we all have to set our own goals I guess Mario.

I'd distinguish between short and long term goals too.

As someone recently (and no doubt still) well capable of polishing off a bottle or two of wine in a sitting, I think you should have a look at your own goals. A bottle of wine is typically ~ 10 units of alcohol which is about 70% of the WEEKLY safe amount for women to drink, and about 3-4 times the recommended daily maximum. Maybe set the "1 bottle once or twice a week" as a realistic interim goal, with a target to reduce it to "half a bottle once or twice a week" as the longer term goal?

Im not quite sure what happened last night. Went out with hubby. Had just 4 glasses of wine. Ordered another one but didnt really want it and it stayed on the counter. I woke up this morning with the hangover from hell and it continue for the whole day. During my entire drinking career Ive rarely been so sick that I couldnt keep anything down. Today I couldnt even keep water down. Previously if I had a severe hangover I would chug down a couple of glasses of wine. I had no desire whatsoever to do that today and the idea of wine or putting any type of alcohol in my body physically repulsed me. Even though its 9.30 in the evening and Im still hungover Im very happy with nal. Last night I had no desire to sneak extra drinks or was not obsessed by how much was left in my glass or how many more I would be able to have before closing. Its a great feeling to JUST be enjoying the night. I think though that it may be time to say goodbye to wine and maybe change to having a few glasses of beer which was what I used to drink years ago before alcohol became an issue for me. I realize that I might still spike but so far for me nal HAS been that elusive magic pill. Even if I were to spike now it wouldnt bother me a whole lot as from reading around here it seems that its a temporary spike.

I was wondering though if nal effects pain relief. I know it effects opiod type painkillers but today I took paracimotol and it had no effect. Ive just taken two annidin now and thats aspirin based so Im hoping that will kill this headache. The other thing is that I suffer from migrane and this just may be an attack of that. Its pretty much the same symptoms. I have medication for migrane but there is codeine in it and I know that is one of the things that nal effects.

Very happy today, my nal arrived in the post. It makes me feel safer.

nice one Mario - best of luck in your journey!

4th weekend of nal drinking over. Still very happy with it. It has affected my taste buds though and I have no interest in wine or even beer that much. Years ago I used to love Baileys Cream and I had 4 of these on Friday night and last night I had 3 baileys with about a half shot of brandy in each. Again there was no panic of not getting drunk fast enough or fear of runing out of alcohol. I still find it so strange to go up to bed with a bit of a buzz and yet not wanting anymore. Hubby had gone to the pub for a pint and was home after an hour and the two of us stayed on the laptop checking out flights and hotels for our next holiday. I was quite happy without more alcohol. I did think of going downstairs and getting one but then thought that I didnt want to be hung over today. I pray to God that this continues for me with nal. Its a different life. Ive decided to stop freting about when the honeymoon is going to end. I cant do anything about it now anyway so I mights as well enjoy it as long as it lasts.

Awesome! Sounds like it's working for you - hope it continues!

The honeymoon is proof it's working for you. Congratulations. Even if you spike back up, you will find the experience entirely different than pre-TSM: more clarity, more control and far less foolish behavior when drinking. Probably few, if any blackouts and fewer hangovers.

Thanks folk,

The thing that is really important to me is that the issues surrounding drinking are gone or diminished. I used to wake in the early hours full of anxiety and guilt trying to piece together the night before. The absence of that alone is huge for me. The issue of sneaking and lying about how much Im drinking to hubby is a little harder to break. Last night I sneaked a drink upstairs to have in the bath, I didnt have to, Id only had two during the evening and he wouldnt have taken a blind bit of notice of me havine a drink in the bath but old habits die hard. Pre tsm I would be anxious to go out to a pub or restaurant on a Sunday just so I could have a few glasses of wine, thats gone too and I usuallly dont think of having a drink untill around seven and by the time I take my nal its eight before I have one.

Hubby and I are going to a hotel for a couple of days on our own tomorrow and it will be interesting to see how things go. Hubby is not a heavy drinker but Wednesday is St Patricks and is traditionally a big drinking day in Ireland.

Hey Mario, I hope you have a lovely time yourself and hubby. I am watching your progress and am delighted you are doing SO well. long may it last x

The weeks are really flying by. Hubby and I were away for two days. We had a really nice time. Drinking was mostly relaxed and it never got remotley out of controll. Though we were without our daughter and went with our 'Party on' heads on us we were in bed both nights not much after midnight not sober but not drunk either. We had some lovely meals out and all in all really enjoyed it. We had gone on hotel breaks while I was quit but there was always an element of white knuckling it and I generally just tried to make the best out of it.

Tuesday night over a 5 hour period I had 4 large heinekin and one vodka. Wednesday over an eight hour period I had 6 large beers and a hot whiskey. Both nights I was quite happy to call it a day and go off to bed without clinging on to the residents bar hoping for another glass of wine that I wouldnt remember drinking in the morning anyway.

The weekend will probally be a bit heavier consumption wise as I have a family event tomorrow night and plans with friends the night after. I dont mind though, Im starting to trust in nal and feel fairly sure that I wont over imbibe or get out of controll with al.