PedroChavez

I'm only at the start of my recovery, on day 20. I didn't expect things to get better overnight and knew this was going to be hard work, but I was really hoping I might have started to notice the cravings starting to ease just a little bit. If anything, they're starting to get worse. I'm actually finding it harder to stop thinking about drink now than I did on day 3 or 4. My whole day, my whole life seems to be spent thinking about not drinking. Does anyone here who's been sober for a while remember going through a stage like that? If so, how long did it last?

tomsteve

Yup, I remember. However for me it wasn't cravings. It was a mental obsession. Cravings didn't kik in until I had a drink.
I didn't have a problem with the mental obsession for a while when I first stopped drinking. I was in quite a fog and quite miserable. Eventually the fog lifted, misery started leaving, and then the mental obsession kicked in.
With footwork of looking at myself and changing me, guided with the twelve steps of AA , eventually the mental obsession left. I think It was about 5 or 6 months ish when I went a full 24 hours without thinking about a drink.
The mental obsession has been removed. No more fighting it and no more desire to drink. I no longer think about drinking to solve anything, to celebrate anything, to "relax", etc.
The problem has been removed.
But it took T.I.M.E.

Keep on trudging. It will get better f ha let it happen.

PedroChavez

5 or 6 MONTHS!!!

Expletive!!!

Anna

I think that the AV doesn't want to give up easily. That's why the thoughts of drinking seem to be increasing. For me, it was about 3 months of recovery when I stopped thinking about drinking. Are you adding things to your life that you enjoy?

PedroChavez

I'm trying to and that's certainly helping, but as soon as I stop my AV comes back with a vengeance. Thanks for your reply - sounds like the next couple of months are going to be tough.

least

I was having a hard time in early recovery until I started to practice gratitude every day. It was around three months sober. I started being grateful for my blessings, and once I started counting them, they seemed to multiply.

Try doing a gratitude list every day. It helped me a lot. And my obsessive thoughts of drinking went away soon after that.

tomsteve

For me. not everyone has it that long.
I wasnt thinkin about alcohol 24/7 during that whole time.A LOT of it disappearing was me learning how to live- how to handle situations which for many years my solution was to get drunk, which for me the solution to everything was get drunk.

It was well worth it.
Getting sober was the hardest thing I ever did.
Staying sober has been easy.

saoutchik

Hi PedroChavez,

A quick check of my diary (can't really call it a journal) reminds me that day 23 was my worst. After that things got fractionally better
but plateau'd by two months. Definite improvement after day 93.

I do understand how you feel, it seems like a lifetime.You will see this time after time on SR, just think one day at a time rather than long term, it's not so daunting then

MelindaFlowers

I'd say at three months not drinking became normal. At ten months I don't even think about drinking. I NEVER thought I would say that.

GnikNus

Took a month or two before I stopped having cravings or sudden thoughts of drinking. Now, five months in its a rarity.

Dee74

If your AV is giving you trouble, have you considered AVRT (Addictive Voice Recognition Technique) pedro?

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...ined-long.html

PedroChavez

Thanks to everyone for your replies. Lots of good advice there for me to think about. I posted that before going to bed last night. After a good, long, undisturbed sleep (that's certainly something to be grateful for ) I feel a lot better. Day 21 - here we go.

FeelingGreat

Pedro, there are some practical steps you can take to deal with cravings. Make sure you don't get too hungry, tired or stressed, and drink plenty of water. Find a non-A drink you enjoy (mine was tea) and have it when you'd normally have a beer.
If going home from work is your danger time, eat a protein snack mid-afternoon, and have a soft drink on hand for the trip home.

ESD907

One day at a time works for me. Sometimes it's 1 hour at a time. I find in times of stress I want to drink. So when I'm stressed I say tomorrow you can have that drink. And inevitably I wake up refreshed and fighting. I hope some day to not have to think this way. But for now it's working

Soberwolf

Way to go on day 21 Pedro !!