asixstringnut

Hi All.
I am working my way through day 4 and already the av has started.
I swear I am still sweating alcohol out of my pours and it already starts.

That thought of just going to the store to get a bottle was very strong and I am not going to give in to that voice today.

What secrets, tricks, tools do you all use when the av gets strong?

I would love to hear how you defeat it.

asixstringnut

Canuckleman45

For me I found getting out of the house for a drive for about 15-30 minutes worked great. I’ve had one slip up but other than that I’m doing pretty good. Hang in there.

Purplrks3647

Good for you coming here and posting ~ I like visiting the other threads like Weekenders, One Year and Under. etc....it helps to reach out and get honest, positive feedback from others. Stay close!

ryan87

We are on the same day so I can relate! Do you play guitar (just noticed your username)? I have been playing tons of music and exercising. And thinking about how rested I will be to do these activities. It is hard though I'm in the same boat.

Dee74

Hi Six

I think everyone has to deal with the AV sooner or later.

The thing to remember is - the AV has no arms or legs - it needs us to get what it wants.

If we refuse - no a damn thing it can do about it, except throw a tantrum.

The more you refuse to engage with it, the weaker it gets.

D

Ghostlight1

The fourth day was always a killer for me, too.
I've been sober over six years now, and to be honest with you I don't remember what I did to not drink on the fourth day when I had the urge,

Just remember what will happen if you do drink. The guilt, remorse and anxiety of the day after.
Ahhhh, that's what I did. My day after symptoms were so bad all I could do is lay in bed not believing it happened again. And I did this literally hundreds of days. That's how long it took me to quit. Years. Until it got so bad I started going into physical withdrawal. A waking nightmare.
I don't know if that's what awaits you, but whatever it is I bet it won't be pleasant.

You don't have to drink. Simple, and easier said than done I know, but you don't have to drink.
Wishing you the best and thinking of you that you won't pick up.

asixstringnut

I am here to say I got past the AV. Looking forward to being on day 5 when I wake up tomorrow.

Have a safe night all.

anxiousrock

Go to the gym or go for a walk.
Occupy your mind somehow else.
It’s hard, but you’ll find something that will work.
Playing music as mentioned above is a great idea.

Gottalife

Have something sweet, like an orange drink, might help in the short term.
Going to a meeting, and calling other alcholics is also effective in my experience.

Sitting at home trying to not drink never worked for me.

asixstringnut

Congrats on quitting Ryan. Keep up the good work.

Yes I am an old picker and a collector of guitars.

Kimmy2002

Hi six, play the tape through. Don’t entertain that beast. Xx

Opie0831

I’m on day 5... AV is so annoying! On Friday evening mine was so strong but I logged on to SR and began reading and absorbing. I was amazed at how quiet my AV got. Keep coming to this site! It’s amazingly helpful! ❤️

Gabe1980

My AV was on the rampage last night too. I tend to do a lot of the above, definately playing the tape through, imagining hangovers in great detail and what it's like to wake up not knowing what's happened.
I find cooking helps, something involving a lot of chopping and prep. Eating a lot, so there is no space for for booze in my stomach. Making a deal with myself that it will really **** my AV off if I don't spend the money on wine and by something nice for myself, like a new scarf or something. Pretty much anything to shut that little S*** up! Different things seem to work at different times so I'm sure your list of strategies will grow. It is definately true that the longer you starve the Beast the less it talks to you. You can do it!

Berrybean

Well, you know when a sales person is actually almost funny because they're lying so much but you can see through them? I got so I could sometimes just laugh at the B.S. in my head. I also re-read the list of why I needed to make that change and how alcohol really was not good for my life. And I imagined having to tell certain people that I'd drank.

I also used the AA recovery speaker recordings quite a lot... https://www.recoveryaudio.org/

Plus getting to an AA meeting helped - especially on the days I least wanted to go!


Once I accepted that you can't shut the thing up it helped some. It meant I wasn't arguing with it, just choosing not to listen to it or take anything it told me seriously.

BB

asixstringnut

Day 6 and already got my exercise in.
Starting to feel somewhat human again. There is hope.

Baby steps.

asixstringnut

firstymer

Excellent work, Sixstring.

Nonsensical

I remind myself that my AV never gets strong. If it seems strong it is because I am mistakenly perceiving myself as weak.

Two days ago you told your AV 'NO'. Absolutely nothing bad happened after you told it NO. It isn't strong. It just lies and tells you that it is. Never believe it.

You are doing this.

PlayStation4

Hey six, well done on day 4, im back on day 12 after a month long binge, I was just after getting 7 months sober, if I could have got to day 4 where your at now the binge wouldn’t have lasted a month but I couldn’t string 4 together, the most I could get was 2 and I was off again so your doing good and should be over the worst of it, I’m hitting a lot of aa meetings now and find they calm the mind, drink still comes into my head all the time but I don’t entertain it, i got Librium off the doctor to get me over the first few days, I wouldn’t advise sitting down doing too much thinking, this disease will play tricks on you, stay busy, try get some exercise and eat well, I know it’s easy say it but push through, Best of luck

Dee74

Keep moving forward six

D