Yeah, sometimes I wonder how I got here (to the Forum and TSM) and it does seem like a miracle, or darn good luck! I still don't know how it's all going to turn out - whether I'll ever get to the Happily Ever After I had in mind when I started - but man! My life has improved 75% in the last year, due to TSM. To quote our friend Electra Lou (where you AT, EL??), "if it gets no better than it is right now...well this is good enough." But I plan to keep tweaking it and doing MY part, and not just relying on the drug (which is definitely doing IT'S part!)

Speaking of Happily Ever After, I no longer believe in that; the good folks who have showed up lately for a second go @ TSM - Q, and Revert, etc., have been a good reminder that TSM is an ongoing, interactive process and we have to be ALWAYS vigilant. The same train of thoughts that lead us to think alcohol was a good response to certain situations & feelings can reoccur...

hey dabs how are you doing?

Thanks for your concern Larry.

So folks, I've just gone past my 2 month mark using TSM. In the first month my drinking lessened dramatically from an average of 80 units/week to about 65 units/week. Some of that I suspect was the placebo effect, combined with what seems to be a fairly common initial experience with the Nal, being in what is described here as the Nal "Honeymoon" period. Month 2 saw another significant decrease by another 10 units per week to an average of 53 units. I even managed to put in some AF days. During the second month, however, I noticed a significant increase in the number of units per night---I felt like I was bordering on bingeing, but one HORRENDOUS hangover nipped that trend in the bud. Many others here have reported a similar experience of the drinking levels going back up after the Nal "Honeymoon" is over around the 6 week to 2 month mark. And many have also reported having the horrible "Nal-overs" (hangovers), which seems to help many, as it did me, as a form of aversion therapy to consciously keep the per session cap on things.

My craving to drink has steadily decreased since day 1, to the point where I learned from others that that is the time to use a bit of old fashioned will-power to fairly easily put in AF days. Gotthengene has most recently set that example and forged the way, certainly motivating me as well.

This week, my units have bounced up a bit, which was discouraging until I looked back to my pre-Nal day's. I'm still a good 20 units per week less that I was before the Nal, so I'm not going to fret over a small increase. Given the reduced craving I'm experiencing, plus the added control/ability to limit my number of drinks at a sitting, I'm feeling confident to be able to at least keep a cap on the units in the meantime, which is STILL progress compared to pre-Nal days, right? I also had my first slip-up this week, drinking without taking the Nal beforehand. I completely forgot! Well, until half-way through my last drink. I didn't notice any difference in my "buzz" at all, thank God.

I'm seeing my addiction specialist next Monday. I'm going to talk to him about possibly increasing my dosage to 75mgs. Based on the experience of others here, increasing the dosage might do the trick. We'll see.

In the meantime, I wish everyone else here well. The Naltrexone way is not the easiest road to travel, and it doesn't work for everybody, and for most it seems to take quite a long time for it to take effect, but when I look at the Cured list and look at the amazing progress that most people here are experiencing, I'm encouraged--and determined to stick with this for the duration.

Thanks again to all for your wonderful concern and support. KOKO! (Keep on keeping on). Take care.

Hey Dab, good work the last 2 months. You're making progress!! Thanks for your posts and sharing your thoughts about the process and your journey. When you and others do that, it gives the rest of us something more to consider wrt our own journey.

KOKO

Thanks for the encouragement, Gott! Much appreciated.

Good news! I saw my addictions specialist today and he agreed to try me on 75mgs/day (an increase of 25mgs). I feel like I have plateaued around the 4 to 5 drink/night mark and am hoping, based on seeing the experience of others here, that this might kick-start a further reduction. We'll see!

All the best to everybody!
KOKO!

wow 4-5 a night. i wouldnt care if i just setlled at 5 beers a night. good for you dabs.

Quick update; Two nights ago I started taking 75mgs -- an increase of 25mgs -- from the 50mgs I've been on for the last couple of months. Had an hour or so of mild nausea yesterday, which wasn't pleasant, but at least assured me that the little extra Nal was kicking in. Had 5 drinks the first night and 5 the second, so no immediate change in the quantity---however---when I went to the liquor store, I could not for the life of me grab my ol' drink of choice; beer.

I've been drinking beer almost exclusively for 30 years, with the odd cooler or wine here or there thrown in for some variety. Well, the thought of drinking beer NOW, totally repulses me....and THAT my friends is very good news. In fact, since starting the Nal, I have noticed over time that my interest in the beer was waning...some days I felt like I was pouring battery acid down my throat, especially after the first one or two.

So, I think this it clear evidence that TSM extinction effect is REALLY working!!! Certainly the number of drinks that I have each day has declined significantly since starting the Nal (about 20 units less per week and no more bingeing or hangovers) but now my taste for beer has gone out the window, and that has to be because of TSM extinction process. If someone had asked me a couple of months ago if I could one day envision myself not liking to drink beer, I would have told them they were crazy!!! Well look at me now!

Even more amazing, is that I am actually extremely HAPPY that I don't like the taste of beer anymore! Wow -- what a change in two short months!!! Happy, and now EXCITED to look forward to the Nal continuing it's magic, with GREAT hope that it will eventually extinguish my drinking altogether. I'm not interested in drinking moderately....well, especially since reading a few excellent books about alcoholism, like Allen Carr's "EasyWay to Quit Drinking" to name only one. But at the same time I'm SO happy to know that if I do choose to have the odd drink here or there, I can do so with impunity as long as I follow the Nal "Golden Rule" and take it at least one hour before I drink.

