yeahgr8

Since getting sober 4 months ago I have had no cravings. Before i could not go one day without alcohol and was interested to see if anyone else had been in this situation or had a similar experience?

For example i went for a coffee this morning at the local bar and was looking at the spirits, including my DOC Bacardi and felt nothing. It is just puzzling having come from years of heavy drinking with not being able to think about anything else.

I personally put this down to remembering the living hell it was 4 months ago and wanting to get better, but it just seems a bit strange as though it is not an option anymore so i don't think about it at all.

TryingSoHard

That's awesome, yeah, and I'm envious. I wish I could say I haven't had any cravings (I hit 4 months today - Sunday). The first month was easy for me. I was so disgusted with myself that I was CONVINCED I'd never want another drop of the stuff again. I was MISERABLE, but I wasn't craving. That kicked in in month 2. Month 3 was on-again-off-again. The cravings came and went very unpredictably. I've been "safe" the past 2 or 3 weeks, they have been non-existent or very mild. However, the past couple of days I've had those thoughts sneaking back into the corners of my mind.

Y'all know what I mean when I say those thoughts, I know you do.

I hope your no-craving-streak continues. Cravings are a b*tch.

Oh, and even when I'm not craving I can't stand to look at a real, live, up-close bottle of booze. Last night at a restaurant I walked past their bar and I started shaking and broke out into a cold sweat when I saw all the bottles right there within reach. I had to look away and walk fast.

Aysha

Yea..I am jealous too. But good job.
Keep it up.

mtmandj

Alcoholic don't have The craving till they take that first drink. Now the Mind tell us to go a head and drink. It will make us fill better. But once I take first drink, then the allergy is triggered. Can't know where I'll stop. Doctor's Opinion Big book

yeahgr8

I forgot to add that i am taking antabuse too, take one every morning, it's that pill that makes you ill if you drink alcohol. I am wondering if that has muted the cravings as it takes away the option...one thing for sure i am not wanting to find out so am going to keep popping my pill with my vitamins and cod liver oil every morning!

maybe i've had an extension on your first month tryingsohard! Well done on 4 months btw, fantastic:-)

Question for AA people, do you have people come into the meetings after being sober for a while like me? I know i said in December i would go to a meeting but seriously think that at some point i need to get in as it will help me stay sober for the years/decades that some of you on here have?

You said it mtmandj! I'm well aware of what will happen with one drink still, and it won't be having a few drinks a night for a month and then going back to hardcore i would be all in from the scratch! I learnt that well and gave up trying to control the drinking before i stopped about 2 years before, pointless!

stone

AA does define craving like you described mt, they describe the wanting to drink without having had the first drink as obsession, the mental obsession.

So, in AA parlance, yeahgr8 would say he hasn't had the obsession to drink in 4 months.

Non AA people call the obsession, craving. Which isn't surprising because it feels very like the craving we get after the first drink even though we haven't drank.

stone

I am sober a month and haven't had the craving/obsession either, yeahgr. It is quite weird because when I have quit in the past I have craved/obsessed quite a lot at times.

It is great! But I am wary, I am not going to lulled into a false sense of security.

yeahgr8

Stone, you mean

So, in AA parlance, yeahgr8 would say HE hasn't had the obsession to drink in 4 months.

I hope lol

Yep i am very, very vigilant. I think we all know how tricky this disease can be! Sneaky little ******!

nogard

Fantastic Yeah and stone, I have heard others say this and have heard a few say that this happened and the obesession and compulsion never returned.

Kevin

stone

I already changed it too he/she, lol. Sorry.

stone

OK, changed it to just "he".


Thanks Kev. I have heard of people that have had it not return at all too.

nogard

Its a gift stone, happened to me after about 3 months. One day I realised I had not thought about using that day and then I realised it had been a few days, I could not tell you exactly which day it was but even now writing and thinking about it makes me tingle from head to foot. That obsession and compulsion my constant shadow for so long has not returned since then.

stone

That's awesome Kev, something just happened to me this time. I just stopped and felt different and haven't wanted to drink ever since.
I can't explain what happened either but I can say that even when I was still bingeing I was practicing the program in my sober periods. I think that has something to do with it.

nogard

Thats so good to hear ((((stone))))

flutter

I haven't had a craving, and I don't plan to ever attend AA again. For me, I had to just come to the place in my head where I was done. Where I wanted sobriety more than alcohol, my drinking career is over, I retire. I don't drink, I don't want to from a psychological level, and surely not from a physical level. It's honestly effortless when a point is reached where you finally admit, "no more.. never again.. I have a life to live". I'm not a follower of the 'one day at a time' stuff, that is NOT enough for me, I don't play games with my head. I just don't drink anymore, and I wont again, period.

stone

That's great flutter.

I don't ascribe to the one day at a time the way some AA people do, instead I LIVE one day at a time. In fact I try to live in the present moment, the now, as you can see from my current avatar. LOL

I agree that when it just clicks in your head, it gets easy. I am not gonna get cocky about it though. It could get hard again all of sudden.

masseyman

It gives me hope that I will be obsession or craving free one day to hear those that are free from it. I woke up every morning for years hating booze and vowing not to drink anymore....til about 10am or so. I still miss my vodka every other day or so, I'm only 14 days sober.

Hope for days of lasting freedom from the obsession keeps me going, thanks for the thread topic. It helps.

Fubarcdn

I haven't had a desire to drink and think pretty much on the lines that Flutter does. I know that id I have one I will drink until the day is done but I have had no desire for that fitst drink.
Congrats on 4 months.yeahgr8. Do you have any plans of ever dropping the antabuse treatments?

Eclipse

I had quit for a month and honestly can say I did not have any cravings at all. I could walk into the store and not even think about the wine aisle. That is when I decided I could go have a couple drinks with a friend and that was the end of that.

Mattcake

Yeahgr8, that's really good. I have experienced something similar. Whenever I see booze, I wince and feel a little pukey, lol. I have discovered that I don't acutally *like* the stuff.... I just (thought I) liked the way it made me feel. Finding new, healthier ways to achieve that feeling has been a big part of my own process.

For me, it's not about booze anymore.