I Hate Cravings. Does Anybody Relate?

[SQAAD]

Cravings for me are the worst thing ever. It feels like i am being roasted alive by the devil.

If i take an addictive substance (coffee for example), eat a highly palpatable food or have a good sex then  my brain immediately latches on seeking that pleasurable experience again. It gets stuck into wanting to recreate the same experience.

This creates intense cravings for me which causes tons of suffering. The suffering is not escapable. If i don't chase the craving i still suffer because my brain keeps harassing me to do the substance/activity. It plays on a loop the feeling of the substance and how good it would be to have it. It's painful. Feels like i am losing on something. It's like i have a devil on my head who keeps torturing me until i give in.

Some times i give in. Most of the times i don't. I've learned how it works.

It feels like if i don't chase to fullfill the craving, the suffering will never go away. Eventually if i remain non-reactive the intense craving goes away within a day or two. But not without creating distress. Basically i want to fullfill the craving so the suffering goes away rather than to gain pleasure.

This has made me avoid addictive experiences/substances as much as possible. Because i know how i might suffer afterwards. I don't get intense cravings with everything and not all the time. But is a pattern that keeps occuring quite regularly.

I don't know how other peoples brain work. For me addiction is not a matter of wisdom or intelligence. It's more like a weakness in the system. My brain gets stuck on details that most people would overlook. This is strength on other areas but a weakness also. Because you see the trees rather than the forest.

No matter what i do , i cannot escape the cravings and the suffering associated with them. It's a  very annoying feature that cannot be avoided. 

 

Edited September 18, 2021 by SQAAD

[mandyjw]

There must be things you do that give you pleasure that don't have a sticky effect like that. Deep breathing, laughing at a joke, seeing a piece of art, petting a dog, etc.If so why are they not sticky, like with coffee?

Perhaps the "Devil" says coffee or cake is "bad" so it prevent itself from enjoying it and then wants more rather than allowing itself the feeling of satisfaction? 

Edited September 18, 2021 by mandyjw

[Nahm]

@SQAAD

Point to where this good feeling is coming from. 

Not the stuff… the feeling itself. 

Point to it. 

[SQAAD]

6 minutes ago, mandyjw said:

There must be things you do that give you pleasure that don't have a sticky effect like that. Deep breathing, laughing at a joke, seeing a piece of art, petting a dog, etc.If so why are they not sticky, like with coffee?

Perhaps the "Devil" says coffee or cake is "bad" so it prevent itself from enjoying it and then wants more rather than allowing itself the feeling of satisfaction? 

Sometimes i do enjoy highly pleasurable things without any cravings afterwards. It's a gamble most of the times.

I liked what you said about the ''sticky'' effect. Its true.  My brain never gets stuck into meditation sessions for example lol.

Edited September 18, 2021 by SQAAD

[SQAAD]

@Nahm

8 minutes ago, Nahm said:

@SQAAD

Point to where this good feeling is coming from. 

Not the stuff… the feeling itself. 

Point to it. 

I also want to make that feeling go away. That is also a problem i think.

 

Edited September 18, 2021 by SQAAD

[mandyjw]

8 minutes ago, SQAAD said:

Sometimes i do enjoy highly pleasurable things without any cravings afterwards. It's a gamble most of the times.

I liked what you said about the ''sticky'' effect. Its true.  My brain never gets stuck into meditation sessions for example lol.

I notice in mediation that sometimes there's a thought that says something like "I fucking love meditation!". And then three minutes later there's a thought that says something like "I fucking hate meditation!" and I let it go.  It's funny. The same thing with coffee, etc. You don't love it or hate it. You don't need it or need to avoid it. You're already free of it. There's nothing you can do. 

By the way, did you know devil is lived spelled backwards? You're free to live. ❤

Edited September 18, 2021 by mandyjw

[Nahm]

1 hour ago, SQAAD said:

@Nahm

I also want to make that feeling go away. That is also a problem i think.

 

I understand, really. Find it though. Get literal. Point to it. 

What if… you’re wrong? Not you’re wrong per se, but you got something wrong. What if, you actually love craving? 

[SQAAD]

@Nahm

3 hours ago, Nahm said:

 

What if… you’re wrong? Not you’re wrong per se, but you got something wrong. What if, you actually love craving? 

I like entertaining this idea. Thank you.

