Hi all,
It's taken me just over a year but I'm pretty sure that I can now add myself to this list.
I've pretty much lost all of my desire to drink alcohol. If you look at the graph in my Signature I'm now down to totally safe levels of drinking. ie. under 21 standard drinks a week on average. Even since August I've been averaging about 25 standard drinks per week, which is still very good.
The true turning point for me was when I worked through my anxiety about three weeks ago. I went through a stage of having severe anxiety but it just turned out that it was some feelings which had to surface in me. One morning three weeks ago, I woke up and they were gone, and they haven't returned since! TSM really does cure your brain from the addiction, not only the physical desire to drink alcohol but also the emotional problems caused by the alcoholism.
I have had many side effects from TSM, in the year that I've been on it, including: sleepless nights (now fixed by taking an L-Theanine tablet every night before I sleep); depression; and anxiety. All of these have now gone away and I'm feeling pretty damned good!
I'm very grateful to everyone who's helped me with my questions on this site, and am grateful of course to Claudia, Roy and David Sinclair!
Thank you everyone for your help and encouragement, and for those who are just starting off, try and be patient and stick to the Golden Rule.
Thanks.

Paddy, I congratulate you on getting to your target, you've certainly put in the effort and earned the benefits! I"m glad to hear the L-Theanine is working so well for you too. It must be wonderful to finally have alcohol under your thumb instead of the other way 'round. What are your plans for the future? Do you want to drop the numbers further or are you good at this level from here on out?

Thanks Joe!
I am quite happy if my drinking stays at the current levels. If it goes up to 25 standard drinks per week again, that's fine too, as 25 std drinks isn't much but I really don't feel like drinking much at all these days.
I've done all of this without white knuckling at all! When I wanted to drink I did, it's just that over time my interest in alcohol has waned thanks to the Naltrexone. I never was all that brave, so white knuckling was never really an option for me, I just relied on the Naltrexone and eventually it won out.
I sometimes give donations to the C3 Foundation website and I recommend that if anyone is able, to give a donation. I am so grateful to TSM that I'm quite happy to help Claudia out with her C3 Foundation charity. She uses the money to spread the word on TSM.
Thanks Joe & everyone else for your support through this journey.

I am so happy for you paddy! It is so good to hear and I love that you have come back and told people. I too have finally decided I am 'cured' - I also took a long time - 11 months but now have no desire to drink whatsoever. In fact the other day I was feeling down and WANTED to WANT a drink - but I didn't - so I did not have one. It is a weird feeling to not have those desires after so long. I am not drinking at all - I just do not want to.

Glad to hear about your help with the c3 Foundation website - that is a nice thing for you to do.

Please pop back and post periodically to let us know that you continue to do well.

Hugs, Maggie

Paddy, it's good to hear that you're in the cured zone now. I also have never said how I appreciate your other thread where the subject of L-Theanine was brought up for anxiety. I too am pretty sure that a lot of my drinking problem has come from (minor/"subclinical") anxiety and depression. I have some L-Theanine waiting for me and look forward to trying it next week.

In any case, I'll toast your new found control with a cup of coffee on this cold Saturday evening and take an AF day as I have no urge to drink booze tonight even though I was planning a night out. Something largely unthinkable just a few short weeks ago!

Thanks NDF.
I hope that you are cured now. Some people have instant success with Naltrexone but don't be too upset if your drinking spikes up again soon for awhile. Naltrexone takes months to work on other people, like me.
The L-Theanine sure did take away my anxiety for the first week that I took it, but the anxiety did return. Fortunately for me the extreme anxiety that I was feeling, was just some anger etc that had been suppressed by the alcohol, and after a few more weeks of taking the Naltrexone & drinking, the anxiety just vanished. It all surfaced in me & just disappeared. The Naltrexone not only curbed my desire to drink but it also healed my emotions!
The L-Theanine is helping me with my sleeping now though, as my sleep patterns have been disturbed by the Naltrexone. Now I take the L-Theanine at night & I sleep like a charm.
I've seen on the news that the USA is gripped by severe cold. I hope that it eases for you guys soon.
Just keep taking that Naltrexone every time that you drink, & the magic will happen!
Cheers.

Paddy - how much L-Theanine do you take and when do you take it? I tried it once and it did nothing for me.....

And yes it is rather cold this morning - temps are 21 F (minus 6 C) with a wind chill of 10 (minus 12 C) right now but it is going to warm up today to around 28 (minus 2) . 1-3 inches of snow expected today too.

Hugs, Maggie x

I don't think I am quite cured yet. I feel improvement in my thoughts and cravings regarding alcohol (specifically beer from cheap "American Adjunct Lagers" to more complex craft brews) and I do not "white knuckle" on AF days, though I did have a slight craving last night while watching "Iron Man 3" and seeing the characters swilling of Bud and wine.

I do think I am getting there and will now focus on controlling my bingeing more. I think I made some mistakes on the two days I really binged hard, and didn't slow down and consider each drink and maybe pause a bit. I thought I was supposed to drink as much as I could as fast as I could and that was a mistake. I will slow up starting today.

I'm hoping to have all cravings gone and no significant binge events within another six weeks but we'll see...

It was -20C here last night, but that was due to Arctic air forced down from the "Polar Vortex", and things are trending warmer now...

Hi Maggie,
I take 400mg L-Theanine every night around 9pm. It definitely helps me to sleep better.
When I first took the L-Theanine, when I was really anxious, I noticed a big calming effect from it but that only lasted a few days then my anxiety returned. It does help me to sleep better though, so it must be doing something to calm me.
It sounds like you are on the right track NDF. It's good to experiment with taking the Naltrexone, I think. ie. find what works for you, as we all react in different ways to the drug. I find cutting the Naltrexone in half before I take it, helps me. The only important rule to the equation is sticking to the drinking one hour after taking the Naltrexone. ie. the Golden Rule.
Cheers everyone.

This is wonderful news to hear!!!