Bananas44

Woke up this morning expecting to hear AV toy with drinking, but it didn't. Im just over a month sober and I think my view of alcohol might be changing. Has anyone gotten to the point after sobriety that alcohol doesn't sound appealing, or you lose that desire to drink?

STDragon

I've lost the desire, but I'm always vigilant. I sometimes catch myself having a 'euphoric re-call' moment. Then I give my head a shake. I'm am very afraid that cravings will return. Not having them could mean I'd get caught by surprise if/when one returns and I won't be mentally equipped (Well practiced) to deal with it.

So just because your AV doesn't talk to you don't mean it's over and you can relax. That's probably the moment it's waiting for to strike.

August252015

Yes. I am a dedicated AAer and thanks to a very strong program, my problem has been removed. I don't want to drink, at all. I work every day to keep that my reality and it has just become my normal way of life - "work" for me means the practices and habits of my program. That translates to everything beyond drinking- my emotional sobriety is my priority (without it, everything else including going back to drinking would follow).

Are you working some kind of active program? Most of us find that to be the essential component to staying sober.

Keep being sober. Everyone's reality in sobriety is different- 30 days+ is awesome! And still very early days.

You can do it. Everything is better sober.

MrPL

Hi,

Absolutely. I have to say that this time round, since I decided to quit for good, there s been very few times I felt like drinking.

I am not sure what your recovery plan looks like, but mine is making focus on so many other positive aspects that alcohol stopped making sense.

Well done on 1 month and keep up the good work!

P

Bird615

Yes, I got to the point where I didn't want to drink anymore and was perfectly content with that for a long time.

Then when I stopped working my recovery program (similar to what August described above) many years later, I began to entertain the idea of drinking again. It actually took a while for me to get into the mindset in which I could actually do it-- physically take that first drink.

If that isn't insanity, I don't know what is.

But yes, the desire was and is completely removed for me, provided I put in the work necessary to accomplish that.

24hrsAday

^ I can relate to This
I am Assuming AV means Addiction Voice right?
I am in AA Myself and it says in our Big Book (The Program in Print)
that at Certain times there will be NO DEFENSE Against that First Drink... EXCEPT From our Higher Power... (God)for Many of us.
coming up on 10 years this Month i have been Very Fortunate to have
made it this far without picking up a drink.

totfit

I no longer have a desire to drink. It just seems a pretty ridiculous thing for me to do. I accept that alcohol affects me differently that others and I lack control which has always caused issues far above and beyond any temporary benefit. Can't say how/when this finally became so apparent, but it has. I think it does for most everyone at some point if they stop putting it in their system.

Mklove

Bananas, Excellent step! It is invigorating to know there is a life after alcoholism and you tasted that! I agree with others, it takes vigilance and a strong personal program to maintain that feeling. For me, it was the sight of a young friend in late stages of cirrhosis, knowing my own liver was heading down that path that sealed the deal.

emjay2017

Yes, last time was after about three months sobriety. Thank after three years I made the mistake of thinking I could enjoy a couple of beers one evening - and that has led to the best part of a year's on and off drinking (becoming more on than off) that I'm now needing to start over again tackling )-:

So my experience is that if you get to a point you don't missing drinking - then protect that like your life depended on it (which it may).

But well done on getting to the month. I wish I were there now!

Emjay

tomsteve

" Has anyone gotten to the point after sobriety that alcohol doesn't sound appealing, or you lose that desire to drink? '

the day after my last drunk drinking was no longer appealing- It was the first time in my life I was lookin at my past without tryin to stuff it and I saw the wreckage alcohol( and I) had done.
after getting out of denial, I saw that alcohol losts its appeal quite some time before that last drunk, but I had lost the power of choice over whether or not I drank.
did I lose the 'desire" to drink? welp, I no longer have the mental obsession to drink, but give me a lawn mower and a lawn to cut on a warm summer day and i'll think about how nice a couple of ice cold beers would be. doesn't happen every time, but it does happen. if that's a desire, then,yes, I occasionally get them , but very rarely. the great fact for me is I didn't completely destroy my memory and remember times when ,"im just gonna have a couple" turned into another blackout drunk.
but I don't allow that thought to control my actions, other than to turn my attention to something more useful.

lilgolden73

I don't have a desire to drink, but it's been a long time for me. I do miss escaping reality, but I've found ways to cope with those feelings when they come up! Good luck, stay strong

Bananas44

A lot of good points brought up here. I'm learning more and more about staying sober and it seems like just when you think it's getting easier, that is when you may become vulnerable to relapse. I am doing my best to keep myself humbled and to learn as much as I can from others while making my own path. I will do my best to protect myself from sinking again. I'm in the process of deciding how to fill my time and I'm discovering who I am and what feelings I have been avoiding for years. I have an appointment with a psychiatrist Thursday to discuss my anxiety and how to appropriately deal with it. Thanks all

FreeOwl

Yes.

Though the desire or at least the speculative possibility to drink came back from time to time over the first year, after that it mostly faded.

Now, over three years sober, I don't have any desire to drink. Once in a great while, I may observe a stray thought about drinking - but I quickly recognize it and in a flash, realize that's NOT what I want.

I'm happy with my sobriety, and more and more happy with life.

Because for me, SOBRIETY really IS Life.

MLD51

I lost the obsession for alcohol pretty much right away. I surrendered completely, and stopped living in denial. I faced up to the fact that my life was a wreck and that I'd never be able to drink normally. It was a relief, actually. That doesn't mean I don't get wistful sometimes and wish I could drink like normies do, but I don't seriously entertain that thought. Because I know I can't, and never will be able to. I never get complacent. I have watched people get complacent after long stretches of sobriety, they go back to drinking, and end up right where they were or even worse. So I know how important it is to keep working a program of some sort, every single day.

uncorked

I found it much easier to sustain sobriety than I thought it would be. Most days I don't even think about alcohol. Of course, sometimes I think it would be nice to have a glass of wine with dinner, but then I "play the tape" and realize I don't want to go there. That helps a lot.