Newbie, tips?

Any helpful tips? I can’t get past 3 days sober, that’s the longest time I get to, then I end up drinking again. I can’t get past the cravings.

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Replace the craving with something healthy for yourself. Anything is better than picking up again. I just blew 3 months clean myself. Keep on keeping on!!!!

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Meetings. Rehab. Google zoom meetings. Get plugged into a recovery program. Can’t do this alone. Reaching out now is a good start. Keep sharing.

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Thank you for emphasizing that I do need extra help and resources thank you!!

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Thank you for the tip :blush::heavy_heart_exclamation:

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Checkout AA and Smart Recovery if you haven’t already done so. This app is good but being part of recovery program and its community, where I met new sober friends, really helped.

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Thank you :pray:t3: haven’t tried smart recovery so I’m gonna check it out for sure

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Cindra - check out substance abuse cognitive behavioral therapy. I have found that often it is an emotion that we are not capable of knowing how to process on our own that causes the cravings and desire to go back, having skill sets to not face these emotions and cravings alone have been really helpful for me. Just as you would seek a personal trainer for physical fitness, a CBH Therapist can give you the tools for mental fitness

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It is awesome , congrats

Lots of good tips above! I also like to think about riding it out, instead of fighting it. It's easier to let it fizzle out, than it is to fight to put it back in its box.

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AA meetings, as many as you can, then more.

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Thanks that’s really helpful actually :raised_hands:t3:

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And why do you think it is that you drink? You pick up a drink because you believe the lie that this time everything will be okay. But it never is, is it?

We have to learn to play the scene forward. What happens when you pick up a drink? Feel better for a short time but it never does last. Then when you wake up you have more guilt to carry around with you knowing that you accomplished nothing. Now you have to start all over again.

The question I have is, what are you doing while you're trying not to drink? Are you trying to do this all on your own by sure willpower? Lots of luck on that one.

What is your plan of recovery? Do you go to AA meetings? If you don't, I highly recommend it. You need to be hanging out with people that have long-term sobriety and listen to what they have to say in the meetings.

What are you willing to do to get sober and stay sober? We have a chapter in The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous that starts off by saying, rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path.

Let me give you something else to read. When I read this it hit me like an atom bomb.

Men and women drink because they like the effect produced by alcohol. The sensation is so elusive that, while they admit it is injurious, they cannot after a time differentiate the true from the false. To them, their alcoholic life seems the only normal one.

They are restless, irritable and discontented

unless they can again experience the sense of ease and comfort which comes at once by taking a few drinks—drinks which they see others taking with impunity. After they have succumbed to the desire again, as so many do, and the phenomenon of craving develops, they pass through the well-known stages of a spree, emerging remorseful, with a firm resolution not to drink again.

This is repeated over and over, and unless this person can experience an entire psychic change there is very little hope of his or her recovery.”

There are MANY roads to recovery. A myriad! I myself am a 12 stepper, because it’s what works FOR ME AND MY RECOVERY! I share my experience, strength and hope with all those I can. What works for me, may not work for you, BUT IF YOU WANT IT ENOUGH IT’S AT LEAST WORTH A TRY RIGHT!? I suggest (bc it works for me) find AA meetings. Do 90 in 90 to start. <- that means go to 90 meetings in 90 days. Change people, places, and things. Get a sponsor. And NO MATTER WHAT! JUST! DON’T! DRINK! I will leave it there to KISS it. Don’t overwhelm yourself. Just take it 1 step at a time. 1 day at a time. An hour at a time. FOR GOD’S SAKE I remember back in my green stages taking it 1 minute/moment at a dang time! I would be ecstatic to assist more if desired. Just say the word and I will provide any more suggestions necessary and/or answer any questions you may conjure and/or assist in any other way that I am able! Keep fighting THE GOOD FIGHT!:muscle:t3:
p.s. try utilizing any sugary treats you enjoy when cravings arise too! Tootsie pops hyperbolically saved my life through my first year.:yum:

I can't help but notice the chef whites in one of your photos. There is a recovery group out there specifically for hospitality industry professionals. It has really helped me.

Thank you so much! I will check it out!