I guess if one has to be obsessed, an exercise obsession is the way to go
I totally get the alkie voice vs voice of reason--sometimes I feel like I drink against my will. Well, not really against my will, but I feel like I stand at a precipice where I could make a choice to walk away from having a drink and not sure how much craving vs. habit has to do with ultimately having one.
Regardless, you are doing great and have many successes/much progress to be happy about!

Hey St. Jude, that craving vs. habit is a weird thing. Like last night, I can't say I was craving alcohol, but I was bored and decided it would be fun to get drunk (typical alcoholic thinking). I took my nal at 5 and a little after 6, I had a shot. The weirdest thing happened... I got really sleepy and just went to bed. I even skipped having dinner. I don't know if I was just really tired or if it was my subconscious trying to tell me not to drink anymore. I've never had only one unit during a session on TSM before. It would have been more impressive if I stayed awake and only had one unit, but hey, I'll take what I can get.

On a different note, my old AA sponsor called me out of the blue the other day. I let it go to voicemail because I was at work. I haven't talked to him in about six months, ever since I quit AA. He is a very good guy, but I'm not sure whether I should tell him about TSM. First, I don't need a lecture about how I need to deal with the spiritual side to really deal with my alcoholism, but second I'm worried that he might want to go out and try TSM. He has over 4 years of sobriety, a wife and two small children. AA seems to be working great for him. I don't want to tempt him into drinking by talking about TSM just in case it doesn't work for him. What do you guys think?

I would say it would be safe enough to tell him. As a caveat you should explain that the books says that if you have been enjoying an extended period of sobriety you should stick with it, this method is really more suited to people who cannot stay sober by any means (exaggerated for safety). Also you should say that it does not work for everyone and does not work in the short term, meaning that if he wanted to try it he'd have to put his familty though hell for possibly no reward greater than he is already experiencing.

I'd say since he has 4 years sobriety he is probably smart enough to see that it wouldn't be wise to throw that all away. I'm sure you can judge that better since you know him. Even if you don't want to go into detail you could just say something vague like... "I'm going down the medication route as a means of harm reduction and I've gotten a lot better, and although I am not completely sober, I am likely to get better as time goes on". you need not mention TSM directly, you could just state that the medication is Naltrexone. I'd say he's safe enough, he's in AA, they have an answer for everything.

RE: Habit Vs Craving. I definitely have benefited from attacking the habit (conditioned response to X...e.g. boredom)of drinking. I think at the later stages (where I am & you are at, or near) this part of the process takes work after the craving has left and the habit remains. Otherwise we will continue to get drunk!

Tambo: I have done the: one drink and then bed: thing a couple of times before on TSM and initially felt like it was a waste of a pill, but then realized it was actually the pill working when my mind doesn't step in to command me to keep drinking. That's a good thing!
I can see both ways of AA sponsor thing. I've also had some old AA cronies reaching out lately and I'm not sure how to handle it. I think that I will only tell them the generals of TSM if they ask specifically what I've been doing (god, I hate that whole are you "staying clean" question as opposed to are you being dirty) , and only share with them more details of program if they press for it. Tough!!!!!

Hey Everyone, I got back my results for my genetic analysis from 23andme...

So the gene markers for alcohol dependance say that I am LESS likely to become alcohol dependant. Totally surprising to me since I feel like I was an alcoholic from the first time I got drunk, but at the same time it makes sense with my family history of no alcoholism.

Now the gene marker for responding to Nal, I have the GG genotype which means that I am 5 times more likely to have a positive response to nal than someone with an AA genotype. This does make sense to me because I feel like I am responding very well to nal.

Another interesting finding is that I'm 3 times more likely to become addicted to heroine than someone without my combo of genes. It's a good thing I never tried heroine.

It is reassuring to know that supposedly I am a good responder to nal. The caveat is that these studies were done on European populations originally and I am of East Asian heritage, so I don't know how accurately these results apply to me.

Very interesting Tambo, I sent mine off in December so I am waiting to get my results back and will post them too. I'm half Irish so I think I know how the genetic predisposition to alcoholism is going to come back. I did it out of curiosity and to have some information for my kids so when they get older they know what they are dealing with before their first drink. It sounds like you are the perfect storm for a TSM success, not genetically predisposed but a good responder to nal. I know these are all probabilities but still we need every edge we can get in this fight.

Hi Tambo. I was sober in AA for 18.5 years. I can tell you what I would have thought if one of my friends in AA had told me they were trying TSM. I would have thought they were crazy! Fortunately I don't have that problem of having to explain, where I moved I am truly and annonymous alcoholic lol. But if I did, I would probably tell them I was working with a psychiatrist and taking meds. That usually shuts em up lol! Tell them it seems to be helping, but if things get real bad, you will be sure to give em a call, meet up with them, and start drinking gallons of coffee again!
Seriously I don't think I would try to explain this to any AA people unless I saw them drinking maybe?
I need to check out this genetic thing. Did you post about it?

Thanks for all your posts, they have helped me a lot.
Dave

Oh, and Tambo, stay off the smack please.

I found the post about 23andme
I checked out the website, interesting!
Dave

Genetic testing can be useful but do not think of it as the gold standard. For example, mutations in different genes can cause diseases that look similar clinically. More rarely, different mutations in the same gen can cause different diseases. Clinical diagnostic criteria are more important than clever tests.