Love the 2/3, 3/2 model!! And Curi please do keep us posted, I like you am curious about post-cured drinking without nal. Personally, it's because the side effects are still there, but also I am interested to see what the link between the drug and our brains is...

Hi everyone!

Just a quick update.

I have been drinking more frequently lately because of holidays, weddings, birthdays and a clutter of social events. During the big events I always took 12.5 mg of Nal. On those occasions I drank more than usual but it was over many hours and every single time, without fail, not only did I feel like I had enough, but that I would be ill if I drank another drop. I just couldn't take any more. This feeling still hasn't ceased to amaze and delight me!

On the quieter occasions, I've drunk with 12.5 mg, 6.25 mg and no Naltrexone at all. I don't feel any difference. I still have 1 to 3 units without feeling any effects or wanting to drink more, regardless of whether I take Nal or not.

I never drink on an empty stomach and always have food with my drinks, be it nuts n nibbles or a full meal. This is my new golden rule.

Nal on!

curi

Hi Curious one, I read your one year journal until it stopped in Aug. 2012 and I just thought that I would inquire if you are still using TSM and if it is still working for you. I am sober for 9 years and do not miss drinking except on rare occasions and one of them is coming up. I plan a trip to Italy and want to sample some wine with meals and when visiting a few wineries. I just love reading success stories like yours but would hope that you are still successful. Please reply. Thanks.

Same here, Curi! hope all is well!!

Hi Sailor and Welcome!

Hi EL, thanks for checking in on me!

All is well in Curiland. I am still moderating and in control of my drinking. Though to be honest, I can't remember the last time I took Naltrexone, sometime in August or September, I think. I'm still following my personal Golden Rule: Never drink on an empty stomach and always have food while drinking. This works a charm for me.

Sailor, I totally understand where you are coming from, having been there myself. In fact, there are a few of us on this forum who chose to try TSM despite being sober for a number of years. And although there is no way of knowing how anyone will react to Naltrexone, I think it's fair to say that we had an easier (and faster) time regaining control of our drinking than those who start TSM while still drinking abusively. I think a lot of that might be due to the fact that we were no longer addicted, through abstinence, and because we had lost the habit or reflex to drink.

I think another important aspect to TSM success is our own personal beliefs. If we have absorbed AA/Abstinence doctrine- Powerlessness, then I think that makes moderation all the more difficult. The, albeit well-meaning, message that once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic and that we are powerless over alcohol, undermines our attempts to control our drinking. We manage abstinence for however long but when we do drink again, because we believe we can't control alcohol, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, and we don't control it.

Instead of teaching people to fear alcohol and that we can't control it, we should be doing just the opposite, we should be empowering people, teaching them moderation tools, using behavioral interventions and cognitive awareness to give them the confidence they so desperately need to take control of their drinking. It is doable if we can just believe it.

It is probable that if you decide to try Naltrexone for your trip to Italy that you might feel unwell because of some side effects, or you might find that you don't like the taste of wine anymore and/or simply don't enjoy it. You'll probably be disappointed, which is what you want/need. We don't want our pleasure receptors lighting up like a christmas tree.

Whatever you decide to do, I wish you luck.

Curi

Curi,

Thank you very much for the reply, you have some very interesting insight about the more conventional abstinence programs. I too went to AA for a while but that was more than 20 years ago and the times that I have sobered up since, including this 9+ year stretch, I have done it on my own and actually without "white knuckling" it. I am curious about the side effects of Nal, especially perhaps changing the taste of wine or the drink of choice. That would be either a pity or a blessing because I, unlike many drinkers really enjoyed the taste of beer and wine and certain liqueurs, not so much other liquors. Anyway it is my intention if i do decide to give this a try to try the Nal without booze to see if my body reacts to it in some abnormal manner and assuming my high tolerance to medicines I doubt that it will. Then I will be in a position to give the wine tasting a try. I know from my past long history of sobriety that I did not immediately return to drinking abnormally, it was only after I hooked up with an old alcoholic friend that introduced me to a particular liquor made in Colombia that is consumed straight, that is enough to addict anyone. And the other times was in great part because I associated 100% with people that literally drank everyday almost from morning till bed time. I have changed my lifestyle 100% since my previous drinking days and do not have even one friend that over indulges in anything. At any rate thanks for your posting and any future opinions/experiences that you may wish to relay to me will be appreciated.

So great to read your update Curi. Glad it is going so well and you feel empowered to drink and stop drinking as you choose.