Say… I’m day three sober from my last drink. How and when do I get over the hump of completely abstaining from alcohol? I’m still having somewhat of cravings…
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They say it takes 28 days to form a habit… So, maybe 6 months? I don’t know that there’s an actual number of days you can put on that…
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Depends on the fitness of your spiritual condition. I feel like my cravings really subsided through continued involvement with AA and the 12 steps. On my 30th day of sobriety I begged God to help me and I’ve only had a few actual cravings since then. God brought me to AA and AA and the 12 steps keep me connected with my higher power.
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For me it’s a long as it takes to change your subconscious reaction to whatever makes you crave alcohol. I was an after the school run evening drinker and I’d say it took about three weeks for my brain to get on board that 4pm was no longer wine time. Change your habits around any time of day that leads you to think about drinking and repeat your new habits daily.
It’s not as simple as that though because you will be confronted at random times by situations where your brains normal reaction would be to think ‘have a drink’, stress, emotional upset, busy work day, celebration, sunny day in the garden, there are literally hundreds of them around us every day and it’s going to take time and some experience of these situations without drinking for your subconscious to start changing its message from have a drink to something more healthy.
I’m 9 months in and pretty solid now in facing most situations but it didn’t happen overnight, I’d say months not days and I’m not totally there yet but everyone is different and there will always be a situation we haven’t yet faced
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Answer for complete life long sobriety. Never. The moment you think you have it figured out, the moment you take off the gas, there will be an unexpected moment that comes and catches you slipping.
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I hate to say it but " how long is a piece of string?"
This I feel is down to you and how long it takes you to recondition your mind.
If you spend time worrying about and romanticising drinking then it’s going to take a long time, if ever.
I totally accepted that I will never drink again. I am a non drinker! T-total you might say.
At 9 months I can get through most days without thinking about it as it is my new normal.
But as @Shell says, it still hits us out of the blue. But because I know I just shrug it off.
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3 days is still very early, so it is normal to feel cravings and be off kilter. Healing and changing your go to mechanisms take time. And it also depends on how long and hard you drank for. Cravings are a normal part of the process and learning how to cope with cravings and just plain life without the crutch of alcohol is what we strive for.
Everyone is different, so don’t be too hard on yourself or expect to feel ‘normal’ too soon.
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@goBlue24 Amen.
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This is definitely how I see things and how i have approached sobreity.
But I do wonder, is alcoholism or drug addiction any different to quitting smoking? I know many people who have quit smoking for a very long time, my parents over 20 years, and it would never go through their minds to smoke again. People dont stay constantly mindful of not smoking, they don’t work on it, after some time they are simply non smokers.
What is it that makes alcoholism for example so much different?
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I won’t get over the hump until I’m dead.
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I think it gets easier I don’t think you ever get over the hump. For example, I was sitting at lunch today 162 days without a drink and we began talking about when I played piano-it triggered me and I immediately needed to take my anti craving medication. I have feeling it will continue that way forever. Once you begin to forget, that’s where the fear can set in that you no longer have control of your sobriety-you are forever in recovery which is why you never heard people say I’ve recovered from alcohol or drugs. Just like life, it’s a continuous adventure.
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A lot of ex smokers I have spoken to do think about smoking quite often and when they see others smoking and especially when they smell second hand smoke overturn romanticise smoking and think his move and possible relieving it would be to have a cigarette. Maybe nowhere as near as we think about not drinking and not taking drugs but they don’t simply forget about it, not in my experience anyway 
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True not everyone acts like I said. But still, there isn’t a general consensus amongst ex smokers that they are forever smokers, one mistake away from being back on the cigarettes etc. Just a thought, whilst I am mindful everyday, i do like to think i will one day not even think about my past addictions and simply feel free in that sense.
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No your right I do get what your saying. My dad doesn’t smoke anymore he hasn’t for a long time. I know he quit for five years once then started again but subsequently quit again. My mum’s recently quit for good thankfully. I am aiming to put my vape down by the end of the year🙂
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I smoke still vaping. I think the difference is huge. Both can calm an anxious mind but the overall effects regarding mind altering are not the same. I didn’t smoke bc I completely hated myself. I didn’t smoke to escape reality and destroy my reality.
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In fact looking back on it now. I picked up smoking to enhance all mind altering drugs. Drinking, weed, meth, heroin…
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Yeah I can happily vape without nicotine now, but still will stop soon enough. Thing is I actually enjoy vaping, never enjoyed smoking really. But it’s a crux to a degree, and whilst much healthier than tobacco obviously still not good for you. Just love filling a room with clouds 
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Yeah I enjoy vaping too and love blowing a nice big cloud out 
though I vape 3mg nicotine liquid.
I bought a step down nicotine patch kit a couple of months ago and though I havn’t used it yet I fully intend to. I think that when I do decide to use it I will still vape but just with no nicotine liquid, I think it will help me with having something to do with my hands🙂
There’s physical cravings and non-physical cravings (emotional, mental, other). The physical cravings can last for a while, some say up to 2 years. Though, they become weaker over time.
The non-physical cravings, which are the most dangerous in my opinion, can last a life time. These types of cravings are at the core of why we drank in the first place, and until we face our demons, that will never leave us. Which is why some say AA/NA takes away the cravings because the steps work at the core reasons for our addiction.
For me, the physical faded substantially by month 2.
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My wife has not smoked for 15 years nearly. She still gets cravings at certain times. One of them is with the cup of coffee after scrambled eggs.
Go figure! 
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