I’m about two months in and I’m no longer thinking about alcohol all the time. In the past I was either regretting drinking the night before, thinking about and planning my next drinking opportunity or arguing with myself about whether or not I was going to drink that night. That. Has. Stopped. I had five AF days in a row this past week (okay, one day was with the help of a stomach virus) and I didn’t even think about drinking except once on my way to a trigger situation and that was easily overcome. It was truly effortless. And here’s the really crazy part. There’s a tiny, very tiny voice in my head saying, “Oh no, here comes the weekend and you have to drink. Why do I have to drink? Because it’s the weekend and that’s what you do.” I guess that’s two voices. Like I said, crazy but I bet people know what I’m talking about. So last night being Friday I had two glasses of wine and poured a third that I didn’t finish. No hangover this morning- this is epic.

Everyone says that Nal is just a tool and we have to take our own positive steps to accomplish our goals. I have some strategies that help me so I thought I’d share them in case they can help someone else. These are all strategies I’ve used for years to help me limit my intake, not just since starting Nal. But now I find that the Nal gives them a better chance of working, kind of like sharpening a dull knife.

-Plan an early morning activity once or twice a week that would be horrible to do with a hangover. Walk or exercise with a friend, sign up for an exercise class that will charge you even if you don’t show up, anything for which there will be a negative consequence if you don’t show up.

- Google “cancer alcohol” and read all the bad health effects of drinking. I know this is weird but when The Voice is telling me to drink, this scares me straight and gives me the extra incentive I need. Although since starting Nal I haven’t had to do this.

-Take up a hobby that will keep your mind and hands busy at night and that you can look forward to. Crocheting and the crossword are my personal favorites but whatever works for you. Pour yourself a glass of your favorite nonalcoholic beverage and when the voice in your head starts in, scream “SHUT UP!!” at it, but also in your head lest your family calls the SWAT team.

And here’s my favorite tip for people who struggle with sleep issues. This has worked like a charm for me so maybe it will for someone else, too. For years I had trouble falling and staying asleep. I’d often use booze as my soporific, but drunk or sober, I’d wake up in the wee hours and anxieties, guilt, worries about my children, awful stuff would fill my head and I’d be unable to go back to sleep for hours. I needed something to crowd out the negative onslaught, so I started listening to audiobooks all night. Every night when I go to bed, I put my earbud in (I cut the other one off), start my audiobook and it plays all night. When I surface, as I do between three and four times a night, my story is droning on, I listen for a few minutes and before I know it, I’m sound asleep again. I listen to books that I’ve already read before and that aren’t too exciting and I listen to them over and over. I’m not going for entertainment here; I’m going for a lulling distraction. Some of my faves: Saturday by Ian McEwan, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty White, A Brief History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson and my current go-to, The Complete Sherlock Holmes narrated by Simon Vance (awesome narrator). You can get all of these on Audible.com. So, if anybody out there dreads the thought of going to bed and trying to sleep without booze, check it out.

So there you go. Some encouragement for newbies or folks thinking about trying TSM- these pills have turned off the voice- and some tips that help me and I hope they help you.

"For years I had trouble falling and staying asleep. I’d often use booze as my soporific, but drunk or sober, I’d wake up in the wee hours and anxieties, guilt, worries about my children, awful stuff would fill my head and I’d be unable to go back to sleep for hours."

I had exactly the same thing, for decades. Once I got cured and quit drinking, -it all went away! Now I don't even think about sleep, -it's a big fat nothing. I get in bed when I am tired, next thing I know it's morning, and I awake refreshed and ready to go. For 99% of people I suppose that's perfectly normal. But for me it is still amazing. All those anxieties, nightmares, guilt, panics, -all gone.

Thanks TSM!

Oh I am so looking forward to that exact moment! Sleeping problems have started me to use booze for the first time ever at night anyway. Adding benzos did not help... now I have to get off both of them. When I was just on a holiday and did not drink for two weeks, I slept soundly. I just got a tired feeling and went to bed and didn't think about not sleeping or lying awake.

I hereby make a wish that my sleep will have returned to normal in a few months finally after years of struggling! And I have been the most easy sleeper my whole life, untill I started thinking consciously about it after a few traumatic events with nightmares...

I also hope the same for all you sleepless others!

I listen to the radio, or set a DVD playing to help get me to sleep. I also watched a lot of soap replays in the early days.

Thanks henstooth - I might try the listening to an audio book on repeat .... I fall asleep with no trouble but wake anywhere between 1 and 3 and stare at the ceiling, not being able to get back to sleep.....I actually have a really good spiritual book that I would love to have imprinted on my subconscious.......

Hugs, Maggie

I have always used health issues to help reduce drinking as well. Reduce drinking for me means to completely stop. If I was strong then I could maybe reduce my normal 12 drinks a night to 8 but that was rare and it typically just led to more the next day to make up for it. Otherwise if I had one drink I'd be off to oblivion before the night is over. So I would catch up on the health 'news' about how bad alcohol was for you and then stop drinking for a week or a month or how ever long it would take for me to convince myself that I was ok enough to drink again.

I now know thanks to Escapa's book and Sinclair's work that abstinence is really not a healthy thing to do unless you can just keep it going indefinitely. The alcohol deprivation affect is very real. I've always known it but didn't know what it was called. But reading about the health issues with alcohol has definitely helped me abstain for periods of time. That and stepping on a scale When people would ask me why I was not drinking I would always pull out the weight loss excuse.

Isn't it funny that us alcoholics need excuses to drink and to NOT drink?