lastchance77

Good morning all. This is now my first stop on the internet every morning and throughout the day. I'm not on Facebook so I still feel a bit strange expressing my feelings on my laptop!

I'm five days sober and was feeling ok. Saturday and Sunday mornings I get up early with my 3 year old and watch cartoons. This is probably my biggest trigger to start drinking and chill out with my little sweetheart.

This is my first Saturday sober and my brain is screaming for a drink.

My question is, are there any recommendations for an alternative beverage or food (not coffee!) that can ease the cravings?

IfYouCanDream

Hello lastchance.

Ice cream. People here swear by it and I must admit it does help.

Soberwolf

Ice cream, choclate, fried chicken, comfort food is known to help in the early days

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...-cravings.html

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...e-surfing.html

Well done on day 5 Lastchance your doing good bud

Hawks

Not really In my experience.

A lot of people use all sorts of things like ice cream and fruity drinks and such.

They can temporarily plug the craving.

But best to treat the root cause.

Why do you feel the need to drink on a Saturday morning watching cartoons with your child.?

That's what needs fixing.

Take the time to figure that out instead of trying to get a temporary solution.

lastchance77

Thanks Hawks, I've been working with a therapist for months leading up to this quit date. What I meant was the cartoons happened to coincide with the start of the weekend, not the act of watching them with my daughter. This just happens to be the first one since quitting . Thanks all for your ideas!

EndGameNYC

I'm with comfort food and with comfort generally. What this means varies from person to person. For me, this meant taking action...a good book, an unscheduled hot shower, working out, watching videos, a nice meal (or junk food), or a nap often helped to get me through. I also benefitted from listening to other people's stories about their struggles. Still do.

We're typically bombarded with enough stress in early sobriety, both from without and from within, to make keeping it together a rare and therefore precious commodity. I found it helpful for me to divorce myself from the crisis (singular) that is reality in healthier ways in order to prepare myself for the coming onslaught, including cravings. I took/conitnue to take care of my larger and more imposing problems gradually and over time.

least

I have no suggestions but want to congratulate you on five days sober! That's a good start!

Della1968

Herbal tea really helps me. I am the type who always has to have a beverage. I also drink a ton of Seltzer water mixed with a little orange our cranberry juice. Also if I eat regularly I have no desire to drink.

Bailey3

Ice cream does the trick for me.

Hawks

Oh ok, read that wrong.

Sorry.

But yeah, figuring out how to stop cravings is a good thing, like taking advil for a headache is a good thing too

However, if the headache is the result of a clot or a growth, sooner or later you can't take enough advil to get rid of the headache .

Same goes for alcoholism, one day, no matter how much ice cream or fruity drinks you have, you'll drink anyway.

Get to the root of the problem asap.

There is Sooooo much help out there nowadays, there really is no excuse to not get the root cause sorted out.

Bassmasters

You're not going to like my answer, but the science is sound. Anything that you put in your body which would calm the cravings will only prolong the recovery process. It's a substitute, even if legal, socially acceptable, whatever.

Pain is part of healing. I know we like the quick fixes, but the easier solution is to embrace your suffering as the remedy to what really ails you. We grow through stress, else break. Don't break.

Anna

If it's early morning that's tough for you, there are so many herbal teas that taste and smell delicious.

And, yeah, chocolate and ice cream always work, in the short term at least.

lastchance77

Thanks so much guys. This place will save my life, I'm sure of it

Della1968

I am curious how herbal tea would prolong the recovery process??? If something as simple as a piece of chocolate helps with a craving why should they not have it?

Aellyce

A nice breakfast, and then get out of the house or do something different from what you would normally do on these days? Or at least do the same thing but in a different environment. The cravings that hit due to triggers are based on memory associations our brains have created and conserved over time and repetitions (=habits). We need to break these associations, and a safer way of doing this is changing the context of what we are doing, so part of the habit gets disrupted.