Hi Virginia,

I agree with WTE - it's those small differences that are the most important. Number of units is perhaps the worst measure of success, and getting hung up on it is a HUGE mistake. It's the improved quality of life that matters. You're making great progress!

Hi Virginia....

I started on the same day as you. I had posted under a different name before but decided people could figure out who I was. Anyway I am in the same boat. drinking is down 2-3 drinks less per day(im 8-10 normally 4 days a week...3 built in AF days but those were usually recovery days). But the last 2 weeks craving has been high and intake is back to where it was. I guess Im hitting that spike. The good news is no hangovers and no saying stupid crap I regret the next day. Strangely I have that same feeling Nick was talking about...drinking just isnt the same...it is becoming boring. Reading the cured list they seem to hit this spike and feeling to. Im really hoping I can add my self to the list by Thanksgiving. Ill check your progress and update with mine.

Hang in there Virginia.
I agree with the other posts here - it is the small things that count. Each small step taking us in the right direction.
The numbers are one thing - but there are also so many things that go on that can effect the way we drink. Don't get hung up on the numbers.
There is so much hope on this site. I think have hope - keep heading in the right direction - and all will be OK.
6DIJ

Normally wouldn't have commented as I don't have anything other than thank you for your posts. They are really helping me as is the whole board,...but equally important was there were 66 replies and 666 views,...had to break that!!!!!!!!!!! God Bless!!!!!

Jim - thanks for breaking those numbers!!!

As I'm sure I've mentioned somewhere...my standard habit is 1 mixed drink (strong) and a half bottle of wine.. well, last night, that amount kicked my a**. Felt like I had a whole blown-out drinking party..if this is the 'rewinding' of a habit, then I need to be careful...seems like it's time to cut the mixed drink in half or altogether. Another thing I noticed.. Sat I had 3 glasses of wine and then last night the half bottle - it just felt like so much, as in so much liquid and it was strange to see others with empty glasses while mine was still mostly full. Any other wine drinkers feel this way??

Hawkeye, I don't think I've hit my spike before the cure so that concerns me - really don't want a spike at this point.. would love more AF days, last week I had 2 and that hasn't happened for months.. always thought I had AF days but once I started tracking on TSM, realized that I only had 1 a week - not good. (denial and rationalization at work)

Thanks for the encouragement Krazy1,WTE and 6DIJ!

Same here. It's strange - definitely get a buzz but now it's almost irritating. All buzz but no (warm) fuzz. My mouth says, DELICIOUS, MORE MORE but my head says "you will regret it." I swear I'm getting mini-hangovers on two glasses of wine.

I can definitely identify on the taste of wine thing. I poured a glass of my favourite lucious rioja last night and it tasted like some fowl cheap wino plonk! I was at dinner on sat evening and my wine tasted corked- there were a couple of different varieties on offer so i tried another and it tasted corked. I finished 1 1/2 glasses of wine over 4 hours. Like you i was noticing others appearing to drink so much faster- whereas in the past i would be sitting with an empty glass waiting for the hostess to notice and wishing others would hurry up. At this rate of going i'm thinking why waste good money on expensive wine and just buy the cheap plonk anyway

it's curious how everybody's story, though similiar, is also very different. i have not had 1, yes, ONE, whole AL free day since starting May 13, and then boom, all of a sudden, friday, one sake, saturday, and sunday, AL free. It's almost as though I can THINK about AL now, whereas before AL was def in control. Like when i was taking acetaminephin over the weekend and the warning says to avoid alcohol, like the fact that i am starting to rationalize that i probably spend anywhere from 100 to 200 dollars a week on wine and hey? wouldn't it be nice to have that money to spend on something else or save...maybe one of the reasons why i am always stressin about "where IS my money going?" (of course i KNEW where, but AL (cunning, baffling...) i'll give bill THAT, hmph!)
but yeah, i can relate to the wine tasing like S*** thing, even good wine, happened around the start of my 3rd month i think? and red red wine has been my theme song since i was 24 and let's say that's almost a decade! it was so weird, i would almost 'suffer' through the first few drinks, but then after about the 3rd, it would come back, but i wouldn't get the 'high', drunk and oblivious, yes, high, no...so i knew it was futile yet it still offered reprieve and escape and it was a BIG habit, 2 bottles/nightly for 8 years...A LOT! but the futility of it all is becoming so much clearing and it has come on rather suddenly, i don't know if it was spurned on by my slight illness this weekend or what (would NOT) have stopped me before), but even so, i am glad. we shall see=) i am going to get ready for work tonight, normally, i would stop by the wine store to p/u a few bottles to have handy, but since the craving is about a 2 or so, i don't know, i am anxious tho that i will get home and the craving will spike and not have any, but at the same time, want to keep up these AL free days, hmmmmm....decisions, decisions...maybe i will keep my money all week and as a reward buy myself a new outfit for fall, my brain actually is about as excited at that prospect as drinking a bottle of wine...WOW!!!

Hey Misskris, when you drank after 2 AF days, did you drink more than usual? I just had 2 AF days in row and my craving was high the next day. The 2nd AF day was due to postponing taking the nal, then it just got too late.. cravings were manageable that night.

Week 14

2nd week in a row with 2 AF days only 1 day where I felt like I drank too much, the rest was pretty controlled. Last night (after the 2 AF days), had a light mixed drink, wine, and completely forgot there was another open bottle of wine... normally I would NEVER forget that. Oh yea, after getting ready for bed, I looked at my glass and there was still wine in it. Do normal people leave wine in their glass??? alcohol abuse...

Just feeling pretty good and looking forward to see what the next month brings. Total drinks per week have been consistently going done by 1 or 2 over the last 4 weeks. Would like to increase the AF days but can't force it.

I've been on Nal now for only 2 1/2 weeks and since I started taking it my usual red wine tastes absolutely horrible, not that it's keeping me from drinking it but did you find this when you first started the Nal? I keep seeing people write that the taste of their choice tastes strange but it seems like that happens after you've been on Nal for awhile. Any insight?