[Max1993]

@SQAAD I still go through what you are describing, even though I am growing spirituality, what saved me is Wim Hof Method Breathing, something about this breathing helps me in every way possible 

[PepperBlossoms]

Cravings are tough for me too.  When I eat something and then it gets me to crave eating other stuff and other stuff.

I will think about that food like it is on the tip of my tongue and then want it and either I go to get it or I don't.

The food is usually always bad food as well.

Or someone will mention a food and then I will later want it.

It can sometimes be easier to just decide to not eat any bad food than to let oneself eat it.

Bad stuff leads to more bad stuff because we are giving ourselves permission for bad stuff.

[vizual]

We only get unhealthy cravings when we are not peace with the current moment. Something is gnawing at us, whether consciously or unconsciously. Our mind does not like that feeling because it’s uncomfortable, maybe even stressful. 
 

So the mind will try to find away to escape that uncomfortable feeling. It creates an artificial craving. It’s really a survival mechanism because the mind interpret this discomfort as a threat. And through satisfying a craving it can temporarily escape that threat.

[SQAAD]

@vizual

On 24/9/2021 at 4:46 AM, vizual said:

 

So the mind will try to find away to escape that uncomfortable feeling. It creates an artificial craving. It’s really a survival mechanism because the mind interpret this discomfort as a threat. And through satisfying a craving it can temporarily escape that threat.

That's a good explanation.

[SQAAD]

@PepperBlossoms

On 24/9/2021 at 1:40 AM, PepperBlossoms said:

Cravings are tough for me too.  When I eat something and then it gets me to crave eating other stuff and other stuff.

I will think about that food like it is on the tip of my tongue and then want it and either I go to get it or I don't.

The food is usually always bad food as well.

Or someone will mention a food and then I will later want it.

 

Ahahaha ours brains work the same.

[Yeah Yeah]

Hi, I get addicted easily, hence I stay away from alcohol for example, because it'd become a life long relationship and as I age the more I fear I'd be like heck with it and consume higher than the recommended weekly intake. That's why I cut everything out my life, including people, because it all dies in the end.

Edited September 29, 2021 by Yeah Yeah

[SQAAD]

@Yeah Yeah

On 29/9/2021 at 10:31 AM, Yeah Yeah said:

Hi, I get addicted easily, hence I stay away from alcohol for example, because it'd become a life long relationship and as I age the more I fear I'd be like heck with it and consume higher than the recommended weekly intake. That's why I cut everything out my life, including people, because it all dies in the end.

Lol 

[Mu_]

On 9/18/2021 at 7:59 AM, SQAAD said:

Cravings for me are the worst thing ever. It feels like i am being roasted alive by the devil.

If i take an addictive substance (coffee for example), eat a highly palpatable food or have a good sex then  my brain immediately latches on seeking that pleasurable experience again. It gets stuck into wanting to recreate the same experience.

This creates intense cravings for me which causes tons of suffering. The suffering is not escapable. If i don't chase the craving i still suffer because my brain keeps harassing me to do the substance/activity. It plays on a loop the feeling of the substance and how good it would be to have it. It's painful. Feels like i am losing on something. It's like i have a devil on my head who keeps torturing me until i give in.

Some times i give in. Most of the times i don't. I've learned how it works.

It feels like if i don't chase to fullfill the craving, the suffering will never go away. Eventually if i remain non-reactive the intense craving goes away within a day or two. But not without creating distress. Basically i want to fullfill the craving so the suffering goes away rather than to gain pleasure.

This has made me avoid addictive experiences/substances as much as possible. Because i know how i might suffer afterwards. I don't get intense cravings with everything and not all the time. But is a pattern that keeps occuring quite regularly.

I don't know how other peoples brain work. For me addiction is not a matter of wisdom or intelligence. It's more like a weakness in the system. My brain gets stuck on details that most people would overlook. This is strength on other areas but a weakness also. Because you see the trees rather than the forest.

No matter what i do , i cannot escape the cravings and the suffering associated with them. It's a  very annoying feature that cannot be avoided. 

 

Cravings and discomfort of various sorts are probably going to be around in some form for the rest of life.  So that said, how do you want to relate to a normal part of life.  Fight, anger, frustration, victimization, fear?  Or maybe something more positive and relaxed?  Worth looking into....