So it begins...

In short: in GB, in reasonable health, no doctor supervision, and thanks be to River

I'm a habitual kinda guy, don't drink to blackout but do get thirsty by 6 pm sharp, when I'll smooth the change from day to night with a few strong vodka drinks. I'm definitely a night-owl. If work didn't interfere, then I could easily go 'til sunrise... But it does, so I don't.

As per The Book, took 25mg the first 2 days and then stepped up to 50mg. A bit of nausea the very first day, maybe a bit spacey with the first 50mg (giving me rushes and a really strong craving...), but overall, gentle medicine with no serious s/e...and since I've no way to get a LFT, that's pretty reassuring.

Just a bit disappointed that I didn't get any honeymoon. Felt a bit drowsier than normal a couple of nights, and so didn't consume quite as much, but made it up immediately the following night. Despite that, my general craving at 6 has maybe decreased by 0.5% or so...but is that just psychosomatic? Looking around my family, I definitely think I'm likely to have genetic tendencies, so I sort of expected a honeymoon, as per the theory in the book. Reading through all the excellent material on this forum, you come to think of "the honeymoon" as the golden Wonka ticket...so all you successful non-honeymooners please post below to the contrary!!

While River took care of the obvious needs, it belatedly occurred to me that I hadn't actually bothered to line up any substitute drinks. I don't like sugary drinks, like soda, or juice. I don't like tea. I do like coffee but cannot drink it past midday...even keeping my fixes to the AM, I reach 6 PM needing strongly to relax. I've experimented with things like ginger beer, pomegranate juice and the like, but really I want something quite bitter yet refreshing... Any suggestions?

Probably doesn't help that I've kicked cigarettes in the last year either, so orally fixated, and not in a good way (but please don't suggest nuts or fruit!).

Hope it was a good 4th of July for all of you who have that to celebrate!

Hey Shack, no real honeymoon for me, although it took a good long while to be fully cured. But I am sitting here sober on the 4th of July, so it did work in the long run. Best of luck!

shack, most of us have ups and downs. you can check my charts on my progress thread, but mypre- tsm numbers are my pre AA numbers, and 'i was only about 2 weeks out of AA when i started TSM, so I used the numbers from my "prime" before coming to the conclusion that i should deal witih this problem. in short, that may mean that my initial drop-off isn't as drastic as the chart indicates, but I haven't spiked back up to those "in my prime" numbers, nor have I come even close, it's been a weekly rollercoaster with ups and downs, but for me it's been worth it. I don't really subscribe to a lot of the anecdotal evidence I've read here, save for the idea that for a long term daily drinker it takes longer than 3-4 months to be cured. I am seeing that first hand. Whatever happens, take the Nal an hour before you drink and enjoy life. this TSM thing hapens in the primal brain, not the conscious one, so you won't really see it all at once.

Thanks for that guys. Wise words about treating the anecdotes with care, Joe. Also, seems like you got it in a nutshell with primal vs. conscious brain.

As it happens, had my first 4u day yesterday, so that counts as a welcome dip on the rollercoaster for me.

I think for newbies especially, you can read an awful lot of stuff on here, maybe even too much, and by the nature of our condition, you can be too eager to position yourself as a hopeless case, and so you start over-analyzing and a vicious circle sets up... Just like a hypochondriac with a doctor's manual.

Anyway thanks again!

NB. Tried pomegranate juice for the first time the other day, not too sweet at all, and allegedly good for you...