I would like to introduce myself, I am a 48 year old male who has someone managed to remain married for 16 years to a very patient wife. Having said that, my drinking has been getting progressively worse, a typical week would start off Monday with 4-5 units to ease my weekend hangover. Tuesday and/or Wednesday would be AF days. On Thursday I would start gearing up for the weekend and have 5-7 units. Then Friday and Saturday night would be full on binges 15-20 units and blackouts. Sunday I would hit the hair of the dog early and nurse drinks all day maybe a total of 10 units. So my weekly total is usually around 60-65 units.

My wonderful wife has finally gotten through to me that my binging is having a real negative effect on our daughters’ ages 11 and 14. Thankfully I feel like I found the answer here on this forum. I started taking Nal this past Friday and definitely did not experience a “honeymoon”.

Day Nal (mg) Units
Friday 25 11
Saturday 25 17
Sunday 50 18
Monday 50 9

Of course my start of TSM coincided with a three day weekend her in the states so my Monday was heavier than normal. I have one question. As I mentioned above, I typically try to have an AF day or two during the week. Is there any reason that I shouldn’t continue this practice?

Thanks,
Diver

Add the above from my introduction, so that it is all on one thread.


I just completed week one with TSM and certainly have not experienced any type of “honeymoon”. My weekly consumption is consistent with my consumption over the past couple of years. Although there was a holiday weekend included so perhaps it is a bit lower than it would have been.

While my consumption has not changed, I now have greater clarity while I am imbibing. I know this will be a long ride for me since I have been a heavy drinker for over 30 years.

Pre-TSM 60 to 75 U.S. units weekly

1st week TSM
Fri. 11 units
Sat. 17 units
Sun. 18 units
Mon. 9 units
Tue. AF
Wed 7 units
Thurs. 7 units

Wk Total 69 units

Here’s to the weekend!

Diver

Cheers to the clarity diver! I've got 20+years pretty heavy drinking under my belt, and although I think I'll be having a hard time getting Fridays and other ingrained triggers under control, it already feels just plain different and more throttled while drinking - like I have a bit of my brain that stays realistic about how the drinking I'm doing is going to affect me later. And even a some reduction is great, as I sit here typing ready to set out and actually get some stuff done today after having around 7 units last night, as opposed to if I had my normal 12+ and now I'd be hopping in a boiling hot tub to try to sweat out some alc and then wating until my body will let me get in nap so I can feel somewhat alive by 5pm or so!! BTW, holiday habits kept my numbers up last weekend too, so don't be discouraged. Welcome to the ride.

Week two is now in the books, and my consumption dropped to 55 units even though I did not have any AF days. I was traveling most of the week on business so that automatically dropped the amount of beverages that I consumed on the weekdays. However on the flights home I avoided alcohol completely even during a long layover. This would never have happened pre-tsm, as this has always been a pretty strong trigger for me.

I am hoping to have 2 AF days during week 3; I have some important meetings this week that I need to be on the top of my game for.

Stick with if Diver! Sounds like TSM will work for you!

A nice beginning Diver! Good luck!

I have just completed week four and I have leveled off in the low 50’s for my weekly units, which is a decent reduction as compared to Pre-TSM. The biggest change is that I am much more cognizant of what is going on when I am having heavy drinking days. The last couple of weekends I have averaged 11 drinks a day on the weekend. Pre-TSM I would most likely of had 20+ each day and would not have stopped until my wife was completely and rightfully pissed off, of course I wouldn’t remember the last couple hours of the night. I have not had a single black or brown out since starting TSM!

I am confident that this is going to work for me. A couple of things that I have noticed thus far is that I miss the endorphin release during my daily workout and it seems that while my weekend numbers are down I have been drinking more during the week than Pre-TSM. I guess that I am chasing that buzz that I would normally get with 3-4 units on a weekday.

Two weeks from today we will be starting a three week family vacation to the beach in Brazil to visit family. During these trips there is a ton of Al consumed, a typical day will start with a few beers on the beach at around 11:00 or noon, and will end with hard liquor at midnight or 1:00 the next morning. There may be a bit of a break for a nap mid-afternoon, but otherwise it will be solid drinking. I am currently taking 50mg of Nal, and I wonder if I will need to take a booster dose during these marathon events.

Does anyone know or have experience with how long a single dose of Nal is effective?

Hi Diver
Apparently 50mg of nal will cover you for about 24 hours, but everyone metabolizes faster - even though I'm pretty small, I find that after 12 hours it sseems to be out of my system (I definitely would get endorphins from working out after 12 hours). If you wanted to be sure, I'd take 50mg in the morning and maybe another 25 late afternoon/early evening.
Nap sounds like a great idea as well
SL

I've tried 100mg Nal and it had quite unpleasant side effects. I felt very groggy the next day.

But I have on occasions taken another 50mg Nal to dampen down the alcohol 'buzz' to ensure I stay in control.

The few beers on the beach sound fun, but the hard liquor sounds like punishment.

What's your drinking goal for these 3 weeks? What's the maximum you want to drink? I think you have to have a plan for something like this.

Are you heading over with your daughters? I really hope you have an amazing time - just take it easy if you can!

Andy.

Andy,
Thanks for the reply, I may take a second dose of NAL during a long AL session to insure that I am blocking the endorphins. My wife and daughters will be going with me. As far as a plan goes, I am still working on that. I know that I want to reduce my consumption considerably as compared to the other vacation trips that we have taken to Brazil. I hate to think that there are so many memories that I don't have due to AL, I am hoping to have zero blackouts so that I can cherish the memories of this time spent with friends and family that I don't see very often.

I'm sitting here pissed off at myself ... Faded to Grey last night - no clue where my cell phone is. It was the first time since starting TSM that this has happened. Perhaps worse than this I am into unit 7 at 3:00 on Sunday afternoon. I know that this method has many ups and downs, but it sucks when you are in one of the downs.

I will regain control regardless of how long it takes.