Hi Everyone,
I'm 8 months in and while I'm having two to three AF days a week I still binge when I do drink. My units are down somewhat however lately I feel like I have hit a wall. I'm discouraged. Drinking doesn't feel very different, I still get hammered. I do take some comfort in the posts that suggest one day it just works and the compulsion to drink is gone or greatly diminished. Maybe I'm expecting too much too soon. I started drinking as a teenager and am now 62. I understand how NAL works to short circuit the addiction over time. Is this enough, or should I be doing other things to deal with the psychological aspects of addiction?
All the Best,
Retread

I've been on TSM for exactly 2 months. I have noticed my relationship with alcohol has changed, though I still drink too much. What's different for me?

-Craving has subsided (from about an 8 to a 6 on a 1-10 scale.)
-I am able to chart my drinking meticulously--NEVER was able to do that before.
-My weekly drink count is slowly going down, but unevenly (plateaus and upticks do happen.) It is still too high.
-I am not afraid of alcohol, nor of losing control. I don't lose control, although I have found that I can "push through" and still drink too much.
-I still drink every day.
-I do drink more slowly and find it easier to drink other beverages between alcoholic drinks. Most of the time, even if I am drinking too much in a day, I spread it out such that my intoxication level is little or nil.

I have been allowing the process to unfold without much conscious effort on my part and I am becoming impatient, too. I think there are other factors at play for me, which I am going to address during the 3rd month:
-Habit. I find myself still drinking because of boredom and because I have no alternative plan.
-Family. My partner drinks daily (and probably too much).
-Fear/Anxiety/Panic. I started drinking too much as self medication, largely. I need to deal with the anxiety triggers differently--I know what to do--but this requires effort and mindfulness. Nal is probably not going to do anything about this.
-Isolation. I have been isolating from others, except my partner, for much of the past 2 years. (A traumatic event 2 years ago triggered my full-blown Alcohol Use Disorder.)
-Compliance. I have sometimes started to drink before taking Nal, or not waited the full hour. This does not happen often, but it does happen.

Elsewhere, someone wrote that Naltrexone is a tool, not an absolute cure in an of itself. In my case, this may be true. Moreover, the book talks about replacing drinking with beneficial activities while not on Nal. Because I drink every day, this has not happened yet. I can tell that this is an important part of the process. Nal every day seems to promote "the blahs."

Retread, Claudia Christian has a video about how long extinction takes. Needless to say it varies a lot, depending on where you are in the Alcohol Use Spectrum and other factors. 3 months is typical, but it could take as long as 9-12 months. As noted in the book, there are some people, despite being compliant, who may not respond to Nal--about 10%? Hopefully you aren't one of them. I do know that some people increase their dosage up to 100 mg. Maybe look at some of the strategies I'm using or some of the strategies Moderation Mgmt/Harm Reduction methods use?

http://www.cthreefoundation.org/faqreso ... Y18pOderkA

This is the video I referenced.

Retread - I feel your pain. I am almost 6 months in and also have maybe 2 AF days a week - but I have to still use AB to do so. My intake has gone down to pre Nal - but I still cannot seem to have just 1 or 2 drinks - pretty much usually 4..... and like you, I am getting discouraged. I know that the 'average' is 3-6 months but when one looks at an average of course that means a lot of folk are above that and a lot below it - I have read posts on here where it has taken 2 years - but like you, was heartened by the post that said it suddenly happens - I live in hope for that day. We have to hang on - it will happen eventually as long as we stay in compliance with the Golden Rule. I too keep getting down about it - but will persist - there is, to me, no alternative. Hang in there,

hugs, Maggie x

I am over 8 months in and live in hope for that day too but am committed to stay with the Golden Rule for as long as it takes.
I do also feel frustrated that it is taking such a long time but I just need to keep reminding myself to be Patient!

Nal On my friends, hugs

Hi retread

My observations are that most people who find success come to a new view on alcohol, and also make changes to their lifestyle to break the habit. I firmly believe that TSM helps hugely with the physical side, but if a person continues to have a similar intake, do the same things - such as pouring the same units down their neck, then they keep the same habits.

I used techniques to reduce my intake which I'd used before, and which I knew were successful if I put my mind to them.

I feel one of the biggest things is learning that life is possible without alcohol, and that you don't have to drink it if you do not want to.

Mindfulness, means being aware of what you're drinking, why you're drinking, and what you're accomplishing by drinking. If you're concerned about getting hammered, just plan on only having two or three drinks, and stick with your plan. Observe yourself, and others when they drink, and when they become inebriated, and what that is achieving. Do you like what you see, is that a good thing? How about never getting inebriated, that would be a good start.

Naltrexone will not change your behavior. Alll naltrexone does is block the pleasant effects of alcohol. It will help you not to over drink, so you can get your head around changing things.

Habits can be changed, drinking responsibly or not at all can be your new habit, but it won't happen without changing behavior. Binge drinking is not changing behavior.

I agree totally.

Nal doesn't stop you putting the glass to your mouth.

Even simple stuff like avoiding being near alcohol, or limiting supply (it is ok to buy less or pour some away). It doesn't have to be forever, only for long enough to get you over the hump.

My experience is that after a while it becomes safer to be around alcohol. In the last week I've twice been in bars with people who are drinking and they might as well have been drinking water, that is how little it bothered me. Twelve months ago, 2 years ago my nose would have been twitching. When I was using TSM, I'd have been constantly having to think do I really want a drink, in order to control my drinking.

I think what I'm trying to say is that changes takes practice.

I train for a particular sport. I have been improving my technique doing something which looks simple to a beginner. I was told by my coach that I have to actively think about the technique and it's components, work at it each and every time, hundreds of times, so that eventually neural pathways would establish so that I would do it without thinking about the individual parts.

After practicing for over a year, several times a week, all I now do is concentrate on my breathing, and it happens as it should, my whole body gets automatically into the position and does it.

The coach was right, but at the time it felt as if I would never get to that place.

Roger that !!

What I'm trying to say, is that habits won't change themselves. In other words, the only way to change The habit, is to actually change the habit. The question is how.

If I was a chronic finger nail biter, I don't imagine there's a pill to take, that will fix me, while just keep biting my fingernails all the damn time. I'll bet if I put something foul tasting on my fingertips, and made efforts to do something besides biting my nails, that would work well.

The beauty, and the awesome thing is, once you change the habit, it becomes the new you.

TSM is great, and will work, but you have to do your part.