OK, here goes for my first progress report:

Started Dec 6, so a little over 1 month has passed. 2 AF's and a little bit of a roller coaster ride, not sure if this is due to the holidays, or the "honeymoon" effect or a combination.

Having gone straight to the 50 mg was a bit more unpleasant than I had hoped. Some nausea, irritability/moodiness ensued during the first 2 weeks but I feel things have now stabilized.

Generally I am fairly happy with the progress, probably a little more than the numbers reflect as I definitely feel that the urgent need to think about the next drink has subsided markedly.

My observation is that it feels like there are 2 forces in play: 1) the purely addictive part of the equation and 2) old habit. Once the addiction piece starts subsiding, it is not a slam dunk - the habit of opening that bottle every night at 5 pm is deeply ingrained and needs to be tackled in a big way. The difference is that the "dark forces" that normally would take control now can be reasoned with if one remembers to be mindful when the time comes.

I am by no means out of the woods, but as mentioned it feels like things are moving in the right direction:

Weekly units:
Wk 1: 40
Wk 2: 26 (honeymoon?)
Wk 3: 46
Wk 4: 52 (honeymoon over + holidays!)
Wk 5: 28
Wk 6: 22 (projected)

Latenite

Hi Latenite and welcome.

Yes, things seem to be moving in the right direction, so good for you. Even after 6 months, I still have that deeply ingrained 5pm wine time, but I too, feel like things are still moving in the right direction, especially given some of the challenges I have going on, challenges that I really just want to run away from. But I just don't get the escape that I used to from wine, so I'm being forced to deal with life, which is sometimes not so fun. But at least I'm not drowning my troubles away like I used to. Even yesterday, I chose to stay home and opened a bottle of wine about 12:30 pm. It was the first time in a long time that I drank an entire bottle, but it took until 10:30 at night to do so! Still, I'm not proud I consumed that much but I am amazed it was spread out over such a long period. Unheard of in my previous life.

Keep up the good work and keep posting your results.
Sheryl