Sometimes you can’t avoid triggers which may be feelings you have or a physical condition that comes on from time to time. Once you experience the urge, distract yourself with something that takes your attention. Then check back in with yourself in minutes and see if the urge’s intensity has changed. This can be a helpful strategy early in your efforts to change your drinking and manage your urges. Have friends over for dinner that you make (unless drinking heavily while you’re cooking is part of your routine).

Medication To Help With Alcohol Cravings

You can opt for non-alcoholic beer, wine or mocktails, or replace your alcoholic drink with something like sparkling water or apple cider. Before starting any complementary treatment, be sure to discuss it with a doctor to make sure it’s safe for you. Eating simple carbohydrates and processed foods may induce cravings. People who are still drinking are not prescribed acamprosate.

Question the Urge

You might be doing your best to avoid taking drugs or drinking, but you still find yourself having drug and alcohol urges or cravings. There are a number of ways to manage and reduce urges or cravings. As you change your drinking, it’s normal and common to have urges or a craving for alcohol.

• This approach is based on the understanding that our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are all interconnected.
• Exercise  – Exercise can release ‘feel-good’ chemical dopamine, lowers stress levels and boosts endorphins, which can improve mood and reduce the urge to turn to alcohol for relief.
• When you are attempting to make changes to your drinking habits or drug use, it can be frustrating trying to figure out how to control urges.
• These cravings are a common experience for those trying to reduce their alcohol intake or maintain sobriety, especially in the early stages of recovery.

The good news is that using these tips can improve your ability to manage and reduce urges and cravings overall. Some of these tips may be more helpful early in your efforts to change your drinking habits, whether your goal is to cut back or to stop drinking entirely. These tips can be helpful for those making changes in their drinking on their own and not in an alcohol use disorder treatment program. Eat Healthy Fruits and VegetablesWhen alcohol metabolizes in your body, it turns into sugar, so if you’re used to drinking a lot of alcohol, your body is used to a lot of sugar.

Counseling, medication, support from family and friends, changing your diet, taking supplements, and alternative treatments may all help lessen your alcohol cravings. Ashwagandha is an herbal supplement used in traditional Indian Ayurvedic medicine. It has long been used to prevent alcohol cravings, improve immune function, and reduce stress. Professional therapy is another crucial long-term strategy.

However, if you’re just struggling with urges to drink, you may be able to use home remedies to reduce your alcohol cravings. Internal triggers, such as negative emotions, can also trigger alcohol cravings. Research has shown that anxiety, frustration, sadness, tension and irritability can trigger a person to drink. Cravings may occur because a person expects to feel relief from drinking. Cravings tend to reduce over time, especially if you’ve developed healthy new habits, routines and coping strategies. But they may not disappear entirely, and you may still experience triggers and cravings in certain situations.

Alcohol Cravings During Detox and Recovery

Often, addressing these basic needs can alleviate the urge to drink. Some methods are more helpful early on in your efforts to change your drinking, whether it be to cut back or to stop drinking entirely. Other methods are considered somewhat more advanced strategies.

How to manage alcohol cravings

• The protein in poultry and fish helps in the production of dopamine, which can help improve your mood as you fight alcohol cravings.
• In addition, some new, non-addictive medications can reduce the desire to drink or lessen the rewarding effect of drinking so it is easier to stop.
• When you experience an alcohol craving, it can be helpful to distract yourself until it passes.
• Internal triggers, such as negative emotions, can also trigger alcohol cravings.
• Meditation, practiced on your own or via guided meditation, can help you learn to react less to alcohol cravings (8).
• Lean proteins can keep you feeling full and satisfied, reducing the chance of misinterpreting hunger as an alcohol craving.

It’s available as a pill (generic) and as a once monthly injection (Vivitrol) given in a physician’s office. Vivitrol is a bit more expensive, but does not require a daily decision. ways to stop alcohol cravings While the FDA has not approved naltrexone for moderate drinking in the U.S., it is used for this purpose in Europe.

Vivitrol is expensive but does not require a daily decision. Pick a name for your urges that’s imaginative, strong, and meaningful to you. That little voice in your head that badgers and coaxes you. Some call it “The Inner Brat,” “The Alcohol Salesman,” “The Lobbyist,” “The Terrorist,” “The Whiner,” or just “The Enemy.” Pick a name that fits your experience with it. This signal is telling you to have a drink, but it’s not controlling you. With practice, the urge can become a signal to use an urge coping strategy.

Eating healthy fruits and vegetables can help you balance the sugar levels that your body is used to, reducing your alcohol cravings. They’ll also help your body absorb nutrients that alcohol made it hard to. When you drink alcohol regularly, your brain starts to rely on it to release feel-good chemicals like dopamine. Over time, your body builds a tolerance and becomes dependent on alcohol.

You could keep a journal to record this information, any patterns you notice, what emotional states lead up to cravings, and what coping strategies are most helpful for you. You can identify your triggers by tracking when and where cravings happen. Make a note of the emotions that come up and the people, places or situations that evoke them.

The Recovery Village Ridgefield offers comprehensive addiction treatment for drug and alcohol addictions and co-occurring mental health conditions. If your cravings are frequent, intense or hard to control, you should seek professional help. You’ll receive guidance, strategies and a treatment plan to help you manage cravings effectively. Journaling – writing down your feelings, thoughts or experiences can help you process emotions, release tension and identify triggers for your cravings. Journaling can also be used to reaffirm your reasons for cutting back or quitting alcohol and stay on track with your progress.

Taking time to explore the specific people, places, and situations that cue your urge to drink can make a big difference. A positive distraction can help occupy your thoughts and energy, giving you something to focus on besides the urge to drink. The pleasant euphoria you experience when drinking becomes a reward, one that reinforces your desire to drink in certain situations. You might eventually start craving that reward in new situations.

You might achieve this by walking, calling a friend or enjoying relaxing activities like reading. If you are struggling with addiction and co-occurring mental health, our expert team is here to guide you every step of the way. Don’t wait— reach out today to take the first step toward taking control of your life. Cravings are common in the early stages of recovery, when you haven’t had a drink for a certain length of time, and you may experience them on and off for a number of years. You may find it hard to concentrate on anything else, which can make it even more challenging to resist having a drink. Alcohol cravings can feel overwhelming, driven by withdrawal, habits or emotional facts.

Read up as much as you can on the subject, and speak to the person themselves . By understanding addiction, you can offer the best support you can. Triggers are internal or external cues that can set off cravings or the urge to drink. They can be thoughts, feelings, situations or even places that remind you of drinking, or make you want to use alcohol to feel better or cope.