Hi GTG,

Thanks for your update. I think its great your giving up A for lent. It does seem easier now to just abstain. The hard part is when you try to take naltrexone again after abstinence. I think it prudent to start off with first 1/2 a pill then gradually increase the dose. And the key thing( for me anyway) is to eat something so you won't feel nauseous.

Anyway, I hope this lent provides some good perspective for you. Sometimes a change is all we need to see things a bit differently.

Best Wishes,

Well I'm still abstinent and this has been a fairly straightforward easy period w/out alcohol. It's only been the last few days when I've realized I only have 2 weeks to go that I'm thinking more about not being able to have a drink. And there have been 3 occasions over this weekend when a glass of wine would have been the desired beverage. My husband also asked me if I wanted to go out to a restaurant last night and I said no b/c I can't have a drink. And today being St Patrick's Day, it would be nice to have a glass of beer. Oh well.

Now with the weekend's events behind me, I think it will be a non issue to get to the finish line. I feel good that I have been able to do this; something that I couldn't pull off the last few years, for sure.

I'm jealous GTG. Keep it up girl.

Christopher.

Hi GTH, keek here again. I'm going to look to your posts for encouragement for a 2 month AF stint that my doc has asked me to do. I think I may be a little further into the alcoholism than you were starting out, but it still seems easier ( and I feel much better ) when I go AF. That nasty gene starts talking to me at about day 10. I have plenty of ibuprofen to get me through the headaches. Thank you for continuing to post. Keek

Hi Keek,
Thanks for your post. I just finished posting on your thread. I'm now 5 1/2 weeks AF (giving up for Lent) and I'm beginning to think it's just a lot easier not to drink. Sure there are times when it would be great to drink, like on St Patrick's Day or when going to a restaurant....but having the plan to not drink really makes things easier. Granted it has been a long journey to get to this point. I started in late August 2012 with the s*&t hitting the fan in my marriage to get me off the booze and I made it 30+ days AF (that was not easy)....Then I restarted TSM using Nal and only having 1-2 drinks a week. But I found I just couldn't tolerate the Nal and felt lousy after just one drink...so in Dec I went off the Nal altogether.

Giving up alcohol for Lent is something I could never have done the last 5-6 years. So what am I going to do when Easter Sunday rolls around? Am I going to start drinking again? Probably. But my hope/plan is to do so sparingly. I'm still taking this one day at a time.

I guess my point is (so far) I haven't given up and in so doing I've made some steps forward and find myself in a very different place then I was a year ago. I hope the same happens for you. Just keep trying and keep a record of your experience; you likely will look back and realize that you too have made progress.

All the best.

Hi Gotthegene, I've caught up with your story and want to congratulate you! You've made wonderful progress, with highs and lows and effort and nal. Good job! I drifted away from nal after I thought I was "cured" because of nausea/queasiness/nalovers usually every I time I took nal, even if I only drank 1 or 2 glasses of wine. Because I didn't want to give up alcohol altogether, and because I really thought I had it under control, I started drinking without nal. First one, then two glasses, and, well, you can guess - I got back into the old bad habits of drinking too much, feeling awful the next day, etc. So I came back to this site, read a ton, and realized I am a nal'er for life (at least every time I drink for now, probably for life). Even if I get a little sick, or have a nalover the next day, that's all so much better than over-drinking, drinking without control, saying and doing stupid things when drunk, etc.

Anyway, that's my story to date. We're all different so I'll look forward to your continued progress, what you choose to do in regards to TSM, and how you respond to it.

Good luck and Congrats again!!

NipIt

It's been about 6 weeks since I last posted and I haven't been on this forum during that time. It's strange b/c I was a daily viewer for the preceding 12+ months. I made it thru Lent without a drink which was huge for me. Since then I have had a drink several days a week but it has been 2 oz of port or khalua late at night trying to relax to go to sleep. Seems my sensitivity to having a good night's sleep has magnified and I have a really tough time getting a good night's sleep. Having a few sips of port or whatever before bed is nothing for a normal person but I do have that demon in the back of my head that's telling me to "be careful". And I'm usually sneaking that small drink so it's the old behavior but not the quantity. Not great.

Anyway, just wanted to post to say I haven't gone off the rails and am trying to keep to situations where a drink is very limited...1-2.

Wishing all of you out there well.

Wow... it seems like you are doing so good. I'm very impressed that you can have a drink or two and stop. I can also imagine that it might be easier to be abstinent. about the sneaking thing.... Where does that stem from? I ask because this is a behavior that I am trying to squelch. It seems to me that I almost get a rush when I sneak. I don't know, maybe it's an addiction to drama thing cuz I'm the only one I'm fooling. Food for thought.. I am so happy that for the most part you've gotten the alcohol under control. Good to hear from you. Keek

The sneaking thing....well that stems from me not wanting to be judged when my husband sees me taking a drink. I would think it is a classic alcoholic behavior. My alcoholic dad did it; we'd find empty bottles all over the place. We/alcoholics want people to think we are drinking less than we actually are. Even in my seemingly normal current state, I don't want my husband to think I am drinking at all during the week so I make a point to have my 2oz of port after he's gone to bed. What's the big deal, eh? It's 2oz of port for heaven's sake.

Maybe I sneak b/c I lead a very dull life; there is the thrill of wondering if you can get away with it. I guess it's better than trying to get a thrill by robbing a convenience store....

Last night I drank a lot for my new tea totaler self---I had 2 glasses of wine. Again, shouldn't be a big deal for anyone but yet again I knew my husband would be out so I made a point to have the wine when he wasn't at home. After finishing the 2nd glass I felt it was a lot and wondered how I got up to the 4 glasses of wine and 3+ shots of vodka every night. But I know that over time, you slowly add to it and then you're at the bottle of wine plus several night caps every day.

Writing this, I think I better make today an AF day. Will let you know if I succeed.

I also thought a lot about how and why I came to drink almost all my drinks in secret. Partly, it was because I did it that way for the first few years so I wouldn't get busted by my parents. As time went on, I often thought that I did it because I didn't want my wife to think she was married to an alcoholic. It was being protective of her -- since I knew I could get away with it, what was the value in her knowing about my problem? I figured it was better she think she was married to a normal guy. This was at least partly rationalizing, because I also didn't want her to find out because I knew I was trapped by alcohol and couldn't quit if she demanded it. When I finally, finally told her (after three times of "coming clean," yet lying about what I REALLY did), it was difficult and cathartic. It pretty much snapped that behavior in half and I gained much more freedom. If you've ever been a liar about something, you know how it ensnares you and takes away your freedom (think of adultery and the terrible things a spouse will do to hide this -- one little affair can stress a person out for the rest of their lives).

Anyway, y'all have a good weekend. My parents are coming in for the weekend -- normally, this would mean lots of drinking. Not sure what's going to happen, but I definitely don't feel like drinking right now. Bleh.