What do you all do about daytime alcohol cravings?
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: A Castle in MA
Posts: 52
What do you all do about daytime alcohol cravings?
Today will be 1 week sober for me, if I can hang on through today, that is. For some reason, today feels especially tough. I already wish I could have a few drinks, and it's only 10:20 am where I am. Daytime drinking was nothing new for me, but I really want to be done with alcohol forever, I can't keep going back and forth. So far I have had coffee and some breakfast, but the thought of alcohol sounds oddly appealing now. Just wondering what you do during the day when the alcohol cravings hit hard. Thanks so much!
Member
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: South Dakota
Posts: 1,061
I will go for a quick walk, that usually helps me even if it's only for a few minutes. I always have water, ice tea or coffee at hand as well and if that doesn't work I jump on Sober Recovery and read a few posts, that always seems to help me! Stay strong and great job on the week, keep it up!
Member
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: New York
Posts: 35,731
Hi Bunny! I agree with Bikeguy. You need to occupy your mind with something else. The craving will pass. I would read on SR till I couldn't see straight. It helped me get through the first week. After that, I learned new ways to distract myself. Many of them included some sort of exercise. It helps the body and soul.
Do you have any sort of support in place? Maybe go to a meeting? Something your comfortable doing?
Best Wishes To You!
Do you have any sort of support in place? Maybe go to a meeting? Something your comfortable doing?
Best Wishes To You!
Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 873
I'd go for some tea (hot tea usually helped me kill the physical urges) and find something to get your mind off the alcohol in the meantime. For me anyway, the desire usually went away within 30 minutes to an hour. Not all that long in the big picture.
Canine Welfare Advocate
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Norfolk, VA
Posts: 10,962
Fight through it....
I rarely thought about drinking during the day when I did drink. I guess I knew there was plenty waiting for me when I got off work. Like an all-you-can-drink buffet. But when I quit, all I could do was think about drinking, all day, all night. It's those obsessive thoughts that proved to me I had a problem.
You should be proud of one week, Bunny. Welcome, and good luck.
I rarely thought about drinking during the day when I did drink. I guess I knew there was plenty waiting for me when I got off work. Like an all-you-can-drink buffet. But when I quit, all I could do was think about drinking, all day, all night. It's those obsessive thoughts that proved to me I had a problem.
You should be proud of one week, Bunny. Welcome, and good luck.
Member
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 567
I'll try and keep it simple...,
To understand what "craving" is, may I suggest you venture out and purchase the "Big Book" titled Alcoholics Anonymous. In the chapter titled, The Doctors Opinion, we hope you can learn the difference between Obsession and Physical Craving.
The point is this.....with alcohol, the alcoholic will crave more alcohol after they put alcohol in their body, and not before.
What usually happens before, is the obsession over alcohol, or the thought of a drink. This can get so overwhelming, restless, irritable and discontent, that only a drink seems to fix it, so we thought.
The consideration is this;
If you crave more alcohol after you drink the first drop of alcohol, can you stop that craving for more alcohol thereafter?
If you answer no, then consider that you may have an abnormal reaction to alcohol, which is physical.
Only you can tell if this is so....
AA meetings is just a start, there is a whole lot more, it is whole new world for the alcoholics so the thought of a drink no longer goes to obsessing over that thought.
When we remove the obsession, then by not taking that first drink, there is no way the physical craving will be enabled.
How do we keep the obsession at bay?
In a nutshell, by helping others from our own experiences.
The paradox is, I am really helping myself by trying to helping you.
This principle is part of the solution to not start to think about drinking, cos I know now, if I drink, it gets rather messy.
To understand what "craving" is, may I suggest you venture out and purchase the "Big Book" titled Alcoholics Anonymous. In the chapter titled, The Doctors Opinion, we hope you can learn the difference between Obsession and Physical Craving.
The point is this.....with alcohol, the alcoholic will crave more alcohol after they put alcohol in their body, and not before.
What usually happens before, is the obsession over alcohol, or the thought of a drink. This can get so overwhelming, restless, irritable and discontent, that only a drink seems to fix it, so we thought.
The consideration is this;
If you crave more alcohol after you drink the first drop of alcohol, can you stop that craving for more alcohol thereafter?
If you answer no, then consider that you may have an abnormal reaction to alcohol, which is physical.
Only you can tell if this is so....
AA meetings is just a start, there is a whole lot more, it is whole new world for the alcoholics so the thought of a drink no longer goes to obsessing over that thought.
When we remove the obsession, then by not taking that first drink, there is no way the physical craving will be enabled.
How do we keep the obsession at bay?
In a nutshell, by helping others from our own experiences.
The paradox is, I am really helping myself by trying to helping you.
This principle is part of the solution to not start to think about drinking, cos I know now, if I drink, it gets rather messy.
...than never
Join Date: May 2010
Location: West Coast USA
Posts: 152
Personally, for me, coffee is a bit of a trigger. Puts me on edge and makes me think "a drink would be nice right now." Avoiding caffeine in the early days helped me avoid thoughts of "needing" a drink.
Other suggestions here are useful as well, like getting some physical activity. That also uses up some of that coffee stimulation.
When all else seemed to be failing in the early days, one thing I did was say, "if I still feel like having a drink tomorrow, I will have one." Kept me going a couple of times.
Good luck and keep distracting yourself away from that first drink!
Other suggestions here are useful as well, like getting some physical activity. That also uses up some of that coffee stimulation.
When all else seemed to be failing in the early days, one thing I did was say, "if I still feel like having a drink tomorrow, I will have one." Kept me going a couple of times.
Good luck and keep distracting yourself away from that first drink!
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: A Castle in MA
Posts: 52
Thank you all so much! Never thought that there was a difference between actual craving or OBSESSION.....makes sense now. And yes, managed to get through today so far. I just keep thinking how much I really, really want sobriety.
Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 211,442
This technique has been useful for some of us Bunny 
Overcoming Life's Obstacles: Urge Surfing to beat addictions and cravings
D
Overcoming Life's Obstacles: Urge Surfing to beat addictions and cravings
D
A work in progress
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: South Jersey
Posts: 16,633
Daytime AA meetings worked well for me when I was at loose ends on the weekends. Got me re-focused on what I am doing.
As you get more used to a routine without alcohol, you will most likely find it occupies less of your mental space.
As you get more used to a routine without alcohol, you will most likely find it occupies less of your mental space.
Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 3,677
Another poster here reminded me of something I had heard long ago, and I have no idea who originated it.
It is the mnemonic "HALT" -- which stands for Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired....
Are you ANY of these things when you are craving? Even if you don't realize you are, address each one of these thoroughly in your mind, and tackle it. I found in my earliest days of alcohol abstinence, eating even a small snack helped my cravings, along with getting up and doing something else for a little while.
If someone knows where "HALT" originated, I would like to know.
FT
It is the mnemonic "HALT" -- which stands for Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired....
Are you ANY of these things when you are craving? Even if you don't realize you are, address each one of these thoroughly in your mind, and tackle it. I found in my earliest days of alcohol abstinence, eating even a small snack helped my cravings, along with getting up and doing something else for a little while.
If someone knows where "HALT" originated, I would like to know.
FT
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Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: The Deep South
Posts: 14,636
Originally Posted by failedtaper
If someone knows where "HALT" originated, I would like to know.
As far as it helping addiction... I personally have used it and it does help. But, I wouldn't think that relapse is limited to being in one or more of those 4 states... I think for many, it's just ingrained and habit... as well as the neuroscience angle... we are neurologically changed and function differently as alcoholics/addicts.
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