I've read all the threads about Sober Recovery and AA and I hear the frustration in all of them. Now with that said maybe just stand back and look at this a different way. I know someone who has been sober with the help AA for 20 years, he still panics if he thinks there was wine put into a sauce but he's sober. Can I tell him to take a pill and start to drink so he can be cured? Before TSM there were the AA's, Rehabs, all kind of drugs and centers but nothing worked but they only used what they had to work with. How did you find TSM? I would think it was this amazing thing called the internet and search engines, that's how I found out about it. Google is our friend and a marketing tool. The more any of us type "Alcoholism TSM" in the search box the more sites about TSM will come up. Do you have any idea how many alcoholics go on the internet to find some kind of help? It may have been us. I did.

Now, for the medical profession I know somewhat of the way they think. TSM would be telling someone long who thought the world was flat that the world was really round. Or think about the first flu vaccine that said you need to put some of the very flu into the vaccine to keep you from it. It's hard to break a way of thinking. I don't know how many of you who are cured used a doctor for a prescription of NAL but you need to go back and talk to them again about TSM. Then you need to ask them what are they going to do to promote this information to their colleagues help others who are plagued with this?

Sorry if I rambled on but we need to look at positive avenues to make people aware of this cure we can't go back to what didn't work.

What an excellent analogy with the flu vaccine! Vaccines have the very virus in them that you are trying not to get infected by.

Regarding my success with TSM, I got my prescription from my psychiatrist and told him my intentions of how I was going to use it. Since it's been successful, he's happy we found something that has worked, but it doesn't sound as if he's going to be an active promoter just yet. He wants to see if it has long lasting effects. He sees people, including myself, that are successful at some drug or therapy for a while, only to fail at it later. So, some time must pass before he concludes it works. Even then, he will conclude that it worked for me, not necessarily that it will work for others.

Bob

I know when the time comes I will be definitely be asking my physician to "step up her game" in regard to this for other patients. I think I am somewhat of a guinea pig in her experience so far, but she seems pretty open and curious as to how it goes for me. She seemed mildly amused (in a nice way) when I whipped out my phone to show her that I was diligently tracking my units

Even if a doctor was reluctant to tell a hard-core, end-stage alcoholic that drinking their way out was a possibility, could not an immense amount of good come from turning people back before they ever got to that place? Is there not a long continuum to deal with?

I admit that I am not an extreme case, and probably fit fairly well into the sort of population that most of the research has been done on. I began to panic for reasons of family medical history and the recognition that the slope I was one was getting steeper. I was at the point of being unable to turn back, but still able to see all-too-clearly where I was going. I was terrified. It's like watching an accident happening before your eyes and feeling powerless to stop it.

I know from watching House that "all patients lie." My doctor has been very consistent, on every exam and visit, about always clarifying what safe drinking levels are and even the possible heart benefits, along with suggesting I throttle back if I mentioned my rather understanded estimate of how I was maybe perhaps ever-so-slightly just a tad-bit past that.

Honestly, if you have high blood pressure, they tell you there is medication that can help. If you have high cholesterol, they tell you there is (generic!) medication that can help. If you drink more than you'd care to, why don't they tell you there is (generic!) medication that can help?

How powerful it would have been for her to listen to me or any other patient sort of mumbling or fudging or outright lying about how much they drink and be able to say, "Research suggest there may be possible benefits of very moderate drinking along these guidelines (blah blah). But just so you know, if you ever feel that you need just a bit of help adhering to those guidelines let me know - it's a very simple thing to adjust."

It really starts with getting the word out to people that will force the doctors to look into TSM further.

Bob, Plainvanilla how did you hear about TSM?

There's a cell in the spreadsheet for that now.

Prompted by a comment on MetaFilter I ordered Dr. Eskapa's book.

My shrink prescribed Campral which didn't work, then Antabuse which really didn't work. I tried Aversion Therapy, which partially worked. So the next drug choice was Naltrexone. When I did the research, I stumbled on the Sinclair Method and ordered the book, then I decided to give it a try with my shrink's blessing, although he had not heard of the method himself.

Bob

I think most of us here basically tripped across The Sinclair Method. We weren't looking for it, it basically found us. My wife brought me an article about Naltrexone, then I started doing some research on the net and found mywayout.com. Once there, I met Lena, SpringerRider, RV, etc, then bought Dr. Eskapa's book. I remember, that I couldn't wait to get Naltrexone so I could start. In fact, I hardly made it out of the pharmacy before I was taking my first Naltrexone pill.

At that time, I was at a very low point in my life. Alcohol had its claws in me and was pulling me down in a big way. Today, I am no longer a prisoner to alcohol.

Yes, this is a New Way. More importantly, this is the BETTER WAY.

Q

glad your back posting Q

I never advocate someone sober relapse just to go through tsm but i post on the recovery forum of craigslist all the time and try to spread the news.

for me i was 6 months sober (like my twentieth attempt) in aa and i panicked, i thought 'there has to be something else!' id seen the commercials but id been brainwashed by aa for so long that 'nothing else works' that i couldnt believe it could be this easy

went ahead and tried it

boom

happy