How Long Before My Cravings Go Away For Drugs or Alcohol?

I have been drinking a 6 to a 12 pack a day and now I know I need to quit. I have been saying this for weeks and I am hoping today will be the first day. It is so hard being strong and avoiding something you like. I hope I can make it through as it is now effecting my 17 yr old son and hurting him. I need to do this for my health and for his health and well being. I hope today will be my first day and that I can stay strong and avoid the craving.

I have been clean for over a year now from a 13 year opiate addiction. I have done great for so long, doing all the things I used to do, and now have a very strong relationship with God. Had a fabulous summer, but when there was a change in season, fall, I don’t know what happened. I started getting all these weird feelings, and cravings to use again. I don’t understand it.

@ Michelle…

I’ve been sober now for 16 months, and I’m experiencing the same thing. I abused alcohol and cocaine for 10 years. Definitely has something to do with the weather change, life stressors, etc. It isn’t always easy, even being heavily active in my recovery, working steps, etc. Things get tough at times. Best of luck.

I am having an intense craving right now. I only want to work, go home, exercise, eat dinner and go to bed. I do not want to be prisoner to this craving. I have too much going on in my life to keep on giving into this type of feeling. I know if I give into the craving, I will end up broke and even more frustrated that before the craving, my mind keeps wandering into the dark place that’s telling me to use. I always feel like If I can get over this time I will be able to break through to next time. I have so many things I want to accomplish, and I start to accomplish them and my issue always gets in the way. This is making me feel somewhat better, but the money in my wallet makes me anxious. I feel like I can do this.

I was a regualr weekend beer drinker until 3 months ago, when I was viciously attacked by five guys on the subway. No one helped me and I was left with serious injuries. I was not “rolling on the ground ” drunk, but I was very mellow (whcih is what beer does to me). These guys, or at least their leader, was on crack. In my flashbacks, where most of my memories of this event comwe to me, I realise that these guys were the OPPOSITE of mellow. They wanted a fight and they , in their predatory, narcissistic, invincible state, were looking for a mark. SOmeone by hiomself and under the influence. I can still see all of their faces and I know where they were going that nite and I know they will be back. The police have surveillance video of them and have posted theses on “bulletins” throughout the city.
I still believe I will see these guys again( they were with 2 girls-how could they stand by and watch this? did they think it was tough and cool? Will they still feel tough and cool if they get arrested?) and I will be able to call 911.
Who realates to this or has a comment?
I hve cravings but Itell myself that they will pass and that if I was able to give up smoking (and, unlike the beer, I did this EVERY day) then I can give up beer.
I still tell myself that I would have more fun and that I could go back to beer and cut down on the amount. ANother part of me says, “GIve it more time and see if the cravings pass, just like they did when I quit smoking”.

I want others to know the reality of cravings even after years of being clean. I began using drugs at the tender age of 16. The first boyfriend I ever had took a lot of xanax, smoked pot, and drank. At this point in my life I began to abuse drugs to feel wanted and loved. I thought that was what every teen was doing. The people I have allowed in my life that use added to the intensity of my disease. I am now 30 and I have recovered and relapsed many times. I should be dead from the 6 car wrecks, the lethal dose of xanax, oxycotin, and meth. I have been clean and sober for a year now and I mentally crave any mind altering drug. Even though I crave daily and am obsessed with my craving I have surrounded myself with amazing christian friends that r there for me at all times. Every moment during the day I pray to God that he will take away this craving and stop the unbearable pain my neck and back. I have FAITH that He is going to heal me from my mental disorder, drug addiction

Hang in there Anonymous!

The world hears you. We are pulling for you to stay sober!

I know it is not easy.

Good luck

Hi firstly I apologise 4 the ridiculous name i’v left, it’s just I’m paranoid incase sum1 clues up 2 who I am, no1famous, just a regular 25 yr wanting 2 share her experience. Well the main reason I think sum ppl crave it wen the seasons change, It’s cos those weather times myt have sum good memories attatched with them, wen I say good I mean the good times u have with the intoxication, u no in the beginning, b4 the negativity hits ya. Well I’m an ex coke addict, but I’m ashamed 2 say that I gave in 2it 2nyt, I had stopped 4 exactly 8months and was doin it every other day, and u think it’ll probably take a bad experience 4 u 2realise and stop but no nothin major cud keep me away from it, even after hearing about amy winehouse’s death last week and wot happens, I gave in. I just had a really bad downer on New years eve n anytime I got a craving I just remembered that downer!!! Now I don’t no about alcohol cos iv never had a drink in my life but in cocaine world the best advise I have 2give is if u want 2banish any temptation then u have 2break off all contacts who u socialise this drug with, they’re not genuine ppl who care 4u if they wanna fuck u over so don’t give a second thot 2 losing them. I also don’t appreciate the way sum of u have disregarded sum next persons effort. I believe I read a comment about sum 1 who had been clean/sober 4 like 16months. Well that’s bloody brilliant I think n u shud be so proud of urself. I feel like I deserved a medal cos of the 8months I was clean. But anyway as I sed b4 yeah I’m on the coke ryt now as u read this and y cos I saw my dealer after 8months and cudn’t control the urge So I gave in and I feel like utter shit ryt now, just think of the down side wheneva u get that real urge 2 give in 2it and wen u can’t be bothered2 fyt it anymore. From bein a serious coke addict I can honestly say that I no it’ll get easier with time u just have2wait it out. Anyway guys keep strong, I no am!!! Xxxx

