I did not know that. Thanks - guess I need to make a card for my wallet.

I'm about 14 weeks (no, not pregnant!) into TSM and noticing some encouraging signs of improvement, esp like those that BHG mentions. I'm thinking about my drinking. Not obsessively, but decisively. Example: this evening I'll be joining a group (not close friends, but long-time colleagues) for dinner before the theater.
I am deliberately forgetting to take Nal or a take pill with me. This way, I won't have a drink. Because I won't let myself drink without my Nal--ever. And I really don't want to "waste" a drink this evening in a situation in which I'm not really psyched to drink with these people. They're nice, but why not just enjoy an AF day and save the Nal and the drink for an occasion that's more important to me?

So I'm deliberately FORGETTING to take my Nal! And happily!

Slipstreamer

Excellent Slipstreamer. You say you are forgetting to take the pill with you. Did you ever consider taking the pill with you or at least having it nearby (for example, in your car if you are driving) and still planning not to use it, but having it there as insurance? Or do you feel that doing that would tempt you to take the NAL and have a drink? It just strikes me as an interesting dilemma which any of us could face.

Merlot and others

I guess I should clarify my strategy of DELIBERATELY FORGETTING to take my Nal with me. Last evening, my plan worked. I did not drink or even wish to. Also--and a very key point I omitted earlier--is the fact that I was driving. But I guess what I mean is that since I'm trying to experience a couple of AF days per week, I'm trying to choose those situations in which I'm expecting that I might change my mind and want to drink. Then I always have Nal with me and use it.

It's interesting how powerful the prohib part of my brain is. I never drink around my grown children. They think I don't drink at all and were worried about me in the past when I did. At this point, I don't feel any temptation to even sneak a drink when I'm with them. AL is just not there for me. Yet I will look forward to having a drink (and take my Nal, of course) at other times. While I've felt guilty about these two sides of me, wondering if I'm a total hypocrite in regard to my adult children, what they don't know is anything about TSM and that, in fact, I've been working to take better care of myself--and maybe someday even go for abstinence--by letting Nal help me significantly limit my "units" over these past 4 months. What do you think? I've suffered enough self-disgust in past years and am trying to lighten up the guilt factor. Perhaps someday soon, I explain TSM to my kids. They're loving and supportive, so I think they'dbe able to understand this effort on my part.

I don't think you should feel guilty at all about trying to protect your children. And you should be proud of yourself for doing something about a drinking problem, as should we all. The people I worry about are the ones who haven't yet realized the problem and are hurtling headlong toward illness and worse.

Weird-oh

Thanks for understanding. Your perspective helps me to turn mine into a more positive one. I hope that other posters will continue to visit this site for encouragement. After several years of discouragement, this new leg of the journey to manage my life successfully has given me invaluable comfort. Thanks to you folks and Nal!

All the best to you in your TSM efforts!

Sliptstreamer

weird-oh, I have NAL stashed EVERYWHERE in my car, office, rooms in the house. I can be forgetful too and the book scared me straight about ever drinking again without NAL because the AL addiction can come back even worse than it was preTSM.
FYI for medical stuff: I finally found a NAL friendly psychiatrist (he's an addiction specialist). I'm having major surgery next week (a hysterectomy) and he told me to stop taking NAL 4-5 days before my surgery since I'll no doubt be on some major painkillers afterwards. I questioned why, and he said it would take that long for the NAL to completely clear out of my system. I didn't find anything in the Eskapa book about that but I trust my doctor and he said he had done some research on it. 4 consecutive days AF is a scary prospect, but ineffective morphine post-op sounds even scarier

I work from home so I have access here, but putting some in the car is a good idea. I now have a little plastic bag in my wallet with a tablet in it, and have promised myself I will no longer drink without taking one at least an hour before drinking. I seem to have a high tolerance to anesthesia - actually woke up in the middle of a colonoscopy - so cutting back on the Nal before surgery sounds like a good plan. Good luck with the procedure.

hijack alert- st. jude, so sorry to hear about your upcoming surgery. you might want to check with jim clark, i think he had to have surgery while doing tsm.
i hope it goes perfectly for you, that your recovery is swift and painless, and that those af days are a piece of cake.
best,
path

thanks path-jim was kind enough to send me an email with advice, definitely no NAL in system 5 days before which I think is good for us all to know for anything medical involving painkillers including dental work. no worries about hijacking, i'll be posting the excruciating minutiae of my ordeal over in my weekly progress thread. if ya'll thought i was on this site a lot before-just wait until i actually don't even have to go to work