I am now commencing my 7th week on Nal. I have to say I have noticed my cravings going down in that time but one thing I felt last weekend was that I was drinking more out of habit than cravings. Does anyone feel the same or have had similar experiences? is suppressing the habit as hard as suppressing the cravings?!

We've talked a lot about drinking out of "habit" versus "craving" on this board. You should drink through cravings on naltrexone -- an uncontrollable urge to drink. On the other hand, if you find yourself pouring a drink out of "habit" and could take it or leave it, leave it. You can search "habit" on this board for many further discussions.

CM, I wish there was a pill for habits like there is for AL. I think there's such a fine line between habit and craving and frankly a lot of the time I can't tell the difference. When you do something every single night year after year at a certain time each day it's almost impossible to say it's a craving or habit. I can't remember a thread on the board with ideas about breaking habits, is there one?


corkit

I think a lot of mine is habit, I take my Nal before I leave work so when Iget home I pour the wine. I did take someones advice yesterday and was going to take it after I got home however; I kept myself busy and actually had an AL free day. I did pick up the Bac but am going ot try and hold off on that a little longer since I am only on week 7 of the Nal. I just want to be to the end of the road...
haningon

Corkit, I think one way to 'break' habits is to create new ones that interfere or take the place of ones you want to extinguish. I am very much a creature of habit and it was clear to me that changing at least two would be required for me to achieve success. Well, three, actually, since like hangingon I popped a cork at the stroke of 5:00 when I got home each day.

The first change, as soon as I was able, was to target my first glass of the night at dinner, rather than as soon as I got home. This gave me a plan of what to DO rather than what NOT to do. I WILL have a glass, just as soon as dinner rolls around. This is a habit that I would be happy to maintain for a lifetime - normal people can have a glass of wine with dinner. These was a very easy change to make (after the first few weeks were past, of drinking as I normally did).

The second change was to stop taking glass with me when I went into my home office after dinner. My habit had been after dinner and throughout the night to work on the computer. I would always have a glass right there on the desk beside me, and refill it often. I just started leaving the glass on the kitchen counter so that if I wanted a drink, all I had to do was walk out to the kitchen and have a sip. This very small change in behavior was probably the single largest behavioral contribution to my success. It redefined "working on the computer" such that glassware was no longer part of the normal activity. It allowed me to indulge my craving, but made me work a tiny bit for it. It also encouraged me to spend less time working at the computer and more time with my wife! I actually watch more TV these days which most people would consider a terrible thing, but for my marriage, it's a wonderful thing - it's a shared experience vs a solitary one.

The final change was to stop watching TV with a glass in front of me. This was the slowest change to implement. It began by nursing my after-dinner glass for as long as possible, and then nursing my tv-glass for as long as possible. Then I would do things like 'park' my wine glass on the kitchen counter and go back and watch tv until the next commercial before refilling it. This simply slowed down my drinking. Gradually I was able to wait a couple of commercials. Gradually I was able to grab a bottle of water and tell myself, "another glass of wine is fine, after you finish this water." None of this was particularly hard, but it was fairly gradual. It involved me constantly asking myself, "Are you done yet?" and then, after the next glass, "How about now? Done?"

For any routine we have, it should be possible to construct an alternative routine that replaces the drinking part with something else. We do this in animal training - to extinguish or prevent a behavior you can assign the animal a trained behavior as a 'job' that is incompatible with the undesirable behavior. As an example, many dogs cannot (or do not) bark if they are in a sit-stay or down-stay. Rather than try and stop a dog from barking (a behavior that is self-rewarding) we simply ask them to sit or down. That job is simply incompatible - they are not NOT barking, they are just doing something else instead. And to extend the analogy, you can treat yourself when you display desirable behavior.

that is a great post PV.

If I could add my 2p. I found the following a useful way to answer the habit/craving question.

Record keeping is important - take notes on how you feel. Try and 'standardise' - e.g. wait a set amount of time after the first thought of a drink and do something to distract yourself - then note when you think of one again.
If and when you manage an AF day, compare the figure for the day after an AF day to the average after non-AF days. If there is any evidence of a difference then you've got a significant craving component.

Even simpler, albeit less scientific - do you drink more on the day after an abstinence. If so then theres likely a strong craving component.

1-4-the-road I guess I have my answer, it's craving. I notice the days when I can't drink the normal amount the following day I usually overdue it, so it sounds more like craving than habit.

corkit

Yes, i have had that experience.

The good news is that it is much easier to eliminate drinking out of habit than craving. Just stop!

Totally agree Nemo. Drink through cravings or urges. Just don't drink out of habit. Bored at 5 PM and thinking you could have a drink but could take it or leave it? Leave it and develop a new habit, as PV said so well.

Example: yesterday I had a fight with this girl I'm dating. I left her house and came home. The thought crossed my mind, "I could have a drink to wipe out this bad in my mouth." For over 20 years, that's how I capped my interpersonal disputes, with a drink. I thought, "If you have that drink, you'll have to take a naltrexone first and will wake up tired." It immediately became a non-issue as the cost was not worth it. So I didn't have anything.

Time for all of us to develop new habits.