PV --

Nice graphs! And the progress you cite is irrefutable evidence TSM is working for you! Congratulations and I look forward to some day adding you to THE CURED list!

All my best,

Nick

Hi PV!

Looks like progress to me! I kinda wish you would change your avatar because every time I see it, I WANT ICE CREAM!!! (Just kidding) - sort of...

Ha! I might have to change that avatar. It makes me hungry too.

I can see why you're saying there's no trend and you're prepared for backsliding. You're R^2 value is low, but that's just because of you're drinking style... all over the map. But what about this: you haven't had six drinks in a day in 35 days. ??

Looks like good news to me.

Yeah, my drinking pattern has always been bi-modal. Either a bottle of wine or 2-3 beers. (Weekends can spike up if I have a beer or two at lunch, then wine from Happy Hour to bedtime.) I've always preferred wine, probably because I can usually nurse a bottle all night (occasionally opening a second). Pre-TSM it was wine 6-7 days a week and beer only one day a week at most. The single biggest driver for my numbers is going to be the ability to put a cork back into an open bottle.

I also really want to end up in a place with AF days, but I'm afraid to push it too soon, and hope it will come naturally in another month. Once my mind turns that corner, I truly believe from all I've seen here that the die will be cast and cure will follow, inexorably.

Your driver is the cork...

Mine is when I can say the words to my husband "No more for me". We just finish the bottle as routine and even when I've had the stray thought of saying no, I choke on saying them

Oh, and he's waiting for me to be cured so he'll drink less.. how warped is this???

Ooh, that's kind of a double whammy Virginia. It will be interesting for you to see what he does when you *do* say, "No more for me, thanks." That time is coming for you both, I'm certain.

Week8: Lowest unit week so far. I admit that I was deliberately trying a little bit on some days to keep the numbers down. Even so, I'm beginning to feel that the upper limit of what I can enjoy in an evening without "payback" is gradually lowering. In the past, a full bottle would only hurt me next day if it was particularly awful wine, or very high alcohol content (14+%). Now I'm feeling after three glasses that drinking any more would be flirting with a crummy morning-after. My mouth is saying "more, more" but my mind is saying "perhaps you should stop here" -- and while I have to put a little effort into stopping, at least I was able to this week. This is indeed progress as before I rarely could stop.

Anyway, this week's graphs. Weekly graph looks stunning (if I may say so). Wonder if I will spike up in week 9? Only time will tell and I'm prepared to ride it out either way. This is clearly working so all I need is patience. Bring it on.

Good girl!! Happy for you!

Thanks houtx! Heh, I guess I never introduced myself to the board.

I'm a 53 y/o guy who felt that while I was getting along in life OK so far, things were beginning to slip. I began to recognize that while I really, really enjoy wine (and scotch, and beer), I was losing my ability to stop at a couple of glasses, and that I was requiring it every single day. After drinking daily for many years at what I felt to be at least 3X the appropriate rate I began also to fear for my liver. I began to fear that I might be showing signs of cognitive issues.

When my slightly older brother suddenly dropped dead early this summer, and I found out that he had many of the same heart issues as killed my mother and plague my other brother, ... I began to fear for my own heart, as the condition can be exacerbated by excessive alcohol. I decided in earnest to Do Something about drinking. Following a passing reference to TSM on a community weblog I follow, I googled around to learn more. Like many if not most here, it resonated with me as making sense, seeming achievable, and having sound data behind it. So here I am.