determined1

I guess from what I read--things will get better as far as how hard I have to work at this. I will be honest, this week --I think about it almost non stop as to how strong I will have to be in the evenings, and the weekends are always by biggest drinking days. I have promised myself I wont do it this weekend, but I need advice from anyones past experience...how long will it be before I dont think about it so much...about how strong I will have to be at around 7 each evening...
I still feel great about it, but dont like how much I think about it.

MycoolFitz

Different for everybody. The more you think about it and fight the tinking the more it takes over. Acknowledge the cravings, they'll come and pass, come and pass. Reach out, 12-step meetings, professional help, sober friends and family. Addiction is a brain disease (The Institute For Addiction Study) and craving is one of its primary symptoms. For the first 3 months of my recovery including in-patient detox and treatment I was put on Campral to help control craving. Here I am later, still ticking. All my best. This thing can be done. There is a lot of living proof. Namaste

Anna

Hi,

I can tell you what worked for me. I changed my routines and daily patterns. If you normally drink around 7 pm, then go out. Go for a long walk or bike ride, go to a movie, call someone, force yourself to be doing something different at that time. It really helps. And, I don't know how long you will have cravings, but for me it took awhile. The thing is, your addict mind knows that you are stopping drinking and it will speak to you louder and louder, in desparation. Accept it for what it is, dismiss it, and move on.

determined1

Thanks. I have been keeping myself busy, but I am surprised at how much I think about it. At this point I want "NOT" to drink more than I want a drink, but dont like how much I am thinking about it. I had this week off, so maybe going back to work on monday will help get my mind off of it.

joedris

How about trying AA? One of the best ways to find out exactly what you have to do and how hard you have to work at it to go to an AA meeting. It's saved countless lives, mine included.

jamdls

I substituted chocolate for my wine, course then I got rather addicted to chocolate and gained weight but that was a heck of a lot better than being a drunk.

mle-sober

First, I'm really proud of you for still being sober - right here, right now. You deserve a lot of credit for what you're doing.

For me, the first 30 days were pretty much the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. Each and every single one of those days was a miracle. I got up in the morning thinking about drinking and I went to bed thinking about drinking. I felt enormous grief the entire time - like the grieving you feel when someone you love dearly has died. I had a hole in my life that I didn't know if I was ever going to fill again. I was incredibly hard.

I went to AA which did help somewhat - just to be around people who understood. And I was in a day treatment program which also helped.

Then, one day, I was driving - it was almost exactly 30 days - and I looked up and realized I had driven past the liquor store without noticing it. And then I realized I'd been going through most of my day without grieving or clammering inside for the relief that alcohol brought me. And it slowly got better from there. Slowly, slowly, days happened where I didn't feel dominated by the urge to drink. And I was able to go to bed at night and just say thank you to the universe for the slow release I was feeling from my addiction.

You just keep at this. It's hard at first but it really does get better. And you will have a life that is worth living - a life that isn't controlled by alcohol. You can do this. I'm glad you're here. I hope you stay.

Wolfchild

One of the best ways i have found to be strong around 7pm
is to have my butt in a chair at a local A.A. or N.A. meeting!

i can't help another alcoholic or addict stay clean and sober
if i'm deciding to sit at home alone with my broken thinking.

Take action with your desire to live life
without the use of drugs and alcohol!!

Dee74

My experience was a lot like mle's...I found I had to change my routine too - and when I did crave, I tried to get busy - if all that didn't work? I just sat with it - and thought about what happens when I do drink...and I thought about all I had to be grateful for in the time I'd been sober....and I thought of how I don't have to react to cravings anymore.

And when it all got a little too hot, or hard, or sad - I reached out.

For me, I reasoned that I can think whatever I like, I can feel whatever I feel...but I can choose to act on an urge...or not. In the end cravings can be uncomfortable - but they're not agony. I figure we've been through agony and anything is better than going back to that.

A lot of people here have beaten them...you can too
D

tommyk

The word, as if from the burning bush itself.

Mark75

I thought about it all the time the first few months... It's so much better now and I am not even at a year yet

The Big Book of AA is a good read... It will give you hope and it's message is uplifting. There are other good books that I read early on... "Dry" by Augusten Burroughs, "Night of the Gun" by David Carr, there are others. At 7 pm go to the Library or the book store.

Mark