Here is a list of some of the cured/regained control and their self-reported time to cure/regained control. There have been several posts recently from new members somewhat despaired and down on TSM because they haven't responded in the short time frame reported in The Cure for Alcoholism. I took a very unscientific average of the 37 members on this list. The average weeks to cure or regained control is 29.6 weeks with a range of 8 to 100 weeks. If you throw out the highest and lowest numbers (8 and 100 weeks) the average of the remaining members was 28 weeks. This little sample has no scientific validity whatsoever but it's a useful real life example to use a guide. Note that only 5 people on this list declared cured/regained control in less than 4 months so that works out to a 13.5% chance of a less than 4 month cure or 86.5% of the cured/regained control here on TSM board take more than 4 months to reach that place and the average time is 7 months to cure/regained control. Note, I threw out anyone on the cured list if I couldn't figure out their cured time frame or that had a questionable cure (they came back and reported they had relapsed and not regained control or had added another drug like topa or bac). I hope this is helpful and if anyone wants to update it or correct it you have my blessing. Nal-on!


Member Cure/regained control week
~Q~ 23
80sBaby 14
BenTSM 40
BGH 52
bob3d 21
bobandcarol 21
Chris's son 22
Crown86 12
digetic 19
DOMD 17
Elfern 36
Firebird 21
hapful 19
Happy4Once 39
Hawkeye 32
helpful spouse 8
Helsinki 56
Illuninae 52
lifeopie1 29
Mario 36
mclanet036 17
Merlot 21
Minneapolisnick 36
Miss Kris 100
nemo 16
Netty 19
noboozeneeded 14
pacificman 12
PlainVanilla 20
Potato 52
Saint Vincent 33
Server 28
SpringerRider 16
StJude 35
susie 29
tambo 26
zebron 52

Thanks St. V for taking the time to do this. I think it will help a lot of people including me. Seeing the numbers makes me realize that I am most likely on track to regaining control. Again, thanks!!!

Thank you for doing this St. Vincent! I really appreciate the data. I am in a little bit of a frustrating rut right now, but as it hasn't been 20 weeks yet, this is very encouraging.

Nice Job StV. A few of months ago, I had attempted to do a very rough analysis on the quite heterogeneous self-report data on the boards. My very rough analysis was as follows:

I was only able to collect significant data on N= 46 subjects. I threw out anyone with less than 20 posts or had otherwise signaled that they have dropped out prematurely or were mere lurkers on the board. I categorized four groups: Success, Fail, Improved, and Insufficient Data (ID). "Success" was defined by an outright declaration of "cure" or "in control". The "Improved" group was defined as a "report that things were much better but no declaration of "cured". For what its worth:

N=46
Success (cured): 41%
Improved: 22%
ID: 22%
Fail: 15%

In disregarding the Insufficient Data group:
Success or improved: 81%
Outright failure: 19%

Thanks St V, this is SO helpful! I hope you don't mind, I changed the list around to show that half of the members regained control AFTER 6 months.

Member Cure/regained control week
months 1- 6

helpful spouse 8
Crown86 12
pacificman 12
80sBaby 14
noboozeneeded 14
nemo 16
SpringerRider 16
mclanet036 17
DOMD 17
digetic 19
hapful 19
Netty 19
PlainVanilla 20
bobandcarol 21
bob3d 21
Firebird 21
Merlot 21
Chris's son 22
~Q~ 23

6 month mark and beyond

tambo 26
Server 28
lifeopie1 29
susie 29
Hawkeye 32
Saint Vincent 33
StJude 35
Elfern 36
Mario 36
Minneapolisnick 36
Happy4Once 39
BenTSM 40
BGH 52
Illuninae 52
Potato 52
zebron 52
Helsinki 56
Miss Kris 100

Digetic, very interesting how your data matches Sinclair's very closely. If I were joining the board now I would be sure I gave it at least 7 months and feel pretty good about an 80% chance of success. Better than any other treatment that I've seen for alcoholism. Thanks for adding this, maybe someday a university or drug company (like Biotie) will absolutely prove what we already know to be true.

Not at all Katie my hope with posting this was to stimulate some discussion about this and reinforce the realistic timeline any additional analysis like yours only serves to make it more clear. Good distinction you made.

St V, I think posting the number of weeks on the list is an excellent idea. I really think it will give the doubters a bit of hope and encourage them to "hang-on".

This is EXCELLENT! Great posts!

If possible, it would be very interesting to break it down also taking into consideration age and amount consumed, on average. I know the majority of those cured/regained control after a short time are almost always younger and haven't been drinking as long. For example, AJ and 80s Baby are two in their 20s who were cured after only three months or so. People in their 40s and 50s and beyond take way longer.

Great idea posting this Saint V. People really need to stick with it for 7 months minimum before drawing conclusions.

Wow StV! I'm impressed with the analysis, and it definitely puts thing in perspective! The 4 month "cure" period is clearly not the norm.

I do have a question though: What do people mean by "Regained Control"? Is it just something subjective?
I feel I am more in control that pre-TSM (so I'm happy there), but I'm still not where I want to be (i.e. I'm drinking every day and having between 5-8 drinks).