Happy New Year NipIt!!!

Thanks for your ramblings, I am really encouraged by your story! I am in the process of learning about "drinking through the Nal" right now. I didn't know this was possible, I am certainly finding out differently now. No wonder why I have been so sick, deffinately taking measures not to do this anymore.

The best thing I have found on with TSM is that there is hope. I do see you getting to the cured list, you are doing a great job.

Zippy Smiles

Hiya NipIt! Great entries to your ever-expanding thread. The way you write is refreshing because what you wrote is I believe very close to the dialogue's that bounce back and forth inside most of our heads. Sorry about your injury. That's always an unwelcome occurance.

I am reading your progress as well. Chalk up each and every positive thing because evry victory will strengthen your resolve and comittment to this treatment. And to see it through to whatever end you will one day declare and take as your very own!

Valleys and peaks are to be expected on the road we are traveling ...and then we endure and grow closer to the real change that we are after.

The journey is long, good for you for sticking in the race!

Here's to hoping that your hand will heal up in record speed,

Ketchikan1

Congrats, nipit, on all your progress and a sober christmas. It sounds like you are really making a change for the better. I hope you are healing nicely as well. Happy new year!

Well folks, I'm very nervous/excited/thrilled/even a bit scared to be writing this, but I think I'm there. I really think Nal and TSM have done their pharmacological wonders on me. After NYE I went 12 days AF, including a weekend (of course, duh, but of significance to me), without really thinking too much about AL, without white knuckling, and even in the face of some usual triggers. We were up in the mountains skiing last weekend and I unbelievably had no desire to drink apres-ski. We went out for dinner and I was fine with water. Yes, I did think about a glass of wine, but I didn't order one and I was perfectly fine after a few moments. The desire really did go away.

This past Friday night 1/13 we went out for Italian, I took 25 mg Nal an hour before, and my husband and I both ordered a glass of wine. The first sips were delicious, I actually felt a little tipsy after half a glass, I drank as slowly as my husband drinks (I still watch his glass vs. mine, but not like a hawk as I used to ), and I literally could not finish it. I offered it to hubby, which NEVER has happened before - I used to compare his glass vs. mine, how much faster I would drink than him, drink any extra from his, hoard the bottle, etc. etc. I said I was too full to drink the rest and my college son said, really?? too full for wine?? (As an aside, I'm so glad I know I'll have TSM to share with him should he ever need it someday - hopefully he picked up dad's gene not mine in this regard.)

Final trigger - we hosted a 'super bowl' party last night (that's what I called it because, although I'd like to say I'm a believer, I was pretty much certain that Timmy and the Broncs would be done after that game...and how! OUCH.) Usually I would drink while preparing all the food (I didn't), drink a ton during the party/game (I didn't). It's weird, because I wouldn't say I didn't WANT to drink - I did, but I decided NOT to drink while cooking - and that turned out OK, I did it!. Also, I planned my drinking - my plan was to limit myself to just one beer per quarter. Now in the past several years, as I knew my drinking was climbing and getting to be over the top, I would set all kinds of plans and limits (I'll have only 'x' #...) which always went phippp out the window once I had the first drink. Not yesterday. Cracked the first beer at kick-off, drank the first half of it REAL FAST (it still tastes good initally!), then tried to slow down, then did slow down. Again, got the fun, tipsy feeling (like the early days of drinking), but then believe it or not, did not really want more, did not have the ol' craving to CONTINUE THE BUZZ which leads me to overdrinking every time. I thought often about cracking a second one, but then easily did not, just kinda decided not to. Tried a Dr. Pepper Ten instead (you know, the new drink advertised for men which makes me say why can't I have it, I want, I'll buy it - is that their advertising strategy after all? lol). Anyway, after the pop, and a sparkling water, and food, I realized I was done drinking alcohol for the night. Unbelievable.

Let me say THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED to me in the past. Only thru nal and TSM have I arrived at this point.

I know this is where I want to be - mostly AF, but able to (or just know that I can) have a drink if I want, and - this part is still amazing to me - be able to stop after one or two.

Am I ready - shall I - put my name on the Cured List? Interestingly, I started 9/15/11. Today is 1/15/12. If I declare myself today, that's four months on the dot. Wow. Thank you Drs. Sinclair and Eskapa. Thank all of YOU on this forum for your stories, sharing, insight and support.

TSM WORKS!!!

Hey NipIt!!!

Congrats on making your goal. What a textbook, rapid-responder case of TSM. We know it took work and determination. Your story is a true inspiration. You've also been such a thoughtful and supportive person in the forum. Thank you!

So if you decide to add your name to the cured/controlled list I think that makes you the second in our merry band to get there in 2012. Here's to the rest of us joining you there!!!

Set off fireworks and call out the marching band! Such happy news.

Wowser, Nipit!

