Hi All:
I have not posted for a while. I have been doing very well overall. Initially, like many, I had a honeymoon period of about 1 month. After that, I had a couple of episodes of heavy drinking. At 5 months in, I had a night whereby I drank a lot and even blacked out. That was upsetting for me. I have never not taken the pill one hour before drinking. I initially was going to remain abstinent and try to go back to AA (which by the way, never works, but I was feeling quite scared the morning after.)

Since then I am back on track. I do notice that after 6 months I do not drink as frequently, nor do I crave alcohol the way in which I used to prior to The Sinclair Method. I do, however, notice that I am "alcohol seeking" when I am at a function to take the edge off. It feels "alcoholic" to me and I notice that this is falling under some of my old patterns. I am still drinking heavily during these occasions, although I find that it is less likely that I will be way out of control or black out. I will actually leave a party earlier than I normally would pre naltrexone. Somehow, it seems to kick in at some point and I just get weary of drinking whereby before I would not want to go home at all.

Has anyone else experienced this at 6 months in? I am not where I want to be yet and plan to continue this journey. I guess the last 2-3 times of drinking scared me a bit and I thought I should be further along at this point. I do notice that it is harder to drink the first glass or two of wine on naltrexone. I don't like the taste but once past that initial "ugh," I am drinking more than I would like to.

Any feedback would be helpful. Thanks!

Darris

Oh gosh Darris - I am on TSM since January and am still not there - so please stop worrying ! Many folk are not 'cured' at your stage ! I know that like me, you want it all to be done and finished with - but the majority of us take way longer than the book says ! Just keep adhering to the Golden Rule - one day you will wake up and find you are there (so I am told) - but you say that once you are past that first drink or two that it is easy to drink on - try drinking a little more mindfully ..... take time in-between the 2nd and 3rd drink - have a glass of water in-between each drink - lots of things to try and slow you down.

Hugs, maggie

Thanks, Maggie. That helps. I think that 3-6 months "cure" has been branded into my head. I am glad to see that others are not where they want to be at six months. For the most part, I have been patient. Thanks for the advice to mindfully slow it down. I have not been doing that and have been seeking a good buzz actively. I definitely do not get the same "high" as before, but I definitely reach a point whereby I am having a good time. Do a lot of people take up to a year or more to reach their goal? Is there any specific amount of time whereby the naltrexone will reach its maximum results? Has that been established?

No - 3-6 months is not the norm! I have heard of folk taking 2 years - I personally do not care how long it takes as long as it eventually works ! I have faith and patience (everyone gets fed up with hearing that from me - LOL). And no, I do not think the Nal reaches its maximum results ! Hang in there and keep plodding on !

hugs, Maggie

You don't think that is a big improvement, in and of itself? What if you never found TSM? You'd never be going home, and (as we all know) things never just stay the same. They get worse. Every year.

So, first off, lighten up a little. You are already in a better place.

The next step is to think about your triggers and start to build a life that avoids them. Before TSM, if you are like most of us, avoiding triggers was a lot easier said than done. But now you have a chance to do so. Not easy, but doable.

If you're an alcoholic, you have built your entire life around alcohol. You can't just take a pill and continue to live the same life and think everything will be okay. It won't.

You came here because you knew you needed to turn your life around. TSM gives you the chance.

Question: What are you doing different in your life than you did six months ago?

Yes, I definitely do many more things these days. I know that it's working. I just wanted some reassurance from those beyond 6 months. That's all. I appreciate it. Thank you.

You will find many people here who are 6 months and more into TSM and still working at it. So be assured you are in good company. Eskapa's book is essential to anyone who wants to try TSM but imo and I think I can speak for many more the estimate of cure in 3-4 months is way to idealistic. Personally I was a very fast responded, in fact almost instantly really. I went from 16 drinks in one night to my first dose of Naltrexone down to an average of 3 drinks virtually over night. But even with my fast response to TSM I'm not going to go anywhere near saying that I am cured. That's way to optimistic and I know that without Naltrexone I'll be right back at it again within a week or two.

For me the TSM has cut out the chase which was the major root to my drinking problem, now I am left with the scraps. Those are old habits which don't easily fade away. But while for example in the 'old' days after I mowed the lawn I'd have one cool refreshing beer to celebrate a job well done that would lead to 12 more beers that night with careful planning an hour before I mow the lawn I can just have that one refreshing well deserved cold beer and not chase it into insanity.

Do I really need a cold refreshing beer after I mow the lawn? No. But it's one of those habits that sticks like glue.

Darris: I have just finished thirty six weeks/nine months. It can take longer for many of us. Like you, I made good progress right from the beginning, but had to stick with it and continue to BOTH progress (last week was my lowest week ever, the first time my units were in the single digits, WOO HOO!!!) AND have setbacks (I overdid it Halloween night, don't remember a lot of what happened, and was really mad at myself).

It is so important to carefully track because without that you can miss your progress.

It is also important for those of us who don't respond quickly or instantly to be mindful: drink slowly, try to really think about how you feel, try to address those habits of just throwing back the drinks. If you listen to what is really going on you will often see that you don't really WANT that next drink. Things are different, you are not as you were before TSM, but for a lot of us it takes our brain a long time to catch up to that.

I hope that helps darris, and keep posting!! Nal on!! xoxo Newlife

Thank you, Ocean and Newlife. That helps a lot. I agree, there is definitely progress. I also think the 3-6 months is a bit idealistic for perhaps most of us - definitely for me. I agree that I have to be mindful about drinking. I actually find that it is out of habit and situation that I tend to "throw them back" more than usual. I do not look forward to drinking like I used to. I definitely do not get the same off the charts high. I actually don't even like the taste of wine at all. I would rather have a water to be honest. However, when I am at a particular function, out of habit, I will drink past the "click" to be able to "switch" into the other personality that can totally let loose...which is ultimately not the real me anymore to be honest.

Thanks so much for posting. It really helps to know that others deal with the same process. I somehow had it in my mind that I would never really drink to excess again...never black out again...a huge expectation given the number of years I have drank. I would say that my progress is considerable based on where I was pre TSM. It's not so much about the chase anymore. As a matter of fact, that is almost gone completely. I've not had a 2-3 day binge in a long time.

Any other stories out there would be great. Have a great day.

Darris if you have the time just browse around the site...............lots and lots of the posts are really helpful, even from users who don't visit anymore.

Keep posting and Nal on!! Newlife