For the last week or so I have been viewing many of the posts. It was soothing to have a drink and read about my problem via your problems.... Yes, it has gone well beyond willpower lately. I was a happy go lucky individual and drinker for most of the last 20 years but then a few things changed in my life and my intake went from the very over indulgent to absurd. Beers on the golf course at 9 AM is acceptable but grabbing for a bottle of scotch at 5 AM when you awake from a 24 hour binge is scary. You look at the dog to see if you were responsible enough aka awoke from a stupor to make sure he has not peed himself while you were passed out. I realized that I needed change but I tried the usual suspects and found only short term solutions- please read relapse upon relapse over the last 9 months into that statement.

Where am I now? Hopeful. A very good friend kept telling me that I was trying to find a short cut and I should stop spending useless hours on the worldwideinterweb. She said it only got better when I attended meetings and that there was probably no other way for me to solve my problem. I don't know how I stumbled( figuratively not literally) onto the Sinclair Method but I am so happy that I did. I had watched Dr. Kevin Mccaulley on youtube and he explained exactly what happened to me via a change in brain function- the video is roughly 70 minutes long so take a naltrexone if need be. I was looking for a solution that not only might allow me to drink a wee bit but more importantly would derail me from this current path. So here are my questions:

Some people have turned to abstinence and I applaud them. Others have learned to control their drinking and it seems like the overall endorphin effect is not present but do you still have fun when you drink? I was often told that I got wittier and even more intelligent the more I drank( ex girlfriend said that was true if I kept it under 15 drinks( usual scotch or vodka) after which I got more sophomoric. Will I still get that or will I only get the physical effects of slurred speech, poor balance etc.?

It seems that this site has been around since 2009 and that there have been some great successes but.... have any of the early controlled drinkers lost that ability? Do they still check in here? Be great to get some long term hope .

Thanks

Hi bobbyhose! Congratulations on discovering something that might very well change your life for the better. I can confirm that you have great reason to be hopeful, as I have been enjoying a normal, reasonable relationship to alcohol for about 2 1/2 years now since starting TSM.

Drinking on the Nal is definitely a different feeling, but you will still feel relaxed, which I think is probably where the fun part comes in. The "wittier, more intelligent" part is in you to begin with, but just comes out with more ease when relaxed from alcohol. As a bonus with the Nal, you will be less likely to suddenly find yourself past the fun stage and into the place where things start to get ugly in one way or another. Blackouts, drunken arguments, gnawing anxiety in the wee hours, sustaining drunken injuries, wondering how you got home from the bar, etc... None of those things are too much fun, and I'd venture to say we've all experienced some of this, or we wouldn't be here.

Anyway, I wish you the best of luck on your TSM journey. With the "secret weapon", you can do this! Your doggy will be so proud of you and will be so glad to have his dad back, full time!

Thanks for the reply. What does a weekly unit count look like after 2.5 years? Has it stayed fairly level ? what about the AF days?

Hi Bobby and welcome,

I can't speak yet to how I feel under the Nal influence in social settings because I've been mostly an at-home drinker, but I second Boo's comment that, while my consumption has decreased significantly, and will continue to over time, I hope, I haven't lost all enjoyment of alcohol. I don't know whether I'm headed for abstinence or just what most people would consider 'normal,' i.e., AF more days than not. I would prefer the latter.

In the early weeks of Nal treatment, I was much more aware of the physical adversity to alcohol. Now that seems to have eased a bit, and I still get a relaxed, detached feeling when I drink. The whole process is just slowed down. And the hangovers are unpredictable. Sometimes killer even when I've only had 4 units; other times gratefully nonexistant when I should be in serious pain.

Overall, I definitely feel I'm heading in the right direction, and by being here, and working at this, I think you are, too.

I'll look forward to your updates! Hang in there.

Bobby, I relate to your post! 9am is happy hour on the golf course for me as well, earlier is fine at the airport too; and my poor westie has been left out in the back yard during black-outs a few times - not proud of that.

I was worried about being angry if I didn't get that 'high' feeling while drinking and it did happen a few times but nothing like I predicted. You still feel some relaxation but nothing like you would normally, and for me anyway, that is ok most of the time.

Like writer, I am mostly an at-home drunk (vodka is my bff) but have gone out a few times since starting nal, once on the boat, once on the course and once at the ren fest. Funny thing was that lightening didn't strike me down when I picked up a water! I also couldn't believe how many people are actually NOT drinking alcohol in social settings - would NEVER have noticed that! I've been a daily drinker for 20+ years and was up to 20 ounces of vodka a day - this is unheard of in my world.

I urge you to try it - your game and your dog will be better off!

Marianne

Why do you think you got a bad hangover with just 4 units? That scares me. At least without the Nal I can guage my hangovers, but I'm afraid to not be able to guage them with it!

I'm on my 8th week and I still have fun when I drink. I don't try for AF days because daily drinking was never my problem, not being able to stop once I started was. Now I can stop. I can have three beers at home and then move on. I can go to a social gathering with lots of drinking and drink a six-pack over the course of an afternoon, have fun, laugh, joke around, and stop drinking when it's clear that I've had enough.

Hangovers are worse and the burst of energy euphoria I got from a drink is gone, but that's GOOD because it was that euphoria that kept me pounding beers all day.

It's early for me yet, and I only take half doses (25mg), but I am very happy with the results. I needed an "off" switch and I am developing one for the first time in my adult life.