Hi All,

After doing a large amount of research I'm just about to start this method, and I just have a couple of questions.

Firstly, is the idea that we take naltrexone for the rest of our lives, or do some people gain the ability to quit alcohol all together or drink occasionally without becoming addicted again?

Also, will the method still work if you take naltrexone but then don't end up drinking at all or drink far less than you normally would because you don't feel like it? Is the crucial thing just having that one first drink even if you don't feel like it??

Thanks a lot.

Yes. You'll take it before drinking for the rest of your life. However, you will gain the ability to quit alcohol altogether or to drink occasionally without becoming readdicted, as you prefer. The naltrexone is both your cure and your armor against readdiction.





You don't have to force yourself to drink, but it does raise the question of why you took naltrexone if you didn't want to drink.

If you wanted to drink, took naltrexone, and genuinely changed your mind about wanting to drink, one day of unnecessary armor isn't going to hurt you. It's much better than drinking without protection, which is very bad indeed, so I guess it makes sense to take naltrexone if you think you might drink.

Some people do "drink to extinguish" -- take naltrexone and then drink at least one drink, to keep the extinction process moving along, even if they didn't really want it on that particular night. I'm not sure that helps anything, but I don't see it hurting anything, so whatever.

Welcome to the forum. Glad to have you aboard.

That's great, thank you so much I can't wait to get started.

Hi Bims, welcome to the forum.

re: taking Naltrexone for the rest of your life- if you quit drinking alcohol altogether, you won't need the Naltrexone at all. If you want to drink occasionally, you have two choices- take Naltrexone ahead of time and prevent readdiction, or don't take Naltrexone and risk readdiction. Is it possible that you could have one or two drinks and then stop drinking again without the help of Nal? Sure, it is possible. But your likelihood of becoming readdicted if you drink without Nal remains much higher than the average person's risk of becoming addicted in the first place, because you have already proven to yourself that your genetic make-up that predisposes you to addiction.

re: not drinking much or at all if you don't feel like it- This is fine. Actually, you can expect to feel like drinking less than you normally would during the "honeymoon" period. There is nothing to be gained by forcing yourself to drink as much as you normally would. If you take just one drink, and stop there, you've made progress. If you take half as many as you normally would because you don't feel like drinking more, you've made progress. If you drink less than you normally would and stop before you really want to, you've still made progress. Even if you drink just as much as you normally would, you still make progress, so long as you've taken your Nal an hour ahead of time. If you take Nal and then don't drink, you make no progress (but don't backslide either). The only thing that prevents TSM from working is if you don't take Nal consistently an hour before you start drinking.

Good luck with it Bims and welcome to the board.

Lots of understanding, helpful and intelligent people here

I'm afraid it's worse than that. You'll become readdicted much more quickly than you became addicted in the first place, because it's always easier to relearn a once-learned behavior.

Imagine that you rode a horse to work. The horse learns the way. Soon you don't even have to pay attention; you enjoy the ride while the horse carries you there.

Then you change jobs. You go to work a different way. Your loyal horse learns the new route as well, but he still knows the old one. He can carry you down that old road while you're not even paying conscious attention, and he'll know that route years after you last took it.

With willpower/abstinence, you simply must never take that first turn to your old workplace. With TSM, it's easier -- it's like placing a roadblock across the old road so that your horse won't walk down it out of habit. However, if you remove the roadblock and start the horse down the old road (i.e., skip nal and then drink), you'll find yourself at your old workplace wondering how you ended up there.

I've filled my script and am starting tomorrow

I cant wait to begin.

Thanks for everyone's help.

Welcome Bims and I would suggest you read The Cure for Alcoholism by Dr Roy Eskapa. Also there are so many helpful posts on this Board so read, read, read!