bravesjp

Hello all hope you’re all good.

Not sure if I am posting in the right place, I can’t seem to start a new thread.

I have been stopping and starting giving up drinking for many years now and longest I did was 10 months in 2016 so I know it can be done! I had three attempts last year nothing lasting longer than two weeks.

Alcohol is beginning to ruin my mental health well not just beginning it has for some time. My health is now affected also.

I am in my last 30’s drinking up to 18-20 units at most a day but just stopped for the last 13 days again which I was finding very hard craving wise to just give in to temptation last night.

I don’t feel terrible about it in some ways as I feel shocking today and quite sick etc.

I just get so cross that every time I wean off booze over a week or less then stop for nearly two weeks I then trip up 😔

My question to everyone is if it’s one evening I’ve been back on about 16-18 units do you think I will be ok to go cold turkey tonight and carry on my sobriety a fresh or should I wean again. My problem has been for a good 15 years drinking everyday and before this binge drinking.

How do you all manage those cravings after doing so well? Xx

Dee74

Hi and welcome back bravesjp

Noone can give you a guarantee about withdrawal I'm afraid. Its just too unpredictable and too many individual factors are involved.

If you have any concern at all it's best you see a Dr,

There are some good ideas about cravings here:
http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...-cravings.html

SR helped me to break that cycle of drinking again - it was much harder to rationalise drinking again when I could see my problem in black and white. it was also harder to drink again when i knew i had so much help and support not to drink.

Early recovery is not a particularly fun time but once you learn that you can face the cravings and you can refuse to drink again and you will feel better eventually, things get a lot easier.

glad you found us

D

venuscat

Hello again.

My first thoughts are if you are worried, talk to a doctor.
It can be ok to go cold turkey for some people, and not for others....it is a good idea to have medical back-up I think.

I used a lot of free drug and alcohol counselling lines and nurse call lines last time....but when they told me to go to a doctor, I did.

And yes, we find ways to stay sober past those first weeks, eventually if we keep trying...and I can hear how much you want this.

Stick with us...maybe keep posting in the 24-hour thread, and you will get some ideas about how to do this thing.

Mostly, for me, it is one day at a time....and it is together.
I can't do this by myself.

Stronger2017

Doris47

You only fail when you stop trying, don't beat yourself up. Be kind to yourself, and get back on that train 🙏 YOU CAN DO THIS 😃

D122y

brave,

In my experience…

I learned here and on the internet that I, and all other addicts, have irreversible brain damage.

There are nerves in our brains that have been damaged by the booze and other drugs we ingested.

We will forever have some sort of angst, craving, anxiety, etc. that we want to dull with booze or other drugs.

We can do things to make this feeling go away for most of the time, but it will be there like a whispering voice forever.

Getting through the physical addiction is one thing, then the mental hell begins. It gets weaker and weaker but will never fully dissipate.

Each relapse makes recovery more difficult. Eventually we go clinically insane from the damage.

Understanding this makes recovery understandable.

It takes around 2 years of sobriety for the brain to rewire around the damage and begin to create solidly appreciable dopamine levels again.

Think…being happy for no reason at all. That is what happens.

Thanks.

PurpleKnight

If the same result keeps happening, then we need to change up our actions until Sobriety becomes a reality and the outcome changes.

Continuing to do the same things never worked for me, it always created the same results.

But it can be done, and YOU can do this!!

wildflower70

I was in your shoes many times....I would've been a year sober at the end of January, but I drank in August. Why do we do this? For me, it was about learning new ways to deal with triggers, and in the beginning, stay away from them! Family issues, toxic friends, bad relationships, places like bars and festivals that serve booze.....I had to avoid all of these things and walk away. I took a lot of time for me, alone time that I used to fall in love with myself again. I gained back my self worth and have started to add in some things (slowly) that I can handle. I went to see my family sober, I have made some new sober friends, I still avoid bars, and I do activities where alcohol isn't the main event.

Sober is the new norm. And you can do it too. Free yourself from the chains of addiction, and allow yourself time to heal and grow.

AtomicBlue

bravesjp, I’m similar age to you. I could never make it past two weeks. The last time was different, I signed myself up to outpatient treatment, listened to what they said, and also started going to AA. Here I am still sober well over a year later. I think the key for me was to take action.

Anna

I'm glad you realize that you want and need to stop drinking. It might be helpful for you to come up with a plan to help you get through each day. You may need to add things to your plan to help you break the cycle of relapsing.

As for cravings, I found that simply getting through a craving made it easier the next time.

WaterOx

"How do you all manage those cravings after doing so well? "

I guess by doing my best to learn from relapse.
Also, I'd be careful if you're assuming everyone else manages it "so well"

SoberCAH

Glad you're here and sharing this experience with us, Brave.

Quitting drinking and hoping you can stay quit, so to speak, is not a plan of recovery.

For me, I had to do what Atomic Blue did and go to AA to learn to get and stay sober.

I hope you do the same or follow some other plan of recovery which gives you a sober result.

As for me, I'll "dance with the one who brung me" (to quote a little old AA lady) and stick with the AA program.

SoberLeigh

How are you doing, bravesjp? Thinking of you.

least

I didn't have cravings so bad after I started practicing gratitude every day. Try it.

Dee74

hows it going bravesjp?

D