Its hard to admitt I am an addict. Been in denial n with that ive gotton extremely close to the drug and it sucks but I do believe I can quite with help I just gota find the strength to ask for the help cuz im stubborn at times, I can honestly sat im disappointed in myself and never would of thought this could happen to me but it did n im fighting to be myself again, hello everyone im bre and im addicted to meth slowly but surley:( im craving bad at this point my mind n body keep wanting it but this feeling of lost n alone whixh is not me sober freakin sucks I dnt want to ignore these feelings cuz I end up using later on but im ready to stand up to it n say NO! Someone write me bk n give me feedback just so I feel like im being heard please n thanks for readng this god bless

It has been 6 years since I last used coke and the urges get worse and worse as the days go on. I lost all of my friends that were using with me at the time and am really missing those days. I have moved from where I was living previously to try and get a fresh start from all of the problems in my old town and it seems not even that is working. Everyday is a constant battle to stay clean and now more often then not I am staying up into the early morning hours fighting these urges to go out and get some. It’s starting to affect my job now with having little to no sleep and I don’t know where to turn to. I don’t want my girlfriend of 3 years to know my past battles with cocaine and my parents aren’t the best people to approach. Please, any advice

Hey im 26 and left home 2 years ago to go to the other side of the world to escape my benzo and opiate abuse. Durining my 2 years away i was clean of opiates and the occasional val (i was in thailand for 3 months) not the best place to go when ur trying to kick the habit. But anyway got to my destination and as clean there for 9 months, i went home for 6 months and the first thing i done was tried to score methadone. So that was me back on the benzos and meth for 6 months till i decided that i had enuf again and i wanted bk to the country where i knew no one and couldnt get anything. I came back ober here 5 months ago and was fine for 4 months after the physical withdrawls went. I crave opiates constantly, 24/7 i tink about them, i dream about them. I never used a needle, well tried to once and popped the vein in my foot and got a fright. But i have found out in the last few weeks i have nerve damage in my arm and i am going to any doc that i can find to try and get oxy. I will rewind a bit, i went to thailand a month ago and came back with 1000 valium, i have about 30 left and never gave any to any1, all my flat mates are down the line anti drug. But bcoz of the benzos its made me chase the opiate again , and i have now found some dealers here. Its more of a pscholgical addiction i have to them even to i am withdrawing from oxy and smack just now. I dont want to go on like this, chasing docs for meds, i was addicted to opiates for bout 4 years back home and after been clean for all those months i see myself getting depressed and going backwards in life. I have just recieved an excellent job and life oppertunity but can see me fucking it up by the way im going. I had reasons that made me want to start using bk home years ago, they issues are nearly dealt with, so i relly have no need to do it. Sorry for babbling on, i dont know if i need counsilling or where to turn to???

This comment is just about how I quit smoking. It may be interesting to some. I do not mean to offend and suggest that other dependency issues can be resolved this “easily”.

I had smoked for a decade or so. About a pack a day. I got to the point where I wanted to quit, but couldn’t. I failed once or twice (very quickly).

Then one day I was at work – a factory job where we could smoke at breaks and lunch. Morning break, and I’m out of smokes, and no one has one to “lend”. Oh crap. So, I make it through until lunch, but boy, by then my first thought is to dash out and get smokes.

I’m not sure where it came from, but I had this thought: I had just made it four hours. I hadn’t died or anything, just experienced discomfort. Pretty much by definition I could make it another four. So, I busied myself doing something – can’t remember now, but I probably just decided to work through lunch to keep my mind occupied.

By quitting time I knew where this was heading, but absolutely did not want to say it “out loud” to myself. I didn’t want to say “I’m quitting”. That was like setting up to fail. I think the problem was that if I said that, I’d be forced to think about a very long future without cigarettes.

Well, for me, right then, it was not one day at a time, it was one hour. So, on the way home from work, I told myself the same thing: you’ve been “clean” for 8 hours, by definition you can do 8 more.

I had heard that people gained weight by eating snacks in place of smoking. I didn’t want to get fat, so I bought a couple heads of celery, and for the next two weeks, when I wasn’t working, I was munching on celery, or sleeping. ‘Cause when I was asleep I didn’t want a smoke.

At the two week mark, I was sleeping, and had this dream. Strange logic, like in many dreams. I had “nothing better to do” so I’ll smoke.

Well, I SHOT UP out of bed. It took me a minute to figure out whether I’d actually smoked or not. I knew that if I smoked even one puff, all the time I’d built up would vanish and I’d be back to square one. When I realized I hadn’t smoked, something just clicked. I have never craved a cigarette since that moment.

That was 30 years ago.

To summarize, I played a mental game, feeling like I had an ever-growing block of time in the future “in the bag”. I did not look further than that, so sort of one day at a time. I occupied myself with *anything*, just to keep busy. At no time during this did I say to myself or anyone else that I was quitting.

Hope this helps someone.