Mario,

I'm so sorry to hear that your husband isn't better. I've been thinking about you and was wondering how he was doing. I'm glad that TSM is working for you and I look forward to getting there soon! I've had the same reaction to hard liquor. SInce taking TSM, I can't touch it without feeling ill. Even heavy or red wines are too much for me. Keep posting. It really helps to hear your experience!

I hope he is feeling better soon. BTDT

Hi BTDT, Have you been to Rome yet, cant wait to hear what you think of it.

Dont know what to think of Hubby's illness at this stage. He has had a cat scan which showed nothing which is good news but though he spent 10 days in hospital and is home he is no better and none the wiser about what the problem is. He has been tested for everything from TB to Brucolous(sp) to Lupus. All results are clear. He went back to work yesterday but just isnt able to be there and even admitted this evening that he thinks he should be in hospital. The hospital he was in is a small private one and in hindsight we should have insisted he go to either the biger public hospital or a univercity hospital in the next county. I dont know what to do yet as there are still some tests that are not back so there is no point in him going to doc and saying that he wants to be readmitted somewhere else as all he will be told is to wait untill all the results are back. He is quite weak and sweating like crazy but only around his head neck and shoulders.

My thoughts and prayers are with you at this time,....My best, JIm

I wrote a long pm to Joe 12 pack last night and my laptop went down as I was trying to submit it. I hate that.

Anyway I thought Id put some of it here. A few weeks ago I had the bright idea that I would quarter or smash my tabs in an effort to lessen the one hour wait time. I figured that it would get to my system faster and so I could drink earlier. In hindsight it wasnt a good idea, for me at any rate. They were the occasions that I drank most and had greyouts though not full blackouts. I ve since quit doing this and I dont know if Im alone in this but I have a feeling that some of my endorphins are released on a Friday evening hours before I take that first drink. Could it be that endorphins are released at just the idea that I am going to drink later. I have started taking my nal about 3.30pm in the afternoon early enough that Im not yet at the stage where Im thinking Oh I cant wait for 6pm and a glass of wine. It may all be in my head but it seems that since Ive been doing this that the cravings for that first drink are diminished and I never quite get to that feeling like OH YEAH Im having drinks tonight and because of this I drink less throughout the session.

Maybe this is all in my head so Id welcome any other thoughts

.

Interesting,I can see how that is possible.I can get very happy,excited and giddy just with the anticipation of having a few drinks later.

i also saw a reference here to thinking about drinking can cause endorphn release. i've been looking for the thread and can't find it. it was one of our more scientifically minded members citing a particular study i believe.
perhaps they will be kind enough to post it again.
path

glad oy¨posted it here for all to see. i recommendeed quartering the tablets to yoga, either in a post or a pm, when she mentioned sometimes not waiting the full hour. this may cause me to re-think it. I usually wait the full hour, and now I try to take the Nal at 4:30 or so. I get off at 6:00 so I know it's fully in my system. thanks mario. praying for you and your husband and next time I drink I will hoist a guinness in your general direction. north by northeast I believe

Thats a very interesting point that I don't think has ever been addressed.

It makes perfect ense that you would get a shot of endorphins thinking about it.

Do you remember when you were jonesing for a drink, once you bought teh booze the jones would kinda go away cuz you knew you had your fix (I know y'all know the 10.55 dash out the door to the liquor store. (at least here in Mass they shut down at 11 PM)

That being said, I'm not really having any issues with craving during teh days as I was ALWAYS for the most part an evening drinker.

OK my best, MArio, Jim

I had discussed this in a couple of different posts and it's an interesting question. There has been addiction research that looked at alcohol reinforcement and this is pretty clear. You don't have to actually drink alcohol to get reinforcement. The sight or smell of alcohol is enough to cause reinforcement of addictive behavior. Even seeing certain friends or a picture of alcohol or a certain location if it is paired with drinking behavior can cause reinforcement. Now in theory if you stop pairing the stimulus with the response this connection should be extinguished. So if your drive by the wine store at 5pm causes you to get an endorphin "hit" because you always stop and get a bottle of wine on the way home then once you break this association (i.e. you drive by the wine store 50 times without stopping) then the association should be extinguished. This may be the real power of alcohol free days because it enables us to break all the various associations (or stimuli pairing for the psych geeks out there) we have made with alcohol. So Mario, if NAL covers you for 10 hours and you do all your drinking from 6pm-11pm there is no reason you couldn't take your NAL at 3 or 3:30pm so you were sure to have it on board blocking opioid receptors prior to any stimuli that have become paired with alcohol are encountered. If you do find yourself a little short on time then I think the best you can do is break your NAL open if it is coated (like Nodict). I doubt if it matters in the uncoated pills (like Naltima-50) and try to drink your first drink slowly. You may not get complete blockage of the first drink effect but hopefully you can limit the reinforcement you get from the AL.