There's been lots of mention of the "honeymoon" effect. How long/short has it lasted for people that experience it?

I can only answer for me and it was just a little over a week but I've read that some continued for weeks. Do you think you're still in the honeymoon period? and how long has it been?

corkit

Just starting week 8 and feel basically cured already. I'm hoping I don't return to old levels but am prepared for ups and downs in this process.

I believe my improvement isn't due to extinction (it hasn't been enough time), but the "weak effect" of NAL that Eskapa describes. But for me it hasn't been so weak! It's really cut my urges BIGTIME. Today is the first time I added up the numbers and even I'm shocked.

My honeymoon lasted two weeks and then I returned to pre-TSM levels. I laugh now when I look at my posts from those first two weeks -- I naively thought I was cured.

There have been some people -- AJ -- who had the honeymoon and never went back up to pre-TSM levels. I think the key variables -- unaddressed in the studies or the book -- are how long and how much you have been drinking. The longer and more consumption, the longer it will take for extinction to occur. AJ is a youngster -- in his 20s -- and fits the theory. Other more seasoned boozers (in the twenty to forty year category) are seeing positive results but extinction is taking a lot longer for them. Personally, I've been drinking heavily for around twenty years and it took me almost nine months before I felt fully in control.

Post up your numbers and history. 8 weeks is much longer than any honeymoon-type effect I've ever heard of.

----

Pre-TSM: it's hard to summarize.... I am 30, been drinking since 21. I did 1 year AF that ended last October.

At 8 or 9 years of boozing you are definitely at the less experienced side of the equation on this board. Maybe you won't have a spike. I'll be very interested in watching your progress. It sure would be great for future members to see trends like: 30 plus years of boozing = 9 to 12 months extinction; under ten years = 3-4 months to extinction, etc.

Hey LoOp, that might make a great new charting scheme for the un-addicted: graph length of time and average consumption with amount of time to extinction...

Mine was 6 consecutive weeks, which I think is unusually long.

Bob

AJ, thanks for your thoughtful post. I see we have had similar numbers and rapid success with TSM.

I keep going back to the "weak effect" of NAL that Eskapa mentions in the book. I wonder if my rapid success is due to this "weak effect," namely NAL's ability to make you crave less the night you take it, rather than extinction. I guess I don't care as long as it works

Interesting. I've only drank once or twice since starting Nal in early February, and have been alcohol free for just over a month now. Since I am hardheaded (and utterly sick of drinking), I haven't been trying achieve extinction so much as working towards long-term abstinence, treating the nal as a safety net to make relapses less permanent and severe. I have definitely noticed that my cravings have been less acute than in previous attempts to quit either through AA or pure willpower.