Some tips to help with withdrawal/cravings
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Somewhere in Wisconsin
Posts: 661
Some tips to help with withdrawal/cravings
Although I am new to sobriety (3 days), I want to share some tips for making withdrawal easier and ease the cravings:
1. Take 100 mg of vitamin B1 daily. This vitamin is pretty much depleted in alcoholics and it greatly calms the nervous system (helps with shakes).
2. Drink lots of water (add lemon juice).
3. Drink vegetable juice.
4. Even if you feel you can't eat or don't feel hungry, try to eat a little something every 2 hours--even if it's just soup. I found cream of mushroom soup very comforting.
5. Raw veggies, especially cucumbers take away cravings. So do grapes!
6. Drink milk - it has tryptophan and relaxes you.
7. Take melatonin - helps with insomnia.
8. Myth: They say people crave sweets or anything with sugar when going through withdrawal, but the fact is that sugar only makes the craving for alcohol worse. Only eat sweets as a last resort (i.e. if you absolutely are defenseless against that first drink).
9. Try not to drink too much coffee or soda (caffeine only makes the insomnia worse). Limit coffee to 1/2 cup to one cup per day.
10. Don't make a schedule for yourself--eat when you want, sleep when you want (unless you can't because you are trying to go sober while still working a job)
11. I found brushing my teeth and rinsing with nonalcohol mouthwash takes cravings away.
12. Don't set the bar too high. Make goals for yourself, but take baby steps. I found just setting hourly goals helps alot.
13. If you haven't quit yet, keep a daily log of the amount you drink, what time you started and what time you stopped and what your goal is for the day.
14. And finally, network, network, network! I cannot emphasize this enough. If you have to be on the phone, emailing or texting 24/7 to get yourself through the withdrawal period, do it! Because no one can do it alone. You need all the support you can get!
1. Take 100 mg of vitamin B1 daily. This vitamin is pretty much depleted in alcoholics and it greatly calms the nervous system (helps with shakes).
2. Drink lots of water (add lemon juice).
3. Drink vegetable juice.
4. Even if you feel you can't eat or don't feel hungry, try to eat a little something every 2 hours--even if it's just soup. I found cream of mushroom soup very comforting.
5. Raw veggies, especially cucumbers take away cravings. So do grapes!
6. Drink milk - it has tryptophan and relaxes you.
7. Take melatonin - helps with insomnia.
8. Myth: They say people crave sweets or anything with sugar when going through withdrawal, but the fact is that sugar only makes the craving for alcohol worse. Only eat sweets as a last resort (i.e. if you absolutely are defenseless against that first drink).
9. Try not to drink too much coffee or soda (caffeine only makes the insomnia worse). Limit coffee to 1/2 cup to one cup per day.
10. Don't make a schedule for yourself--eat when you want, sleep when you want (unless you can't because you are trying to go sober while still working a job)
11. I found brushing my teeth and rinsing with nonalcohol mouthwash takes cravings away.
12. Don't set the bar too high. Make goals for yourself, but take baby steps. I found just setting hourly goals helps alot.
13. If you haven't quit yet, keep a daily log of the amount you drink, what time you started and what time you stopped and what your goal is for the day.
14. And finally, network, network, network! I cannot emphasize this enough. If you have to be on the phone, emailing or texting 24/7 to get yourself through the withdrawal period, do it! Because no one can do it alone. You need all the support you can get!
Member
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Newport Beach, CA
Posts: 96
Good suggestions! I wish I had forced myself to do more of these things when I was going through my 4-5 day withdrawal period...even eating one bite of food was hard the first 2 days but the lemon water, veg juice and milk are all excellent and easy to force down...I wish I had taken the B vitamins too! Sleep was nearly impossible for me but who knows? Maybe some warm milk with melatonin would have helped.
Hopefully I won't need these tips ever again but I'm sure they will help many...
Hopefully I won't need these tips ever again but I'm sure they will help many...
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