Hi all,

It's been several weeks since I've posted and I thought it was about time to check in...

As you can see from my chart that January really wasn't great BUT I added an exponential trend and a rolling average to my graph and things are continuing to head in the right direction. I've still continued to have mixed feelings about drinking at all. When I do drink, I don't feel in control or good about myself, after the fact. But, my attempts at abstinence have been fleeting so I've continued to follow TSM for back up. I NEVER drink without taking the NAL first and I've managed to do OK even in spite of some ugly drinking days.

I've recently joined up with SMART to help with my goal of abstinence and I've found it a refreshing change from AA. It seems like a really good fit for me!! I plan to use SMART in conjunction with TSM when I do drink and hope the combo helps me kick this thing for good!!

Anyways, here is my updated chart...



Best wishes to all in your journeys!!! BTDT

TSM does work for most but not in the time frames outlined in the book. You are headed in the right direction -- think months and months or even years, not three to four months. But your control will increase down the winding road, I'm confident of it.

My best,

Nick

Thanks Nick.

I do believe that TSM is working and long-term it will be the best thing!! My overall attraction to alcohol has continued to steadily decline and it does offer me more control than I ever had pre-TSM. But, I also like to keep it real and caution the new folks that the path can be very, very rocky. TSM is no quick fix and has all the general risks associated with using alcohol. I haven't been cured overnight...

I've found SMART is a very scientific approach to abstaining and has given me some additional tools to move past the "habit" part of this thing. It also supports the choice "to drink or not to drink" which is far less shameful than what I personally felt in AA. I'm feeling pretty good about my long-term outcome

Take care, BTDT

Hi BTDT

It's good to read your post. I wondered how you were doing. I like your exponential trend on the graph. My sponsor has suggested I do a graph. Not too sure where to start but my computer whizz 12 year old will probably be able to help!
I haven't heard of SMART and doubt it exists in New Zealand. Might google it. Good for you using it. I am ambivalent about AA right now. My home group is still good as my sponsor knows what I'm up to. I went to another meeting this week and quite enjoyed it. We read step 3 and those who shared talked about letting go and living in the now. When i got home my hubby and i also discussed living in the now from a different perspective. Trying to do that has really helped me, as has not trying to control what other people do and just accepting how they are. But later this week i have been thinking about the requirement of AA to have a desire to stop drinking and the "rigorous honesty" principle. I want to keep drinking and i can't be honest about TSM at meetings. My sponsor thinks it would be dangerous if i gave up meetings and just relied on online support, but she also thinks TSM might not work for me. I am cautiously optimistic that it will.

Take care
Sticky

Hey BTDT - Thanks for the update. I too was wondering how you were doing. Nick is quite the inspiration and so glad we have him, you and others to keep us on track. After your week 18 it is probably kind of discouraging to see your numbers go back up again, and then down again. However, your numbers are down overall and you haven't hit the six month mark yet. The graph speaks loud and clear to us that are behind you and we can see your progress which gives us hope. Hang in there, and keep posting.

HG

BTDT, there's no doubt your drinking is decreasing based on your graph. Try making your first data point your pre-TSM number and the slope of your exponential curve will be even steeper. Great progress don't worry about the ups and downs you're getting there.

Thanks SV. I do think I'm heading in the right direction and I expect it is just a matter of time. The way I figure it is I have a long history to overcome. I've been drinking badly since age 15. I am now 43 so that is 28 years of history I expect it may take me longer than some but as long as I continue to decline overall I will stick with it. Thanks for the support.

FYI - I did use the Pre-TSM number for my graph. That was recommended to yogagirl and I tried to follow the instructions she was given. It just doesn't quite look like it because it was time=0 which isn't shown on the graphing program I used. Technology....

BTDT

I also believe in "keeping it real." On that front comes my number one criticism of the book: namely, the three to four months expected "cure" for 80 percent. Note that the three to four month time frame completely disregards how long and how much a person has been drinking. Common sense and conditioning theory will tell you that there are varying degrees of addiction and consequently there will be varying times to increased control or a so-called "cure". The notion that a 22 year-old college kid who has been bingeing for 4 years will take the same time to a "cure" as a 50 year-old daily drinker is ludicrous. And this board is confirmation that 3-4 months is a fantasy picture for virtually all 700 plus members here. People need to think of regaining control of their drinking in varying times and if you are a long-time boozer, 6 months to a year is a far more realistic time frame for regaining control than three to four months. And from the looks of the studies in the book, 3-4 months would apply to college kids consuming a mere 35 per week; a mere warmup for most of us here... And on the "keeping it real" front, I would also discard the word "cure" and substitute "regaining control." Because everyone who regains control from TSM is at risk for heavy boozing the moment they drink without the pill. Also, most of us are able to still pound down many, many drinks after the so-called "cure" which, to me, also makes the term inaccurate. The reason I'm so adamant about this point is that MANY people understandably have major doubts about TSM when they are still drinking like the town drunk at three to four months (including me). Also, the time frame of 3-4 months has proven to be a wild fantasy for about 90 percent of us as evidenced by our posts here in the real world. But TSM DOES work for the vast majority who try it but expectations need to be tempered to put it mildly. And if we can spread this word to newbies we will be saving a lot of people a lot of anxiety and unrealistic expectations.

Hi everyone,

Tomorrow marks 6 months on my journey with TSM.

As I've been closing in on that date, I've been drinking more and more. The past two weeks have been a huge spike. It's almost like I'm trying to have more extinction episodes per week to move things along. Needless to say, I'm not feeling too hot and still ambivelent about continuing. However, things are different and my relationship with alcohol is changing. I leave half glasses of wine around and when I don't drink I really don't miss it.

I've decided to go 7 days AF just to help me change my habits for a week. I need to adjust my routine. We went out of town last weekend and not drinking then was really easy - I didn't care. It's only tricky when I'm doing the same thing every night at home.

Wish me luck. I'll post my chart next week... BTDT

You will probably find that with minimal effort your seven days AF should be fairly easy. And at this point "effort" is a good thing -- not white-knuckling, but using effort to do other things than booze. That will be proof to you that TSM is working. Hang in there, it's working, slowly but surely.