Hey everybody :)
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 341
Hey everybody :)
Hi all, it's been a while. I will be 4 years sober in December and surprisingly I still get very strong urges to drink. Like right now. 
Anger & loneliness are strong triggers for me, and I live with those emotions daily. That isn't going away and I've spent years trying to deal with the feelings I have without drinking. I have good days & bad.
I'm going to stick around and catch up on my reading here, maybe it will help . Anybody deal with cravings (not physical) after being sober for so long??
Anger & loneliness are strong triggers for me, and I live with those emotions daily. That isn't going away and I've spent years trying to deal with the feelings I have without drinking. I have good days & bad.
I'm going to stick around and catch up on my reading here, maybe it will help . Anybody deal with cravings (not physical) after being sober for so long??
Member
Join Date: Jul 2018
Posts: 1,312
Hi there. Congrats on almost 4 years. I have 14 months and have cravings here and there. They are very short, intense bursts that pass quickly. I use my sober tools when they hit-primarily “playing the tape through”. I imagine what the end of the night and the next day looks like if I take that first drink. That pulls me right out of a craving.
Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 211,373
Hi Jessie
They were some of my worst triggers too so I did something about them - for me that was some counselling for my anger, and for the loneliness I just got used to being in my own company - I'd never done that before.
Getting comfortable about who I was and learning to be okay with being alone weirdly opened up my social life for me again. I used to be a bit desperate for contact.
Not having that anxiety there any more really helped.
What kind of things are you working on for your triggers?
D
They were some of my worst triggers too so I did something about them - for me that was some counselling for my anger, and for the loneliness I just got used to being in my own company - I'd never done that before.
Getting comfortable about who I was and learning to be okay with being alone weirdly opened up my social life for me again. I used to be a bit desperate for contact.
Not having that anxiety there any more really helped.
What kind of things are you working on for your triggers?
D
Member
Join Date: Apr 2019
Posts: 598
I am six months in and accept that the longing for the escapism and quick fix that alcohol provides will always be there. Life is full of temptation, to eat cake when you are trying to lose a few pounds, to spend money when you know it would better saved, to say something nasty when it is best to just let it go, to stay in bed when it is better to get up and go to gym. I always feel so much better when I succeed in fighting the temptation, however small. With alcohol I don’t fight anymore, I just don’t do. And the feeling of well-being on that score at least is permanent.
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