Last November, in utter despair, I asked my doctor for this drug. Before I took the first dose the day I filled the prescription, I stumbled upon TSM. Could that work? Because the thought of declaring myself an alcoholic for the rest of my lie, never having another drink, giving p control, it saddened me.

Well, what the hell? So I jumped in full force. Note that I was a heavy, though fully functioning drinker. Only at night, but 750ml of hard liquor or 5 liters of wine every 2 days. But I KNEW that I'd be one of those cured in 2-3 months.

I continued to drink, I took my pills, brief honeymoon period, then back up to regular levels. Started getting a little worried at 2 months with no change, then scared at 4-5 months. Pretty much realized a few months ago that I was one of those this wouldn't work on. Sad.

But you know what? I kept taking the pills before drinking. And gradually I started having some days where I didn't drink. And now, at 7-1/2 months, I'm suddenly at the 'I can take it or leave it' point.

So there you go. I'm not ready to proclaim myself cured yet, I'm going to give it more time. I'm going to take those pills for the rest of my life if I have a drink. But oh my goodness, this is beyond a blessing. My take-away? Give it time. Don't give up. You may just surprise yourself.

Wow, that's a great story. You're a pretty private person to join the forum January 29 and then make your first post July 4th! Congratulations on your "take it or leave it" success. Hopefully, you can translate that into more "leave its" than "take its."

I was so glad to read your post about giving it time. I started Nal in mid Nov. '12 after reading the book. I joined this site around that time, but haven't posted again. I'm 62 and have been drinking heavily for the last 15 years, but still functioning and working all that time. During the week, I would start drinking beer as soon as I got home until i fell asleep, and on the weekends, I would start in the morning. I was so sick of myself that I had to do something to stop,although in my heart, I didn't want to stop. So I started the Nal, and had a honeymoon period of about a month with less drinking. then I went back to my normal drinking. I have continued to take the Nal, even though I didn't think it was doing anything for me. But FINALLY, in the past week, I have lost my taste for beer. I have actually forced myself to try to drink as usual this past week, and it doesn't taste good to me at all! Your message and this feeling I have had, has given me hope that I may reach a point were I don't really want to drink. Thank you. I will keep up with the nal if I do drink, knowing that I am on my way to a cure.
On a side note, one thing I have done since May, has been to start vigorous exercise 5 days a week. I don't know if that has had anything to do with my progress, but I think the exercise combined with continued Nal effects have been the combo I needed.

Ah, erin68 - love to hear that! So glad we both kept taking the nal even after thinking it wasn't working.

Stopping taking it when drinking increases again seems to be a common failure point. There have been times when I've had spikes that I've felt the same way, but at the end of the day taking 1 x 50mg pill only when I drink and with such few, non-life affecting side effects it makes more sense to carry on taking it just in case it does eventually work, than not.

Chris and Erin - glad to hear you're both doing well. I hope to see positive updates from both of you in the future!

Great to hear from you guys. I hope my boulder is rolling down the same hill as yours. I was feeling pretty cool at the 3-4 month stage, but have spiked in months 5 and 6. However, my spike is still below my normal pre TSM. I'm a long way from the cure, but I know that the Nal reduces my units and increases my AF days.

chrisb and erin68, your posts are massively, brilliantly inspiring to me! Thanks a million for posting them. I was on Nal with full compliance for nine months, had a fabulous spike and then my levels started wobbling and sliding, and I gave up altogether (even chucked the pills!).

It's interesting to me that both of you had moments at which you thought it wasn't working but kept taking the pills anyway. It seems as though you just sort of let go and the Nal really kicked in. Congratulations and keep it up!

This is my second go, and though I'll track my drinks, I won't 'white knuckle' during the process, won't struggle--I certainly won't give up!

Again, thank you.

All the best,

Xanthippe

I'm new and slowly making my way through the posts; very encouraging to see this! Thanks for the updates ... everyone has their own unique perspective and experience.

Great posts! This is very encouraging and will serve as a good reminder for me if I hit a wall where I start to think it's not working.