snakes

I just wonder if anyone who has been sober for a long time ever gets to the point where the voice is gone and they know they are going to be free from the desire to drink forever. Does that eventually happen?

I ordered a recovery bracelet from Etsy. It is just a ribbon really with the AA symbol on it. I thought I'd wear it and hopefully it will reinforce my desire to stay sober.

Nonsensical

I have days where I don't hear that voice at all.

Even on days when I do hear it I'm not really bothered by it any longer. I've been ignoring it long enough that it's fairly automatic. The voice pipes up, I think, what? you again? off with you! I've no time for your foolishness!

Starving it is definitely the key. Keep doing what you're doing!

PurpleKnight

It can be a mixture, I've gotten better at dealing with the voice when it crops up, but then at other times the voice doesn't come at all.

Soberpotamus

It lessens, for sure. Not sure it ever goes away, but some will say that it has for them. I think the important thing is to arrive at the place where you see it for what it is, know that there is a way to live without acting on impulse, and over time the less you give in and reinforce the voice, the less power it holds over you.

mick3580

In my drinking days, the problem was I would not be thinking about drinking or not drinking and there wouldn't be any voice I was aware, then, suddenly, my mind brings me to drink and I couldn't stop myself. Very scary. I found a solution that worked to prevent this.

MrBen

I think it's unrealistic to think in the future you will never think about alcohol. But I do think it can reach a point where that voice is a mere whisper, that you can sweep aside without difficulty.

Croissant

It's a good question snakes, and I felt like that a few months ago. Wondering when the voice would go, the damn thing. Not that I wanted to drink, I was just sick of the "pop-up dialogue" that would happen.

I was over it, and from time to time it would get me down. Is this all there will ever be?...me fighting this voice?...kind of conversation.

Strange thing happened. When it has a little mutter...and I think, oh, there you are...I now look it as a positive, because I use it as a reason to throw up a firm negative consequence of drinking. Like I imagine throwing up, or what a freaking mess I used to look like. Always hit it with a negative and really visualise that negative feeling.

And now, I don't see it as the thing to avoid or wish away. I take it as a prompt to reinforce my commitment to love and respect myself more than a glass of poison.

desypete

it was more of a feeling than a voice to me that i felt when that urge would kick in a cold drink of anything else would help me out unless i was in pain then i would feel like i needed to get out of this pain and the only thing i knew that would do it for me was a drink. and to get happy or just cope or whatever, this is how i know how much hard work went into resisting these feelings any emotion strong enough would be something i had to be on my gaurd against as i would drink on them to try to change them instead of learning how to accept them and take the right action needed
people pray for this i dont and it works for me just as much as it would if i prayed on it i take other actions like contact my sponosor get to a meeting or go for a walk what ever it take as it will pass
thats what i was shown how ever i am feeling it will pass so let it pass

toady after many years down the road of practising i dont have these feelings that make me think i need a drink anymore i have the feelings but i have learned how to cope and just accept them and do somthing else instead and it works so i would say yes there comes a time were this voice or feeling goes away but we have to work for it as it will not go away as if by magic in my view

InTheEnd

This may sound silly, but I watched A Beautiful Mind yesterday. Though he's a Schizophrenic (sp), I saw the movie in a completely different way for some reason this time (2nd time seeing the flick). Saw him as an alcoholic instead, ignoring his AV. It prompted me to put down my wine and come here today. I thought of my drinking self as him and his "friends" as my AV.

The fact that I totally related to a Schizophrenic kinda freaked me out .... But considering I only have one imaginary friend (my AV) and all it wants me to do is drink, I'm pretty sure I know where my problem is.

I'm looking forward to a whisper, instead of the screamer I've got for an AV.

Soberpotamus

Love that movie!

UnixBer

I'm a little over a year sober and the voice is not there, in the sense that I'd want to drink. There is more temporary disorientation and physical symptoms due to paws and still ongoing recovery.

I think it is totally a matter of brain chemistry and how they balance out. So yes, I believe it goes away. Just never "experiment" with alcohol again.

CAPTAINZING2000

I don't have a desire to drink today nor have I given thought of having one for a long time

ultradad

I think there is a HUGE difference between 'not drinking' and actually working a 12 step program of recovery. I tried for YEARS on my own and that AV voice or what I like to call 'the disease/craving/allergy' always got the best of me. The Big Book of AA calls it the phenomenon of craving and the Big Book also say that those who will follow the simple program of AA WILL recover! I'm only 67 days into recovery and working step 4 and I can honestly say my disease of addiction/alcoholism is in remission, I do not have the craving and do not have to deal with that 'AV voice!' There may come a day when it returns, but I'm promised that if I continue down the path I'm on that my higher power and the program of AA will keep me recovered!

From what I've heard of others who have relapsed; complacency, ego, pride are all at the top of the list of reasons the disease came back and with a vengeance!

Hawkeye13

I don't hear the voice very much at all anymore, and when I do I simply
"follow the drink to the end" in my mind, thinking out what would happen if I picked up again.

After that, my resolve hardens, and I'm good to go.
It really does get easier with time and habit formation.

I think of myself as a non-drinker now, which is totally amazing to me still

MIRecovery

The longer I am sober the less often the voice comes and it has a shorter duration. When it comes I promptly put it in its place. I don't drink anymore, plain and simple

aasharon90

This member in recovery and life
needs their sleep, however,
this thing, the devil, it's evilness,
never sleeps and is always
working to trip, screw, torment,
destroy anything and everything
in its path.

Thru a program of recovery, listening,
learning, absorbing, then applying it
to my life each day I remain sober, I
have to remember to keep and stay
vigilant in mind, body and soul.

weirdesttoner

I'm pretty much a beginner, i just passed 100 days and is my first serious attempt to get sober.
Sure, i had hundreds of tryouts, where i couldn't last more than a couple or a week or 10 days.

At first i was obsessed about it, couldn't put together more than 2 random thoughts without "when will be my next drink?" to pop out.

This time, i succeded in convincing myself that i can't drink. AV popped in my mind more frequent in the beginning, but as days passed, it was rarely and rarely until it almost faded away.

Of course i suffer from PAWS, i'm getting irritable, productivity tends to zero, difficulty concentrating, i'm searching for my phone while i'm holding it in my hand, etc. but i know it's gonna pass, and i'm not tempted to drink.

The thing is, as much as i loved getting dizzy, relaxing, even being unable to speak or to walk, my last bender changed something in me that i still don't fully understand why or how.

Because now i'm afraid of getting in a state wich i can't think clear, or being unable to speak. Somehow i see it like a dark, foggy place where i don;t want to be anymore not even for a second. And my AV doesn't stand a chance when that image is formed in my head

I know that until now, i had a pretty easy recovery. I don't expect it to change, but i try to be prepared for anything.

least

For me, after four and a half years, the voice rarely comes, and when it does, it's a dim whisper instead of a scream. Easy to ignore.

petals

Mick would you mind sharing what worked for you?

tomthern

I have been sober for 26 years and usually the voice hits me when I am tired or frustrated. It is very easy to ignore because after the voice comes all the things I lose if I drink. That is what stabilizes me.