Hello,
This is my first post, I have been reading many of the discussions posted on the site over the last couple of weeks and decided I now need to get things moving for myself.
Briefly, I have been an alcoholic for well over a decade now. I have been in treatment 6 times! I did AA for nearly 5 years, I was 'happier' but still had cravings and generally felt I was being punished for being alcoholic and I was less than.
After 4 years in AA, I had my daughter who is now seven, a year after that I left AA and decided I could 'control' my drinking, it worked for several years but the last few years have been hell.
I was back in treatment 3 months ago and straight back to AA after leaving treatment, still miserable with this addiction, my brain is in overdrive the whole time.
I finally met up with a doctor in the UK who is very familiar with TSM, he has prescribed me Naltrexone and suggested I take half a tablet for several days to see if there are any side effects before having my first drink and begin the extinguishing process.
I took 25mg yesterday, no side effects at all, so now I really, really want to begin tonight my taking 50mg an hour before trying some wine. My husband (who has been through living hell with me) would like me to follow the doctors instructions, so am I trying to rush things by SO wanting to start tonight? Is this my alcoholic brain and not reason talking? It's all I can think of, very anxious to get the process under way.

Hi Maxi1. That's a hard one. All I can say is if you choose to drink, take it slowly if you can and let yourself feel the difference of drinking without the euphoria of the endorphins. I found it to be useful in gaining control a couple of times in my second week of TSM. The first week I treated the pill as an instant magic bullet and I my drinking got worse as I gave myself licence to drink. Good luck, trust in the science and have faith! I believe you are taking your first step to a better life.

Thank you, all tips are good!
I will take it slowly, that's my plan anyway!
I intend to keep posting to keep track once I've started, think this will help.

Hi and welcome Maxi1! Congrats on getting things all lined up and starting this protocol. I think with full compliance you will be amazed with the changes you'll go through. My 2 cents, which means nothing, leans toward following the two day dose of 25mg, then bumping it up to 50mg. I'm thinking this is a simply protocol, why tweak it, especially at the start? One day isn't going to matter in your recovery. But, best of luck no matter what you do. You can do it and please keep us posted on your experiences. Peace.

Hi, Maxi1.

You don't have an "alcoholic brain." Well, you kind of do, but all that means is that you're conditioned to an unnatural obsession with alcohol. Your desire to rid yourself of that is a sign of mental health and good decision-making, not the opposite.

Most of us take 25mg twice before moving to the full 50mg. Most of us also drink on the 25mg (the difference even on that can be a real shocker). It doesn't matter all that much, though -- that's just a short transition period before the real treatment begins. After a few weeks of extinction, you'll probably look back and wonder why you got so worked up over details.

Welcome aboard. Glad to have you. Keep us posted; we love progress reports.

Thank you for your posts, its great to be able to verbalise it all.
I ended up taking the 50mg before going to the party/function we had committed to go to last night. I had my first glass of wine in 4 months there, drank it painfully slowly! (my husband said he would get angry if I had more than 2)
We left early in any case, and I went to bed quite frustrated as I wanted another glass or more when we got home.
One glass of wine is a drop in the ocean compared to my past drinking so it was like an extreme baby step to me.
Up side, I felt fine this morning, no side effects.

Hmm.

Does your husband get how the method works? Artificially limiting yourself to one or two won't be as effective as drinking larger quantities and learning (on the deep level) that it no longer produces the effect which addicts you.

Was it just because you were at a function? I can see why he wouldn't want you to get drunk in public. The potential consequences are usually much worse than they would be at home.

I guess what I'm saying here is that, when you first start TSM, your drinking will still be at problem levels. That's why we start it in the first place, and the method takes time to work. Some of us are lucky enough to see real and obvious changes in just a few weeks, but for most it takes several months. We have to be willing and able to go through this.

It's totally worth it. For an actual permanent cure and not just endless "recovery," it's worth taking a bit of time.

I guess it would still work with artificially limited consumption. Conditioning isn't the same as conscious learning, so it should still work eventually, at least in theory. It might take longer, though.

Thank you for that, that is exactly what I was thinking!
I felt that it should be more on a higher level, I really want to work this so it has the best chance, at the best rate I can, not prolong it.
I expect this will be the hardest stage for both of us.
And to be honest, I don't think I can do AA again, so I have a determination for this!

Is he willing to join us here? We have a forum just for spouses.

We don't have a lot of actual spouses, so the spouses usually end up talking to the cured drunks, but we do have it.

Im not convinced that artificially limiting yourself doesnt still produce extinction. Extinction may be slower or may continue at the same rate or may even be faster.

IMHO, I think there is a relationship between the anticipation (scientists have a name for it that i cant rermember) level, the craving, and the dissapointment of not receiving the reinforcement - the extinguishing of the behavior. I.e. if you crave it bad, take the nal, drink, receive no reinforcement, the extinguishing comes faster than if you only wanted the buzz slightly.

Or I could be totally wrong. Id have to read up on my conditioning to be sure.