Seems I've been miscalculating my "units" measure.....

Using US measures, until 14 days ago, I was consuming a daily average of 10 units, bingeing at least once a week up to about 16 units, so an average of about 80 units/week. I only drink in the evenings, starting just after work, around 5. Constantly hungover, I felt like I was slowly dying.

Week One on Nal: 70 units. Drinking past the fourth pint was an effort (which I managed to ignore) I could have easily have had less. Oh, if I wasn't drinking in the pubs...

Week Two: On target for about 65u. 4 seems to be the magic number of pints. Still have a nice buzz, but don't "really" crave more, but still often do. Oh, if I wasn't drinking in the pubs......!

I had a fair bit of nausea in the first week, mostly at night, or right after drinking. NOT a comfortable side-effect/feeling, but that's pretty well cleared up now, here at day 13. There has been a significant reduction in my craving as well. Well, letting go of trying NOT to drink relieves a lot of stress and inner turmoil. What a feeling to drink HAPPILY! Happily knowing that with each passing day the "SCM" extinction process is at work. Instead of dreading the future, I'm now looking forward to it. Looking forward to being "AF", alcohol free. Free to drink with impunity, or free to not drink at all. What an amazing and wonderful feeling that is folks. Instead of feeling like I am slowly dying with each passing drunk evening and hungover morning, I now feel--and am--feeling better and more alive every day. I have had only ONE hangover since starting the Nal (thought I was going to die then!).

Of course, I still have a ways to go....well I've been drinking for over 30 years, heavily for the past 15....trying to control or quit for the past 8 or 10, going to AA, doing the diets, Moderation Management, SMART Recovery, Medication, Counselling, Therapy....etc., etc., etc---all to no avail. I kept getting worse. I knew I was on the road to destruction, on the edge of the abyss---and then started to drink in the mornings to relieve my hangovers and THAT...really...frightened me. Then I found the BOOK---the BIGGER book than the "Big Book" of AA. I found "The Cure for Alcoholism". Actually, I saw the book and saw the TV advertisements for it a few years ago, but didn't bother to even crack the cover at the bookstore, thinking to myself...."Ya RIGHT! There IS no CURE to Alcoholism!" Out of sheer desperation a few weeks ago I downloaded the book to my iPad and started reading it. Now here I am, a part of the Sinclair Method and forum community and ever so grateful. Thank you to all.

Sorry I didn't realize I was going to ramble. This should have probably all gone somewhere else in the Forum....I apologize for that.

I'll put my unit stats in my signature line next time.

What a blessing. And I wish the greatest success and blessings to all of you. KOKO! (Keep on keeping on).
Dab

hey dabs im so glad for you. im two month in the tsm and in the beging i had bad stomach ackes and my drinking drpoed in half, and i was so happy, but that is gone and now im back to the same drinking levels as before. i want to ask you how are your planing to break the regular routine that you been doing for thiry years. i been drinking for twenty two years and im wondering what i a supose to do if i dont drink at night. anyway once again i hope you jouney with tsm works to your advantage.

That's an excellent point and question, Larry. Stopping the drinking is one thing, but changing years and years of habits is another. So far, I'm just nursing my beer and still going to the pub. I've told the guys that I'm on a new medication and the doctor has ordered me to limit my alcohol. Aside from that, I'm just starting to stay home a little more and watch TV or surf the net. I write a little, so I have more time for that too. For sure it will take some time for things to change. I'm just going to do it gradually and hope for the best.

Sorry to hear your drinking has rebounded to previous levels. Maybe you need a slightly stronger dosage? For sure talk to your doctor about that. All the best to you and good luck.

Dab

So this week I'm back up almost to my pre-Nal drinking level. From reading various other posts I see that this is quite common. The "Honeymoon" is over I guess. We are so used to having the quick fix, like popping a pill for a headache, whereas here with the Nal the fix comes down the road....several MONTHS down the road for most it seems. That's why it seems best to describe it as a "journey". Well, and I know that I purposefully drank more this week because I was grieving over my best friend, whose daughter was killed in a car crash (along with her husband). Had that not happened I'm sure I would have drank less.

I can see why the MWO Baclofen forum is so much more active. People are slowly increasing their dosage over a fairly short period of time searching for the magical "switch" that turns off the alcohol craving. That's a much more "exciting" method. With Naltrexone, on the other hand, we take the same dosage every day (usually 50mgs) and simply have to wait it out over a period of months, even up to a year for some. But for those successful with the Naltrexone, their alcoholism is not just medicated away, they are CURED and the need for the drug is gone and THAT to me is what is especially wonderful about the Sinclair Method. Once cured, we don't need the medication (unless we continue to drink of course). This is not meant to discredit Baclofen. Any method that truly enables one to stop or control their drinking is wonderful.

Blessings to all here on your Naltrexone journey.

hey dabs, i hope all is weel. i want to ask you something. i been reading peoples story how they been cured. my question to you is this, i here stories how in the beging of the TSM they experince a honeymoon and then it fades away and drinking goes back to regualr levels. ok i read alot of those,which i have experinced ass well, but know one tells how the ending of the extiction feels like at the end of this program, does it just vanish? does it all of a sudden slowly star to decrease in time? i mean when they say CURED does that mean all of a sudden one day they just stoped altogeth please let me know you thoughts on this. and one more thing why is this method not heard of in usa AT ALL.

