Because the sad fact is that people believe what they want to believe and aren't interested in anything else. The vast majority will not believe facts when presented to them. Myself and others here who have been cured and have tried the shout-it-from-the-rooftops method have found that works about as well as explaining spaceflight to a cat. They just are not interested, or at best they will feign interest. I've relegated myself to only offering advice when someone seems to be in a receptive mood. Or by telling my peer group that if anyone has an AL problem or if anyone they know has an alcohol problem, please see me first. You'd think that since my peer group has seen a distinct behavioral improvement in me, they'd be impressed, but to-date, not one person has expressed any significant amount of interest in TSM whatsoever over the last 10 months.

This fact of life has not diminished my zeal for this cure. We have to wait for the right set of circumstances to occur before this treatment takes off as a main-stream treatment. Until then, at least we know better and have, or soon will, reap the rewards of being cured.

Bob

Hi Omni,
I can only speculate and give you advise based on my experience, so here it is:

I doubt diet/what you eat has any bearing on TSM directly, however, under most circumstances a healthy diet full of fresh vegetables and fruit can only enhance whatever we do in life. I know when I eat well and do some yoga, drinking a little bit less is easier because I want to stay on the "good" path.

I've played with my dosage a little bit. I started roughly around the time you did on 50mgs and have had some really good moments, one effortless AF day, and "glimmers" of feeling cured, but mostly a roller coaster ride. I did 75mg for about a week, didn't see much improvement, so went back to 50mg (since this is what the clinical trials show to be a good dosage-also, it means I go thru a prescription slower). But the last 2 weeks have been crap, i.e., my pre-tsm level of 1 bottle of wine a night, so I've decided to start taking 100mg. I actually took 100mg the last few nights, still drank a bottle each night, but the need, interest, urgency to get to the end of the bottle was diminished which is an improvement as far as I'm concerned. I may even go up to 150mg (naltrexone is safe up to 300mg), just to see if I notice a marked difference. I know some people are very sensitive to naltrexone and I am not. Minus a few headaches and some nausea in the very beginning, it never bothers me even when I up the dose.

Also, keep in mind that the "human" trials for TSM have only been going on since roughly 1995, so individual dosage is still debatable. If I were you, I would try it and see if you notice any difference, it may just be the boost you need.

Good luck and I'll keep you posted with my dosage dabbling in my "Weekly Progress" on this forum—ToxicGirl's Carnival.

Hi Toxic Girl, thanks for your swift reply.

I eat super healthily mainly fruit, vegetables, and fish (once a week all bets are off and it's chocolate,bread and spicy ANYTHING;)

I have upped my dose to 100 mg as of today..no noticeable difference so far so we'll see...

I have really poor sleep since I started NAL, I wake up EVERY night around 3:30/4:30 and then have to eat something and sit around for awhile before I can go back to bed. Then I have nightmares and nearly always wake up bathed in sweat and exhausted. I wonder if others are experiencing similar??

I assume since you are on a bottle of wine a night that is about 9 or 10 units? Which is where I am at right now, although my 'toxin' is vodka...

Keep me posted as to how your dosage manipulation goes, and i will do the same..


Wishing you all the best for a speedy "cure" :)

Hey Omni,

I have nightmares and wake up bathed in sweat, too! I also wake up around 4am most mornings, but I think it is because I'm dehydrated from the wine and need water. I don't have much trouble falling asleep and staying mostly asleep, but I take melatonin or kava kava usually and if I REALLY cannot sleep, I pop an ambien.

Part of me has to remain in denial, so I count a bottle of wine as 7 units—have you ever divided a bottle of wine into 9 or 10 units? If you were having a dinner party for Lilliputians it would be perfect.

I'll definitely post my progress with 100mg under my "Weekly Progress" thread. I wish you great luck on 100mg, too. It may just be our magic number!

Onward and Upward!

Yikes, I've been counting a bottle of wine as about 5 units, with a glass of wine at roughly 5 oz (150ml) and a bottle at 25.4 oz (750ml). To get 7 units out of a bottle, that is 3.63 oz (107 ml); to get 9 units that is 2.82 oz (83.3 oz). ?!?!?!?

If that the case, my units are MUCH higher than I thought .... I can't imagine pouring glasses of wine that small! Well, at least when comparing pre-TSM to now, I am using the same relative measurements. LOL

UPDATE: Aha! I see how I came up with this ... on page 114 of Dr. Eskapa's book, he states that 4-5 oz of table wine is considered one drink in the US. Of course, I chose the bigger glass, why wouldn't I?

Hey girls, I am an american expat living in the U.K, and here the average bottle of wine is between 9 and 10 units depending on percentage of alcohol..It is alot easier to keep track of your units here especially when you are out as there is hardly any freepouring and everything is painstakingly measured..When I was just back home last month everywhere I went was a minefield in terms of drinking as there were about 5 units in each drink and I had to be really careful not to embarrass myself and end up under a table...

In fact since I have been living in the U.K for 8 years I had forgotten how strong the drinks were back home and it dawned on me how that may (most likely!!) have played a serious part in my addiction in the 1st place..

@Toxicgirl okay so i'm not the only one sweating profusely and waking up all hours of the night..by the way I went and read your blog and really identified with alot of your experiences, plus it's so well written:) I notice we both love asian food AND Champagne as well...think there would be trouble if we were neighbors!!

Hey Omni,
Yes, it could be potentially dangerous if we were neighbors! I'm so glad you like my blog!
I know what you mean about the pours in the U.S. A single martini could put you under the table and a glass of wine can easily contain 3 or 4 units. I think Americans expect everything to be big. They wouldn't tolerate the UK's "small" and "large" glasses of wine with the measuring line on the side of the glass. I, however, would take that any day because I just love England. I visit at least twice a year and cannot get enough of the old pubs and picturesque villages.

Hey Toxiclady,

I live in Scotland, the countryside is beautiful but there is a serious alcohol and drug issue here and it can make for ugly and uncomfortable viewing. The weather is much much worse than in England and depression(and also high suicide rates) feature largely in the population.

I can attest to the weather having a massive affect on my mood and consequently my drinking, I have had severe SAD and each issue exacerbates the other..

Fortunately we are finally moving back home and are settling in sunny Miami soon (3 months:):) Which I know will have a marked effect on ALL the issues drinking, mood,sleep you name it.

I'm desperate to be 'cured' by the time we leave so it will be a totally new beginning, plus my doctor here is phenomenally supportive and I don't know if I will get that lucky again stateside....

2nd night 100 mg...hanging in there at 24 weeks!

ToxicGirl,

Thanks for this illuminating post! It made a light bulb turn on for me. I've been doing TSM for nearly a year at 50mg of nal a day. I've successfully managed a small percentage of AF days, and there's been instances where I've not taken nal (wasn't planning on drinking, but...) so I think I'll up my nal to 75mg and see what that does. I think someone mentioned to me a while back to perhaps up the dosage, but it just somehow didn't click at the time. And who knows, maybe I'll be one of those 15 'monthers' or more! But I won't give up!

-petal

Hi Petal,
Yes, don't ever give up. Think of the alternative--drinking and NOT taking naltrexone = most likely total disaster; whereas, drinking and taking naltrexone = cure for sure for most everybody!

I don't know if you are familiar with Ben's story, but he upped his dose to 75mg and he's drinking 3 to 4 beers an evening now. He attributes this success 100% to upping his dose.

Good luck and I'm sure you'll be one of the cases that reaches the cure soon!