Lance40

I'm just curious to hear about the ways that everyone has come up with to successfully deal with cravings? I'm thankful I've only had two craving episodes in the first 6 days of sobriety. They didn't last over 10 to 15 minutes after some specific triggers, but the 2nd round was so strong I wondered how I was going to make it through.

In the end what kept me going was the thought of you guys here. Although I don't know any of you personally, I still felt accountable to all of you and just kept putting one foot in front of the other and steered clear of the liquor store as I walked home from work with a focus on not having to get home and come to the group here to post that I had slipped and needed to start over.

It worked - so that's what you guys are doing for me! :-)

Gibbons2

Lance, try sugar. Anything with sugar in it. Alcohol has a lot of sugar and that is what your body is craving. Some people eat ice cream, which I have done. I prefer something naturally sweet usually, like orange juice.

Ghostlight1

That's awesome. I so glad to hear you're getting help here. And congratulations on six days.

What I do for the cravings is play the tape through, as you sort of did, and where that first drink will lead me. It helps me anyway.

Best to you and keep it up.

veryready

There is something called urge surfing that Dee has posted about. That and some teeth clenching works well.

CMF76

I eat Altoids mints and have mock tails, club soda and lemon or lime. I feel that if I feel I have a drink in my hard the cravings go away even if there is no alcohol in it.

jbass

agree on the club soda for cravings, I've become a connoisseur in just a few days - much prefer Canada Dry in the stubby bottles ... one of my favorite beers came like that, maybe it helps the placebo effect

Anna

Music really helped me during the early intense days.

mecanix

Here is Dees' excellent thread about CarolDs' tips .

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...-cravings.html

Bestwishes, m

FreeOwl

JUICING!!!! and raw smoothies!!!

Focus on HEALTH!!!

matt4x4

First off, once you take a drink thats when the phenomenon of craving takes affect. If you never take a drink in the first place then you are not dealing with a craving, you are just dealing with thoughts. There are 2 aspects to the disease of alcoholism. There is the obsession of the mind, the thoughts. Then there is the allergy of the body, like when a person has an allergy to peanuts they break out in hives, or cough, or rash. The allergic reaction to alcohol in an alcoholic is the cravings. They crave more and more and more, as each drink is consumed. My sponsor used to say that the alcoholic also breaks out in hand-cuffs and spots. Vancouver, Toronto, Seattle, Las Vegas, Miami. Makes sense atleast to my story. Thats why its stuck with for this very long time. We are like passengers on a sinking ship. We might not have nothing in common. We all might act differently when drunk. Some like to get naked, others like to fight, others fall in love easily. But when we are scooped up from the dark waters and put onto the life raft, we are all the same. This is all very simple information. Basic info. We must get the facts about our problem. The truth of the matter is, when I drink, I get drunk and I do not stop. It changes the way I act and feel.

Climber122

I agree that sugar and food in general helps with the physical cravings, but for the mental discomfort that can sometimes be more persistent than physcially jonsin', picking up the phone is a huge tool. Have someone you can call day or night who wants you to stay sober, preferably another sober alcoholic. You'll get busy telling them how you feel, and by exposing it to the light the urge will die. If there's no one to call, get busy doing something. Clean your windows, vacuum the car, do the dishes - these kind of menial tasks can take your mind out of the fixation and it will pass.

matt4x4

Working the 12 steps helps
Prayer and meditation
SMART recovery PRO/CON system or whatever they call it. I do that. Love lists.
Meetings help
Working out and physical activity help
Eating properly help
Sun - Vitamin D or C or even those daylight lamps for depression.
Pills, every doctor in North America is happy to shove a pill your way.
I like walks, bicycle riding, social events at meetups.com, talking to strangers or store workers.

SoberLeigh

Ditto; but I make sure and add dark chocolate to my morning, noon and night.

Lance40

Thanks for all the replies. There are some good tips here. I don't think I really understand the difference between physical and mental cravings that some of you are referring to. For me cravings for alcohol have always been a strong emotional feeling of desire to experience the effects of alcohol. Once I start drinking I am motivated to binge by that same desire to chase, maintain or enhance the feeling that alcohol gives me. I'm assuming that's mental cravings?

Rar

For me cravings for alcohol have always been a strong emotional feeling of desire to experience the effects of alcohol.

That's what I thought too. Anyway, I'm having some strong emotional feelings of wanting to drink today.

LadyBlue0527

Glad you posted Lance!

This gets better, I promise! I understand what you mean by the strength of the craving and you know what saved me both times I was on the cliff? SR. Full credit, just posting and getting support, it works.

I really do promise that it gets easier. Every time you power through it feels better and better. Then you realize that you indeed really CAN do this.

Stay close when you get those cravings! There's lots of other great suggestions in this thread too. Again, I recommend hanging close to SR for the tough ones.

Dee74

Hi Lance

Check out the link Mecanix posted - some great tips and info there

D

Looking4Help123

Hi Lance, I have been hitting the non-alchoholic ginger beer. It's so spicy and tart it seems to be telling my mouth that's what it wants.

Admiral

Maybe this is the answer to my cravings. I've always felt kind of odd in the sense that things don't get easier for me with time, as it seems is the case for most people. For me, I'll drink or smoke until I burn myself out, and then I want to quit. The following weeks or months are pretty much craving free, the longest I've gone is about eight months. Eventually something changes and the obsession returns, and it doesn't go away, it starts out kind of small, and then grows with each passing day until it's the only thing I'm thinking about. I've never gotten past that wall before, despite having weeks or months behind me. It should get easier so why do I start out so strong and then slam into a wall at seemingly random times?

There are times when I do drink in moderation, I don't get drunk but I'll have a beer or two, and I wonder if I went back and looked, if I'd be able to trace every drug relapse back to those seemingly harmless drinks? I've heard that all drugs lead back to the DoC, does anyone have experience with that? It seems like alcohol is the dominant topic here, at least in the beginners section, but I'd be curious to hear other drug users experiences. If you drank at all, even a little, did your cravings come flying back?

Hawkeye13

Dried organic Turkish figs were my "magic craving remover".

They are full of trace minerals people who drink are generally missing,
they are very sweet, and they have lots of fiber.

I got them very reasonably from Amazon in five pound bags. You can put some
in the fridge / freezer and keep some in a jar to reach for instead of a drink.

Emotionally, I still wanted to have that "drink in my hand" so I made lots of herbal teas
and juice / soda water mixes. It keeps you hydrated and feels more "normal" than holding nothing.

Good luck and hang in there