Hi,

I stumbled on TSM only a couple of days ago while searching on the net for ways to give up drinking. I ordered the book last night and I've started on nal tonight.

I'm a 39 year old male and have been drinking fairly solidly for about 20 years, but the last few years I've noticed that I'm drinking a lot more and a lot more frequently than I did in the past. My drinking hobby has caused many failed relationships, a great deal financially, had lost contact with my children, patchy relationship with my family, I'm overweight and smoke way too much and basically leading a life where I am embarrassed to be living. My life generally has revolved around alcohol and lately I've also realised that there a very few non-alcohol situations in my life.

I've been drinking every day and I look forward to getting home from work to open my first beer for the night, which is usually shortly followed by the next and usually continuing for the rest of the night. Sometimes it's wine, sometimes scotch but mostly it's beer.

I started on nal tonight and sat down as usual to have a beer. After the 3rd I stopped and just didn't feel like anymore. I realise that this is the honeymoon, but it's very encouraging for me to see an effect on this programme straight away. I would normally have finished off a 6 pack by now and probably have started on more beer or wine, so I'm happy about making the decision to follow TSM.

Anyway, I just wanted to pop in and say hi.. this seems like a great little community and I feel privileged to have found this forum.

Good luck everyone on your TSM journey.

Welcome 4_good_this_time it's good you found us. I'm glad you ordered the book you really need to know the info in it and always remember to take the Nal one hour before drinking and always try to take it on a full stomach which will help with nausea. Keep posting and asking questions, read past threads and know we're here for you.


corkit

You're on your way .. congrats!

My advice is to be patient and don't overthink it. A watched pot never boils, etc.

Welcome --

If you know about "the honeymoon" then you also know that improvement on TSM is a "roller coaster." The immediate decrease in drinking won't last so don't be discouraged when your drinking spikes back up. Don't even think about being "cured" in three to four months -- that is extremely rare. More likely, expect a slow, gradual reduction in your obsession with alcohol and consumption.

Glad you found TSM and I hope it works in helping you get your life back.

My best,

Nick

Welcome.

Nick makes a very good point. The biggest shortcoming of Dr. Eskapa's book (The Cure for Alcoholism) is that all reports state a 3-4 month cure timeline. Almost no one in this community has been cured within 3-4 months. I have some ideas about this, but won't put them to words here as I don't want to hijack this thread. I'd love to say "No, it's not 3-4 months, it's x-y months, " but we just don't know what the timeline is. It's quite literally different for everyone.

Following TSM is no walk in the park. Yes, it is easy to follow: You just never drink without first taking Nal 1 hour before drinking. The hard part is you are going to be mixing punches with the adversary (alcohol) on a daily basis. You are going to get knocked around a bit, so prepare yourself. Staying positive seems to be the one thing all of us have problems with.

Keep posting your questions and concerns. It's almost certain someone on this board has had the same question or concern at some point.

Q

Thanks everyone for the encouragement.

I think I must have read every single post on this board over the last few days and a lot of articles about TSM, so although I haven't got the book yet I feel like I have a good understanding of what is involved and what to expect while doing TSM. I think the book, when it arrives will definitely fill in any remaining gaps I have.

Well so far so good, I am in the honeymoon stage and I'm really enjoying the break from drinking so heavily and also the change I suddenly feel towards alcohol. My first night on nal I had 4 beers and last night I had 1 beer and a small glass of rose for the entire night. For me this is very good. I live in Australia and at the moment we're having a heatwave (it's not even summer yet), and in this weather it's so easy for me to knock back 10 beers or more on a weeknight and it's usually the main thing on my mind as soon as I leave work. With the nal, I just haven't felt like it as much, and when I do have a drink there's not that compulsion to hurry up and have the next one.

I haven't felt any side effects on the nal and I started taking 50mg straight away (I realise that I'm supposed to start with 25mg but I generally like to just dive in). I've just noticed that it's already causing a difference in my mind towards alcohol, it's started to give me a take it or leave it attitude.

So yep, honeymoon period is in full swing here with me and I'm really happy for it to be here.

Welcome, 4-good. As you have read many posts since your joining our group, I probably can't add to anything that you already know. I am at 7 months and still struggle, but it is always getting better (if I look at the overall trend, which I never post b/c I'm not that organized!)

Sounds so weird that you're heading into summer, as here in the (hot, humid) southern USA we are praying for cooler weather. Or at least I am.

Best of luck on your journey. This is an incredibly supportive group.

hoping4better.. yep, definitely this is a really supportive group and I'm happy to be able to be a part of it.

Well it was Friday night tonight and that's always been my weakness... even though I usually drink most other nights, Friday night is always the night 'other' people are drinking so it seems a bit more normal. I remember the times when I've cut out alcohol completely for months at a time, and would get to a stage where I didn't think about it too much.. but come Friday night and I would always get an urge to go crazy and drink. In those times when I was abstaining I wouldn't go and drink, but the thought was always there. I never had the same issue any other night.

So I caught up with a drinking buddy tonight and we had 3 pints each, then I went to a trivia night with work and had about 3 more beers. it was definitely a lot less than I would normally have drank and most likely before the nal I would've kept drinking with my friend and canceled the trivia night.. but I went and I had a good night. I think for a lot of people even the amount I had tonight would've been considered a big night, but I came away clear headed and ok. I'm really liking the thing with nal that stops my head getting all cloudy and messy, and that I can have a drink without feeling like it's all I want to do.. I feel a lot more in control.

I'm a little bit worried about this honeymoon period ending though, I don't want to go back to my usual amount and I would love to think this is a start of things tapering down.. but I understand it doesn't work like that.

I spoke to my drinking buddy tonight about TSM and how it all works.. recently we've both talked about how we both need/want to give up drinking so maybe if he sees some success with me he might also jump on board.

Hey 4 good,

Yeah hang tight. As happy as I was honeymooning, I've had hangovers post TSM that have been god awful but only about 3 and I've been at it for 11 weeks or so.....

I think with pharmacological extinction comes lack of tolerance and an increased chance of hangovers like we had as kids...just my 2 cents. take care, Jim

Glad to hear you're taking to it easily and don't have to deal with some nasty side effects 4 good.

Did you get into the spreadsheet alright? Go ahead and edit yourself in on one of the lines if you want. Don't forget to check out all the different pages. -E