I have no idea why I've seen such a dramatic change after only about 9 weeks of regular adherence to this program, but I'm now on my tenth straight day without a sip of alcohol and can honestly say I don't miss it at all. (To put this in perspective, one time about 3 years ago, I forced myself to go 4 days without drinking. I have *never* gone more than that, and certainly not 10). Sometimes out of force of habit, I think while passing by the liquor store that I could stop off and buy some beer or liquor, but then my brain quickly says, "Yeah, you could, but it really doesn't sound that appetizing, and it's expensive, and it makes you fat." And I keep driving. I'm sure I'll have a drink again someday, maybe even someday soon, but I definitely feel like control has been reestablished. In the meantime, I'm going to stockpile Nal here and make sure to always follow the Golden Rule if and when I decide to drink again.

As for possible reasons why it has worked so quickly while for some people it takes a year or two years, maybe it's because I had previously tried TSM intermittently some months ago, and perhaps even if sporadic, those sessions, combined with the past 9 or so weeks, added up to enough time. Or maybe it's because I'm only 31 and have only been drinking regularly for 10 years and thus have presumably only been addicted to it for less -- or considerably less -- than ten years. Maybe the longer you've drank and the more pathways and reinforcement in your brain, the longer it takes to undo it. I don't know.

I do know, though, that I feel great at the moment and am enjoying getting back to things I enjoyed before I got stuck in a rut of drinking constantly, like reading, working in the garden, going for walks with my spouse and the dog, and staying up late watching movies (instead of passing out at 9:30 after drinking all day).

I'll pop in on this forum now and then to see how everyone is doing and will report back in the event of a relapse. Best of luck all!

- valancourt
==========================
Pre-TSM: 70-80 (or more)/wk
Weeks 1-3, didn't keep track, 70-80+/wk, 0 AF
Week 4: 33, 0 AF
Week 5: 42, 0 AF
Week 6: 28, 1 AF
Week 7: 26, 1 AF
Week 8: 3, 5 AF
Week 9: 0, 4 AF

Wow! I think this has to be some sort of record! Congrats.


It's too bad there isn't much data about this scenario. It would give hope to those that tried TSM, felt like it wasn't working and quit for awhile. If they decide to pick it back up, the aggregate time spent on TSM in the past might help them regain control quickly - like yourself.

Regardless, this is great news and I'm really happy for you, Valancourt. Do check in from time to time.

-H

Double wow (or wow wow)!

I hope that when you report in it is about continued success.

I'll add my "wow!" And also congrats! Glad to hear you came back to it and it worked.

Congrats! That is quite a miracle story. I wish the correlation between age/length of time drinking and TSM recovery time were as simple as that...as I'm only turning 30 have only had issues with drinking since about age 20 (and it wasn't a really big issue until about 26 or so) I was hoping I'd be cured early on
Thanks for sharing your story!

Congrats!

Fantastic, WTG!!!

Thanks, all! 11th straight AF day and going strong. Although to be honest, the days do get a bit long sometimes without booze to fill them up with. I think I need to get a hobby. Any suggestions? Or maybe good TV shows/movies to check out?

I look forward to being able to read. Right now, I can read 4 chapters today but will have to read 2 or 3 of them again tomorrow because I will have no idea what might have happened in those chapters.

Just remember that TSM has let you get off the train. Don't get back on. We voluntarily drank too much before we had to drink too much. We can do it again. Seems to me like maybe TSM doesn't make us take control, it allows us to take control.

Don't give that control up Find something. And let us know what it is. It might come in handy for us.