Thank you so much Chrissie and Larry,

I'm just ("just") at the 11 week mark...so almost 3 months in. It's well known amongst educators and psychologists that 3 months is about the most time that people can do new things which, if there is little positive reinforcement, makes it very difficult to continue. Think of diets or exercise bursts, or even of the thrill of having a new job, or the excitement with having a new car etc. Around the three month mark if we are not being rewarded for our time and efforts, interest wanes dramatically.

Thanks to you and others, you've reminded me about that 3 month phenomenon, so I need to stand firm and keep pushing forward. This is probably the time that a lot of people in the past may have given up on TSM, and perhaps THAT is why Escapa and Sinclair wrote in the book that we can expect to see significant results after just a few months. If they had said, "You can expect to be cured sometime between 3 months and 2 years, or perhaps never", they certainly would have lost a lot of followers, perhaps even me.

Thanks again for your support!
Cheers.

Well look at me....hit 70 units this week! How proud am I??? Not at all.

From what I've seen with others here, however, my experience isn't unusual. Many have not seen a significant reduction (aside from the Nal-honeymoon period) until 6, 8, 9, 10 months or more. My hope!!!

Take care.
Nal-on!

Don't see the AF count in your stats. I presume that means none. These are the key to reducing the weekly unit total. I found them difficult to manage in the beginning. But one by one the AF nights started to come a bit more easily. They develop their own sort of inertia.

Try thinking of an AF day as an R&D project. You're doing an experiment to learn more about a concept that over time has become completely foreign to you. Someone else on the board mentioned her strategy of simply paying attention to her feelings during the AF evening. Yes, she had cravings. Yes, it felt uncomfortable. Being mindful of these feelings gave her something to do and somehow relieved the stress they generated. And surprisingly, they pass very quickly.

Get a good DVD. Make some herbal tea. Take up knitting. Write some emails to old friends, or whatever. Find something to do to keep yourself occupied during the AF night. If the activity is sufficiently engaging, you may not even notice the absence of Al.

Good advice, Bunton, thanks.

Indeed my AF days are virtually nil. I like the "R&D" approach, learning more about a concept that over time has become completely foreign to me. Indeed, sobriety is a foreign state of mind for me. Takes about 48 hours for alcohol to completely flush out of our system...so even 1 day is not enough, but it's a start, for sure. I'm going to give it my best shot. I have lots that I can do with my evenings, other than drink....at least I have that going for me. Now I just have to do it.

Thanks.

Not surprisingly (for those who read my posts), I agree with the need to get some AF time in. I managed to taper my intake down w/ Nal (and w/ focus) but it wasn't until I had the AF days when I saw the real progress. It's too bad some of us don't live closer; we could more actively help each other just get thru those AF days....start our own TSM bowling team Going camping w/ no alcohol for a couple days helped me break the cycle. Yes, breaking the daily habit is a major hurdle but so necessary to really loosen the alcohol grip.

Give it a try Dab; we're cheering you on!

Thanks Gott!

I'm going to give tomorrow night (Friday...it's 11:38pm Thursday now) a try at going AF. Had a very busy, stressful week, and self-medicated with my evening libations. But had just 4 beer on Tuesday night, 3 last night, and, ok 5 tonight...but see no reason why I can't go AF tomorrow.

Yes, it is too bad that we don't have the support groups like the AA people do etc. But we're the pioneers here...maybe we just need to organize them ourselves!? I live in a city of 3 million people. There MUST be a lot here taking Naltrexone! Maybe I'll run an ad offering a Sinclair Method support group and see what happens!?

It's really up to us! We are where Bill W. and Dr. Bob were way back in the late 30's! Except we have something that even those who they described as the, "unfortunates....those constitutionally incapable..." can grasp onto. We can fill the gap! Something to think about.

Well, I've been taking the Nal for 3 months now. From an average of 80 units a week, I'm presently coasting along at around 68. Certainly not where I was hoping to be by now, but it's amazing how just 10 to 15 units per week less can effect my life and feeling of well-being.

Hangovers are now a rare occurrence. Before Nal, they were almost a daily occurrence. Just that makes a HUGE difference in the quality of my day to day life. Most night's I can easily stop after 3, 4 or 5 drinks. Before Nal, I couldn't stop before at least 6, almost every night.

I have energy coming back that I thought had evaporated away due to my age; same with my sex-drive, which was pretty well dead 3 months ago. Today, a different story.

I've done more quality work in the past three months than I had done in the previous 6 or 8 months. My day's are full to the brim and I'm handling things easily with little to no anxiety and loving it.

My need for sleeping medication has almost disappeared. Pre-Nal I was taking two sleeping meds pretty much every night, if not to get to sleep, then around 4 in order to get back to sleep once the booze wore off. Now, I use the med's only once or twice a week...but that's because I'm not getting so loaded every night, which of course knocked me out, but often awakened me later when the booze wore off. The med's help me to get to sleep now without the booze, and I don't wake up later and need more; I'm sleeping right through the night.

So, look at that---so much, from so little thus far!!! So many great and positive things happening in my life simply by reducing my drinking by about 1/3. Imagine how it will be when I'm drinking half as much, then a quarter, and then none!? Nothing but GOOD THINGS to look forward to.

Thanks for your tremendous support, I know that I needn't be discouraged at this stage of the game. It might take me 6, 12, 18 months to become free. At least I'm moving in the right direction. Before starting the Nal the direction I was heading in was towards the GRAVE. I was committing slow, unintentional alcoholic suicide! Thank God for Naltrexone and TSM (The Sinclair Method). And thank you too to all of you who have been so supportive thus far on my personal Naltrexone journey.

I will you all the best in yours! KOKO!

Ah, there's our cheery Dab! Once again, you would appear to be having the "usual" TSM experience: it's not progressing as fast as you'd hoped, but the changes that happen are very real and make a big difference in your actual life, in addition to providing hope.

Noting the specific quality of life improvements are SO helpful for motivation, as well as tracking your units. Sometimes a person can be encouraged by these anecdotal observations and sometimes it's the #'s that keep us going...it's so important to have both! And yes, the Forum - you are contributing a lot here which is appreciated, and it all comes around, too

Hi Dab, I'm just piping in to let you know your posts are being read and that you are helping me to regain some patience. When I come to this forum, I don't feel so all alone. Thank you, Keek

Thanks for your confidence and support folks. I really appreciate it.

KOKO!!!