Thank you SO much Evan. Wasn't sure I would get a response very soon with Sunday football games on..

Loop,
Thanks again for posting the link. I just read it again to reinforce the facts. The reason I don't have the book is that I am in the closet so to speak with all of this. Having a copy of "The Cure for Alcoholism" sitting on my coffee table would be a dead giveaway. My husband doesn't know how much I drink. I only drink at night and he doesn't seem to notice how many times I sculk into the kitchen for a refill of chardonnay. Since he only drinks beer once in awhile he has no idea of whats left in the bottle (or not left). He is a workaholic type so he is very busy while he is at home. Anyway I feel bad for not purchasing a copy. I thought about seeing if it could be downloaded like some books can be.

It's interesting about how it talks about indulging in your favorite foods (or exercise, etc) after you have been off the Nal. One thing I have experienced is that Nal makes me not hungry most of the time, so to compensate I try to buy my most favorite foods to make sure I am eating enough. But most of the time even my favorites are not that appealing. It will be interesting to see how much I enjoy food or other activities while I am in this washout period. Assuming of course that I don't decide to drink tonight either. I would like to try and do two AF's in a row so I can experience this effect.

But, I am really realizing that while I don't have too much craving, my mind is SO programmed to want to drink because it is such an ingrained ritual in my nightly routine and one that I have convinced myself that I SO deserve. I feel very deprived when I don't drink because I feel it's part of my routine of winding down after a long day. Just that habit thing that we have talked about so much on this site. What I need to try and figure out is how to motivate myself to make the effort to not drink. Since I don't have nagging family members making me feel I need to cut back, I need to get that some other way. I have my own motivation for myself, but it just hasn't been enough. If anyone out there wants to buddy up with me to maybe see if we can motivate each other, set weekly goals, etc. I would love to have that. Like pm each other or something off site. I think being accountable to someone other than myself might be helpful. It's just after 31 weeks of this, I feel I need to add another element to this process. Up to this point I have just relied on the Nal to not only take away the craving but motivate me to just not drink! It's not going to work that way. It's doing what it can, but I need to get past that damn "I deserve it, and your night is not complete without your chardonnay!". Even though I have done very few AF's, they really were not hard. So, I feel I can do it, I just need to go to the next level with this process.

I'll give it a shot. I think I'm definitely at a point with TSM and Baclofen that I can manage AF days. I haven't had one since before TSM in June.

I don't want to do more than one in a row though because I've been on nal continuously now for 116 days and i want to save my selective extinction for the gym. I've still got a hairline fracture (I think) in my arm from a little wrestling match with my dad that I don't even remember .

Do I strike you as the Sunday football watching type? Okay, well Nick does. I seem to remember the Vikings kicking major a** about a week ago...

Ok, I got a pm from someone on this site who will be my motivation buddy. I think having someone on the side like this will be helpful. I will post in my weekly update how it goes.

Loop,
I forgot to reply. Yes I thought you were the football watching type Also, for some reason I thought you were a binge drinker not a daily one, but it sounds like you are a daily like me. I think I get you and Nick mixed up sometimes!

Thanks for starting this thread - this was a huge concern of my before taking the plunge (see "On" and "Off" days). It's sometimes hard to tell if posters are M or F but from reading it seems that there might be more of an effect on F than M? Not sure. Also, it seems that your state of mind and personality type (SR) may come into play as well. If you are normally a person that tends toward depression, are you likely to suffer flattening more? Hmmm. Interested too that someone used Al as an anti-depressant. I always thought it was a depressant.

I am only on day 4 so can't chime in with my two cents worth yet but will definitely be interested to see it's effect on me.

C

Alcohol is a depressant, although its full effect takes a few hours. The initial effect is the depression of certain cognitive and behavioral centers of the brain that lead many to think that it makes a person high, when in fact the buzz is the brain function without these other areas of the brain functioning at their full capability or hardly at all. You'll notice that their are a significant amount of us on Benzos for anxiety reduction. I am on Valium and Buspar. Also, many of us (including me) are on SSRI's, sometimes called anti-depressants, but really what they do is flatten the highs and the lows of a persons mood. So they are a double blessing for bipolar folks, since it forces them to be in between most of the time. For me it clips my constant peaks. Continual alcohol abuse performs a similar function for those with anxiety disorders in that it is a central nervous system depressant. However, there is too much extra baggage in health risks that comes with this abuse. Once the AL abuse is gone, the underlying cause for the abuse must still be addressed. Personally, I choose to address it with professionally prescribed medication.

Bob