Yea, that's the tough part. You get a small taste of what it is like to lose craving for AL, only to have it return with a vengeance.

Just know that the fact you had a honeymoon period is a very good sign. It means the NAL is working and you are on the road to a cure.

Yep, now is the waiting game. Just keep taking that Nal and drinking.

Q

thanks dabs for responding.i still am wodering why tms is not known at all in america. i read the book and it is supported with trials. but if it worked so well in finland shouldnt that of exploded all over the world. i hope im just pariniod and this sinclair method is real.

No worries, Larry, TSM IS real. It hasn't become well known for a variety of factors. Let's address that first.

One, despite the cost of the pills ($5 each here in Canada), the drug is no longer owned and patented by one single pharmaceutical company; no monopoly = no massive profit incentive to promote it, so they simply don't care because they can't make billions of dollars from Nal like they can with other newer drugs. The sales reps are not encouraged, then, to promote it to the doctors.

Two, there is a fair bit of background knowledge and information that the doctors themselves have to learn in order to understand how Nal works (the Extinction process etc.) Believe it or not most Family physicians depend on the Pharmaceutical sales reps to educate them about the new drugs they are promoting. Since Naltrexone is not promoted as I described above, the sales reps have little incentive to push Nal, especially given the limited time they have in front of the doctor, which is 5 to 10 minutes tops. They need to push the newer patented profitable drugs in order to keep their jobs---and to make the big bucks for themselves and their companies.

Third, many doctors cannot in good conscience prescribe Nal---and encourage---their patients to keep drinking! Imagine the guy who gets drunk while taking Nal and kills a few people in a car accident on his way home. The Insurance company representing the ones killed will be thrilled to know that the guys doctor told him to drink!!! See the complication/conflict for the prescribing doctor here?

Fourth, while Dr. Eskapa's book (The Cure for Alcoholism) states that the Sinclair Method has a 75 to 80% success rate, the fact is that in real life, out here away from the scientific controlled medical studies, the "real" success rate is closer to 30%. The main reason for that 50% difference is due to what the medical field calls, "Patient Compliance". Did you know that of all the people who are suffering from chronic diseases in developed countries like ours, that only about 50% actually do what the doctors tell them to do!? Only HALF the people take the medication as prescribed or do the other things the doctors tell them to do! This is one of the biggest problems that doctors are faced with....just getting the patient to do the things they say in order to get well. Naltrexone patients are no exception to this sad fact of human nature! But don't let that 30% statistic frighten you! If you take your Nal as prescribed and as described in Eskapa's book absolutely and without fail (like never forget to take the Nal at least an hour before you drink---never, ever, forever) then YOUR personal compliance to that puts your chance of success back up into the 75 to 80% range!!! That's how it works.

So there you go, Larry....that's why The Sinclair Method hasn't stormed the world---yet. I think that in time it will, as it slowly but surely becomes better known, through expanded physician education, and as the results are widely seen and demonstrated in people just like you and me. We may all need to do a little bit of our own shouting from the roof-tops as well!

I'll comment on the other questions and concerns you have a little later.

Take care and keep on keeping on (KOKO) your Naltrexone journey!

i emailed dr escapa and said Hi Dr.Eskapa, i would really appreciate if you will respond to this email I'm not going to give you my drunk log. but i am a alcoholic that needs help. I am on month three in the TMS. in the first month my drinking went from 8 beers a night to 4 and i was so excited.but now after 3 month on the program I'm back to 8 beers a night. my question is this, in time will my beer consummation eventually go down and will i start to notice it. my mother thinks this is some kind of fraud, i read your book and told her it is supported by trials in Finland. and one more question, how come barley no one has heard of this method in the u.s.a.? i would really appreciate if you would respond to me .God bless you and your family.abs that was the best information. he replied back Hi Larry

Thank you for you email.

I am pleased you showed a response to the treatment. Progress ... For some .. People goes up and down. Normally folks show a decline in 3/4 months. However some require extra time and some report that taking 75 mg naltrexone exactly ONE HOUR before starting a drinking session in a 24 hour period. It is ABSOLUTELY VITAL THAT YOU TAKE at least 50 mg naltrexone exactly one hour before starting a drinking session ... This is the Golden Rule described in the book.

It is not that un usual for spikes in drinking to occur. Stick closely to the program even if it takes 8/9 months.

Please also refer to the section on selective extinction as described in the book. This is where you take 2 days of drinking and not take naltrexone on those days and on the second no drinking no naltrexone days you exerise to release endorphins.

Please keep me posted on your progress.
PS The Sinclair Method TSM is based on over 100 clinical trials and we can help around 80% .... Since you responded already there is a high chance you will be in the 80% i feel much better now. and thank you dabs for you response to me i realy appreciate all the information you wrote me. keep me posted on your progress. dabs were both going to get rid of this disease.

Took my Nal just before going to the gym today....big mistake....now I know why some have reported negative side effects during or after exercise. I was quite nauseous about half way through and then for about an hour afterwards. Had to lay down when I got home. Oh well, still a small price to pay for a CURE. I'll be one month on Nal this Tuesday. On my third cider tonight and NO interest in having more. Normally, I'd drink at least 5. That's progress! What a blessing.

Take care and good luck to all.