I started TSM in January of 2010 and have visited this forum regularly, although I haven't posted anything. My journey has been your typical roller coaster experience. For many, many months I was certain I was never going to gain control over my drinking and then eventually, around the 7-month mark (or so), I reached a point where I could take alcohol or leave it and was convinced I was cured.

My plan was to announce my cured status on the forum at my one-year anniversary point, but I procrastinated and never got around to it. Now, here it is, the end of my 13th month and I find that I'm experiencing an upswing in consumption. I never drink without naltrexone but, for the past several weeks, I have not missed a single night of drinking a full bottle of wine. It bugs me that, once again, I'm back to looking forward to drinking in the evenings and that I don't stop until the bottle is empty.

My pre-TSM consumption hovered somewhere around two bottles per night, so I'm a million times better off than I was; I haven't been blacking out or suffering debilitating hangovers. Yet, I am concerned and I'm wondering whether any other "old timers" have experienced this sort of thing.

Hi Tebresa - I can't wait to see some of the other old timers weigh in on this. It concerns me greatly as you are one of several who has posted this information on the board. We sure appreciate you coming back to let us know how you are doing.

Your experience is typical of what most people can expect from TSM, IMO. In other words, TSM takes far longer than advertised -- many months or even years -- and does not typically result in a complete "cure" but rather, a certain degree of regained control.

I have never been a daily drinker but my experience is similar. As a binger, at about the 7-month mark, I lost interest in alcohol and considered myself "cured." I thought this because for the most part I could take or leave alcohol. But on the weekends, I still felt a mild urge to drink that I could quickly suppress if needed. In other words, I have never lost complete interest in alcohol.

I now drink at healthy levels. I typically go months without hangovers and with the exception of a a few times off of naltrexone, have not blacked out once. To put this into context, pre-TSM I was blacking out at least two nights a week and had at least two days ruined by paralyzing hangovers. So I have "regained control" but the word "cured" does not apply to me. And from what I'm gathering on this board, it applies to a tiny minority of the people here. A handful. If there are any members who never drink and are completely disinterested in alcohol, please voice your opinion to the contrary. Bob3d would if he were still here, but other than him, I can't think of any others off the top of my head.

The book sets the method up for disappointment. If you were told 13 months ago you'd go months without interest in alcohol, only to have periods of drinking half of what you once did, you'd be thrilled. Overly high expectations are the only problems I see for TSM, with the bogus promise of a "cure" in just three to four months. Which is why I'm on a daily campaign to set the record straight on this board.

On a final note, the benefits of TSM appear to continue for years. Perhaps at 13 months you are still extinguishing triggers. I would be surprised if your disinterest in alcohol does not return, at least to a certain degree.

My best,

Nick

Nick - great words of wisdom about TSM. I don't know whether the term "cure" is too strong or not. But a return to rational control is a goal for many (myself included). Abstinence, and/or never getting drunk is not my goal.

What does this mean to me? Well, it is considered to be in the realm of social, non-alcoholic drinking to drink a 12-pack during a game, or too much wine on the anniversary, champagne at a wedding, etc. Getting trashed a few times a year is not necessarily alcoholic drinking, is socially acceptable in most circles, and generally not destructive if it is properly timed and precautions (no driving, etc.) are taken. If this is the extent of my long-term drinking behavior, I will consider myself cured. The problem is getting trashed on a Tuesday night, for no "good" reason. Or several nights a week, as in my case.

So, I would call a return to rational control a "cure", for me. But I think it all depends on our goals.

Well said LC. I don't disagree with you. But the term "cure" in the book is defined as having a complete disinterest in alcohol. I don't think that fits your definition, or the definition of others here, for the most part.

It's good to know that after 13 months, there is still the possibility of experiencing dissapointing binges, because as you say in your response Nick, not knowing this could set us up for thinking we've failed, when really, we didn't.

In AA if we binge after 13 months, we've failed completely with little chance of any recovery. This is not the same. Abstinance is not my goal, or I'd just go back to AA again. I did AA and was abstinant for 2 years. I keep that in the back of my mind as the only other (miserable) option I have available to me. I decided to give TSM a try because I realized it didn't remove that option. AA is still there in case it comes to that. TSM is a no-risk alternate path for me that was well worth giving it a go.

