That sounds right to me nicky. With alcohol, but with cigarettes I cannot tell the difference between still having nicotine in my system the first day or so, and two weeks later.

Of course we are talking alcohol.

Yes, it is different for me, if I have one drink I CRAVE more and more. When I have none in my system, I have not gone over the edge yet to craving-but the mental obsession has been pretty brutal in the past. I think you can crave alcohol when you are detoxing too, but it is all over when that first drink hits my lips.......

Yes, the mental obsession IS brutal (it's the thing after call that condems us to pick up another drink, when our alcoholism is untreated) but it is different to a craving.
Of course, we can still crave alcohol whilst it is still in our system (so whilst we are still detoxing) but once the alcohol is out of our system, the craving can only occur once we take alcohol into our system once more.

I believe the mind has the ability to play wicked tricks...there is a level of chemical withdrawal that can be expected from someone who has been drinking for a long time and on a regular basis. However, after the drug is out of the system the mind takes over. Our mind will tell us anything to get what it wants.

yes the phenomena of craving leaves once my body has been detoxed for those that have dts this usually takes 5 days. After that its all the mental obsession. that may never leave till god removes it if your alcoholic in my exp

nicky,

Thanks for sharing that.

So, if that is the case then preventive meds like Revia will stop Alcoholics from picking-up the second drinking, knowing they are preventive craving meds?

So, what meds offsets the obsession, if any?

I agree. The obsession is hard to deal with because it's like a fantasy in your head. And like all fantasys, it's always better in your head than in real life. The more one obsessess about something, the more power they give that thing. Eventually, the insane idea wins out. We know what happens once we put that stuff in our body. Once it's in us, it's like an overwhelming driving force. That's why it's so important to nip the obsession in the butt with the steps. Only then, can we see the true from the false.

JoePaul, I only know one way to treat the obsession and that is with the 12 steps. For me nothing else worked.

nicky,

Very Good Point.

a lot of people dont know that it is two different things there are three folds to this disease they are mind: obesesion,body:craving,spirit:selfishness & selfcenterness

I think craving might be another way of saying mental obsession. Can you really see some of these commercials on T.V. for fast food saying Mental obsession instead of cravings? Lol! either way I can live without it!

crave (kr?v) Pronunciation Key
v. craved, craving, craves

v. tr.

1. To have an intense desire for. See Synonyms at desire.
2. To need urgently; require.
3. To beg earnestly for; implore. See Synonyms at beg.


v. intr.
To have an eager or intense desire.


[Middle English craven, from Old English crafian, to beg.]

crav'er n., crav'ingly adv.
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The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
craving (kr?'v?ng) Pronunciation Key
n. A consuming desire; a yearning.

(Download Now or Buy the Book)
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
craving

noun
an intense desire for some particular thing

WordNet 3.0, 2006 by Princeton University.

I agree and thx for posting the dictionary defs.

They are generally used to mean the same thing.

I think I made the post to draw attention to the fact that for alcoholics its important to distinguish as how we deal with the two things probably should be different.

From now on I am going to go into McDonalds announcing that I have a mental obsession for a Big Mac!!! (lol)

Point taken! I think we all need to go to Mcdonalds and do that! LoL :-)