Do I fit the profile of someone who may benefit from TSM? I am a severe binge drinker but I don't get alcohol cravings per se. Normally I start drinking in a social setting due to social pressure and this some how "triggers" me into sometimes week long binges where I will wake up the next morning immediately go to the liquor store and essentially spend the next week in a blackout. Then I will fairly easily go a month without any cravings whatsoever and then the cycle repeats. Generally there is 2-4 weeks in between binges. It's the craziest thing I feel like I can't explain my insatiable drive for alcohol once it touches my lips its like I loose all control. Do you think TSM might work for me?

Of course it might. "Cravings" are a very subjective thing. I would argue that a lot of people (most?) never even "feel" anything. I compared my own addiction to being a non-thinking robot. I just drove to the liquor store, bought the ****, and drank it. Day after day. Occasionally, I'd get a wild feeling like "I just got to have some." That would be a "craving."

In your situation, it sounds like you have a very dangerous drinking habit, both in terms of health and in terms of personal vulnerability (I assume you're a woman, which makes week-long blackouts especially troubling). Others might chime in, but it sounds like you might be a candidate for a controlled drinking session with Naltrexone. That is, find a friend and make it nearly impossible that you will go on a major bender. Take a pill, wait one hour, then have a drink or two or three and then stop. That would be one way to try out whether or not you're sensitive to Naltrexone. If Naltrexone "works" on you, it might just prevent these binges.

You'll often hear the debate about being an "alcoholic" (little a) versus an "Alcoholic" (Big A). Big A alcoholics, the argument goes, have a genetic predisposition not only to alcohol addiction, but to high tolerance and an extremely decreased self-control after getting started. You sound to me like a Big A type, especially the idea that one drink can send you off into a week-long blackout. Over time, if you persist in this pattern, the binges are likely to get more and more frequent, until your life is just a huge, alcohol-induced blur.

I would say that, in your case, full sobriety should be your goal. If you can't be sober on your own will-power, then for your sake, and the sake of your family and children, try Naltrexone one hour before you start drinking, and possibly 5-6 hours into each bender. This will require some self-discipline on your part, but you can do it.

Katiekt, you sound like a good candidate to me. There are a ton of different ways to overdrink, tons of different patterns, but TSM helps many of us.

Do you have anything to lose by trying it?

Try it and see. I think it'll slow you right down. Bingers tend to do quite well - but you do need to give it a chance and try to actively slow down at the same time. Sounds crazy but it makes sense once you get started.

I agree with what everyone else is saying - bingers tend to do well. You have nothing to lose (and a lot to gain) by trying.

katiekt,
Do you have any follow up information to share on this thread? I see that no one has posted here in over a year, but I am very curious whether you ended up trying TSM and how it went because my profile sounds quite similar to yours and I am close to starting it myself.