Gotthegene,

Wow - that must be an awesome feeling. Glad to hear that things are going so great for you - another example that TSM works!

Diver

Good for you Gotthegene! Did you take the Nal beforehand, just in case?

You've inspired me to give abstinence a try.

Thanks!

Diver & Dab, thanks for your posts.

To be honest, I'm not sure if I can fully credit the Nal and TSM for my current abstinence period. I hadn't been on Nal that long but it was a Nal hangover that got me on my first AF day. Then the s*&t hit the fan with my marriage and that got me a second AF day....Then we went camping in the wilderness w/ no alcohol and that got me thru day 3 & 4. I have been taking baclofen (just renewed my prescription) to help with cravings.

I did not take a Nal before my restaurant meal last night b/c I felt pretty confident going in that I'd get thru it w/out a drink. When I do drink again, I am committed to taking Nal before I do however. I currently (at this moment) am not craving alcohol...I still have some hidden and could take a drink in desperation....it's more that I feel like something's missing. Kind of an emptiness (boy that's sad!) But my head is much clearer than it has been in a long time; that feels strange (but good).

Today will probably (knock on wood) be another AF day and will try to keep it going thru next Wed when I have a major executive presentation to give. Will need every brain cell for that. When I get thru Wednesday, I'll re-examine how far I'll try to go w/ this AF business.

Hope you are achieving your own milestones.

15 days AF. Big presentation and business trip behind me....and am exhausted. Am really out of shape with handling business stress.

Another observation I've had since being sober (in addition to the clear head) is that I've had a lot of headaches. Now I'm a migraine suffer anyway but when I was drinking I would tend to only get a headache if I had overdone it a bit drinking the previous night. Lately I've had several headaches (today included) and they certainly aren't hangover related. Wondering if anyone who has stopped drinking for a while has gotten headaches? I'm pretty sure they will eventually pass but it's been pretty annoying to be "good" yet have this curse of the headache.

Going camping this weekend w/ no alcohol along so should be another couple good days ahead. I hope others are making progress and have a plan to keep a grip this weekend.

Wow, way-to-go!

Last week I put in 2 AF days and both day's had a mild headache....this happened a few years ago when I went two weeks AF. Imagine the change in the brain chemistry without alcohol....sort of makes sense.

You have really inspired me to work on my AF days. 3 in the past week! Thank you so much for your input. I hope the headaches disappear soon. You might want to look up "PAW" on the net. It stands for "Post-acute withdrawal" symptoms and lists headaches as common.

Take care.

Dab,
Congratulations on your recent AF days! The fact that I've helped inspired you is re-inspiring me....despite these damn headaches! I looked up PAW and am going to add the link here in case this is helpful to anyone else http://www.addictionsandrecovery.org/withdrawal.htm. Start at that page and then go to the next page for more on post acute withdrawal symptoms. I have certainly gotten the headaches and there have been times when I've been very irritable. It's comforting to understand that this may very well be the result of stopping a 7-yr daily habit.

God speed everyone and hang in there!

im to scared to try a af day. OR i just dont want to

Goth have you tried some medications just to take the edge off while your getting off your drinking? How is it going with your AF days are you feeling better?

Hi Larry,
I've been taking a little baclofen to help w/ the cravings but not that much. I do take a sleeping pill every night to help me get to sleep quickly. I don't want to be lying in bed thinking about alcohol...which I would be doing. I need to get the day over as quick as I can. Fortunately I don't feel like drinking in the day; it's the evenings I have the cravings and are the struggle.

The last few days my cravings have been up. Out in the heat camping, I've been longing for a cold beer. When I post this I'm going to get some baclofen....I keep thinking about that beer.

Hi GG,
So...the AF days are not getting easier, as they build? I'm sorry to hear you're still having cravings, but admire your fortitude. I'm curious: are you thinking you might be "stepping off the train" now (aiming for complete abstinence), or is this stretch of AF's an experiment...feeling your way along and seeing what happens???

As for me, I've decided I really need to shake things up - I don't feel like my TSM program is going that well the past few months, and my one year anniversary is October 15. My current pattern is to be AF every other day - which is easy - but then the other days I'm NOT "moderate"...I really want to hit it hard, and do. In order to try something really different, I'm going to be AF this week, and since I don't have your fortitude, I'm going to back up that pledge w/ antabuse, which I will take every morning (when it still seems like a good idea!) I feel like antabuse is "cheating" in a way, but why do I think that??? Whatever works, and if that's what it takes to get an AF week under my belt, why not. I think this week will be revealing, in a number of ways. I'm starting to think I need to do some of the "head work" Ellpee advocates. Last year I was miserable because of alcohol, but maybe (as the Over the Influence book suggests), I was really self-medicating and now I need to look at WHAT I'm avoiding every night...