weirdesttoner

Hello everyone!
My sobriety day is 25 december 2013. I made it past holidays without many problems. I kept myself occupied and i was just fine.

But the last two evenings i got really strange and strong cravings. Is this normal? Shouldn't be the other way? At first strong, and ease with time?
I don't want to get back in the hole i just managed to crawl out...

Correy

It is normal - cravings arrives when the least expected. It will go away...

Good luck.

zerothehero

My last drink was the 26th. I haven't experienced strong cravings, but that's mostly because I was so frightened by the physical symptoms of my last few weeks of inebriation, and the first week of sobriety. However, as I start to feel better and as the memory of the horror of it all fades, I suspect cravings will return. Today, I thought about good times at the brewpub, my love for IPA and red wine...kind of a mourning of sorts. But that's the IT brain talking.

I can't find the link, but I read on a website something that I thought was really helpful. It explained the difference between the IT (old brain, animal brain, limbic, stem) Brain and the ME Brain (frontal cortex, rational). The idea is to talk to the IT brain as if it is someone else trying to convince you that drinking will be pleasurable, etc. The ME brain says to the IT, "You're trying to fool me again. I know the damage alcohol has done, and I also know I feel better when I don't drink. You're not going to sucker me this time."

By separating the animal cravings from the rational self, we can fight off relapse. So, tell that brain to knock it off cuz you're not gonna fall for it this time!

Dee74

It would be awesome if recovery was like a straight line A to B - but it's often not.

Sometimes, for a while in the early days, your addiction will pull back on our forward trajectory - that's why support is so important I think WS.

Things will even out, but it's important not to let down your guard just yet.
We drank for years - 11 days is great, but it's just the beginning, not the end

D

someonelikeyou0

Recovery isn't a straight line or a downward slope equating time with a decreased amount of cravings. I've had my sober periods of weeks to months. I noticed that sometimes around day 11, I would get intense cravings. It was after the withdrawal was done and I had like 5-7 days of enjoying sobriety. Then the voice came back, saying, "you can handle just a drink."

SparklingSeven

Did you think you had past the worst and was all getting easier from now?

Sneaky bugger this addiction thing lol. That's why people pick up after a being sober for various lengths of time. In GENERAL the longer you go on the easier it gets - 11 days to s still very early. I caved in lots of times at the 9,10,11 day mark and then again at the 3 week mark, then at 3 months and then...

You're doing the right thing posting on here instead of drinking!

FreeOwl

congratulations on 11 days!!

Everything I've heard from the "old timers" around the tables tells me that we just never know. One regular at my home meeting tells of a time about 18 years into his sobriety when he experienced cravings and mental chatter games from his Alcoholic Voice that he was pulled over alongside the road praying his heart out for his Higher Power to help him NOT go to the bar he was headed to....

The stories seem to consistently indicate that we cannot put our guard down. Ever. And that the phenomenon of craving can hit seemingly out of nowhere.

That said - I wonder what else is going on in your life? We often used alcohol as our means of 'coping' or our conditioned response to being out of balance in some other way.

Take your inventory - ask yourself what you're feeling.... is there anything going on for you that might be triggering the craving response? Do you need some exercise? Are you feeling isolated? Have your thoughts turned toward resentments or grief or worry?

These are all just ideas and may or may not apply to you at all, but for me personally - cravings often seem to be associated with "something going on" inside for me. The more actively I'm facing my alcoholism, the less they seem to hit. Meetings, reading, SR.... working on my life's balance....

Today I feel a little down and depressed. But I realized that I was churning away on some financial worries, some fears, some anxieties - all totally unrelated to alcohol; but if I don't acknowledge those and take some actions or take some time to process the feelings - sooner or later it'll lead to that old alcoholic voice taking the opportunity to creep in and say "Hey... psssst.... you know, we could just go an DRINK this stuff away..."

Hang in there, and way to go!!

KateL

It will get better. I found nibbles a saving grace x

weirdesttoner

Thank you all for your support and wisdom!
I know it is a lot early, but i hoped that, yeah, "had past the worst and was all getting easier from now" I guess it's not that easy as we thought or we hoped so...

It's annoying because it's not something big(to put me on guard!), like a withdrawal, no physic or physical illness, just like a constantly irritating drop of water... more like the chinese drop!

EndGameNYC

In my experience, cravings vary from person to person. I had intense, daily cravings for about ten months following my three-year relapse. The best remedy for me was to actively participate in my recovery. Got a sponsor after about four months. AA meetings every day and IOP for about a year. I talked about my cravings every day in IOP, so they started to give me urinalysis each day I was scheduled for treatment. I spent my surplus time exclusively with people who were also struggling with sobriety. Worked on repairing relationships and the wreckage of my past.

Had I done less than that, had I stayed at home more often than not, had I relied primarily on support here and there, had I not taken action on my own behalf, I have no doubt that I would have relapsed again.