I was getting a little discouraged. I did look at the posts that discussed how long this took. I know some said a year or two. I seemed to be stuck at around 8-12 AU/day (down from my starting of 120 AUs/day.

Here are my recent results:

Week 1 129
Week 2 111
Week 3 97
Week 4 99
Week 5 94
Week 6 75
Week 7 54
Week 8 59
Week 9 66
Week 10 62
Week 11 72
Week 12 64
Week 13 68
Week 14 60
Week 15 64

Here is the interesting part. I have diagnosed Generalized Anxiety Disorder. I was taking .25 mg of Xanax throughout the day, sometime .5 mg at once, though. Yesterday, I decided to have a "Ramp-down" day. I took two .25s early in the day and put up with the shaking and cloudy-headiness in the afternoon. I took a Nal around 2 PM (because it was the weekend). I usually take it at 4:30 and then have my first unit of wine or beer at 5:30 or so. So when I took my first unit of wine (chugged because I did not like this particularly one and also wanted a "fast start", I felt terrible!!! YaY!!! Then I searched the board and Dr. Escarpa's book for Xanax and benzos. I found it blocked the Nal from working. So now I will SAFELY adjust my routine and discuss this with my Dr. As in AA one has a purpose in life to "Carry the Message". My Dr. prescribed the Nal but is clinically-trained in substance abuse treatments as well. He told me he thought TSM "Was a little oversold." So my new mission/purpose is to prove to my Dr., family, and anyone else that TSM works -my New Message. I am grateful to all those who went before, the boards, and Claudia for making this happen. I'll update you guys with further results.

Harmonicaman

Glad you discovered that and got things moving again, Harmonicaman!

Some do well with Gabapentin for backing off the benzos and it can be used as an anxiolytic too. Plus, it seems to get along with TSM just fine and helps drinkers get down into "slow wave" sleep. Not that it's a slam dunk for everyone, but it might be a good addition for you. My doc started me on a low dose of that (about 300mg) even before I got the Rx for the Naltrexone. Maybe do a bit of research on it and see what your doc thinks.

If your doc gives you too much grief about the Nal, then there are a couple of docs that cover all of Oz via Telemedicine. One is a TSM doc, the other is just a source that doesn't mind prescribing Naltrexone to folks with AUD.

https://www.cthreefoundation.org/telemedicine.html

Thanks, Joe. My Dr. did prescribe Gaba. It does help me sleep. He also Rxed me Acampro (for brain healing). It's expensive, but may be worth it. I'll also discuss Inderal as a possible replacement for the Xanax. I'm going to look into the Telemedicine. My Dr. Is an hour drive away and is expensive. Now that In know the Xanax interferes, getting that down or off is my goal right now. I have ramped off it SLOWLY before. My wife is Registered Nurse, so it is good to have her around.

Awesome advantage to have a RN as a wife!

Some BP meds can wallop certain types of drinking for some folks, so Inderal might be a good move for multiple reasons. Isradipine is another that has seen some success with that in small trials. Just don't let that pressure drop too quickly as your drinking levels roll off. Might be a bit of a delicate balancing act. Wouldn't do to cut back your drinking only to crack your skull open because low BP caused a fall.

I think that just slowly backing off the benzos will give you fair progress though. Keep us up on how you're doing with all this!

Did you check GoodRx.com for your prescriptions? 180 333mg tablets of Acamprosate is about $111 in these parts with a GoodRx "coupon". No need to sign up, just type in your med and zip code.