To resist cravings for alcohol, drugs, food or any of the behavioral addictions, it helps to consider why you feel them.  A craving for alcohol or drugs comes on for either negative or positive reasons. You may fear the withdrawal symptoms that you know will come with abstinence. Or you may longingly recall the rush or the glow you associate with a favorite chemical.

Cravings are irrational and can be bathed in such a rosy incandescence that, unless dealt with quickly, they are powerful enough to overcome rational memory of the havoc your use of drugs and/or alcohol has wrought.

Cravings eventually diminish in frequency and intensity and for most people, they finally disappear entirely. The only action that will double your craving is one drink or drug. One is too many and 100 are not enough – that’s an old saying in Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous.

In the meantime, you can reduce the number of cravings to thwart temptation by keeping your lifestyle in balance.  Unfortunately, there is no magic pill or panacea to wipe out the last vestige of desire for your drug of choice – at least not immediately. Rare is the person who quits drinking or using drugs and never again feels a compulsion – a need, a craving, an insatiable hunger, an uncontrollable thirst – to drink or use.

Amino acid supplements help build up dopamine, the neurotransmitter for satisfaction and reward.  Courage to change means commitment, doubt and action for without a certain amount of doubt, there can be no courage.
Changing your thinking to change your feelings (emotions) to change your behaviour is a slow process but absolutely necessary for one to deal with their demons and move on with life.

Feeling a compulsion, however, doesn’t mean you have to give in to it. You can, like others who experience an overwhelming compulsion, fight it off. Over a period of time, people in successful recovery develop their own strategies for dealing with compulsions.

Early in recovery it is often helpful to know what the options are. You may find some of these work for you, or you may find other ways of coping that work better. The moment you feel, even fleetingly, that you would like to drink or use, resort to what works best for you.

Remember, a craving does not have to end in drinking or using drugs.  The thought of drinking or using is inflamed by taking that first drink or drug. Don’t take the first drink or drug and you won’t ignite the chemical that’s responsible for the craving.

Alcoholism and drug addiction is genetic and linked to brain chemistry. Deficiency in our dopamine neurotransmitter is responsible for the alcoholic and/or drug addict’s lack of satisfaction, focus, concentration, mood swings, boredom and motivation.

If an alcoholic or drug addict stops using, they are still at risk of picking up a drink or a drug because their dopamine neurotransmitter is dysfunctional. Once they start drinking or drugging again, whether they are 2 weeks, 2 months or 2 years sober, there is a chemical that lays dormant called THIQ, the highly addictive chemical substance already in the brain, reacts to the alcohol or drug and the obsessive compulsive addiction returns to plague the newly sober alcoholic or drug addict.  THIQ is a highly addictive chemical found in the brain of alcoholics and drug addicts.  It is not found in social drinkers’ brains. It is irreversible in alcoholics. That’s why the alcoholic can never return to social drinking.

There are many things you can do to stall your “stinking thinking” into taking that first drink or drug.

  • Call someone responsible like your counsellor or close friend who knows what you are going through.
  • Distract yourself with something or take yourself away from the environment of temptation.
  • Take a dose of Tyrosine, l-Glutamine or the amino acids you have been prescribed by your Naturopath or Counsellor. Fundamental for all mental processes, amino acids are the building blocks of protein and are needed to make the clever chemical messengers that allow your brain cells to talk to each other. The way nerve cells are connected and communicate determine your thoughts, your learning ability and your emotions.
  • Put off taking the first drink or drug for 10 minutes. Start doing something that will distract you for the next 10 minutes.  Then you progress to putting off the first drink or drug for an hour; then 2 hours, until you find you have gone the whole day without picking up a drink or a drug.
  • When you put your head on your pillow at night, ask yourself “what have I done today to improve my life?”     You won – you stayed sober, one day at a time.
  • Do some creative visualization. There are hundreds of excellent active meditations you can download and listen to in times of destructive thoughts.  My favorite is by Sandy MacGregor from www.calm.com and it is Acceptance and Letting Go.  Wonderful meditation to help you get through those moments of chaos in your mind.
  • Keep in mind that for you, alcohol or drugs are not viable options. Your disease has progressed to the point at which a drink or a drug means instant emotional, mental and sometimes physical pain.  Remember back to your last drink or drug and ask yourself if it was enjoyable?
  • Remember, cravings too shall pass.
  • Have a snack, preferably one that is low in sugar and gluten free.
  • Remind yourself about the good things in life. Look at a picture of someone you love. Think about your children, your partner, your career. Think about how far you have come in your journey whether it is 2 days, 2 weeks, 2 months or 2 years.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.

I recommend amino acids to help balance brain chemistry and a good liver tonic to help repair liver damage. Specific amino acids are essential for the liver to breakdown toxins and drugs and also for efficient metabolism in the liver.

Glutamine – This amino acid is required for phase two detoxification in the liver and is required in increased amounts by those who consume excessive alcohol. It is able to reduce the craving for alcohol. Glutamine supplementation is helpful for intestinal disorders such as peptic ulcers and leaky gut syndrome. Leaky gut is the term used to describe an inflamed condition of the lining of the bowel, which makes the bowel too permeable, so that toxins and incompletely digested food particles can be absorbed from the bowels directly into the liver. This increases the workload of the liver and may cause many health problems. Glutamine is essential for the white cells to fight viruses such as hepatitis B and C. Glutamine is converted in the body into glutamic acid, which, along with the amino acids cysteine and glycine, is converted into the powerful liver protector glutathione. Glutathione is essential for liver phase two conjugation reactions used during detoxification of drugs and toxic chemicals. Glutamine can be found in our Ultimate Gut Health powder.

Livatone is a natural liver tonic containing the liver herbs St Mary’s Thistle, Globe Artichoke and Dandelion, combined with the amino acid Taurine, and Lecithin. It also contains natural sources of Chlorophyll, Carotenoids and fiber. It is available in both capsule and powder form. The liver is the main fat burning organ in the body and regulates fat and carbohydrate metabolism. A healthy liver will take fat in the form of cholesterol and pump it via the bile into the intestines where it will be carried away in the bowel actions provided the diet is high in fiber.

Tyrosine Mood Food – Tyrosine is a natural amino acid – one of the building blocks of protein.  It is required for the manufacture of the brain chemicals (neurotransmitters) dopamine and noradrenaline.  These neurotransmitters are required for concentration, alertness, memory and a happy, stable mood.

Magnesium – the great relaxer. Magnesium plays an essential role in maintaining and promoting efficient muscle function and nerve transmission. Magnesium is a vital mineral for hundreds of cellular enzymes involved in the body’s energy production and metabolism. It is required by the nervous system to regulate the function of nerves and muscles. Magnesium may also assist in the reduction of stress, nervous tension, anxiety and sleeplessness.