Ditto that, what Tiller said: well done! I know you haven't posted your #'s, so I was wondering if there was a slow tapering off, or if it came "of a sudden" - your cure, which is kind of how it appears to me. I mean, the usual roller coaster for the first 3 months, but then voilá!

Thanks for the detailed account of your recent drinking events - they sound terrific! You've met your goal, and then some, sounds like. It looks like your "Nipit" name was aptly chosen...

Chrissie

Congrats Nipit! If you want to add your name send Q an email to put your name will go on the official list!

Yes, Chrissie, that's exactly it - I've been lucky all my drinking life (so far) to never have had what I would consider a 'bottoming out.' I have had some very 'close calls,' and in the past year those calls have become more frequent, the damage was increasing, the consequences were becoming worse, and this last one was thisclose to causing what could have been some horrible and life-changing problems. But, thanks to, as you said, the extra torque of Nal and in the context of TSM, I was able to say ENOUGH. And not just say it, but be able to respond. With the pharmaceutical magic of Nal + some willpower, I was able to get to this point. I do feel in control, or very very close.

I went AF this week until a b'day brunch on Saturday. I took 25 mg with a hearty breakfast (I've learned that I must take Nal with some food), and two hours later was enjoying a mimosa SLOWLY (wow, surprised myself). I was so pleased that I wasn't drinking faster than the others, but I did think it was a bit light on Champagne - when the hostess announced she had mistakenly prepared it with Martinelli's (I had to chuckle). The second drink included the alcohol - yum. I very consciously had only one REAL mimosa. I would have had another but I would have been the only one (you see, I still watch what everyone else is drinking, see if I'm drinking faster, etc.). I switched to coffee with everyone else and still had a lovely time at the party. I stopped thinking about wanting another alcoholic drink. That's progress.

Unfortunately about 5 pm that night I was hit with huge nausea. I really don't know why or when the 'Nal nausea' will sneak up on me, but that's exactly what it was. For the past several weeks when I've drunk only a few and only a few nights a week, I've taken 25 mg with a huge snack one hour ahead of drinking, and have been just fine - no side effects at all. Perhaps this was different because it was brunch? This reminded me of the Nal + out of town work dinner I attended early on in TSM - SO nauseous after nal. Yuck. I could not eat dinner, let alone think of having a glass or two of wine on a Saturday night with my husband. Nal nausea, much like a Nal hangover, I think is extra negative reinforcement that alcohol is not good for my body!

So I'm still drinking a little bit, but it is different. I'm more aware, it's easier to stop (MUCH MUCH easier) and I feel in control. Is this what it's all about? I still think about drinking, not all the time but I just want to point out that I'm not to the place where I never think about alcohol - in fact sometimes the thought of a cold one or a delicious glass of red or white sounds fabulous. Then I remember it's not the same. The urge passes fairly quickly - having some food or water helps. Changing up patterns and habits are good. And adding willpower to the mix is a must. I haven't had a white knuckler, but sometimes when it sounds good and it would be easy to have a drink I say NO not gonna do it, and the moment passes.

I'm still tracking, still reading your stories and journeys, trying to add where I can. Keep it up, everyone, keep Nal'ing on. May we all get there in 2012!

Hi Nipit, I decided to read through your posts after you were kind enough to respond to mine. I read early on that you didn't want to post your levels because you felt that your pre-TSM levels were lower than most. To some degree, I feel the same way about my drinking, because 3/4 of a bottle is my normal limit. However, after reading through your posts and the posts of others, I think it would be nice to compare your unit progress. I appreciate reading about all of your successes and am looking forward to gaining control over my drinking also, yet I am really nervous about the extinction "bursts". Fortunately, I mostly drink at home and with my husband, so I don't have to worry about the drinking and driving issue. I too have college age son's and have discussed the "de-addicting pill" with them. Let's hope our children don't let their alcohol consumption get out of control? At least we have some ammunition to give them other than AA. I was pleased to hear you could take the Vicodin after 4 - 5 days being Nal free. I was worried that I would have to throw the pain pills away after beginning this program and I would like to think that I can still have half a Vicodin during the last few miles of a half marathon. This could be in lieu of the celebratory drinks if I plan appropriately. Funny, how I can control all other substances besides alcohol. Anyhow, thank you for all of your posts and congrats on all of the progress you have made. Please keep posting. Keke

Nipit, I don't think you need to NEVER think of alcohol in order to consider that TSM has worked for you. I think regular people think about alcohol sometimes, look forward to drinking sometimes, and even over indulge sometimes. That's part of a regular life with different moods and events for most people, I think. So it's fine, in my book if you ENJOY a nice cold one. That doesn't mean you're an alcoholic!! the fact that you have control enough to have one drink is pretty amazing in of itself.
I feel for you about the nal nausea - I get it too