So here I am, in the last few days of week 4. I know intellectually that I should not be expecting miracles just yet, but my feelings are hurt by a 2 bottle binge last night. I just finished a 2 week long stent pulling night shifts that nearly drove me batty. So yesterday was my first full day off. I was feeling very relaxed, and last night I felt like "celebrating" which means "binging," so that's what I did. And now I feel defeated.

I know that a two bottle binge is way better than a 3 bottle binge, which is certainly what would have happened pre-NAL. So I have to rely on my intellectual self, and the support of others, to remind my feelings that we are making noticable progress. 4 weeks ago, 2 bottles was a regular night. This would not have been a binge.

So this story reminds me of when I lost my first 30 pounds in Aug/Sep 2010. When the needle left the "obese" part of the chart and dipped into "overweight" I yelled, "Yahoo, I'm finally overweight!"

I can now say, "Hurray! I have a moderate headache this morning!!!" (4 weeks ago, I'd have woken up after my "celebration" seeing double, shaking and still smelling of cheap wine).

This post and Nick's response are good medicine for my hurt feelings.

Thanks everyone.

Hi Guys,

Sorry it's taken over a year for me to get back on this topic but I want you all to know that things have much improved for me since my last post and they continue to improve as the weeks and months go by.

I still struggle with cravings sometimes in the evenings at my witching hour but they're nothing I can't contend with. I cave in to them occasionally and usually live to regret it with a miserable naltrexone hangover. It can be worrisome but I've learned to chill out about it, give it a few days, and I invariably get myself back on track. I never, ever, ever in a million years could have done that before I started TSM in 2010.

So, even though things are not 100% perfect (are they ever?), I am going to put myself on the "cured/gained control" list. I probably won't be coming to the board much anymore but if anyone has any questions or needs a pep talk, please feel free to PM me. I LOVE talking about TSM.

Thank you all so much for your support!

x

I haven't posted on this forum in months (lurking occasionally) and I'm so glad I checked in and read this thread. I started TSM in Oct 2010, had great success with it and am still doing great. I was one of the heaviest drinkers on here, 3 bottles of wine/night every night of the week. I had immediate and dramatic success with TSM. Over the past 6 weeks I have noticed an uptick in my consumption. I never drink w/o NAL but I used to go weeks without drinking (on a health/fitness kick) and lately have been drinking fare more than usual, several nights a week and many more units. I haven't drank myself to the point of feeling "drunk" but not drinking had become such a habit that it feels weird to drink again. I am going through major life stressors, my Dad is currently dying, several states away & I've been flying back and forth to visit him in i.c.u., so my whole daily routine is thrown off and I suspect I'm drinking more to cope with stress. But I've had stress in life before this and didn't turn to alcohol as an outlet. I'm mildly alarmed but am going to roll with it, am still drinking far less than I was pre-TSM and am being safe (never drink during daytime or drink & drive which were both awful but regular habits I'm ashamed to say). Perhaps I should go back to measuring units, I'd stopped when I started going so many weeks and months without consuming any units.

I definitely agree that "cured" as in the book's "cured" and "timeline" as in the book's "timeline" happen for very few of us. I consider myself "cured" as in "drinking rarely and, when drinking, drinking pretty much like a normal person." If there are points when I circle back and drink more or more often, oh well. Good enough for me. Brilliant, actually, when I compare life now to life before.

Hey guys, thank you aLL for checking back in! Although the uptick in consumption after being "cured" is worrisome, it kind of confirms what I suspected...that for most of us, although we may regain control over our drinking, we still have that TENDENCY buried within us. Difficult times and new situations and stressors, etc, are definitely going to try and push us to resume alcoholic drinking, I think. If we've been alcoholic drinking for most of our lives I think it's almost impossible to "erase" that from our brains in a way - it's just that now with tSM we can CHOOSE whether we want to go down that path or not. Long ramble short: I fully anticipate having to exercise some self-control over my drinking for the rest of my life, even with TSM and always taking nal. And for me anyways, that's ok. Other people struggle with their weight or mood their whole lives. To each his own burden :/