Serenity18

I feel like once I get sober, have a couple days under my belt, I think, hey, I can have a couple drinks and I'll be fine. Next think you know I'm binge drinking for a week. I will lose everything if I continue. I went to the hospital yesterday to withdraw safely, they sent me home yesterday. I'm feeling much better today but the urge is inside of me again today. I don't understand it. I'm not willing to lose everything over alcohol. How do some of you cope with the urges?

AnvilheadII

there is a famous thread here about Urge Surfing. there is no special magic, the bottom line is don't drink no matter what. that is the single best defense.

understand that cravings WILL happen. altho our bodies are not designed to need or consume alcohol, when we have developed the condition of alcoholism, or alcohol dependency, our bodies learn to crave the stuff. with TIME our bodies will begin to return to the natural state.

our minds might take a bit more time. addiction is like that.

but if you read here you will see that it is a recoverable illness. we have folks here just recently sharing 3 months, 5 years, 10 years. it IS possible.

Highercall

I have taken up vaping and finding it's helpful as s distraction. It makes it feel less like cold turkey.

Ghostlight1

Yep, me too get four days sober under my belt, and it's off to the races again.
I drank like that for ten years until it progressed every, or every other, day.
And it is progressive, so it's good you realize you may have a problem now.

I finally realized I couldn't stop the urges by myself.
I went to AA and came here and met people just like me.
But the nightmare my life had become the last ten years of drinking are really what helped.
the memories of the grief, fear, and anxiety were finally so intense, I had no chance to stop by myself. I was a drunk, pure and simple. And a bad one.

It's been nine and a half years since this alcoholic has had a drink.
I come here and read stories like yours and it brings back the memories, so thank you for posting.

Have you considered AA or some other support group? They can be invaluable.
I hope I never go back to where I was, and I won't if I don't pick up that first drink today. I can handle that. One day.
I hope you can, too, and best to you.

Dee74

Hi Serenity18

there are lots of really good ideas here:

https://www.soberrecovery.com/forums...art-three.html

I found coming here every day helped me remember that I really did have a problem and that change was the only solution.

D

least

In the early days, when I wanted to drink, I would walk my dogs instead. By the time we got home from a short walk, the craving was gone.

CaptainHaddock

Hi Serenity, I think there might be a mindset change if you manage to stretch those couple of days into just a few weeks or months. After only a couple of days sober I still had relatively strong cravings from time to time. I would say if I caved then it would probably be due to cravings, rather than having reasoned with myself about moderating.

Staying close to SR really helped strengthen my resolve to stay quit during the first few weeks, whereafter the cravings lessened a lot.

I now stay close to SR to make sure I don’t start bargaining with myself about moderating.

Hope this makes sense.

Gottalife

Looks like you have a pretty clear picture of the problem. In AA it is described as a two fold issue. First our body has an abnormal reaction to alcoholc which manifests when we take the fatal first drink and then find we cannot stop.

If that was all it was then it would be a simple matter of not taking the first drink. Problem solved, The trouble with that, for an alcoholic of my kind, is that in addition to the abnormal reaction of the body, I have a mind that is guaranteed to put the fatal first drink in my hand. A mind that makes me drink, a body that ensures I will be killed in the process.

So the main problem centres in the mind. The one thing I could not do was not drink, at least not drink for any length of time. I drank no matter what. No matter what compelling reasons, doctor's warnings, pleas of loved ones, threats of employers, guilt and remorse etc. came along. At certain times I had no defence against the fatal first drink.

And for me the first drink was not a dramatic affair. Most of the time it happened without any conscious thought on my part. I made a decision to never drink in the morning and, apparently, later in the day, I must have changed my mind. Given my track record, this was just pure insanity.

What had to happen was a change of personality (reaction to life) sufficient to overcome alcoholism. There isn't a pill that will do that, neither, if the problem has progressed far enough, is there any fomr of therapy that will make the difference. That fact was that I had gone past the point where there was any return through human aid. I needed something more powerful. I found it by working the 12 steps of AA.

Ayers

How's it going Serenity