I've been reading about the sinclair method obsessively since i discovered it last week, and I'm so desperately hopeful for success. I started out 4 days ago. Here's my story:

3 of my 4 grandparents are alcoholics. My father is also an alcoholic, as are several of my uncles. I started drinking when I was 18, and my very first time I got completely drunk and barely remember anything. From there I went to college where I continued to drink heavily, but only on weekends. But when I drank, I really drank.

Now I am 31 years old, somehow I've managed to graduate, hold a good engineering job, get married and have 2 kids. I love my family, and my job, but drinking is ruining everything. I drink every day, usually uncontrollably. My wife is worried, and so ignorant about the disease, because I'm too damn hard headed to talk to her about it. This has caused a lot of isolation and unhappiness that 90% of people would have walked out on. Thank God I got her.

Finally, after years of abuse, I decided to see a doctor. I've always been against using anti-depressants and letting them affect my mind, but i figured at this point who cares, I'm never coherent anyways. So I went, told him mostly everything, and he prescribed my Naltrexone. Not TSM, but everyday Nal. I had nothing to lose, so I started taking it. I wasn't doing TSM, but since I still drank everyday, I was kinda doing it. After a week, I was reading about Nal and found the TSM wiki article. I truly believe that article and this sight might save my life. God, I hope it does.

Right now I'm on day 4. I was drinking about 70 drinks per week, and so far since I've started that number should remain about the same. But I'm hopeful now. I have a great life, a really blessed life, and I've always wondered why I was throwing it away. Understanding TSM has explained this, and I'm throwing all of my faith into this process because I have no where else to turn. I really believe the timing is right, my body has finally reached a breaking point, my marriage is running out of patience, my heart has finally opened to receive help, and my brain just became aware of the cause and potential fix for my disease.

Thank you everyone for contributing to this site. I plan to do the same, because if this works it will have given me my life back and I will want to help others find an answer.

Welcome, Bigtex!

Glad you found TSM. I inferred that you are what we call a "daily drinker" currently from your statement that you were performing TSM inadvertently by taking Naltrexone the way your doctor told you to (daily, regardless) and drank every day.

I had a similar start, after running out of other methods, my psychiatrist prescribed Naltrexone. then when I was researching it online I found the book by Dr.Eskapa, then this website. Even though I didn't think it would work after over 20 failed attempts with almost all other methods, it worked. After 21 weeks from when I began, I dropped down to levels considered moderate drinking. About another 21 weeks after that I dropped down into the light drinker category. Now I am virtually dry and don't miss AL one bit.

One other thing we have in common is we are both engineers. There are other engineers here too. One of the first cured on this forum is one.

BTW, what is your drink of choice? Mine was beer.

Bob

38 year old software engineer here, binge drinker. I'm glad to be on the sinclair method, my drinking is way down and my whole perspective on myself is changing for the better.

You mentioned your genetics: you should definitely read Dr. Eskapa's book. He explains that they bred a strain of rats to be alcoholic, and these rats responded as readily to the Sinclair method as the others. There is plenty of solid science to this, you can apply your engineering background to understanding how it all works. There is another treatment that originates in the work of Dr. Oliver Ameisen, involving the drug baclofen; do your homework on that one too.

Hang in there and keep in touch.

-Ned

Welcome and congratulations -- you now have real hope. TSM does work for the vast majority who try it. Focus on your improvement -- fewer hangovers and blackouts and more control. Report back often as the feedback can be invaluable if you know what to expect.

My best,

Nick

Thanks everyone for welcoming me.

@bob: I don't have a drink of choice. I drink for the rush of endorphins and to get drunk, so i'll take anything. a typical day for me is to buy a half-pint or full pint of vodka on the way home from work (i don't keep hard liquor at home because i can't stop once i start). I'll drink it in private and quickly follow it up with a beer at home so as to hide the smell and act as if I barely drank anything. If I'm lucky I'll stop after 1-2 beers, but I don't stop as often as I used to. My reason for wanting to quit is many-fold.

First, I hate hiding this from my wife, who knows I sneak some but has NO idea how much.

Second, I'm killing myself physically. It's hard to believe but 2 years ago I was running 100 mile ultra-marathons while drinking 30 or so drinks per week. Now I'm drinking 50 and I barely run at all.

Third, I'm losing control of all aspects of my life. My relationship with my wife is going down hill because we don't have a lot of good quality conversations. I'm not as good of a dad. I'm falling behind at work. And my house is falling apart because I don't do any chores. Basically, I go to work and make a bunch of money, come home and get drunk, sleep, and do it again. I provide for my family the bare minimum, which isn't what my wife signed up for.

But now I have hope, I really believe this will work, and it's already putting a new excitement into my life. I do pray I just make it through the next few months while the experiment takes effect.

Thank you guys for your support, I will definitely keep in touch. I'll start reporting my progress now, as I've just finished my first week.

Welcome to a fellow Texan! I'm very hopeful for you and share your excitement...it does work for the majority even if in small ways. Every book out there on alcohol addiction is now mentioning NAL as being the new wonder drug. One I picked up today talked about taking it in addition to Campral, which heals the AL-damaged brain. My DR prescribed NAL & Campral but I never took the other, just NAL. And of course, the recommendation is always while abstaining.

You've been following it w/o even knowing, so hope it works! Just a positive attitude and desire to let it work, I think is half the "battle" - altho there really isn't one, it just seems to work by itself. Good luck & keep us posted on how it affects you. You might also want to share the book with your wife after awhile. A thought -

Get on the Nal right away. Your wife will appreciate the "honeymoon". Use that gap to explain how TSM works. Get here on this site. It is a crazy method but the only game in town.

Good luck.

Bigtex,

In case you haven't yet, definitely read the book by Eskapa: The Cure for Alcoholism.

Also, my advice is (since you're a pretty heavy drinker) don't dick around too long with 25mg-- go for 50 mg, and do it an hour before drinking, NOT first thing in the morning. Taking the pill too many hours before drinking may have less effect.

Welcome! Can I urge you to explain this whole process to your wife? It will help you both if you are as honest as you can be - she's a mother! she's going to want to help you, baby you, feed you up, remind you to take your Nal like a good boy, give you hugs when you struggle! Don't deny her the opportunity to step up and be a supporting wife - that's what she signed up for and I'm sure she would want to share your whole life - so don't hide anything from her!

My husband didn't really understand what I was going through but he was and is very supportive - it also helped enormously that I didn't have to hide my drinking! I was free to drink and say "well, honey, I'm taking my treatment!"

And by the way - it worked for me after 4 months and a bit. God bless you, and good luck.

@nemo: I'm on 50mg now, 1 hour before drinking. I'm fully on board with the real method, and plan to get the book this weekend so I can make sure I do it exactly right.

@bgh: I wish so hard I could tell her. There's 2 problems. First, I'm a stubborn bastard that grew up in an irish catholic household where you don't admit you've made mistakes, and you certainly don't admit you're broken. You tough it out, on your own, and don't complain. Is that dumb? Yes, of course. But if I could change that, I'd change a lot of other things too! Second, my wife doesn't know i'm an alcoholic, she just doesn't think i'm dealing well with stress at work. I fear that admitting my disease will make her more worried, which she doesn't need. So I have this idea in my head that if I can just find a cure, then I can tell her everything. I'm logging my entire journey with this, including everything I feel regarding her, so someday I can tell her everything. I know it's not ideal, but I'm trying.