Good sense of humor here. I have only a slight objection - I own a pit/boxer mix, and she's the sweetest dog on the planet. Now, if you had written Border Collie. . .they can be MEAN.

Now I routinely drink a third less than usual each evening - slightly more than a regular bottle of wine. It seems like the alcohol hits me harder than before, but now I am not having blackouts. My S.O. has cut his beer drinking way down. He drinks beer very quickly, and often has 8-10 in a night. On weekends he also drinks 3-4 glasses of wine with me. This past week he's not had more than a six pack at any given time.

It's nice to wake up in the morning feeling relatively good, and clear headed. I'm very hopeful![/quote]

Something I have noticed is that our patterns are pretty predictable. Several of us in the forum are within two weeks of the same start date. In a month or so, that difference will be moot.

We seem to be experience the same effects and nearly the same moods. That is a good thing. It is a validator that we are on the right path. I, for one, think this is a revolutionary break through for those with alcohol addition. Expect to see more on that topic when I find the time.

And one of my favorite dogs was half pit-bull. They can be great friends if they have great friends.

GoodLife - I'm still waiting to get meds - I've ordered them through River but can most likely go back to my MD for one more visit and get a script if I agree to also go see a psychiatrist. Contemplating which route to go because I really do not want to keep ordering online...

Can you explain what can happen if the alcohol issue is on my record??

Thank you! How are you doing so far?

~Happy

That sucks that you can't get your meds.

As far as the insurance, I bit the bullet and used my personal MD. I was careful in that I said I wanted to used it to reduce some drinking that was getting out of control. I never said the "A" word.

In 2003, I worked for Cardinal Health and was responsible for implementing HIPPA conpliance. If you were to follow the letter of the law, no would would have access to your medical information outside of your doctor. Not even your spouse.

A few years ago, I was shopping for more life insurance. At the advise of a friend I did a medical record review or my records to insure there were no errors that would effect my qualification. I was allowed to examine my records and my kids, but not my wife. Later I did purchase the insurance but I had to give permissioin for them to access my records.

Now theses are the rules as they are "supposed" to be. What truly may happen is anyones guess. Also, I have a CCW(concealed carry permit). In the application, I was asked if I had ever been treated for alcoholism, mental illness, etc. In the footnote, it explained that treatment was defined as inpatient of a period of more than three days... I think that is the general definition for alcohol treatment.

It is sad that we may end up with the label "acoholic" in our med records. Do you think in four months, we will be able to get them to append that to "cured"?

I would suggest that no even mention the Sinclair Method unless you're sure you can convince them - it's not worth the battle yet in my mind. If they aren't familiar with or don't agree with the SM, they won't feel comfortable prescribing it. Just say you want to use it to help control your cravings for alcohol. That is a standard use for the medication if you read the info that comes with it. Just keep it simple for now - do whatever is eaiest to just get the drug. If all goes well, you come clean later, and sing the praises for SM, explain where to find all the evidence, etc. Until it's well known, I think it will be a struggle that you might not win right away, and isn't the most important thing to get the Naltrexone and start your treatment?

Thank you both for your replies - you are right, most important thing is to get the meds, but I'm leary about quality of the pills if not ordered through a prescription...and worried about what damage will be done to my medical records if I get the prescription. Good to know that the records are confidential if I do get a script.


...I have 1 1/2 weeks until my online shipment arrives. I'm anxious to start posting some positive results here. And looks like once I do start, persistence and patience are definitely part of the cure.

Please keep posting those of you who are already started - gives the rest of us hope.

You drinking pattern is(was) mine.

Welcome.