Hi all,

I drank very heavily when young,

I stopped when I became pregnant. This was not only because I had to; it was perfectly easy to abstain. It was a little weird, actually.

I fell back into alcoholism gradually over the past few years. This made me think -- why was it so easy to abstain in pregnancy and early motherhood, yet seemingly impossible now? What was different? Well, the "normal drinker" wore off when my son was six or seven years old, which is the same time that "mommy brain" finishes wearing off.

Hmm.

I used to scoff at biochemical explanations. I was sure that I chased euphoria because I was weak-willed and self-indulgent. I'm no longer quite so sure.

I have two main problems with abstaining: craving and compulsion. For me there is very little social pressure and not much in the way of habits. There is some desire to escape, but the larger problems are craving and compulsion. Based on my experience with altered biochemistry altering those two things drastically, I decided to declare myself a good candidate for TSM.

My naltrexone (NoDict, from River Pharmacy) is still in the mail. It should be here soon. In the meantime, I've started keeping a journal. Since humans aren't rats, it should help (or at least not hurt) for me to see what patterns emerge.

I'm a little concerned by the number of failure stories here. I would love to believe that TSM has an 80-90% chance of working for me, but it sure doesn't seem to work that reliably in real life. I realize that some people gave up, and that others don't count it because they combined TSM with something else, but it's still disturbing to read threads and see signatures which list months' worth of recordkeeping without showing a significant decrease.

I'm hoping to be a fast responder, since I already have AF days and in theory can rewire more quickly. I'm trying to be aware that I may not be, that the amount of bad wiring I have may take time to redo. I strongly suspect that the 3-4 months often cited is unrealistic for most.

My final goal is abstinence. I don't give a hoot about social drinking. That being the case, I think I'll blend "don't drink, but take naltexone if you do anyway" with a bit of planned drinking so that the pressure doesn't build up too high.

Ask me anything. I want to get to know everyone.

Hi Melissa,
Welcome aboard. If craving and compulsion are your main attachments to alcohol, it does indeed seem as though you'll be a good candidate for TSM. No-one can really tell how it will go but you seem well prepared which has to be a good starting point.There are quite a few fast responders out there...hidden amongst some of the more gloomy stories. I too hope that you'll be one of them, but if not persevere because it does sometimes take a while. Mines been a slow tapering off of alcohol. I'm on week 17 now and am drinking less than a third of what I used to and I'm confident that will keep decreasing.

Have you read Dr. Eskapa's book? It's not essential but I found it helpful as it explains the biochemistry involved and how the brain gets rewired with TSM.

Be aware that quite a few people do get some side effects from the Nal at first. Nausea, dizziness, feeling "spacey" and weird disturbing dreams were mine. Taking 25mgs for a few days is the advice before taking the full 50mgs.

Good luck, and keep us updated with your progress.
Ruth.

I've read not only the book but a bunch of other stuff. I'm reading pretty much everything I can get my hands on. I deliberate sought out criticism, thinking that TSM must be oversold because things that sound too good to be true usually are -- rather to my surprise, there wasn't much that made sense.

This is the gist of what I found:

• It doesn't address the underlying "spiritual malady." Whatever, Steppers.
• There are 10% or so of people who are unaffected because the physiology of their addiction is different. That is a potential problem, but all we can do is roll the dice and try.
• The drinker can simply eliminate the naltrexone in order to regain the euphoria. Yes, that is a possible issue with this or any other method. It seems like a lesser issue with this, though, because we need only resist the memory of euphoria instead of also fighting cravings.
• Some people can't tolerate naltrexone. Yes, that one is actually an issue. Nalfemene might help in that case. Then again, it might not. This one is a potential issue for any medicine.
• Some people frantically try to drink past the naltrexone. This one is another actual issue. Possibly they just need a higher dose of naltrexone to block all receptors, but possibly this a behavioral issue which isn't going to be fixed without a behavioral intervention.

I think that's about it, in terms of serious objections.

Yeah, craving and compulsion are the main problems. I like the analogy of a person who's thirsty and required to abstain from water. It just gets worse and worse, and eventually we give in.

During my last period of abstinence, which lasted maybe two weeks, the craving grew and grew until it became irresistible. At one point shortly before relapsing, I found an empty can of hard lemonade and just huddled over it, inhaling the scent of the alcohol from the droplets clinging to the inside of the can. I am fairly sure that this is not normal.

I'm excited to begin. I do worry about how I'll handle no longer having the escape of chemically induced euphoria, but if I can get rid of the craving, I'll just have to grow up and deal with it.

I'm lucky in that my husband is supportive -- worried, but supportive. I've warned him that there may be an uptick after the honeymoon and that it may take longer than the 3-4 months often listed. I told him 3-15 months is normal, and he seemed able to deal with that. Obviously we both hope that I respond more quickly.

I'd love to be a "three-pill cure" person, but I'm pretty sure that's unlikely for someone with my level of craving.

Hi Melissa

I have seen you write on other posts just wondering how you are getting on yourself at the moment with Nal and where are you at.

All the best

J.

Heya Jokerman,

My official progress thread is over in the dedicated forums.

http://www.thesinclairmethod.net/community/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=3581&sid=1d4c0106e23784ed262aa674908de275

More generally . . . I'm not sure where I am, mentally. I think I should be more angry. This has all been known and established for quite some time now. Why, then, was it not widely known and widely available?

I'm not counting my youth. I wanted to get plastered, and would not have used this option. After that, though, I would gladly have availed myself of it. Since I would have used it joyfully and it was available overseas, why was it not available to me? DUI arrests, a prison term, lost work time, a precious relationship which came perilously close to shattering -- none of it ever had to happen. As I struggled and failed to keep my entire life from falling apart, there was a cure which was well-established and kept secret from me.

There are several factors, but I think the underlying one is 12-Step hegemony. And I should be angry. I should be furious that someone else's religious beliefs, infiltrating a medical and a judicial system, kept knowledge of an effective therapy from me.

Instead I'm just . . . sad.

Maybe the anger will come later.

Revolutionary treatments are often slow to catch on. This one in particular goes against the collected wisdom of alcoholism treatment, so there could be inertia.

Unfortunately, inertia often plays a role. Are the Drs out there reading the cutting edge research? Mostly not.

Never ascribe to malice that which can be explained by incompetence. -Voltaire

Sucks about what you went through.