You have finally hit a point in your substance abuse where you know something needs to change. Even though you’re committed to the recovery process, you might be worried about the cravings and other withdrawal symptoms. How long do alcohol cravings last once you take your final drink?
Alcohol withdrawal symptoms will start anywhere from 8 to 72 hours after your last drink. Cravings occur most frequently during the early days of detox and fade as time passes. However, it’s highly individual based on your unique body chemistry, dependence, and mental health.
Changes Healing Center can help you maintain long-term sobriety by equipping you with effective coping strategies for relapse prevention. When you need help for substance use disorders, we can provide the professional support required. Keep reading to learn more about managing cravings.
Anyone who struggles with alcohol dependence and has tried to quit drinking on their own at home can attest to the severity of acute alcohol withdrawal symptoms. Alcohol abuse comes with a wide array of withdrawal symptoms that range from mental to physical.
Some of the most common side effects of your detox can include mood swings, depression, anxiety, and irritability. You might have difficulty sleeping or deal with vivid nightmares. Physical symptoms can include shakiness, sweating, headache, digestive upset, rapid heartbeat, and sweating.
For many, the most troubling symptom of their withdrawal is that desire to return to the bottle. Cravings occur early on in the recovery journey and may remain with you for some time. This is why it can be very beneficial to enroll in a residential treatment plan.
Here is what you can expect from withdrawal and how long you can expect it to last.
Oftentimes, people with alcohol use disorder find that their symptoms begin relatively soon after their very last drink. In some people who have been drinking heavily for an extended period, you could start to see these physical and mental health symptoms as soon as eight hours after the last drink.
In other cases, it could be days before they surface. It depends largely on how your body processes alcohol and the intensity of your drinking. If you drink constantly from morning to night, your body will anticipate more alcohol sooner and will start to go into withdrawal faster.
Most of the physical symptoms of your withdrawal will peak around 24 to 72 hours after that final drink. However, you could see that they last for several weeks, especially when it comes to craving alcohol.
If you’re worried about how to manage alcohol cravings, rest assured that the most intense urges are usually reserved for the detox period. This is why we typically recommend that you enroll in a facility that caters to alcohol detox, where a medical team can manage your most severe symptoms and offer some medication-assisted treatment to make you more comfortable.
Alcohol cravings last well into your recovery process, but they should fade as time passes. You’ll learn to identify triggers that prompt these cravings, as well as how to deal with them when they do surface. Just because you struggle with alcohol addiction doesn’t mean you have to feel awful forever.
Keep in mind that this is a very individual process. Some people may experience cravings for months after they enroll in treatment, alongside severe withdrawal symptoms. Others are fortunate enough to have cravings that fade just mere weeks after their alcohol consumption has stopped.
Many people who drink alcohol heavily and are trying to overcome addiction worry that there may be something wrong with them if they experience cravings. Instead, you should know that this is a very normal part of post-acute alcohol withdrawal. While alcohol cravings varies from person to person, it isn’t uncommon.
Sometimes, craving alcohol surfaces because the brain adapts to having alcohol in its system. It has a very specific impact on your brain by suppressing your central nervous system. It changes the overall structure and function of the brain when you struggle with alcohol use disorder. It’s normal for the body to want to return to what it knows.
However, cravings can also surface alongside post-acute withdrawal symptoms because of a dual diagnosis issue. Many people use it to manage the mood swings of bipolar disorder, the depths of depression, or the constant hum of anxiety in their bodies.
When you consume alcohol to deal with uncomfortable emotions, your body craves it when those feelings pop up. These are known as your triggers, and you will spend lots of time in detox and rehab for alcohol, unearthing them and learning new coping strategies to deal with them.
Maintaining sobriety isn’t as easy as simply resolving never to touch a bottle of alcohol again. There is some real heavy lifting to be done in early recovery. You need to know that you’re strong enough to face the siren song of alcohol cravings without giving in to them.
This is why many people will enroll in a residential treatment program to stop drinking. This enables you to rest easy knowing that you’re safe from picking up the habit again once the detox phase has ended. It can provide temporary relief from cravings with 24/7 access to counseling and care.
One of the easiest ways to get involved in treatment is to attend support groups, Twelve Step meetings, or SMART Recovery meetings. These give you an outlet to talk about and learn about your alcohol use disorder alongside your peers who are also walking through the recovery process.
Alcoholics Anonymous is a community-based program that is cost-effective and has meetings all over the globe. Whenever you feel the urge to have a drink come on, you can find a meeting close by at a time and place convenient to you.
Changes Healing Center also offers group therapy as part of our recovery program. You’ll get support from both a therapist and your peers, learn new coping strategies, and share your struggles in a safe and supportive environment.
In early studies, researchers have uncovered a connection between a desire to drink and a state of mindfulness. When you are more aligned and in tune with your body, you’re less likely to drink due to stress or a negative state of mind. Alcohol dependency might control how long cravings last, but you control what happens after they hit.
Deep breathing or breath counting can result in moods that aren’t as subject to negative influences, even in stressful situations.
More than that, they found that there was an accelerated recovery from stress-induced drinking.
Mindfulness can embody more than simple breathing exercises, though. It can also include relaxation techniques like guided meditation or walking meditation.
One study found that scores on the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test were lower among those who had a mindfulness intervention and had reduced rates of drinking compared to a control group.
Identifying your triggers is one of the most significant tasks you’ll tackle in our residential or outpatient treatment programs. You may have withdrawal-like symptoms or delirium tremens that need to be addressed first. However, the next step is to address your mental health and your history of addiction.
You’ll work hard in individual therapy to reframe your thoughts and realize which ones lead you down the road to alcohol abuse. Cognitive behavioral therapy is great for this because it dismantles cognitive distortions and helps you replace them with more productive thought patterns.
Your clinicians will pull from an extensive repertoire of the latest evidence-based treatment programs to develop a strategy that suits you. Every client receives a comprehensive evaluation and a customized treatment plan that allows you to work on the issues that matter most for your relapse prevention.
According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, one in four adults with a mental illness will also have substance use disorders. This can result in more emotional triggers that have negative consequences for your early recovery.
Addressing mental health concerns upfront with rigorous medication-assisted treatment and therapy is imperative. This will help you do the heavy lifting to recognize triggers and may help you to balance out some of the emotional issues that prompt you to take a drink in the first place.
Our team of experienced clinicians will ensure that you get the emotional support you need from both us and your family members through family-based therapy interventions.
Eventually, you’ll be faced with a tempting situation where you would ordinarily drink alcohol. It might be with a loved one at home, or it could be because you routinely spend time in places where alcohol is served. Our clinicians will teach you how to walk away from tempting situations with confidence.
Cravings last a while following your last drink, and you may be tempted more than once. With your new coping strategies, such as mindfulness, reframing thoughts through urge surfing or other practices, meditation, art, music, yoga, and more, you will undoubtedly have everything you need to walk away and ride out cravings without giving in.
It might feel unnatural to you, and it might result in an unpleasant reaction from others, but you are strong enough to manage.
When you’re ready to seek professional help for some of the most common symptoms of alcohol withdrawal, Changes Healing Center is here to support your overall well-being. Our team provides around-the-clock access to care in our residential treatment program and more flexible options in outpatient care.
Let our enrollment team answer your questions about what the early days of recovery will look like. In a quick, confidential phone call, we can verify your insurance benefits to give you a clearer idea of what treatment will look like financially.
Reach out to us today to enroll or learn more!
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