And for those of you who have not had the opportunity to read Dr. Escapa and Dr. Sinclairs book, "The Cure for Alcoholism" (which you MUST if you want to get the most out of being on the Sinclair Method & Naltrexone) what my experience here illustrates perfectly is how all inclusive the "Extinction" effect is from the Naltrexone. Not only does it gradually extinguish the desire for alcohol, it also affects -- extinguishes/lessens -- ones interest in the things or activities associated with the drinking. This includes the whole drinking process, from thinking about having a drink, to going to the pub or liquor store, to drinking your favourite drink, to the whole experience where you drink. So, you not only lose the interest in alcohol, you also lose interest in getting it, in going to the pub, even in being at the pub (to drink), or if you have been an at-home drinker, the interest in doing just that gets lessened or extinguished as well.

This perfectly addresses the initial concern that many people have when they contemplate putting a stop to their drinking. They wonder how life will be without going to the pub to socialize, or how home life will be without spending the evening drinking. TSM takes care of ALL of that! It extinguishes not only your desire to drink, but also all of the activities related to the drinking. So, assuming the Naltrexone is working for you, after a certain amount of time you simply won't even want to, or even care about, going to the pub or having those drinks at home! But what if you really enjoy the social element of going to the pub to be with the boy's (or gals)? Well, you can still do that, but you will have the freedom and choice to NOT drink!

As for me...I am also happy to report that in the past couple of months my interest in going to the pub to socialize has decreased significantly. About a month into taking the Nal, I realized that my pub friends were not nearly so great and interesting to me when I wasn't as drunk as they were. I also realized that there was only one of the bunch who really cared about our friendship outside of the pub, and he is now the one I spend most of my time drinking with. Fortunately, he works out of town! So when he's not around, I'm finding home to be a lot more interesting than the pub! I'm saving a lot of money as well!

I wish everyone here continued and increasing success with your own personal Nal journey. Good luck to you, and thanks for being here in support of one another.

Take care.

Hey Dab, Good to hear your discovery of disliking the taste of beer. Look forward to reading the next installment of how the rest of the week goes. Hopefully another step towards your ultimate goal.

All the best.

Ooops, I did it again....

Increased my Nal from 50 to 75 mgs on Monday (today is Sunday). Had a little bit of nausea on Tuesday, then felt fine. Was out last night and had one beer extra, but knowing that if I had more than that I would suffer today. Surprise! That "one beer extra" limit has now lowered! Used to be that 6 pints was the limit....now I know that it's 5, because I feel like CRAP today. But this is a GOOD thing. Like many, dread of the Nalover is a great deterrent and helps us to stick to our limits. I'm more than happy to discover that at 75mgs my limit is now less....so if I have more than 5 pints I'm going to suffer the next day. That's the only significant difference I've noticed thus far in taking the 75 mgs. But my taste in beer is further dwindling as well.

Yes, I'm still drinking the beer, but only from force of habit. These days it tastes terrible. Before Nal, I couldn't wait for the end of the day (around 5pm) to have a beer. Now, I don't want to drink it at all. In fact when I'm not at the pub, I'm drinking only coolers now. Can't stand the thought of buying and drinking beer anymore. Clearly, my taste for beer has been pretty well "extinguished" just as TSM describes. The coolers will be next I'm sure....but by then I think I will be able to stop drinking entirely rather than switch to something else. "Drinking", as a past-time, be it at the pub with friends or at home alone, is rapidly losing its lustre. I'm simply --- effortlessly --- losing interest in it, thanks to TSM.

10 weeks ago if someone were to tell me that within a couple of months that alcohol, including the activities surrounding the drinking of it, would no longer interest me, I would have said they were CRAZY! But here I am...and it's happening --- has already happened to a large degree, and that, my friends is a bloody miracle, for which I am very, very grateful.

Keep on keeping on folks! TSM works!

Hi Dab, Glad to see you continue to make progress in this hellish journey. Any AF goals for the week ahead? Breaking the daily habit is really tough sometimes requiring a random act of God to make it happen. I hope you figure out a way. I find it awesome that someone on this forum (sorry forgot name) is down to a couple drinks just on fridays. I'd love to be able to do that.

I'm still finding it odd not drinking in the evening and I think it's more the "habit" part than actual cravings at this point. My husband helps by generally not drinking as well and when we go out on a "date" he generally doesn't drink (altho I don't think it would bother me if he had one or two). I've been trying to find good non-alcoholic drinks. My favorite so far is "safe sex on the beach"....cranberry juice, grapefruit juice and peach nectar....not sure what it will taste like but am looking forward to just ordering it one day (what random things the nonalcoholic has to look forward to!).....I got thru last night by getting a massage at 7pm ($35 plus tip woohoo!)....so that got me past 8pm...then I came home, got the kids to bed and then I read in bed. I find I'm reading more... including a lot of "self-help" books.

I'm cheering for you Dab....perhaps I have extra enthusiasm for a fellow "Canadian"? (going by the BC address)....KOKO.