Before considering these options, it’s essential to discuss with a healthcare professional who can provide guidance on potential risks, benefits, and monitoring. Kali Lux is a consumer marketing leader with a focus on healthcare and wellness. She has over a decade of experience in building and operating metrics-driven brand, demand generation, and customer experience teams. Cravings do lessen over =https://ecosoberhouse.com/ time but it can take some people many years to eliminate them altogether.
How to help someone stop drinking
- By altering cognitive processes linked to alcohol consumption, CBT can create a beneficial cycle, reducing cravings and facilitating healthier choices.
- When you feel a craving coming on, stop and take several slow, deep breaths.
- Overcoming an addiction to alcohol can be a long and bumpy road.
- This can make it more likely a person will continue to consume alcohol.
- Moreover, they might have contraindications with other medications or medical conditions.
Her fields of interest include Japanese translation, cooking, natural sciences, sex positivity, and mental health, along with books, books, and more books. She lives in Washington with her son and a lovably recalcitrant cat. In other words, what works for a friend won’t always work for you. That’s why building your own recovery toolkit can make a difference in your ability to weather the most intense cravings. But even when you don’t know anyone else trying to make a similar change, friends and loved ones can still offer emotional support.
Cutting back vs. quitting alcohol altogether
Handling the urges to drink will determine your ability to shed alcohol cravings. I’ve been around how to reduce alcohol cravings alcohol addictions enough to know that the underlying issue is almost always related to mental health. Alcohol addiction doesn’t exist in a vacuum, so it’s important to be in touch with your emotions.
- Drinking on an empty stomach is never a good idea, so make sure you eat food when you drink.
- Although the available evidence is mixed or lacking in humans, the following natural supplements, herbs, and vitamins might help curb alcohol cravings (5, 6, 7).
- This can range from engaging in physical activities, such as jogging or swimming, to intellectual stimulants like reading or solving puzzles.
- Your reward system is one of the main culprits in this process.
Long-term strategies
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Outpatient Treatment
There’s also the possibility of experiencing post-acute withdrawal syndrome which can pop up a few months after your last drink. And when you feel like you’re about to cave, call a friend; test your coping skills; enjoy sobriety; and have a non-alcoholic drink. If you decided to stop drinking and are wondering how to enjoy life sober, allow us to provide some suggestions. Or you might consider picking up a new hobby, maybe one you enjoyed as a kid. Just remember to have fun, since the goal is relapse prevention.
It can also make it more difficult for them to stop using alcohol. Similar to ashwagandha, holy basil may help alleviate anxiety from alcohol withdrawal. One of the active ingredients in milk thistle extract is silymarin, which may improve liver function in people with alcohol use disorder. Eating simple carbohydrates and processed foods may induce cravings. When taking disulfiram, drinking even a small amount of alcohol can produce effects such as flushing, headache, and nausea. Suzie Sawyer is a nutritional expert with more Halfway house than 20+ years of experience.
