Alcohol < coffee and other vices

Anyone else find themselves indulging in other vices after stopping their drinking?

For example I smoke cigarettes and have been more so lately. But also have been drinking more and more coffee.

Just curious.

Also 19 days sober today.

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Cake and kitcats…my first few months I inhaled them. I was having a rough day at work around day 90…and i noticed I was on autopilot driving to the grocery store to pickup a slice of cake…lol

Embrace it, it levels out.

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Absolutely. Picked up the pace on the smoking a wee bit, always always been a coffee fiend so that’s off the chart, and sugar and food have become a replacement I really need to watch when I’m feeling down and listless or anxious. All normal and nothing to worry about at your stage, anything is better than drinking where you are. You can rectify these things at a later point in time, for now just watch and don’t pick up. Congrats on 19d, keep going strong! :handshake::sunny::coffee::coffee::coffee::coffee::coffee::coffee::coffee::coffee::coffee::coffee::coffee:

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Yeah, when I first stopped drinking, I thought it went hand in hand with smoking. I figured I’d be able to quit both at once but after a week or two I was smoking more than I ever had. Up to a pack a day. Horrible f-ing habit. But it doesn’t change my personality at all compared to other vices. So I’ve let it ride for the time being. Hoping, ultimately I can kick it as well. As for caffeine, for me, it made my anxiety worse. I totally am addicted to it, from a very young age, but lessened it for now to counteract the headaches caused by stopping completely. I feel getting the worst out of the way first, then dealing with the secondary issues will work better for me. For me. Dont take too much under your belt, as I thought I could originally. And if you need help, ask for it. Bc I’m now coming to the point where I may ask my doctor for support. All the best moving forward :heart:

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Coffee, vape and chocolate all increased when I first started.
Every time I finished one mug of coffee I’d make another.
I doubled the amount I was vaping and I think I must have eaten my body weight in chocolate for months.
I now drink a lot more water, I’ve dropped vaping all together and I’ve lessened the amount of chocolate.
Take it I’d say. At least you’re not drinking.
Get comfortable with that first.

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I got out of treatment and immediately went to the coffee stand. I think I had 8 or so shots of espresso that day? It’s fucking ridiculous, but it’s not booze or blow so I’m not kicking myself too hard just yet.
(I also drink dessert coffee so, sugar has been wild too).

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I also drink tf out of some bubble water, but that’s not a bad thing.

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We have addictive personalities. So the same behaviour will ultimately manifest in other areas of our life after we stop using our Doc. That doesn’t mean having an addictive personality is an inherinetly bad thing though - it just means we need to use that superpower for the good. :joy: Yes I chug back the long blacks on the daily, but I also never miss a run, gym session or swim. I just have healthy addictions now. Don’t be too hard on yourself :blush:

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Yes! I definitely did this. I was craving those other things more (for me it was cigarettes, coffee, and chocolate) and since quitting drinking was such a big thing for me to do I gave myself a free pass to indulge in those things. Over time the cravings just sort of went way and everything leveled back out.

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I’ve noticed that I definitely look forward to caffeine a lot more than I did when I was drinking, and I want it more frequently. When I was drinking it was more of a necessity to stay awake so that I could drink more.

Now I make sure to limit my caffeine intake so it doesn’t become something that takes the place of alcohol in terms of another addiction. I typically have my pre-workout supplement in the morning before I workout. I’ll have one other caffeinated drink throughout the day, either a sports type energy drink with no sugar or a large cup of black coffee.

I listened to a very interesting podcast on caffeine a few months ago and learned that it stays in the bloodstream for a lot longer than most people think. So I try to stop any caffeine intake around 8 hours before bedtime.

Its called cross addiction I think but it may be anything cigs,food,sex,shopping,social media all the above lol. Or it will be several or more. This is a whole other beast to watch for . to me its addiction transforming to still keep me down so ide have to go back to what I know best. " not today" …

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I couldn’t get enough sweats in the early days and put on some weight. It was better than picking up drugs or alcohol so I didn’t care. Now I’m eating much healthier. I say conquer one thing at a time.