I just started the sinclair method a few days ago. I can only pray that it works. I started one year ago, drinking a couple of glasses of wine at the end of the day. I just decided one day that I wanted to, and I did. I don't know how I got here. 1-2 glasses a day has turned into 1-2 bottles of red wine a day. I have a beautiful 6 year old daughter who I feel I have failed. My husband was a cold, unemotional man until I finally got him to take an antidepressant. Now things are incredibly better and I should feel more fulfilled. I should be able to stop or cut down on the wine, I just can't. I had some nasty side effects from the naltrexone the first time i tried it (a few weeks ago), so I stopped. I read about the sinclair method and started with 25mgs. Tonight I'll start the 50's. Any words of wisdom would be wonderful. I am embarrassed to be in this position, and friends and family are calling me out on my problem. Thank you.

Welcome, don't be embarrased here, we are in the same boat, all of us. High units, low units, doesn't matter if one has a problem~ I agree wine is a very sneaky drink, starts with a few and before one knows it it's a bottle! Went the same route. Read and read here, you will feel connected and part of a very caring community. Please do post also, you will get replies and that too will help you feel a part of tsm.

Welcome. Yes, no need to be embarrassed here. The good news is, that by all accounts, TSM works more quickly if your habit has not been learned over a long period of time. Many of us here have been big boozers for 30 years or more, and the method takes a lot longer for us because we are unlearning behaviors that were conditioned over decades. Conversely, the method works much more quickly if you have only been drinking a year or so and this makes you an ideal candidate. We probably should have a SIDE EFFECTS post here that we refer newbies to, but here is the scoop. Nausea, the most common SE, goes away for virtually everybody after a week -- two at the most. This is your body getting acclimated to a new drug and will pass quickly. Definitely start at 25 mg until you feel fine, then get up to the 50 mg, which is what all of the studies are based upon. You should also always take nal on a full stomach if you are dealing with nausea. 25 mg still works effectively so long as you drink within six hours or so of taking the pill (still wait one hour to drink after taking it). Other side effects include sweats and sleep disturbance. These side effects diminish over time as well (usually) but take considerably longer than nausea to cease. Some of us who have been on nal for several months still get sweats and sleep disturbance from nal. For me personally, these effects also ended after a few weeks. I still have an occasional nightmare but otherwise have no side effects after four weeks. But all of us agree that the side effects are absolutely worth dealing with because TSM works! For at least 80% of those treated in the clinical trials (and would be substantially more -- roughly ten percent higher -- if the subjects always took the pill one hour before drinking). Of the hundreds of people posting here, virtually ever person is getting a positive result in terms of lower consumption and lower cravings. So, welcome, and congratulations for finding a viable solution to a brutal problem that we all have in common.

Nick

Yes, welcome - and please, stop beating yourself up. Did you CHOOSE to become so quickly addicted? Of course not! And if you didn't choose it, why would you take blame for it? One of the best things Dr. Sinclair's work has done, or will do, is remove the stigma from people who become alcoholics. This is a brain chemistry thing, and NOT a character or moral defect, as has long been assumed. What you HAVE chosen, now that you can choose, is to take a viable course of treatment to cure yourself of this addiction. Congratulations!

My God. I'm sitting here in tears. The support you have all posted is an amazing thing. Thank you for making me feel welcome. I don't think I have ever had as much support as I've seen today. My friends have embarrassed me and make me feel like such a loser. I've tried explaining this thing to my husband; I'll show him your posts, maybe he'll get it a little. I am here for others as well. Believe it or not, I'm a LMSW and I think, pretty good at it. I love to help others; I need to learn to help myself.
Thank you.

What is a LMSW?

The reason you feel the support - and love - from this board is because we've all 'been there, done that.' We understand the nature of the beast better than any non-alkie ever could (except, perhaps, for Drs. Sinclair and Eskapa). We all, I believe, knew deep down that we are good, worthwhile people who inadvertently slipped and fell into this hell-hole called 'alcoholism.' None of us chose it - it chose us. We're the victims, and not the perpetrators. And as much as we've hurt those around us b/c of this disease (and we have), no one is ever more harmed than we, ourselves. Unfortunately, it's not just the booze that harms us, but the thoughtless and ill-informed judgement and remarks of those who claim to love us the most.

If only the world could get ahold of these facts, treatment of all kinds would advance by leaps and bounds! As it is, people like being seated in the judgement seat, as it makes them feel somehow superior to those of us who are 'less than' b/c of our drinking.

I've found, on the whole, that alkies tend to be interesting, intelligent, charismatic, and very, very compassionate. Wait until the world sees us sober!

An LMSW is a licensed social worker with a masters degree. The funny thing is that I also have many hours towards a degree in counseling those with substance abuse (CASAC) I forget what it stands for. My mother is an alcoholic, so was her mother. My grandfather was an alcoholic. I guess I took the extra courses so I could with people who had the same problems that my family had. I always condemned my mother for being so weak. Her mom died of cirrhosis. My grandmother was a falling down suicidal drunk. Nobody helped her. She died before I met her. I sure look at my mom alot differently now. I accept her faults because I have them too.
Anyway, I'm rambling on. So much to tell. I'm here if anyone needs an LMSW. Thanks again for the support.

I googled it and came up with...

LMSW Licensed Master Social Worker
LMSW Load Machine Status Word
LMSW Lockheed Martin Skunk Works

I will take a wild guess and say she's a "Licensed Master Social Worker".

Anyway, welcome ABNYC!

When I started TSM, this site was 1 month old and I spent the evening reading every single post. Since then, I have logged in and read every new post since then. So, I've read all the posts here since the beginning. There is a lot to digest and a lot of wisdom here. Yes, you'll run into some turmoil here and there, but as a whole all the folks here are here to help each other with the journey to sobriety. Some have made it to being un-addicted and continue to post regarding their success (Read SpringerRider's posts). That is where we are all heading one day.

It appears from what our community has experienced that the longer you have been drinking, the longer the recovery. Since your addiction is one year old, I wouldn't be surprised if our success date will be the same, since I have been addicted for well over a decade, almost 2 decades.

So you have a very good chance at success. Oh and the side effects... Nausea goes away quickly, bad dreams next, sweats last (I still get the sweats). But, in a way I am glad I still get the sweats, because I know for a fact I have taken my Naltrexone.

Get well and welcome again.

Bob

Oops I cross-posted with you!

I won't edit the above post since I kinda thought the other definitions for LMSW were funny!

Bob

You should go to the Board Index and read the two threads about "concerned spouse." The second one, written by Going4More, is a must-read for anyone you are close too who doesn't get TSM.