Hey, everyone.

Last post was mid-March last year, so almost a year's gone by since I've checked in. A few months after that (on a long plateau after original profound drop, which you can see if you look at my progress thread), I stopped counting units and just stuck with the program (Nal before drinking, always). Here's an update.

Plateau continued for several months. But I began to notice an increasing ability to abstain without a lot of stress. Then, about six weeks ago, I basically stopped caring about drinking. Stopped worrying about it, stopped anticipating so much enjoyment from it that hangovers and not really living the next day were tolerable.

This would not have happened without Nal and my body's slow realization that alcohol just isn't the center of the universe anymore.

I've had drinks twice in the last six weeks, both occasions celebratory (i.e., not drinking just to drink, not drinking alone). Both times, units were below my lowest units/session before, and both times I was left with very little desire for a next time. Will I ever completely abstain? Maybe, maybe not. At this rate, who cares?

I'm doing yoga 4 times a week, eating whole/organic, having lots of success (personal and sales-wise) with my art, and being grateful for a clearer and clearer space in which to make decisions about work and relationships. Life is really good.

(By the way: I'm all for Chinese medicine, acupuncture, yoga, etc. But I will also tout better living through chemistry to anyone who wants information about Nal.)

I'm going to go ahead and say CURED. I probably won't be around much as there's a lot of life to live. But I'll respond if anyone wants to discuss this post.

If you look at my progress/process, you'll see that I was a heavy drinker for twenty years. It took two years with Nal to get me from there to here. Judging from my own experience and the experiences of others at this site, there is no "normal" way for this journey to look, no curve that everyone or even most folks follow. So thank you to everyone on these boards who has provided support. And for those who are on the road, don't lose hope!

Seeking1,

First of all let me say congratulations, awesome perseverance and post! You are definitely an inspiration to me and I am sure many others on this board. I went back and read most of your progress thread and feel re-energized. I am currently in month 9 and in the plateau stage that you wrote about.

Be sure to PM ~Q~ to get your name added to the official "List".

Thanks again for checking in with such great news.

Yea! Another runner breaks the finish-line ribbon. This is really good news, and an excellent reminder that we sometimes need to stay with the program for longer than we'd like to see that finish line.

Hope you'll stick around for a few weeks to soak up the glory/gratitude and give a bit more inspiration before moving on to your non-recovery life.

Thanks, tiller and Diver, and good reminder -- I'll PM Q.

Congratulations!!!!

Two years later, huh? I admire your obvious commitment to TSM!!

You wrote, "...alcohol just isn't the center of the universe anymore."

Amen. I think that is what we are all striving to experience.

Thanks for your most encouraging post!

Best to you in your new and improved lifestyle,

Ketchikan1

Thank you, ketchikan1. I know, right? TWO YEARS. Definitely NOT what the book says. But I knew, from day one, that the Nal was working. And I knew even during the LONG plateau that even if it wasn't a plateau and was just my new normal, it was WAY better than my old normal. This most recent development -- basically, a disinterest in alcohol most days -- was (get ready for the understatement of a lifetime) a real pleasure. Best wishes to you on your journey!

Wow, I want to chime in too, with appreciation of your reporting back, with such an interesting account of your successful journey. Talk about perseverance! But then as you said, since you were in such a better place anyway, the time frame doesn't matter that much.

That's the unsettling thing about TSM: it varies SO much from person to person; we have to learn there are all ways & stages of success along the way, results that we couldn't have anticipated. So thank you for yet another variation on the theme of success w/ Nal & TSM, which will strike a chord with many who will be encouraged by your story.

Chrissie

Many thanks, Chrissie. It's so difficult as one treats this addiction to separate out all the threads of compulsion, habit, desire, etc. Re: Nal, so difficult to say exactly why one responds one way and another, another. My feeling is that if Nal is working even a little for you, stick with it. Make whatever other lifestyle adjustments you feel might help, work on elements like habit if you can once you've reached your plateau, and let time pass. And more time, and more. I figured on Nal for a lifetime long before I got my recent amazing results -- Nal wasn't perfect but was by far the best solution I'd found. Any "efforts" I made I wouldn't have been able to make without the pharmaceutical extinction. Maybe this extinction is like the extinction of the dinosaurs -- I don't know exactly why or when it happened, but I can't remember the last time I saw a Triceratops.

CONGRATS- first and foremost - very happy for you! that's incredible and i must say - just what i need to see right now. i have definitely plateaued, if not regressed, the last month. i wavered, stopped taking nal - and have just been a bit of a mess. seeing your cured status reaffirms that this is not 'as good as it's going to get' and i can one day be cured - like you! i will stick with the nal because it has helped some and if i'm still drinking- what is there to lose??? i am going back now to read your whole thread. sorry i turned this around to me, but i really am SO thrilled for you!!! go live your life!!!!

Pickledpepper, thanks! A little free advice: Don't give up, and DON'T keep drinking with and then without Nal. It will make your progress harder to track, and even if there is not much more progress to be had, you'll be less sure than you could be when things are happening because of chemicals, when because of willpower, etc. If you feel (and it appears you do) that you've found at least some control via Nal, and if you are going to keep drinking (i.e., not abstain), then just take the Nal, why don'tcha?

The timeline in the book is bogus. Give yourself a break, and try not to let frustration cloud your perception.