Drinking lots of fluids, especially fluids with electrolytes, will help to address dehydration and nausea. Sodium, calcium, potassium, and magnesium are electrolytes https://ecosoberhouse.com/ commonly found in sports drinks. Ensuring you’re consuming electrolytes helps your body better hydrate itself, which can help get over alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
Therapists can instruct individuals in progressive muscle relaxation and diaphragmatic breathing that can be learned rather rapidly, and these can become tools to deal with cravings. Individuals can then focus on the more complicated aspects of cravings, such as learning about how to fight alcohol cravings, using distraction techniques, understanding triggers, etc. Individuals can also benefit from a combination of medication and behavioral interventions to address their cravings. There are several prescription medications that are shown to reduce alcohol cravings, helping people reduce or quit drinking. Alcohol cravings can be a challenging aspect of trying to quit drinking or maintain sobriety. Despite the best of intentions, the urge to drink can be strong, making it difficult to stick to a plan to quit.
Get a Healthy Snack
When you ride out the craving, without trying to battle, judge, or ignore it, you’ll see that it passes more quickly than you’d think. BetterHelp is an online therapy service that matches you to licensed, accredited therapists who can help with depression, anxiety, relationships, and more. Take the assessment and get matched with a therapist in as little as 48 hours.
But the real thing is often much stronger than simply being “in the mood” for a slice of pizza or an ice cream cone (although for people with eating disorders, food cravings can be very real). Daily activities and engagements could fall into this category. You aren’t to blame for your loved one’s drinking problem how to reduce alcohol cravings and you can’t make them change. The person with the drinking problem needs to take responsibility for their actions. Don’t lie or cover things up to protect someone from the consequences of their drinking. Consider staging a family meeting or an intervention, but don’t put yourself in a dangerous situation.
Internal Triggers for Alcohol Consumption
They include naltrexone and acamprosate, which are FDA-approved for AUD and considered first-choice options. Disulfiram is another medication approved to treat AUD that may help prevent drinking by causing an unpleasant reaction if you drink. Topiramate (Topamax) is medication that’s FDA approved to treat seizures and prevent migraines. It’s also used off-label for other medical conditions, including AUD. Though it’s not FDA approved for AUD, studies have suggested that it may have potential. In fact, the APA recommends it as an option for moderate-to-severe AUD in some people, including those who haven’t had success with naltrexone or acamprosate.
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- All the same, “a quick drink” often turns into three or four drinks.
- While it’s clear alcohol can tug at the brain’s reward system, it’s less known that diet can also affect craving.
- One of the main ways a person can help control and prevent alcohol cravings is by understanding what triggers the cravings in the first place.
