Thanks Merlot. You are right. It isn't helpful to compare.

One thing is for sure. My increase to 100 mg has taken the fun out of drinking. Yesterday I was miserable and feeling sorry for myself. Apologies to all for my pity party I also have a wicked hangover today. Should make for a long Thanksgiving But, if this continues I can imagine it will help with extinction. I have no desire to drink today!! BTDT

Hi beenthere,hows it goin,you started sbout 2 weeks before me and I'm still the same units wise but I do feel the changes.I bet you do too.
Ya have to stop thinking too much BTDT

"Where but to think is to be full of sorrow"

Who said that?

Hi Phoenix,

That would be John Keats. I know I have a serious over-thinking problem LOL. The good news is TSM is working on me in spite of all my internal debate and questioning. I do feel like things are changing and I'm glad you do too. Keep posting. I want to hear how things go..

BTDT

BTDT, I am wondering the same thing, as I haven't seen much progress in 6 months and I'm still drinking at levels that alarm me. I too am a 42 year old woman who drank "a bit too much" (3-5 drinks a night) ages 21-25, abstained ages 25-29, drank moderately (2-3 drinks a night with some AF days) ages 29-31, then the levels started creeping up. I've been drinking heavily now since age 34, so the past 8 years, with several periods of abstinence (one year I gave it up for Lent, several times I've given it up for a month at a time).

I know I can NOT drink, but what I want to do is to be able to drink moderately, and so far I just haven't been doing that very often. Also I haven't managed any AF days during 6 months of TSM. Don't even know why. It just never has seemed convenient or like what I wanted to do.

But I know from Crown86 and other examples that heavy drinkers can use TSM to achieve safe levels of drinking. So in theory I should be able to do it.

I'm wondering if I should up my dose. Right now I'm taking 50 mg. I'm getting my Nal by mail-order from India and I hesitate to up the dose because of the expense, but maybe that is what I need to do.

I agree with BTDT's initial point: there are clearly different types of drinkers and I strongly believe that TSM works better for certain types of drinkers than others.

We just don't have all the data yet.

We know that some people respond to NAL better than others for genetic reasons.

In my personal, unscientific opinion, I have seen on this forum that "party drinkers" almost always benefit from TSM, immediately and powerfully. I suspect this is because party drinkers associate drinking with feelings of high: going out to bars, parties, clubs, dancing, socializing. Nal is an opioid inhibitor-- it inhibits the "high." Thus, when the party drinker's high is muted, he/she experiences rapid changes in their relationship with alcohol.

I similarly see a trend that people who drink every night alone at home often report no initial benefit from TSM. It makes sense. Nal is a drug that inhibits highs, and perhaps for these drinkers there is no high to remove-- perhaps they drink more to escape certain feelings, because of depression or other reasons.

Purely anecdotal evidence and opinion, but I hope that in the future, doctors will study what kinds of drinkers respond better to Nal than others.