Greetings all. I know it has been a while but things have been crazy around here. The mom thing is a full time job these days. Just a few things....

Heavy Fuel. I have taken your advice about finding a hobby. I have started walking at least every other day. I also registered to walk a half marathon in February. It gives me something to work towards. Thanks for the inspiration.

Fresh Air. You are about the third person who has mentioned gluten to me. I go to the doctor next week and I am going to bring that up. Thanks.

Goal for this week. At least 3 AF days. Pushing for 4. I have noticed that I really can't stand the tast of wine. I almost have to force myself to swallow it. This makes me think that this method is really working. The AF days are very easy. I have had it with being sick and hung over after trying to outdrink the Nal. Any ideas on how to break that bad habit would be welcome. Thanks!


Hope all is well. Blessings to all my online friends.

Georgiamom, I share your frusration though I have been on the TSM program for over a year now. However, I don't often seek support on this forum and I don't keep track of my drinking; ehich I will begin as of this week. I found an App that will help me track my consumption so more excuses! Since beginning with TSM I have definitely gained control of my alcohol cravings. I came home from work and flet I needed a drink, and justified, one led to two, two to three, etc. That craving led me to serach the Web and discovered TSM I can now go 5 days without drinkingand not missing it. However, my intention was never to stop drinking but to gain control of the habit and on Friday nights I'll have a drink, feel like I can handle another, then a third and so forth. I feel a burn in my stomach the next day, say I ewont drink butaround noon will take my Nal in case I want a nother weeken drink and of course, since I took Nal I might as well have a drink an hour later or so and the cycle repeats. But Monday I stop, religiuosly. That's the good part!!
What I don't understand, and I hope some more biochemically intelligent forum members out there can help me, is why if Nal is supposed to block the receptors that create the desire for alcohol I feel an increased desire fr alcohol once I star even though intellectually I know I shouldn't? I would think after over 52 weeks of Nal + Al religiously the pleasure rectors would be "off the alcohol rush" by now.

I need a little encouragemnt to feel less frustrated with my perceived lack of progress after a year and some explanation as to why it seems to be working this way for me.

Thanks guyas, all of you, for being here for me!!!!

Flaco, Nal affects all of us so differently...I still get a definite pleasurable buzz from alcohol - which I enjoy - but sometimes I long for the complete apathy or even revulsion that others say they get from Nal. So...I have mixed feelings, too. I've actually accomplished what I wanted from day 1 - to be able to drink moderately (usually), but I don't feel entirely confident...yet. I've read a lot about relapse on the forum and I can sure see how that happens. Alcohol was making me miserable a year ago and now Nal makes it MUCH less scary. I think part of me has forgotten how bad it was, and now I want to have it both ways. Human nature, or MINE at least

It sounds like you've made a LOT of progress, wow!!! I find tracking units helpful, as an objective yardstick, and also to set goals. Best to you -

I don't know about you Flaco and Chrissie, but I'm gonna up my Nal to see if I can lose that buzz (which we know we all love!). Took me 3 weeks to get to 12.5 without horrible nausea. I'm gonna up it to 25 and see what happens. I really must be a TSMer - I HATE being nauseated from the Nal but I want off this alcoholic roller coaster. So whatever it takes to get the job done....

Thanks to all you posters. I learn something from each of you. -FA

Thanks to all who answered my last post. It's good to know I am not the only one who get frustrated from time to time. Here is the latest....

AF days are very easy. Average about 3 a week. However when I drink it is all out and all the way. What is going on? I would think by now I would be past that. Sometimes I can't even remember going to bed. What is going on with me?

Any advice is welcome!

Thanks

Hey there Georgiamom,

You sound exactly like me, 3 months ago: AFs - 3 to 4/wk - were very easy, but on the "on" days, it was pedal-to-the-metal. This went on for several months, and I was in despair. And then for some reason I decided to try a whole week AF (at the example of Got, or Curi?), and did so, 8 days actually. This seemed to snap me out of that cycle, such that two weeks later (week 52), I felt cured, pretty much! I don't know WHY this happened...if it was the 8 days clean, or if it was just the timing, or if it was the fact that I'd glommed onto the "1 year cure" vision, but that's the way it happened.

Hmmm. I just went back and read my thread from around that time and also remember prior to the 8 AFs, I was having trouble doing more than one AF in a row, and that also ceased to be a problem then. I'm not necessarily advocating a stretch of AFs, and I know this is a tough time of year to do that, but it sure worked a charm for me! Best to you...remember how much better off you are now that last year, right?

Hi, Georgiamom! When I started having the AF days, I found myself in a similar situation. My AF days were easy, but my drinking days would periodically spike. Around my 10th month, I finished with a big burst and it was over. Be sure to be careful where you drink with these spikes.

I think you are really close to being done!

Thanks Chrissie and HF for the posts. I think you both are right. It is time to really start pushing for AF days. My numbers were way up this week which completely freaks me out. This would be a great week to go AF because my son is getting his wisdom teeth pulled and I need to be there for him. HF. I pray you are right and that I am close to being cured. I am tired of drinking!!!

Merry Christmas to all!

Quick question. How do you know when the meds have done all the good they are going to do and it is time to suck it up and use your willpower to stop drinking? My numbers have been really bad the last two weeks. The holiday season has been one social event after another. Ugh!!!
Thanks!

For me, I got to the point it was a chore. I preferred how I feel without a nalover to how I feel with a drink. I think I had to have AF days so my body would know the difference. I had been so hungover for so long, it was a problem.

There really isn't any short term bad set of numbers. I pondered adding more AF days, and when I did, they seemed to multiply.