the obsession over it, "shall I, won't I" etc.
I do not know how much you drank, drink lots of water till the cells in the body "forget" alcohol.
So, let's look at it this way.
We think alcohol, our mind.
We obsesses over the thought, mental obsession, ( our alcoholism)
We Sucumbed to the thought and took a drink.
Once having taken the drink, the physical craving starts, and we drink more.
The more we drink, it weakens us, the mind goes out of control, the obsession gets greater, we drink more because the craving increases.
Dr Silkworth wrote;
"After they have succumbed to the desire again, as so many do, and the phenomenon of craving develops, they pass through the well-known stages of a spree, emerging remorseful, with a firm resolution not to drink again. This is repeated over and over, and unless this person can experience an entire psychic change there is very little hope of his recovery."
The "psychic change", is the mind thought process. Meaning the thought of a drink may always be there, it's how we react to that thought.
We ask our HP to help us to think His will, not my will because I know it will lead to drinking.
So instead of taking a drink just because my mind thought it, I now re-coil.
If I re-coil, then I have no alcohol in my body so the physical craving will not kick in. That's the nature of alcohol. If I have no alcohol in my body, then my mind is not affected, I am not drunk. If I am not drunk, then I can ask my HP and get a clearer understanding.
Other substances work the opposite way once developing an addiction.
The craving occurs before, when the substance is taken, the craving goes away till the substance wears off, then a craving develps again for that same substance.
Working with others helps me not think of a drink, eventually as I have grown in AA, there is no obsession over alcohol at all, the obsession is simply not there. I may think of a drink, or how it used to be, but I don't dwell on it, I know it's my mind and I know what it is, I'm alcoholic.
Simply don't pick up a drink.
However, I need AA in my life a home group, serice work in AA and to practice the 12 steps by attending workshops, book studies and working with others who ask for help.
So I have changed the way I react to the thought of a drink, I do AA.
That's been my experience..., hope it helps.
Member
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Lake Tahoe CA
Posts: 1,098
Thanks so much for this thread tigerlover.
I keep talking about how my recovery is different this time
because I do not crave a drink. After reading Pete55's
post I can define so much better what is going on with me
now and also can identify with what happened with my
million and ten relapses.
Anyway, I have not had the obsession to drink since
I stopped 29 days ago. I have thoughts of drinking
but they are very fleeting and only last a few minutes
at the most. I don't have a clue as to why it is this
way this time. I am so grateful though.
I have tried to change up my routine as much as I can.
I also don't allow myself to dwell in all the negatives
I am experiencing both physically and mentally. I do
remember to focus on gratitude every single day.
These changes have seemed to help me alot.
The more effort I put into making sobriety a good
experience and a priority, the better I seem
to do and feel each day.
I keep talking about how my recovery is different this time
because I do not crave a drink. After reading Pete55's
post I can define so much better what is going on with me
now and also can identify with what happened with my
million and ten relapses.
Anyway, I have not had the obsession to drink since
I stopped 29 days ago. I have thoughts of drinking
but they are very fleeting and only last a few minutes
at the most. I don't have a clue as to why it is this
way this time. I am so grateful though.
I have tried to change up my routine as much as I can.
I also don't allow myself to dwell in all the negatives
I am experiencing both physically and mentally. I do
remember to focus on gratitude every single day.
These changes have seemed to help me alot.
The more effort I put into making sobriety a good
experience and a priority, the better I seem
to do and feel each day.
Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Germany
Posts: 2,058
The cravings have passed for me TL so please give yourself time and work your support. I found things improved earlier on but did have triggers so to speak - just experiences that I would have used alcohol in the past for. Some months in for me they were gone.
I found coming here and having face to face support was tremendous for me and I am still making change
Keep it going!
I found coming here and having face to face support was tremendous for me and I am still making change
Keep it going!
bona fido dog-lover
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: SF Bay area, CA
Posts: 99,776
I noticed that my desire to drink went away when I started being grateful for my blessings. For the first month or two I was sober but still unhappy. I began to express gratitude for at least one thing each day and it became a habit. And when I was truly grateful for the blessings in my life, I lost the desire to drink. After a while of expressing/feeling gratitude my cravings/desire to drink went away, it was somewhere between four to six months sober that I realized this.
For the first month or two I was sober but still unhappy. I began to express gratitude for at least one thing each day and it became a habit. And when I was truly grateful for the blessings in my life, I lost the desire to drink. After a while of expressing/feeling gratitude my cravings/desire to drink went away, it was somewhere between four to six months sober that I realized this. New to Real Life
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: I come in Peaces
Posts: 2,071
I found AVRT (rational recover, you can google. can't link here b/c it's a commercial site but the tool is free) to be really helpful with my cravings. I have 6 mos now and haven't had a craving in a long time.
I had to REALLY accept that I could never drink again though. Without that I think I would still be spinning my wheels. All notions of controlled drinking/moderation had to go.
I had to REALLY accept that I could never drink again though. Without that I think I would still be spinning my wheels. All notions of controlled drinking/moderation had to go.
Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 581
Cravings can go away. The AA program of recovery promises a position of neutrality in relation to alcohol.
As someone has already said, the physical cravings last until the alcohol is out of your system. The body believes it needs alcohol. After we are detoxed, the cravings are then in our head-- the mental obsession. In my experience, the mental obsession lasts indefinitely-- until I had a spiritual awakening sufficient to stop it.
When a person in AA with long term sobriety says they craved a drink, they are still not recovered from the mental obsession. That is really untreated alcoholism. Suffering one day at a time is not a requirement of the program of AA.
As someone has already said, the physical cravings last until the alcohol is out of your system. The body believes it needs alcohol. After we are detoxed, the cravings are then in our head-- the mental obsession. In my experience, the mental obsession lasts indefinitely-- until I had a spiritual awakening sufficient to stop it.
When a person in AA with long term sobriety says they craved a drink, they are still not recovered from the mental obsession. That is really untreated alcoholism. Suffering one day at a time is not a requirement of the program of AA.
Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 211,431
Hi TigerLover
Cravings do go away - like smacked says, it takes some time and some work tho.
We drank for years - it's going to take a little time and effort to turn things around.
I'm not sure how long mine lasted as a regular thing...a little longer than 2 weeks tho
Just remember that you don't need to act on craving, they are finite - and you can get through them
D
Cravings do go away - like smacked says, it takes some time and some work tho.
We drank for years - it's going to take a little time and effort to turn things around.
I'm not sure how long mine lasted as a regular thing...a little longer than 2 weeks tho
Just remember that you don't need to act on craving, they are finite - and you can get through them
D
Member
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: WA, USA
Posts: 2,591
If someone came to me two years ago and said that one day I could walk past the wine and beer isle without giving it a second thought, that I could dismiss thoughts of drinking like any other thought and that when I had actual cravings for alcohol they were a tiny fraction in strength compared to when I was actually drinking I would have dismissed that person away completely. It does happen though! I went 6 months and I was doing great, then I went a year and I got to the point that I just described. It is a great great gift to give yourself. I am no longer a slave to alcohol.
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