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The 'cure' point was the point at which I no longer had daily cravings, the drive to drink was completely gone. I had the odd "Oh I fancy a drink" thought, and of course I could do, but the old burning desire had been extinguished.

Ives,

What is positive is that you're still here and still committed to change. I'm trying to give myself that same peptalk because last week wasn't my finest either. Thursday, 11, Friday 15, Sat. 13. Saturday's horendous hangover was much as you described; bodily ill, I could barely watch Mindless Netflix.

But yesterday I kept it to 5, and felt the Nal getting back to working it's magic. I don't want hangovers to keep me from making other positive changes, so I'm really paying attention to the cravings this week and engrained habits.

Hope you have a better week. I'm planning to! Hang in there.

Well, I was hung over, or in some state of mild withdrawal, or some combination, through Tuesday. 5 double-digit days totaling at least 57 drinks followed by 3 days of paying for that mistake.

This week is turning out great so far, consumption-wise. Five days in and I have only tallied up 26 drinks. Tomorrow I will be spending the whole day with a couple of family members who are recovering alcoholics, so I will not be drinking at all, and I won't be getting home until very late, so I expect that'll end up being my first AF night in six months. This all bodes well for a very low total count for week 6.

Hi Ives. A "forced" AF day is sometimes such a blessing. I had one on Thursday night and even though I was the one forcing it because of my own circumstances it led to another AF on Friday, and I hope to high heaven another tonight and beyond. For me getting one under my belt is the key. Once I can see that it's doable without my world crashing, or my nerves giving me screaming fits I seem to be able to continue....
and so it goes.

And of course all this is due to Naltrexone. Hope you continue to have good spells along with the not so good ones and that they spread into your long term goal.
Babs

Re : so why sign up for the ten-drink hangover when you're not really getting anything in return for it?

Ives,

I copied your comment above from my thread... Yes! I'm actually starting to ask myself that kind of question, even while in the midst of chasing a buzz that is no longer there.

I too, had an ugly run of double-digit days last week and a 3-day hangover, yet this week, my sixth as well, has been remarkably better, and unless I get really stupid, this week may wind up in the 20s, which would be my best week since starting by 20 units! But, best not count those chickens just yet.

Keep up the good work and enjoy the weekend.
Sheryl

Week 0: 72 (week before starting TSM)
Week 1: 63
Week 2: 57
Week 3: 69
Week 4: 50
Week 5: 73
Week 6: 43

AF night didn't happen. Things turned out differently than expected and I managed to consume about 10 units by the end of the day. The good news is that my total intake for week 6 was the lowest yet.

Week 7 is looking like it's going to end up at around 60. Whatever. I'm still pretty early into this process. Still taking the pill every afternoon. Waiting for TSM to slowly work its magic.

Re : so why sign up for the ten-drink hangover when you're not really getting anything in return for it?

I am also struggling with this......... Drink --> No Rush --> Hangover --> This Sucks!

Re: so why sign up for the ten-drink hangover when you're not really getting anything in return for it?

I don't know the answer to the question... could it be that extinction just hasn't fully happened yet? That the process has started, but that not all of the "alcohol superhighway" has been dismantled yet?

I'm hoping so.

Here's a pretty graph.

(see latest post for updated graph)

I've decided I prefer the column graph over the scatter plot since the solid bars represent a volume consumed. Watching a line zig-zag up and down doesn't convey the data as cleanly. The black dotted line is a 7-day moving average that corresponds to the "weekly intake" numbers on the right axis.

Intake is decreasing, slowly but surely. The low-intake days are dipping lower and the high-intake days are not spiking as high. I can see how this process might take a long time. The fact that all I have to do is keep taking the medication is reassuring.