When did the cravings stop?

[Socially awkward 94]

Hi

At the 6 month mark now and I feel my relationships and life in general has improved. I can also feel my cognitive impairment as a result of abusing my pills has almost completely resolved.

Today I’ve been having really bad cravings, the worst I’ve experienced in the 6 months I’ve been clean. I’m not sure what has triggered it. Guess I feel lethargic and miss the energy kick and euphoria. I’m trying to distract myself, have got out and about and taking a walk along the beach reflecting on the reasons why I quit in the first place. 

How long will it take for these cravings to stop and to be finally free from this addiction ? 

Thanks for your help. Really struggling today 

[DrewK15 206]

@Socially awkward it sounds like you are doing really well, congrats on making it to 6 months clean! Cravings are going to happen sometimes, even when there seems to be no reason and life is going well. Cravings when life is going well are a different struggle. Sometimes I have an awesome day, but I still don’t feel as good as I did high on Adderall, so the thought that things would be even better with Adderall will come into my head. This is the addiction talking. Yes, maybe you would experience a temporary feeling you can’t find off of Adderall, but it costs too much. It sounds like you know that. 

I don’t know when the cravings stop all together. Maybe they won’t. What I do know is that they get less frequent and intense the longer you are clean. At 15 1/2 months clean I deal with thoughts of Adderall once or twice a month and that’s something I can deal with even if it never stops completely. 

Maybe a mindset change is in order, at 6 months clean you are free of this addiction. It doesn’t control your days and nights anymore. Think of your addiction as a poisonous snake. You’ve cut off it’s head. It’s dead. But the head is sitting there, fangs still loaded with venom and you need to be careful not to step on it.