Congrats on your sober time.
almost all of us even after years and years can still have drunk dreams. for me they are just a good reminder for you at this point they may be more.
I looked at your profile you make no mention of a program. if you are involved sit down with your sponsor and go back through the steps. At almost 3 years the cravings should be mostly gone. sure maybe a passing thought but not much more than that.
If you are not in a program I promise you that getting involved will improve the quality of your life and the quality of your sobriety.

I didn't join AA because I am not religious. I didn't need rehab so I don't know of other programs for alcoholics out there.

I often have these dreams too. I wake up with a feeling of failure. It only takes me a minute though, to realize that it was just a dream and I am safe. There are also many of my family members who still drink out of control. At first I tried to change everyone, but realized that I was all I had to worry about. My family is very proud that I quit drinking. For me it was that or death. Some of them though, don't know how to act around me. Drinking was our common ground. I just try to make them comfortable around me. It's as if they feel I think I'm better than them or that I look down on them, which is not the case. I have been sober close to 4 years and life is absolutely wonderful now. It's by no means perfect, but.... I'm sober, I'm happy, healthy and safe from myself.

Sarah: AA is not religious. You are asked to seek a higher power which for many is God, but also for many is something different. Check it out!

I was sober almost 10 years. Took one drink and have been back to drunk for 4 years now. And nope, nothing social about it.

Risky business when the alcoholic brain starts to think for you again.

That's so awesome! Congrats! How did you get sober? AA or will power?

ok i just scrolled down and read the rest of the posts! disreguard that last question!!!! sorry! lol

A common misconception. AA is not religious nor is it a religion. It is a group of people from all walks of life who share their experience, strength and hope with one another so that others may achieve sobriety. Simple as that. A Higher Power will play into the program if you want it to, and many people do find a Higher Power through the program. I did, and I am grateful for it. My life is so much better for it.

Congrats on your 3 years. I haven't drank in 14 years this April and now and then I get a craving when my triggers are present - I understand you didn't attend a 12 step program cuz you say your not religious and you didn't attend rehab, but you must remember abstinence is not sobriety - it took me 10 years of not drinking to learn that one - Peace to you!

Hi Sarah this dieseas is cunning, baffling and powerfull. One of the ways it works is when we are not drinking we are thinking about drinking. This know as the obsession of the mind. The Big Book state that we can live happy, joyous and free. But there is a plan i MUST folow to get there,. I know I found that plan in AA. One of the first thing I had to do when I came to AA was put everything I knew on the self. Then become willing to listen to some new Ideas. Nothing I knew or believed in had kept me sober or clean. This included my biblical beliefs. Today my biblical and recovery beliefs work hand and hand with each other. Providing me with a way to live in peace with myself and my surrounding. Having said that I would like to ditto the statement you do not have to believe in God as I do. Just believe in a power greater than yourself. One which will restore you to sanity. What kept me coming back was the chapter in the BigBook intitled We the Agnostics and a story written by a Native American. I did let go of what is taught in AA after 10yrs of being clean and sober. This lead to a relaspes and buckets of misery. I have been back on the path for 18mos now. I have hope I never thought was possible. As for my family they stand with me. They encourage and support me. They understand when I go to visit I go to meetings. They realize that without my recovery I would not be available. Oh and yes I have using/drinking dreams. They would put Disney out of business.. The colors and acticn was so vivid in one dream I knew I had relapsed. What is funny about that is I was in a treatment facility. My dreams are signs for me. Sometimes it is a beware, other times it is you are on the right track. In either case they are a reminder that I am an alcoholic given a reprieve from activing drinking/using one day at time. I hope this helps you. Keep coming back.
Tina

The only thing AA ever compelled me to believe in was my innermost self and those nasty and threatening insinuations of truth that the little bastard kept whispering in my ear. The only barrier that separated me from that inner self wasn't what other people in AA did or didn't believe, but the elaborate tissue of lies & alibis I had spun to explain why I had to drink.

It was a lot easier to plug the jug than it was to unravel 24 years of ingenious and carefully organized rationalizations. But now that I've gotten to know that inner self a little better, he's really quite harmless and actually fun to be with.

I have been sober for about the same amount of time. I don't have cravings for a drink, but I still think about it often. As for the depression, it seems to be going away. I had to go to hospital the other day to get something removed from my eye and the Doctor that treated me was the same one that saved my life 2 1/2 years ago. I reminded him of what he did for me and he asked me if it was worth it? I don't think that question will ever leave me cause I didn't know how to answer. I wander if things like that make a doctor feel good. Anyway congratulations on your sobriety and I think deep down you and I both know that going back to drinking would not be worth it.

Congrats!

The drunken dreams are interesting some nites, but lately tried to take down and read a blessings list of the people, places and things that I cherish just for today. This most likely will fill your mind with positives and wash away the negativeness. Good luck One Day At A Time.

First of all I would like to explain my view of AA. When I attended meetings everyone there praised the Lord or Jesus for being sober. I am an Atheist so I felt extremely uncomfortable. I do not believe in a higher power nor that one is keeping me sober. AA and I do not mix well because of the higher power aspect. As far as being abstinate or conquoring my disease I believe I have been more than abstinate because I tried that before and it lead to more drinking.