New to NA & craving
 

Hi, I just got out of a treatment center this morning, 36 days in.
I am finding myself craving a lot more today possibly because I'm home and it's much easier to get and do it. This is the longest I've ever been clean and I want to keep going, I'm tired of going and getting the white key tags!
Any tips on how to handle cravings? I suppose going to a meeting would help but I honestly hate going sometimes because believe it or not, I'm painfully shy. Some may say I use that as a crutch but it's the truth.
Well, thanks for listening...
:wave:

If you don't have a Basic Text get one, if you do, Read it!! its a book about addicts written by addicts, and recovery is possible even for shy people.lol Give yourself a break and go to meetings even when you don't want to go, actually thats when you should go. The miracle will happen when you let it. Find a sponsor, go to meetings, get involved, become a coffee maker or help set up chairs, pick-up ashtrays, anything that gets you out of yourself. Just show up and it will happen. Its not what you share but what you can use right now, at some point, you will feel at ease with yourself and others.

Hi Pepe,

I can understand what you are saying. I was not thrilled about the idea of any kind of meetings when I first started with this whole recovery thing. I have been trying to get it right for years and would go to meetings and sit in the back and hated them for the most part. When I was in rehab I listened honestly I guess for the first time in all my years of being in and out of meetings. Once I got out of rehab I went that very first night and just forced myself to tell people I was there and that I was out of rehab and it broke the ice for me. I got a phone list and tons of people came over to me after the meeting to personally welcome me. I still talk to a few of those guys to this day.

Do you have any friends from rehab that you could go with to those first couple meetings outside of rehab?

So far as cravings go. Yes, it is normal that you might have cravings right out of rehab being you are not in that controlled environment any longer. You can come here and post about them. Sometimes just talking about them or letting somebody know they are there and getting feedback about them is a big help. Go to meetings and talk to somebody there about them. Read the NA literature and realize that they are a normal part of the recovery process. Find something to do that will take your mind off them, hobby or something like that. Change the music you are listening to ... change the chanel on the tv, change whatever you are doing at that time to change your thought process. Read a book, magazine, newspaper ... whatever it takes. Say a prayer. Call a friend.

There are so many things you can do. Try them all if needed. But don't allow yourself to live in those thoughts or they get harder and harder to get out of your head.

Keep posting here and I am sure you will get TONS of suggestions as I have gotten from only posting here a handful of times. There are many people out there who will help you. All you have to do is ask.

Albert R.

Welcome pepe! Some good suggestions allready... cravings are normal. They will pass. I called people from the phone lists, went to talk and have coffee with them and went to meetings and brought the topic of cravings up. It meant a lot to me to know that I wasn't the only one who had them and that other people had gotten through them clean meant I could too.

Not much to add to the wisdom above.
When I crave, I have to talk to another addict.
It gets me out of myself.
Inside me isn't always safe.
Welcome to SoberRecovery Pepe.
:biglaugh:

Cravings
 

Peace,

Welcome pepe. My name is Shakur and I am an addict. Like everyone else said, the cravings won't last forever. I remember being in your same situation, trying to stay clean again for the umteenth time!
I was going out of my mind with wanting to use (obsession), but knowing that once I started, It was off to the races (compulsion) again. I WAS TIRED...
I picked up a meeting list and called the first phone number. Got a guy named Kevin, we talked. He asked me where was I (through God's grace/mercy), he said he was right around the corner. Told me to meet him at the Barber Shop in 5 mins. I went and hung out with him (about two hours) until we went to a meeting together...stayed clean and kept coming back. I know you may be shy and it is hard to pick up the phone, but this is life and death stuff. Gotta exercise that phone-lifting/dialing muscle...You can do it!!
Just get through the next 60 seconds...5 minutes...half-hour....
You never HAVE TO use again.
Peace

Pepe, Cravings pass! I pick up the phone and call other addicts when I crave. I am shy too, but I also know if I use I will die or end up in jail. So I have a choice, assert myself in the rooms of NA or die. I think that was an easy choice for me. If you don't want to use and want the cravings to pass, a meeting would be a good idea. Getting a sponsor would be a good idea, as well as getting a phone list. But, you really have to want this for it to work.

Pepe,

It's all been said. This too shall pass. Pick up the phone and get with someone as soon as possible. You can do it, I have faith in you.

Welcome to SR.

Pepe,
I was the same, terrified to go to a meeting.

My experience is that if you can identify yourself as new (and they ask for newbies to stand up at most meetings) that people will come up to YOU after the meeting. You don't have to do anything else besides that, at first.

Also, if you go to a Speaker meeting, as opposed to discussion, you can just sit and listen, and not feel obligated to share. That's easier in the beginning.

Soon you will have friends there who will greet you when you walk in the door! I am VERY shy, too, and it worked for me. I just had to be open to it.

If you let people know you are struggling, they will help you.

Good luck!
Ashley

I took everyones advice and went to a meeting and got a few numbers. I felt empowered when I left, I know I can stay clean if I do the do's. Thanks for everyones words of wisdom.
Keep it simple

Pepe:)

Peace,
Way to go pepe... Wasn't that hard was it?

Glad you got some "juice" at the meeting :band

Keep coming back. It works!
Peace