Hey there!

I just started naltrexone on Tuesday and just heard of TSM. I'm debating starting it, but want to read more about it first, and these forums are great so I can read some first-hand experience. I actually have been taking naltrexone about an hour before I drink and it has made my cravings go away 100%, but it hasn't made the habit go away, which I need to work on.

I'm a problem drinker who decided I wanted to get control over my drinking before it got control over me. Right now, I have the ability to change my life, and if I continued the way I was going with my drinking, I knew I would become an alcoholic. I've been drinking 2-6 drinks per night. (I cut down my intake in June... that's half of what I was drinking, which I know was ridiculous... please don't judge.) I've been a binge drinker on and off since I was 18. Some years, I would binge more than others. But I never really drank daily until a year ago when my now fiance and I started dating.

We both started eating and drinking so much. I ended up gaining 80 pounds, mostly due to alcohol. Now I have to lose 67 pounds in seven months for my wedding. (Yep, I already have the dress!) That was what made me initially want to stop drinking, but then I took a look at my life and realized I also had to do it for my health.

My current goal is to get to the point where I only drink on special occasions and have a drink or two every week or so. Once I have managed that goal for a while, I don't mind adding more alcohol in... I'll see what will work for me when I get to that point. I'm also not going to lie to myself and say I'll never get drunk again in my life. If I'm going to go through this journey, I want to be completely honest with myself or it won't work. I want to get to the point where I moderate my alcohol like a normal person, but I'm also an imperfect person, and I'm going to make mistakes sometimes!!!

To get there, I'm going to use naltrexone, the support of some forums, a therapist, and maybe TSM -- I'm going to read more about it and see if it's right for me at this point!

Sounds good, Pink!

Just remember that you'll need to take the Nal an hour before your first drink of the day every time in order to counter and deprecate the programming in the addicted part of your brain (look up Striatum and addiction). Drinking without the Nal will run the de-addiction process backwards at double-speed as your opioid receptors will be upregulated to compensate for the lack of endorphins. See Chapter 9 in The Cure for Alcoholism for more info on that.