I am 3 months into TSM and wanted to share my progress thus far. I responded very well to NAL immediately and was initially put into an IOP program by my psychiatrist as a requirement to receive NAL prescription. I didn't tell my psych i was going to do TSM initially because I didn't know I was. All I knew about in the beginning was the existence of NAL and how it was being used successfully in Norway to treat alcoholics. I sought out a psych just to demand a scrip for the NAL. I begrudgingly went to IOP and felt out of place immediately. This was just another version of every other goddamn thing I had ever tried in my efforts to curb, contain, extinguish my alcoholism. I didn't last long in IOP and in the meantime i had started TSM while reading the book by Dr. Eskapa. It was dissonant at first. This continued drinking and very little other effort on my part but it worked. I noticed a drop in craving immediately. I went from about 50 drinks a week to less than half that amount right away. I kept seeing the psychiatrist and she reccomended I see an individual therapist which I am now. Therapy is good for anyone in my opinion and it definitely hasn't made me drink more so I am ok with 1 on 1 therapy now. I do make an effort to fill my AF days with positive experiences and activities so that my mind doesn't stay in the alcoholic rut it has been in the majority of my adult life. I am an artist and a designer. I spent 24 hours last week creating a piece of art for a juried show that I was accepted into. I would have never been able to do that prior to TSM. I am grateful for having found something that finally works and I know that I am not cured yet. I am dedicated to following TSM for as long as it takes to make alcohol soo small in my life that I hardly notice it is there. That is my goal.

Week/drinks/AF
1/11/4
2/12/0
3/11/2
4/1/4/2
5/16/3
6/25/1
7/8/5
8/20/1
9/14/2
10/5/3
11/9/2
12/8/4

That sounds great goatmaster! I love to hear stories like this. I too was a fast responder. with TSM I went from 16 drinks the night before I started to seven and to an average of three drinks per night over the last 4 months that I have been doing TSM.

By the way what is IOP?

I'm curious to know if your psychiatrist is prescribing you Naltrexone in accordance to TSM or are they having you use it daily or some other recommended dosage? It's not a bad idea at all to seek therapy while doing TSM, I'd dare say that most people even not struggling with alcoholism could probably use an occasional session with a therapist. It's not unlike other medical preventative maintenance like dental cleanings or the ocasional physical exam. But as you know from reading Dr. Eskapa's book and Sinclair's work it's not necessary. All we have to do is take Naltrexone 1 hour before we drink and presto chango...

Ocean, IOP is Intensive Outpatient Therapy. I was thrown in there without any input on my part. It is an abstinence based group and I was never comfortable there. I thought that placing people in the group was a way for the clinic to get revenue from insurance companies. It didn't seem beneficial to many who were in it. My psych prescribed NAL as an everyday dose. I of course take it only when I drink. I have explained TSM to her and she doesn't seem to oppose my methods. I do think the book oversimplifies the reality of living life while doing TSM. I have to make a conscious effort to build my AF days. I can stay at 4 AF days indefinitely and I would probably love it. If I want to grow and change my life I do need to push myself a little. The NAL makes those pushes less painful. I'm soo grateful I don't have uncontrollable cravings anymore

Goatmaster, reading your progress makes me feel so good!! Congrats on the art: the world needs more artists and I know it must feel so good to produce something creatively and then have it acknowledged.

Nal on!! xoxoNewlife

Ok I see Goatmaster. Yeah an abstinent based program makes no sense to anyone doing TSM since you have to drink in in the presence of an endorphin blocker in order for extinction to take place. I agree that the book oversimplifies things and from what I understand the new edition will include more on the concept of mindfulness. In TSM you don't necessarily want to force anything. You don't want to force drinking days to promote extinction as much as you don't want to force abstinent days as that could work against TSM and build up the alcohol deprivation syndrome. But within reason there is this concept of mindfulness that you can use to perhaps not force anything but at least use reason to justify any particular decision you make.

Goatmaster,

I am glad to see you post your progress, and it sounds like you have turned a corner and that is always inspiring! I know what you mean about pushing yourself, for it isn't magic for me either...but it beats the alternative!

Keep doing what you're doing for it sounds like it's working,

Jaba

P.S. I am glad to hear your were able to create a piece of art to be judged for that is truly remarkable! Be proud, for it is an accomplishment that others only dream of!

Thank you for the uplifting story! And congratulations on turning the corner and getting control over AL

This interests me. How did it go with your creativity? There are a lot of links out there to very creative people and excessive alcohol consumption.

I found this to be the one area of sobriety that I regretted. I can still find my creativity, but never when I want now. It seemed that a little alcohol summoned it in the pre-TSM days. Now I have no control. It just comes when it wants, -but otherwise I cannot summon it. Works well enough, -I just move on to something else until it does. But a little frustrating.

I know exactly what you mean. I used to smoke weed too. The weed would make me hyper creative but also paranoid and introverted and very shy. The alcohol would release that shyness and allow the creativity to come through unfettered. It would have to be jsut the right combo though and would only last a little while. Then of course I'd just end up drunk. It was magical no doubt about it but as it gave much to me it took much more away and eventually the trade off was not even close to worth it. OF course by that point I was deep into the alcoholism which took over everything. I had a moment of clarity last night actually. I didn't drink at all last night and while playing the guitar I felt like I was channeling the creativity. I could hear each individual note on each string clearly and felt like a chess player who knew his next 5 moves. So it's still there but like you say it's not as easy to pull out of the wood work.

Interesting how it works like that.

I have always been creative. Even before drugs and alcohol destroyed huge swaths of my life. It is a deep part of me and who I am. One of the only ways I can consistently express myself. Clarity of vision is what drives my art making. I can 'see' an image that I want to produce before I start something. I have soo many forgotten or abandoned projects that even when I do create something it still feels like a small failure because of all the years I squandered and all the art I didn't make. I would say this to you. Art is a skill like cooking or woodworking or swimming. The more you do it, the better you get. I am fortunate to be possessed by frequent vision and urges that drive me to create. If you are lacking drive, make time to practice your craft on a regular and consistent basis. The rest will come. Art is skill that anyone can learn through practice.