Hi all,

Here looking for some help.

After over a decade of being urged to cut back on my drinking, mostly by my mother and significant others that I thought just wanted to control me, I had a surprising breakthrough. My best friend quit drinking because he was drinking in the morning before work, during work, and after work and had become physically and psychologically addicted to alcohol. A guy that never seemed to ever get as uncontrollably drunk as I had, was seeking help, maybe it was time for me to as well?

I am not an everyday drinker. I'm a binge drinker. 50% of the time I can have one or two beers without a problem. 50% of the time 1 turns into 2 and 3 and so on and so on. I'm aware of my cues and what triggers these episodes but I just plow through the barriers. I hardly ever drink to excess when I have obligations the following day, but if it's the beginning of the weekend, there's a chance that I'll drink Friday night through Sunday morning. I'll sober up and shake the hangover on Sunday. Well, the extent of my hangover is typically just anxiety and lethargy, never really had much in the way of nausea or headaches or the things that serve as consequences for "normal" drinkers. And the shame that "normal" drinkers feel after they acted like an asshole? I feel it, but it goes away after a few days and I don't remember it until the next binge and I just go ahead and repeat it. I'm tired of the repetition. I'm tired of people reminding me what I said or did in a blackout and having no recollection of what they're talking about. I'm tired of walking into a bar and thinking, "Oh ****, did I cause a scene in here last weekend? Did I walk out on my tab here last weekend? Is there a picture of me saying do not serve?" Yet people want to drink with me. I'm a craft beer guy. I'm tons of fun to drink with...until I'm not.

I'm in my mid 30's. I started college far from friends and family. I didn't drink my first semester. I transferred after my first semester. I was extremely shy and had no experience with girls besides one dumping me because I sucked at roller skating and only spoke about running, and the other slept with a guy that she worked with who was over twice her age. I was the "new kid", so I started drinking with the people on my floor to make friends. With alcohol I overcame my shyness and found I could talk to girls. I was there two weeks and one of my best friends growing up got extremely sick and had a stroke, and would be handicapped for the rest of his life. This is when the alcohol took hold. Study all week, workout all week, binge all weekend when I wanted to forget everything. Take days to weeks off. Rinse. Repeat.

Along the way I picked up smoking while drinking, gained 50 pounds,got married, got divorced, had a live in girlfriend move out, and said a bunch of mean **** and at times acted like a legit crazy person. I'm done with it.

I watched Claudia's Ted Talk and it spoke to me in a way that no other treatment I have heard of did. I totally related to Steve.

You're not going to get me in a room, talking about crazy **** that we've done while drunk and believing in a higher power, and expect me to not want to go drinking and do more crazy ****. I'm a man of science and logic. Naltrexone makes sense to me in that way. I want to use the Sinclair method because at the end, I want to decide if I continue to drink responsibly, or give it up altogether. My life is in as good a place as it ever will be and now is the time!

I have ordered Naltima from All Day chemist. It should be here in less than 15 days now. I also ordered Dihydromyricetin to get me through until my Naltima arrives. It should be here on Tuesday. I'd like to start seeing a counselor to come up with a plan of social strategies and dealing with the underlying issues that trigger my binges.

What else does everyone do to augment TSM? Did anyone start out ordering online and get a prescription after they found that it worked for them? Anyone getting counseling?

Happy to be here,

Mike

Decided this is what I want to do: 5/19/17
0-28 Beers a week
~12 Average
3-7 AF days

TLDR; Binge drinker, looking for advice getting started.

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Welcome, Mike. This forum remains a great resource though its glory days seem to be waning. I'd recommend crossposting on OSL as the activity is notably better:

http://optionssavelives.freeforums.net

Mindfulness is a major component to TSM proving effective. Dr. Eskapa is including it in the next edition of, "The Cure for Alcoholism" which I'd strongly encourage you to read - most who do have amplified results. I elected to enlist an psychotherapist (addiction focused) and a psychiatrist when I commenced with TSM. I think it's a prudent move though hardly a requirement. Many order online and I did when I ran into problems securing a legit script though it eventually came through. This can change your whole life. The primary trick - never skip a dose, always wait the full hour before consuming. Let us know any way we can help.