Hi all, some ponderings..
It seems that the rationale and science on this site and with TSM is that alcohol addiction is the problem and nal reverses that then everything's great.

It's my 3rd night on nal and I have been out (and in) and drank 1 bottle of wine, 2 pints of Guinness and then come home as my head said 'what's the point in drinking'? I don't really want any more booze or to be in booze full places at the moment.
I've completely lost my alcohol buzz, therefore drinking already seems a pointless exercise on nal. However, the 30 year habit will take some breaking.
Usually I would have drank much more and probably have carried on into tomorrow with other general unsavouriness.

So, I see that nal can and will work for alcohol if I persevere.

My thought is this, that alochol (and drugs) are the sympton and not the cause of my/our issues.

I am getting therapy in a month but already my brain is saying WTF?!
Without it's aneasthetic, I have to deal with who I really am / am not (?), the break up of the 10 year relationship, etc etc etc.

I have even thought tonight about maybe doing mdma once a month (I've done it on and off for 20 years) as if I can't get a drink buzz on nal, I can get a buzz on mdma and it's non addictive. I could therefore once in a while feel 'free' and 'young' while still keeping the lid on AL via nal.
This is the post of a very addicted brain, my AA sponsor said that I'm the most generally addicted person he's met in 17 years. Not really an accolade.

So my question is this:
Have you lost the addiction to booze via nal and life has then been fine or has the removal of the alcohol addiction made you have to do some serious work on yourself?


I caveat this post with the fact that I am coming off baclofen, starting nal, on sleeping tablets every night and, at the moment, drinking. It's therefore a pile of chemical soup.

Appreciate your thoughts, not just on the science

Gobbly,

Yep, alcohol is an outward expression of an inner manifestation for most.

I think we turn to alcohol the rush or the chase and then realize how things seem better with it...and then reality hits and it hits hard!

I had to google MDMA and if you are running away from facing yourself it may not be addictive but emotionally addictive. I was emotionally addicted to LDS and MJ, for I did not want to face who I was, and it took me a few years of therapy and a couple of failed relationship to get off the that crap!



My life was/is prefect, so why do I drink? Yep, I need to do some serious work on myself, for I have no clue. I am sure I am having some sort of midlife crisis, but that is no excuse for me to bury myself in a bottle. My habit is there, for I do not get the same great escape, but I still have it in my brain a drink will make me feel better...I guess my habit hasn't caught on yet!

I think it really is depending on the person, and how they used alcohol.

Yes, the nal will work for you if you persevere and if you keep at it, it will help will your other addictions, but you will eventually have to face life without a buffer...it might not be as bad as you think!

Jaba

An excerpt of my discussion with a psychiatrist who specializes in naltrexone treatment with alcohol addiction (TSM)

Bardo: "Is this a fair analysis of what you are endeavoring to transmit: While Naltrexone may physiologically remove my compulsion to drink my core construct on a spiritual level, my egoism, will continue to produce confusion and a psychologically ill state of being prone to manifest itself in all aspects of my life like a cancer."

Harvard: "First, naltrexone may not remove your compulsion to drink. Secondly, your analysis is spot on."

He went on to inquire about trauma in my life.

I think any one of us has considerably more work to do once extinction occurs. The hardest aspect of achieving my abstinence through AA has been dealing with a host of emotions and behaviors I buried through my alcohol abuse. Having to sit with yourself again is daunting. I feel fortunate to have already done some work on that as I approach TSM. I found this blog a great resource towards engaging aspects of this further: https://jonsleeper.wordpress.com/2014/09/30/leaving-aa-staying-sober/


With regard to substituting other drugs for alcohol it's worthy of concern/attention. In my case I have a long, contented relationship with mj. While I don't intend to stop it entirely I have recently begun seeing an addiction psychologist and diminishing the frequency of its use (currently a joint, daily). Further, I'm beginning with a psychiatrist next month to investigate further components of my ongoing desire to escape my natural self possibly rooted in my childhood.

Bardo,

It is always good to hear from you, for we do wonder how things are going.

I am glad you come and post, for there are probably more people out there in your predicament and are unsure where to go or what to do. You may just give them a glimmer of hope.

Keep us informed as much as you can,

Jaba

For me personally the only reason why I drank was because I drank. Let me explain. When I drink alcohol it makes me sick untill I drink more alcohol and the sickness goes away till the alcohol wears out and the sickness rises so I drink again.

My life is so much better now without alcohol making me sic that I have no words to explain it.

Now sure I drink for reasons just like the rest of us do. To celebrate a birthday or a new job, with friends after a nice hiking trip, after a bad day at work, after a fight with my wife, to fend off anger, and so on. It's there for you when you are down and it's there for you when you are up. But if you reach a point like I did where all it does is make you sick then living without it is the absolute best thing ever.

"Have you lost the addiction to booze via nal and life has then been fine or has the removal of the alcohol addiction made you have to do some serious work on yourself?"

Serious work? Maybe. Work? Yes.

But you are too new to know. When you are an alcoholic you cannot picture a life without alcohol. That's what you are trying to do now.

Don't.

Follow the Golden Rule, drink as you normally would.

Wait 4 to 6 months.

Then it will be time to have this discussion. Meanwhile, keep the thought of the discussion in the back of your mind.

"Have you lost the addiction to booze via Nal and life has then been fine?"

-Mine has, -but I would never have believed it at the onset.

You cannot see now what you will see by following the Golden Rule.

Faith.

Good discussion . thanks.