I'm on week 34 and as my signature shows, I'm not making progress. One thing that stands out is the few numbers of AF days. And though I take my nal and keep track of my units, I still find myself drinking through my planned limit of two glasses of wine at a time. So my totals are discouraging.

My question is for those of you who have had to go this far (34 weeks) and yet have gone on to eventually reach success. My goal is to reach 28 units and 16 AF's per four weeks. And possibly in the future even lower units.

I think I'm trying, and I really do want to give TSM the full course. How much longer before I feel I've gained control?

Well that's the million dollar question that no one knows the answer to, unfortunately. I was at around week 34 when I used effort to reduce my units and was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was. As I have said before, the key issue is do you feel any different drinking on naltrexone? The 20% it does not work for usually report few, if any side effects and very little subjective difference in their drinking experience. Are you any better off on TSM? As in fewer blackouts, hangovers, major conflicts, stupid behavior, etc? Or are you basically the same as you were pre-TSM? If you have been drinking for 20 plus years every day, this board shows that extinction will take longer than 34 months and you should be thinking more like a year to regaining control. But hopefully, you are much better off than pre-TSM.

Hey Slipstreamer, I know your question wasn't directed at me since I haven't been on TSM for 34 weeks yet, but I would still like to comment.

I'm not sure if you tried this, but for me, having several AF days in a row was crucial in getting out of ruts and breaking drinking habits. The key for me was that the AF days needed to be consecutive and I had to have 3 or 4 for them to work. Have you tried anything like that? When I did resume drinking, initially my units might be higher because of alcohol deprivation effect, but after that my units would drop and the control would be increased.

Tambo and Mike

You've helped me rethink my situation. Yes, I have noticed some differences in my drinking behaviors--to the better. For example, I don't crave alcohol daily. It's travelling and open drinking situations that have come at me in the past couple of months. Now that I'm back to my home routine, I am definitely going to go for a sequence of AF days, Tambo. That's a great idea. And you remind me that I was able to do that in some previous weeks, even up to 3 AF's in a row. And I felt great physically and mentally. I've also been able to wean myself away from behaviors I used to seek, like going out to sit at a bar with my DH, after a show, manipulating him into agreeing to do so, or having a quick drink before going out for "social drinking." I think the fact that earlier on I did experience a much reduced interest in the drink suggests that I can regain that state.

You've helped me so. I plan to stay with TSM until I gain control. Thanks for helping me! I hope to be able to encourage others in the near future when I've achieved more wisdom from my efforts.

Thanks for the valuable support!

It's very rare -- in fact I don't think I've ever seen it here and I've read almost every post -- for people to report the changes you are and then conclude that TSM failed them. Mix in some effort and I'm confident things will improve for you.

Good luck!

My best,

Nick

Apologies to "Mike"! Sorry, Nick. I realized later while I was out walking the dog that I had addressed you as "Mike."

Thanks again for your encouraging words. I cannot overstate how heartening it is to know that you and others care enough to share your experiences with me and all of us working to be healthy and whole.

It's no problem at all Steamliner, it's my pleasure to help.

I know I'm weighing in a little late on this, but I didn't really see true control until about the 8-9 month mark. My guess is that you are very close to seeing gains.

Q

Thanks, "Q." That information really helps. I'm looking forward to achieving that control soon! Good for you!

Slipstreamer, it looks like you are averaging 2.28 units per drinking day. I'm guessing you want this to be 1 unit per drinking day because that's what we are told is the safe limit for women. My question is does your current amount of alcohol cause you any hangovers, weight gain, high blood pressure or other health problems? If the answer is no then 2 drinks per drinking day may not be doing you any harm and reducing the number of drinking days with effort may be the answer to reducing your numbers. When I take nal and have just one drink I sometimes wonder why did I bother taking nal. As a guy I can have 3 glasses of wine (maybe 4 if I drink water) without repercussions the next day. If you are not having any alcohol related problems in health, relationships etc then what is the reason for further reduction? The 1 drink per day for women was pulled out of thin air and doesn't really have any medical or scientific backing in terms of organ damage reduction. If you are merely drinking out of habit then shaking things up may do the trick to change the behavior.