chowchow

An old timer told me it took him 2 years to fight the urge to drink. That scares me. 2 years? I might go insane by then.

Another told me to never get in the way of anyone's suffering because suffering can be the only thing that gets them to stop drinking.

I am afraid to drink now (even though I do want to) but who knows if I'll ever be able to stop again and that is terrifying to me,

daredevil

Chowchow,

I wouldn't believe everything I hear.

I hear a lot of fallibility, despair, and ignorance in the rooms of AA-- not the echoes of strength, hope and experience. Mostly. Although I've seen the countenance of serenity too. I just take everything with a grain of salt.

tomsteve

the fear of drinking again was a healthy fear i had. it helped me continue working the steps so i could recover.

Anna

I think the best thing is to focus on the positives. You are sober and you are working on your recovery. Start a Gratitude Journal and write in it every day. Be grateful, be kind. Don't allow negative comments to bring you down. They are not about you, but about the person who is speaking.

lessgravity

I hear you but then I think - my god imagine another 2 years of
losing time,
sacrificing integrity,
hurting those we love,
wasting money,
destroying up our bodies,
muffling our spirits,

two more years of being a drunk - does that sound better to you?

No one is coming to save us.

Hevyn

Chowchow - It sure didn't take me 2 yrs. More like a few months. I was so thankful to be reclaiming my life, & grew stronger every day. I agree with Anna - don't allow another's negativity to bring you down.

johnnyt53

Chowchow, I guess it takes what it takes but 2 years? I went to an AA meeting one time and someone told me it would take 5 years to detox. I think the disease is more than drinking and maybe that is what he was talking about. Once I decided to quit I was over cravings within a week but I have to work some kind of program for this to remain so. It has been since Jan.1, 2018 and I feel very hopeful but I know that I can't slack off on my program of recovery. Good luck and God Bless.

bradly22

3 weeks, max.

Dee74

By the end of 30 days my cravings were no longer of the gnaw my arm off to get a drink variety and by 3 months I could pretty easily dismiss most of them.

Things got progressively better from there

By the thousands of posts I've read here that's more or less par for the course

D

shortstop81

It's one person's experience. Doesn't mean it will be yours.

least

By six months the cravings were much less and by a year I rarely even thought about drinking.

The gratitude journal is a good idea. Gratitude improves everything.

DontRemember

I'm not knocking AA, I attend AA and it helps me..However..I've heard some 'craziness' in the rooms. Luckily I started in a pretty rough/no nonsense type of room where I was warned/advised to "take what you want and leave the rest." on day 1.. The old guy that told me that was a bit 'off' himself,but it was solid advice.

rascalwhiteoak

Yeah, I'm kind of there with you. Relatively speaking, I was able to quit without much drama; I'm fortunate in that regard, and I don't take it for granted. Not so much terrified, per se, but definitely vigilant.

Urges are going to do what urges are going to do; my experience was that the more actively you combat them, the sooner they go away. Urge surfing worked well for me.

sweetichick

It all depends on the person. I was told I would go paranoid and insane once and got to 4 months and felt fantastic. I was scared by what I heard but decided to just wait and see and NOTHING happened. Take it with a grain of salt.

Snowydelrico

I was told 4days, 2 months,6 months, 2years then 5 years. ( there are different stages I found)
It took me about 2-3 weeks for the mad cravings.
And a year to put my life back in order and for things to level out after the 24 year drinking frenzy.
I feel lucky to have gotten away with a 1 year hangover, I was prepared for more.

Don’t worry you will be fine.
You are on the right road.
Keep gathering tools as you go.
It’s only scary at first because change is scary.
The life you are building is far superior to that of a drinker/drunk.
Have faith.
Take care

Gottalife

I have heard a lot of crap in and around meetings, especially the open discussion therapy type. Absolutely nothing to do with what the AA program is all about.

My home group is a primary purpose group where we study the AA Big Book to discover the original solution that worked so well, and put what we learn into effect in our lives. It works really well. It is a very safe evironment, and drama free because a) the format doesn't allow it and b) the work aspect tends to keep the drama types away anyhow.

Look around for big book study or big book step meetinings, find a sponsor and get busy. When God works one of his miracles, they tend to be rather sudden and spectacular. My desire to drink went without me even noticing, the minute I began sincerely working those steps.

Wastinglife

Remember that AA is a collection of alcoholics, not trained addiction specialists. People speak from experience and everyone has a different experience. I tried the steps with a sponsor in 2016. Just could not really grasp the higher power concept. I tried but I suppose that if I couldn't get through that step, the rest may be difficult. I do like the meetings however and they benefit me greatly.

Snowydelrico

I also read somewhere that PAWS can happen for up to 2 years.
But when you get to know the signs of them you can be well prepared.
It’s worth looking up as paws took me by surprise to start with.

johnnyt53

Gottalife and Wastinglife are right on in my book. Thanks, hope to never get tired of hearing that.

warrens

Surely not my experience. It did not take long for the sunlight of sobriety to chase the darkness of my self created prison.