I've been taking NAL consistently now for about 16 months. I continue to feel small, subtle, incremental effects on an almost daily basis. Drinking much less, but usually every day. Some AF days without panic or distress. No more spiraling into 24/7 consumption. Things were very touch and go until I found an advocate physician. Now progress is very clear, if not quite as cut and dried as I expected. I feel like I'm getting there, but it's taking longer to feel free of the monster than I thought it would. I'm a pretty big guy, 6-3, 240, and often wonder if 50mg is too small a dose. Anybody have similar experiences? My overall goal is to not drink most of the time, but be able to in a social setting that would be a little awkward without participating, i.e. business dinners etc.

JRH -

Some do get along better with 75mg, or even 100. Some members of this forum have posted as such and my TSM doc said as much.

Are you taking any other meds? Benzodiazepines, for instance, can slow progress with TSM. Some antidepressants can cause increased cravings for some people, but not for others, whether TSM is in the picture or not.

Also, see my post to Darris wrt mindful drinking and Joanna's suggestions:

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=4722&p=61936&sid=cbafb01720c2ee7e9e43ea3f81852176#p61936

Thanks JSP
Appreciate the feedback. No, I take a multi-vitamin and an 80mg aspirin. No other drugs. I'll share the info with my doctor.

jrh

It may be too, that you simply will have to be at it for longer to achieve pharmacological extinction of your cravings.

Take a look at ChrisB's post:

viewtopic.php?f=19&t=4091

jrh - it took me 11 months to get to where I wanted - I did up my dose for ten days before I was 'cured' - but am not sure if it was upping my dose that helped - I was drinking daily pretty much - 4 Guinness daily, and then on 5th December, got sick after dinner - and that was more or less it for me. I did still have the odd day where I drank after that but these days have absolutely no desire at all to drink. I have NO idea if upping my dose played any part in that at all - I wish I did know - all I can say is you might want to give it a shot at least for 2 weeks or so.

good luck, please post again and let us know how you are doing,

hugs, Maggie

Thanks all for the feedback.
I feel better already.Don't get me wrong, TSM has been a miracle from where I stand looking back. It sounds like staying the course is warranted. All I know is I don't want to go back to the dark place I was in. I think I'll take every dose I don't use on a particular AF day, and add 1/2 of it to the next 50mg I take. 75mg is well below any warning flag level, and I can see what happens. Good news is I have a great Doctor, so I'll share any thoughts he has on this in the coming months.

All the best

jrh

Jrh,

I have been at this for almost a year, and it has been a rollercoaster ride for me. There will be times where I have no desire to drink, and then there are times when the desire is so strong that I am wondering if the nal has stopped working or if I am backsliding. Whenever I am discouraged I will go back and reread the book, for it is amazing what I have forgotten or what I thought didn't apply to me does now. Also I try to remember how I was pre-TSM (like you have done). How hard it was to be sober the few times that I was, and how that uncontrollable desire to drink filled my every thought. It is the little things that I forget that makes me realize how far I have come, for I can walk into the grocery store without buying two bottles of wine and a pint of vodka, or I forget to purchase my alcohol altogether, I can wake up without worrying about how I hurt my husband/family with the drunken words that I had said, I can be fasting for blood work that I haven't been able to do for years, and many other little things. But, those little things aren't really little, for my brain has changed with how it feels about alcohol; however, how I emotionally deal with my issues (stress, anger, sadness, etc) is a different story. I think we want this to be a "cure all", but some of us have to work at it. I am not saying that this is your issue, but have you thought about why you turn to alcohol? Is it just habit or is it truly a physical desire? If it is just physical upping your dose may help, but if a few weeks or so you do not see a change either more time, or a closer look of why you drink, may be needed. Habits are very hard to break, and turning to alcohol is a habit for some of us.

I do wish you luck and report back to let us know how you get along.

Jaba