The craving can be torture, I agree. Distraction does help. Eating helps. I never felt like drinking when I had a full stomach. Exercise helps a little too.

Stay strong, starve the beast and it will go away.

Just knowing what I am experiencing is normal and I am NOT alone really helps. Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one who has cravings that are so intense!

You guys say you had them AND you got through them 1 minute at a time and they eventually went away so that gives me hope.

The advice & tips you guys gave me is appreciated and will be used. I really want to be sober (forever) one day at a time.

I wish there WAS a "magic pill" but there isn't. According to all of you, the cravings are normal & hard but I'm prepared for the fight.

As someone said "nothing worthwhile is easy."

I want to be free. Alcohol has been my master for way to long...

Thank you for your support. You have no idea how much it means.....

Glad to hear you sounding better. We all empathize with you, we've all been there. I don't have much to add that hasn't already been said, but for me, it helps to get out of the house, go to a coffee shop and have a sweet treat, and just be around people. I isolated too much when I was drinking. I don't know about you, but I cried my heart out when cravings would hit, I was so sad and angry too that I couldn't just drink and escape. Like everyone says, cravings come in waves and do pass! It'll get better! Good for you for posting!

Thank you Leshar.

Hi Kiki

I was in a similar situation about a week ago. It's been 3 weeks no alcohol, no cigarettes, and no benzos. It was pure hell. I can relate to this feeling.

Start by slowing down and breathing deep. Keep yourself entertained because if you stay alone or stay isolated with no output it makes it worse, at least for me. I enjoy spending time alone to relax but getting around a group of people that you can interact with , even if it's a subject not involved with drinking, it can help ditract your mind so you don't fight with this feeling.

I got to this point where I was fighting soo hard back and forth with voice in my head I became unable to fight it anymore and it went away

Each time it creeps up on me, I push it away because it's far to strong for me to fight with right now. I guess that's winning. I treat the beast like a tresspasser and turn him away at the gates!

I like to sing really loud, laugh really hard, do push ups, scream loud in my pillow ane car ,pretend I'm on a survivor television show just to retrain my brain. They don't have alcohol on this island I need to live and survive. I know it's silly but I found ways to cope.... stay strong.

Def talk w your doctor, they know best about the physical part...

Kiki, if there were a magic pill, relapse would be inevitable, because you'd just take the magic pill again.

But going through the pain will hopefully make you think twice about relapsing, because once you get past this (and you will) you don't have to do this again. If you do go through this again, you need look no further than in the mirror as to why.

Thank you Sharpie and Thomas. Great tools to use. I bought a huge box of ice cream bars tonight at the store because someone said sweets & ice cream can take cravings away.

Thomas...thank you for saying I will get through this. I really needed to hear that. I'm in a dark place....but sober, at least.

You've probably seen this before but it's worth sharing again Kiki.
http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...-cravings.html

I particularly recommend Urge Surfing :)

D

I take an herbal supplement(Ashwagandha) and Vitamin B-1/Thiamine. It works for me.
ETA: EAT! and drink lots of water.

Thank you Dee & 2steps!!!

ice cream
 

If you have access to it, I would recommend ice cream. Right now I'm eating Haagen Dazs caramel dulce le leche.

I love to bake...and find making cookies to be helpful in taking my mind of my troubles and satisfies my pallet and it's quite the aromatherapy. Mmmmmm.

And then, sometimes I just have a craving for certain types of cold cereal so I just go ahead and have a bowl.

That's really funny about the Survivor show example. I used to think about that all the time. What if I were on Survivor? Then I wouldn't drink. They had an ex heroine addict one season and I remembered thinking how it would be so easy to stay sober on that island. I also did the "What if someone gave me a million dollars to stop drinking?" Of course I would have. Either way, the silly examples showed me that I didn't actually need to drink.

Thx teatree, I actually just night a giant box of ice cream bars at the store yesterday to see if it would help to eat one when I get a craving. Cereal is a good idea too...

I saw a police officer the other day and thought about walking up to him and begging him to arrest me so I could go to jail for a while until these cravings pass. The sad part is, since I don't have any type of criminal record (well...I do have a DUI from 10 years ago) they probably would have let me out. Ugh. Pretty stupid, huh? I guess I could slap the cop? Then he'd surely arrest me! Ha.

Distraction worked best for me. If I get busy, I don't focus on the cravings and they don't bother me.

Thank you Saskia. I downloaded Candy Crush last night because several people told me that when they play it they don't think about ANYTHING else & it's a huge distraction.

I'm also gonna stay busy with my chores, kids, exercise etc.

My big problem is my brain!!! I think too much! Grrr...